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Diesel price premium 22-Apr-2010 At 10:42:57 AM Philtown

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On 20/04/2010 maxdacat wrote:
>how did you go about that? is it a grey import? worth the extra cost
>(if any?)....ta.

No probs- favourite topic of conversation at the mo! :P

I wanted a 4WD long wheel base van to turn into a camper for crags/snow trips. Preferably diesel since the olds want to steal it for grey nomad expeditions eventually. Only 2 options really whihc are Hiaces that never got imported into Australia or Mitsubishi delicas, which have bugger all room for a camper fitout. There's a few brokers here in Aus who charge a fee for their service which accesses the Japanese auction sites. If there's something you like the look of they then get it inspected at auction, bid for it, then guide you through the process of getting it shipped, through customs, complied to Aus standards and registered. I used a bloke called Geoff at www.prestigemotorsport.com.au who was very good.

All up you can get a better spec vehicle for (generally) cheaper than what you'd pay here, at the risk you import something that you haven't seen first hand and don't know the history of. So it pays to be conservative. My 1998 LWB toyota hiace 4WD 3L turbo diesel with 100,000kms and one owner will end up costing about $15k on the road. That's about 3-5 grand cheaper than you'd get for a similar vehicle from a dealer here, and I had an impossible time finding a LWB model. Everything over here imported by dealers is a SWB version and marketed to the Xzibit crowd. And often dodgy.

Flick us a message if you want to know any more, the process of getting it over is involved but straight forward. Cheers.