hi guys i have a my95 wrx and when i bought it i didnt have any history or anything to warrant the mileage all it had was paperwork etc saying it hadnt been stolen in japan.

i also noticed that the mileage reading isnt all in line its very slightly out, is this me being paranoid or not?

what paperwork did your import come with or was it like mine with little?

cheers guys

 

should not worry,i have a my95wrx and only knew the uk history,it should say on the vin plate gc8c48d(260bhp) and your gc8-027*** will state the year ,you can get this checked in uk,but don't know where.

 

What about the SIDC website?

 

what website is that?

 

is it a fresh import because it should have the logbook and stuff as well. or has it not been registered yet.

 

www.sidc.co.uk

 

Hate to be the bearer of bad burdens, but unless you went to the japanese auction yourself (there is no private market such as Autotrader in Japan as you have to trade in your vehicle to buy another one) and verified the mileage with your own eyes, there is a strong chance that it got clocked on the way to the port (clocking in Japan is highly frowned upon in it's own Domestic market), when it landed at our ports and so on and so forth. Many people believe that japan is a small overcrowded country, where it is twice the size of the UK with 120 million inhabitants. I have purchased two vehicles at Japanese auction with the help of a Mancunian trader who lived in Japan, and have seen first hand that most cars cover 10-12000Kms per year and many (usually jeeps) had mileages in excess of 150000Kms

Sorry
Craig

 

The 'paperwork' to which you refer will be from BIMTA; they offer a service whereby they verify the odometer reading on newly imported cars by comparing it with the reading taken during the auction appraisal. The auction sheet will have the odometer reading declared and if there is any question over its accuracy there will be a question mark after it. Cars are seldom stolen in Japan and it was extremely rare for them to be exported here; its now unheard of because the state inspects and de-registers all vehicles before they can be loaded on the ferries.

Craig is correct in that all Jap vehicles do not have a low kilometre count. Low mileages are common in the congested parts of the country but cars from the north may have 'mileages' similar to ours. It is the presence of the genuinely lower mileage cars that allows unscrupulous traders to clock cars. Make no mistake about where this happens and who does it though. The odometer reading on the auction appraisal sheet will be correct; cars are always 'flicked' between the auction and your driveway. Most 'importers' couldnt tell you what a Shakken is; let alone export a car from Japan; the truth is that most buy their 'imports' from large dock auctions. These cars are regularly lower grade and they always seem to have the oil change stickers removed from the door shuts; the cambelt stickers removed from the engine and the auction sheet is nowhere to be found, draw your own conclusions there. A service book is always supplied with a new Japanese car but they are seldom ever completed. The reason is simple: all Jap dealers are computerised, there is no culture of home-servicing in Japan at all. If you dont service you cant part-exchange; no part exchange means no car as you must have a registered (Police inspected) parking space for each car you own. As a result of this most used cars do not come with a service book.

The only real way to be sure of a vehicle's mileage or condition is to see the auction sheet; if the 'importer' cant provide it; you have to wonder why.....

Simon