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.