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Aug 13, 2008 12:07:20 GMT
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I've been looking at replacing my daily driver Pug 306 HDi with a J import mini,Ive found a specialist in Coventry who offered me a £1000 for it.But what i wanted to know is there anything i should know about running a J import here?such as insurance and MOT pitfalls.J minis are a million miles better in condition than a UK based mini,i just wondered what the catch was.
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Aug 13, 2008 12:17:15 GMT
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Your insurance premium will certainly be higher than it would for the equivalent UK model, and saying the word 'import' does sometimes result in a flat 'no' from certain insurers. That said, there's countless J imports on the roads over here, so they can't all be hugely prohibitive!
I've heard rumours about JDM cars being tuned to run on higher octane fuel as well - anyone here running one that can confirm/deny?
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horney™
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,289
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Aug 13, 2008 13:50:33 GMT
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Not on the old Mini A series I wouldn't have thought. J minis had loads of cool stuff like aircon!
Nick
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Rich G
Posted a lot
Keyboard Worrier
Posts: 1,059
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Aug 13, 2008 14:05:43 GMT
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Import? They were built here on the same lines as all UK sold Minis and then exported to Japan, so how could they be classed as an import?
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Japanese minisjettadeluxe
@GUEST
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Aug 13, 2008 14:15:04 GMT
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Import? They were built here on the same lines as all UK sold Minis and then exported to Japan, so how could they be classed as an import? Probably because they were exported? ;D |
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Japanese minisRobinxr4i
@robinxr4i
Club Retro Rides Member 143
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Aug 13, 2008 14:33:22 GMT
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Import? They were built here on the same lines as all UK sold Minis and then exported to Japan, so how could they be classed as an import? Probably because they were exported? ;D LOL! Although they might have been built in the UK they would have been registered in Japan first so it'll be classed as an import. |
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Sierra - here we go again! He has an illness, it's not his fault.
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jaswh
Part of things
Posts: 154
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Aug 13, 2008 16:55:22 GMT
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a lot of minis in japan have come from this place minis.co.uk/going back a couple of years ago they were shipping them out by the boat load |
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Aug 13, 2008 17:53:20 GMT
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Many have air con, which is nice, but really cramps up the engine bay and passenger footwell.
Seemingly they don't have good underseal on them, so unless this is re-done with decent stuff, once exposed to salty UK roads it will disolve even faster than normal.
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1986 Panda 4x4.
1990 Metro Sport.
1999 Ford Escort estate.
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Aug 13, 2008 18:49:28 GMT
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a lad on minireosurce either imported one or owns an import, might be worth asking on there??
J minis are in better nick as a rule tho
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Aug 13, 2008 19:53:10 GMT
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Yeah he did say that they could underseal them for a small fee,but to be honest i would like to do that myself.They are very cramped under the bonnet,i was quite surprised by that but the condition more than makes up for it.They seem to have some nice limited editions aswell but even some of the Coopers are autos,very few have manual boxes.
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Your insurance premium will certainly be higher than it would for the equivalent UK model, and saying the word 'import' does sometimes result in a flat 'no' from certain insurers. That said, there's countless J imports on the roads over here, so they can't all be hugely prohibitive! Nope - I must disagree with you on this one. When I had my JDM Prelude, I was wincing at the various prices, until I found Tesco. Their online form didn't say anything about an import and the price was really good, so I thought that I would be good and call them up. The woman on the other end of the line basically said that they didn't give a stuff whether it was imported or not! The Sera was very well priced (can't remember who with though... Probably Admiral via confused.com), the RVR was cheap as chips as well. Just use a few price comparison websites. If you're not buying a gazillion horsepower in a shoebox, you'll get decent insurance no trouble. |
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Your insurance premium will certainly be higher than it would for the equivalent UK model, and saying the word 'import' does sometimes result in a flat 'no' from certain insurers. That said, there's countless J imports on the roads over here, so they can't all be hugely prohibitive! Nope - I must disagree with you on this one. When I had my JDM Prelude, I was wincing at the various prices, until I found Tesco. Their online form didn't say anything about an import and the price was really good, so I thought that I would be good and call them up. The woman on the other end of the line basically said that they didn't give a stuff whether it was imported or not! The Sera was very well priced (can't remember who with though... Probably Admiral via confused.com), the RVR was cheap as chips as well. Just use a few price comparison websites. If you're not buying a gazillion horsepower in a shoebox, you'll get decent insurance no trouble. Agreed. Never had a problem covering my Eunos and a Mini should be less of a problem regardless of where it was first registered. |
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@pistonbroker on Twitter
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Davenger
Club Retro Rides Member
It's only metal
Posts: 7,272
Club RR Member Number: 140
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Japanese minisDavenger
@dminifreak
Club Retro Rides Member 140
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Most of the minis in Japan were exported second hand, cars are evern stolen to order in this country and lost forever to the japanese market.
Watch you don't get your fingers burnt by buying a stolen car that's made it's way back.
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My mother drives a J import Mazda 121 - the normal issue for insurance is the VIN which will show whether or not it's an "import". In my mother's case, it naturally has a J VIN but isn't classed as an "import" even although the insurance company knows it wasn't a UK spec model....confused?  Talking about Minis and the Japanese connection - has anybody ever converted a Mini to run on a Datsun/Nissan "A-series" engine - I was just pondering this yesterday...wondering if you could simply bolt in a J engine? |
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Tell it like it is.... NOT how it should be  |
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