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Japanese LUPO GTI's


Grumpy
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14 hours ago, LexG said:

where did you get that done ? id like to have my underneath, all cleaned and protected at some point

I recon if you ask any body shop they will do it. I went to one that was local to me in Rugeley, Staffordshire, and they charged £90 as I mentioned. Definitely worth doing, as they pointed out I had a missing boot seal too which I wouldn't have noticed otherwise.

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Thanks - Its the garage in Bristol. They have had a red one for quite some time.

So I am still looking so if you have a mint, low mileage, totally standard GTI in Anthracite, Laser Blue or Reflex Silver then please let me know.

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  • 1 month later...

Just a quick update for all of you who kindly gave me your thoughts on Japanese GTI's. I ended up sourcing a cracking 53 plate UK car with 42,000 miles on the clock. Its been serviced every year at VW main dealers and is totally unmolested. It even came with a brand new set of red edged mats still sealed in their bags and before anyone asks no I don't want to sell them. This is my third GTI as I just can't seem to live without one :D

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We have bought 2 Japanese imported car now, the first one was a rust bucket and the second was good. Do not assume they are rust free as some live close to the ocean. We are in the process of importing a Lupo now and I don't know how you guys check them out and test drive them before you bring them over from there. We just rely on pictures and the good reputation of the broker we use now. The first broker was not straight up with us.

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If anyone's wondering, there is a requirement in Japan to replace (with new) the engine and gearbox of a car every ten years, regardless of condition. It's purpose, I suspect, is to assist the Japanese car industry! So the Japanese rarely own a car for more than 10 years.

RAB

 

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I'm very doubtful about that! A fact check would be in order on that one.

I was under the impression that the Japanese government would not allow cars over 10 years to be registered to drive on the road.That was also not true.

My broker tells me that the incentive to buy new cars is insurance cost. As cars age there the insurance rates increase hugely as incentive to buy new.  It becomes uneconomical to keep a car over 10 years old no matter the miles accumulated.

They also have an large insurance incentive on vehicles under a certain engine displacement, hence all the 660 cc cars and mini trucks. That I understand is for exhaust emission purposes.

We tried to get an Audi, Jetta, Passat, Gulf or Lupo TDI from Japan but it seems they don't exist over there. I am not sure why but speculate that a diesel is more of a long term/high driven mileage investment and they don't think long term or high accumulated miles over there.

Edited by oprn
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In singapore there used to be (dunno if still true) what was called the certificate of entitlment or COE. You had to have one of those bits of paper before you could buy a car. Any car. I think it was done to limit numbers of cars on the road there. They were sold at auction for silly money, like £100,000 at one point. Needless to say many people who could afford a COE at that time drove silly cars like Lambos, ferraries and bentleys. Mad. And i also think the same 10 year rule applied. No car older than 10 years old. So no classic or vintage car scene, except people who could keep a car offroad as a hobby. I think it was done to keep emissions down, but i could be wrong. I heard about the Japan rule too. Which is why so many decent cars get exported to NZ and the UK (as they drive on the left like we do). In india and other places that drive on the left (developing countries) you need a 'carnet de passages en duane' (go google it), which restricts car imports of used cars. Funny old world. Oh, and in Australia, there used to be what was called a luxury car tax. If you drove a bog standard poverty spec beemer in the uk and brought it into aus, you'd have to pay a huge tax duty- luxury tax! I think the uk genuinely is the most liberal market for cars and car engineering- way more than the usa.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've owned many used imported Japanese vehicles. They're pretty common in my country. My Lupo GTI is one. 
If I was going to stereotype them:
- No service history. Most Japanese people don't plan on owning a car more than a few years, so the kind of preventative maintenance we would think normal, they probably won't do. 
- Lots of damaged vehicles. If its late model and being exported already, it has probably been crashed. On older stuff it's actually the opposite. If a car is over 15 years old and still going, it has probably been well looked after. 
- Stereo's and Sat Nav in Japanese... 
- Resale will never be the same. Though it's funny to note that in New Zealand if you had 3 identical vehicles: NZ new, Japanese import and UK import. The UK import will be always worth the least. NZ new the most. 

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