Hi guys after being into my gtr skylines for ages i thought i would give a subaru a go ( always had a soft spot for the coupes) now i have came across a v6 type r in japan at a very silly price and have fallen for the car ( got a friend in japan that can check the car over for me)but i see they do the model reports but only for the four door saloons, i have seen other big importers advertising type r coupes in transit from japan ie late 97 models and 98 models, how do they get their cars through. Please help this newbie take his first steps on the scooby ladder, any help will be most appreciated, if you need to contact me my e mail is ian.hunter35@btinternet.com

 

Sorry guys i should have introduced myself first as a newbie but i just cannot contain my excitement as i am very close to owning a long time must have car.

 

Its called "they changed the rules" so the chances are you wont be able to import a V6 or a V5 type R into the country
Have a word with GC8 (Simon)

Tony

 

You can import it without any problems: the problem comes when you try to register it..... Any vehicle produced after 311296 requires an Enhanced SVA test and during the test the car is compared to a Model Report. As far as I am aware no one has produced (and made available for hire: and if anyone had produced one then theyd certainly rent it out as youd recoup your money far more quickly through hire fees than through car sales) a Model Report for a two door WRX STI. Until April 2004 there was a loophole which people exploited (the disabled loophole), where: by fitting a small part to the car it qualified for a simple SVA test. ****-taking was rife and virtually every 97> car imported until then took the ****-take route rather than the Model Report route: for a reason unknown it took the MoT years to finally remove the altered for disabled use provision.

You can import a V STI Type-R Saloon though, if that takes your fancy?


Simon

 

don't get my what about buying one that is already in the uk i'm sure there are some for sale

 

I hadnt read your post properly, sorry. There are ways to get around it, but they arent practical. If the car is a personal import it only needs to pass a simple SVA test, but if you havent owned the car for six months and lived there for a year then it isnt a personal import. If you convert the car to LHD then it will only have to pass a simple SVA test, it isnt worth the trouble for a single car though. In the same way that a LHD car takes an easier route here, the same applies in Europe for a RHD car, I cant even speak Dutch though, let alone register my car there (once registered within the EU registration in the UK is easy). Your final option is to register the car in a RHD state with a more casual attitude (Cyprus); thats possible but its a logistical nightmare... Speaking of which, exporting a car from Japan is a nightmare too and its the opposite of here where you send a form to Swansea and take the car to the docks...


Simon

I hadnt mentioned falsifying the certificate of deregistration, but that would be extremely foolish.

 

i thought they also have the sva in cyprus to?