Congrats on the purchase.
If you don't mind me asking, what did you end up paying for the car in total, meaning purchase price + all shipping cots.
I am curious about that.
Sure. No problem.
So it’s a 2002 model. Had just over 60,000miles on the clock. Auction sheet showed it as a grade 4 B interior and B exterior. Noted that there were a few dents, scratches and one of the panels had been replaced. The team at BHP Imports checked it at the auction house and gave the thumbs up.
My budget to get a car from Japan on the road here was 14,500 with a bit of wiggle room if needed for changes in exchange rate etc. Based on my budget, Baz at BHP gave me a breakdown of the bid, expected tax and transport costs, and the BHP prep and fee.
I dont have the exact numbers to hand, if I remember correctly the bid max was around 11,600. We won the car for 11,300. Tax and transport came in at 1750 and the BHP fee was 1500. So we came in around the 14,500 budget mark. That got the car from the auction block to being road legal in the Uk. 6months tax and mot. The only extra I needed to get was new tyres as they were running low. The only unexpected cost was a 30quid fine for failing to pay the toll on the Tyne Tunnel when Driving home.
The BHP prep undersealed, detailed the car, changed to mph, refurbished the alloys, changed filters, new oil, removed the dents including the noticeable one on the passenger door/skirt, etc. It felt quite comprehensive.
My budget was based on what I’d seen good premieres going for here. I’d been searching for a while. The rusty lemons tended to hang around and eventually sell (I made a lot of use of DVLA MOT history to weed them out). The good ones seemed to get snapped up super quick.
During the process I purchased various parts and had them fitted once the MoT was passed. But that was all outside of the original budget for the car.
I’m super happy with it. It’s 20 years old. It’s not perfect. But it drives great. Sounds great. Puts a smile on my face