Been looking for Gen 3 B4 manual to stick in the garage and drive on Sundays .My choices here in Australia have been limited to high k cars or others that have $1000s spent on them and their asking price is only for dreamers .
Last night I had a look as car sales in Japan and WoW what a great selection .Their are B4 s with 35000k for $12000AU My question is their any one here that has imported a car from Japan ?? what are the good and bad points of doing a self import ??
http://www.tradecarview.com/used_car/ja ... 2004&ps=25
copy and past info
Japanese Car Market
Car registration system in Japan is called 'Shaken'. It requires a series of safety inspections combined with compulsory insurance, weight and vehicle tax. New cars are sold with 3 years 'Shaken'. After the first 'Shaken' expires it must be renewed every 2 years throughout the ownership of the vehicle. Therefore many Japanese generally sell or part-exchange their cars at the end of 5th or 7th year of ownership as 'Shaken' expires. The cost of renewing the 'Shaken' is relatively high as the Japanese Government's policy is to reduce car ownership due to the limited space available. In fact, the Japanese car owner must prove that he/she has sufficient parking space for each car they register.
Japanese used cars mean quality. The Japanese usually keep their cars in immaculate condition and service them regularly. Also due to the space limitations and highly crowded roads they have a low mileage. All of this means that we can import high quality, high spec cars at prices much lower than those charged for the cars available locally. If you would like to know more about buying a Japanese car direct from Japan we will be happy to answer your questions. Feel free to email us at Japan Car Sales.

....you have to live there and own the car for 12months then you apply to import the car through d.o.t.a.r.s. that is how my car came to australia it was brought new by a friends friend.