garage-r

[Juz]

has anybody any experience with //www.garage-r.co.jp ? i should be getting paid out from the insurance hopefully in the next month or so and ever since my car has been written off i\'ve been looking at the rx7\'s for sale every day (on here, on autotrader and on ebay). however i\'ve yet to find one that fits my needs exactly. i\'ve got quite a specific thing in mind (black 92-96ish, standard looking exterior other than aftermarket wheels, 2+2 seats, red leather, catback exhaust, adjustable suspension, less than 30k miles) and am struggling to find anything close over here, so now i\'m starting to look at the japanese auctions and the prospect of importing one directly.

i\'ve stumbled across garage-r (from a link on this board i think when searching old auction threads) and they have hundreds in, but the whole site is in japanese (other than the prices in yen which i can convert, and the odometer readings in km). i was wondering if anybody has any experience with them and could recommend them (or recommend against them if that\'s the case) and if anybody has ever bought from them before? do they have an english speaking contact number or form because judging from their site it looks like they cater for domestic jap market sales, but i would be pretty sure they\'d deal in exporting too?

also on a more general importing note - how much roughly would you usually be looking at on top of paying £5000 - £7000 for a car in japan to actually get it shipped over, tested and on the road? and assuming they had a car i wanted right away, how long would they usually take till it\'s with me and on the road? i recall reading on here about people who have imported directly before having to wait several months to get the car, is this normal?

thanks

[Freddy]

Hi!

Most of Garage R\'s stock is probably now sold as they have each and every listed there for years! Their site is regularly updated with newer stock. However, I would say at any given time they only have a handful of stock.

They are also  brokers for other dealers and most of the cars they own are bought from the auctions and aimed towards the Japanese Domestic Market, therefore it would be more in your interest to also buy from the auctions.

The auction and dealer buying is a service we also provide for UK customers, including having the car on the road for the customer. To find the right car in Japan could take up to 2 weeks. Once bought then add a further 5 weeks before it reaches the UK. Thereafter another 1-2 weeks to register and have the car on the road. So, all in all you would be looking at around approx 2 months. Several months is a long time to wait for a car. What you would find is that some companies are not able to get bookings on heavily booked vessels, meaning the customer here then having to wait until a vessel does come available. The shipping schedules are much much more frequent these days, so the logistics of getting the car here would be much more smoother.

Typically, if a car cost you £5k in Japan. It would work out to around £7400 by the time the shipping is paid, duty, VAT and registration costs.

Hope that helps!

 

[Freddy]

Lol... Just seen this going through the auctions. Meets all the requirements you have. Black, 1995, Bathurst model with 32000 miles on the clock, Grade 4 too!

[rextreme]

I went to their two locations many times in japan. Garage R and King Buyer
From a distance their cars seem ok. but up close usually fair - poor quality.

They have the odd gem though. like that light blue amemiya car a while back.

Their trading name kaizosha refers to cars that wont pass japanese shaken easily. so they are usually a bit cheaper.

Miguel lives around the corner and he is never interested in the stuff they have there or at king buyer. Its all a bit ...rough...

I am slightly biased but you cant go past miguel and newera.
He is there in Japan and inspect everything he buys. You only get quality.

But if you want to buy from a computer screen from the UK, you can do that too.

I already had my FD in Japan when I first met Miguel. He immediately picked a few things that I didnt and since needed replacing.

Russ

[Freddy]

If I remember right Russ, there was a white re amemiya kitted FD which you viewed there and finally made its way to the UK. Probably because the person on the other end here did not get a chance to see the car in flesh and confirm its condition!  :reallymad

Buying whilst viewing in auctions is key. Which is also what we do with the guys in Japan. Its amazing how the some of the cars are merely nice from far but far from nice. I have visited auctions before and ended up buying cars which looked border line in the pics but were gems when seen in person. Nothing surpasses being there!

[Bathurst]

Juz,

Please provide your email address I have a car that might be of interest to you.

Or email me at.

tariqarain@aol.com

T.

[ozzyvelcro]

try this


http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.garage-r.co.jp/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://www.garage-r.co.jp/%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DG

Danny

[rextreme]

I used to live literally just around the corner from M-Cat in Japan

They sold only the best of the best second hand rx7 and roadster ONLY!

Pity at retail price though.
Prices were always over 3Million Yen as they were near new SpiritR, RS-R and RZ with the odd lower spec. I only saw a few pre 99 models there as they only carried cars of showroom quality.

An amazing place. They would have about 10-20 late FD\'s on the floor at any one time.

I would go past every day and drool

http://www.goo-net.com/cgi-bin/goojp/used/zaiko_n_w.cgi?client_cd=0502122&areacd=13&baitai=goo&flag=&lang=

[gsb876]

I think this is the blue one you were on about:

[rextreme]

no thats rmagic demo car 6Million yen



went for 2.8M

[gsb876]

Very nice, i think the top one was alittle too over done ?

[Wav]

no thats rmagic demo car 6Million yen



went for 2.8M

I want, I want, I want...... gimme gimme gimme  :3gears-lh  :yes


Paul :guinness

[Freddy]

Both those blue ones look brill!

Any plans of moving back Russ?

Paul, you need to come TAS 2006. Too many nice FD\'s.

[rextreme]

Yes.

Plan is move back Mid 2006
But I may be over at Xmas also to set up a few things catch up with firends, check TAS and generally enjoy Japan.

I am saving like a bastard (currently driving Yaris) and I should have enough for some very nice toys.
I am planning for a nice later model modified street/race FD.
It WILL be White Panda and feature lots of Carbon and drive on White TE37.
These things are mandatory.
As for styling choices are too many and will depend on spec of the car I buy.
Big Single and hopefully a similar spec to the light blue one. i.e. Everthing tuned.

Just depends where I run out of money and whats around at the time I am looking.

I also plan to buy a drift pig FD so I dont destroy the other one with crazy behaviour and try to improve my driving further. The last car was pretty average by the end. And If I learned one thing. Its that drifting destroys your car if its not already prepared for it.
If its not already, I\'ll make it as lightweight as possible. I dont care about outright power for this one but it will probably get the full compliment of light FRP panels like my last car.

Thats the current plan anyway.
Russ.

[Wav]

Both those blue ones look brill!


Paul, you need to come TAS 2006. Too many nice FD\'s.

Hmmm, well I have already said to Faheem that if I can submit my thesis before the 1st January then i will come as a reward :chat  :guinness So i\'ll have to get my finger out and start writing something as it will definitely be a challenge :rolleyes:

Ta,

Paul