fz23

I have found that given recently improved accessibility of the auctions via the dozens of agents, the prices achieved in Japan have become much more representative of the value on a global level. In the case of the Lupo, as they are all RHD in Japan, the only other market with real buying power is the UK, i.e. the price at auction + fees + shipping + clearance etc. usually reflects the perceived resale value fairly well! While I would agree with your statement that like-for-like (if that exists) a UK car would outprice a Japanese car, the reality seems to be that overall the average quality of a Japanese GTI will beat that of a UK one, for reasons already mentioned in the thread. So yes I suppose one could take advantage of a discount with a Japanese car, hence my argument would be to work back from what the value of a very good 38k miler in the UK would be; at least that's how I came up with my number (but perhaps I am wrong!). As a final casing point: the second car, the 43k miler I have inbound would be available at roughly the same price as then you have referenced above, highlighting the benefit over an inferior condition UK car with 10k more miles. I am fortunate enough to be able to acquire (mostly) directly avoiding the agents and thought unmolested low-mileage examples might be of interest to this community, so again I am open for offers on the two cars!

Will do once they are over here, think they've been loaded already. Agreed, I was planning on having a service + belts done to give peace of mind. A red one with over 75k miles sold for £6500 on Collecting Cars earlier in the year. Although I think that one had a leather interior, heated seats and sunroof.

And the 38k mileage car (apologies the quality isn't the greatest..):

Hope everyone was able to enjoy some time off; as promised I wanted give an update on the cars arriving. Both black, with standard Japan equipment (AC, side airbags), 2003 cars with 6 speed. One has 38k miles and the other around 43k miles. Both come with service records and were very good auction grades for the age (4/B). The cars should arrive in the UK in late February, feel free to PM me if any of them might be of interest. The 43k mileage car:

Mmm based on this it looks like I've priced it fairly well? To cut a long story short the 44k mls car has sold since. The pictures above are actually from the other one I've bought the same week, at 38k miles. I should have better pictures tomorrow or the day after which I will be happy to share, even if it's just for interest to the community. It's generally an interesting conversation to establish a value for them as besides the one referenced above is one of the only benchmarks. On the subject of values of the cars in Japan, you will be hard pressed trying to get one for $2k! The best ones have exceeded JPY 700k at auction recently, so around £5k. Add c.£1.5k for domestic shipping, auction fee, transport to UK and docs, not including clearance (duty & VAT). So you can see not exactly the easy money that you think it is. As explained, I've done it to tick off some of my bucket list cars and hopefully not losing too much money doing it!! 😄

Hi all, I have a very clean low mileage black Lupo GTI inbound from Japan arriving in the UK in February. It's a 2003 model year and hence comes with the 6 speed transmission, as well as factory AC and side airbags. Otherwise very standard and unmodified. VIN reveals it's a Wolfsburg car. The car was rated 4 for overall condition (5 being the highest) and B for interior (A being the best), for those of you in the know with Japanese auctions! I have the original auction report plus translation available showing any defects. To be absolutely clear I'm a private individual and am doing this merely as a hobby and to build up a collection. The only reason I'm selling this one before it even hit the shores is that I've bought an exact second one with even lower mileage, as luck would have it (which may or may not be for sale also). I have been desperately trying to source an unmolested GTI nationally with comparable condition/mileage and it seems that they just don't exist any more. Here's one to be enjoyed, to be stored in a collection, or to be displayed at car shows - it's that clean! Apologies for the quality of the pictures as they were taken straight from the auction. I should have a more comprehensive set next week. Anyway, offering it first here to the enthusiasts as otherwise it will go straight to auction when it arrives. Will come MOTd and registered in your name as first keeper. Tax at your cost. Make: VW Model: Lupo GTI MOT: 12 months TAX: £270ish (PLG Class 11) Engine size: 1600 Fuel type: Petrol Location: London Price: £7500 ono