LHD Japanese imports

[Hitch78]

I've posted this in the Middle East forum but perhaps someone on here can help me out.

I live in Dubai and there is a plentiful stock of low kms ex-Jap AMG Mercs in the classifieds. What I can't understand is why/how they're left hand drive. From the huge volumes of RHD ricers in the UK I presumed they were all RHD.

Anyone got any ideas?

[Chris_w666]

Something tells me that a japanese business man proves his wealth by having an imported car, if this is true and not something I made up years ago then that could explain the LHDness of Mercs shipped from Germany.

[sherman]

They drive on the same side of the road as us so the only 2 things that I can think of is that the car was imported into Japan or it was only available in Japan as LHD just like the fiat barchetta was only available in LHD in the UK.

[S3_Graham]

The Japs love LHD.

Its a sign of 'making it' out there.

[CampDavid]

They like the authenticity and foreign look of a European car in LHD, even, bizarrely, if the car's British

[Hitch78]

That might explain it - they're all mint low mileage top end Mercs and AMGs. Some lovely SELs and SECs on offer and a number of C43s and E55s, all with 40ishk kms.

[Mr Gear]

You need to be extremely weathy to import a car in Japan, therefore, you want to show your wealth by having a very obvious sign it's imported.

[hornetrider]

Ah, I've often wondered this about occasionaly 944s/968s cropping up as Jap imports with LHD. Question answered!

[dtmpower]

Dooshbag said:

LHD in Japan is seen as a prestige thing, highlighting the fact their car is European. They are commonly driven by Yakuza, the Jap mafia, if I recall correctly. I wouldn't bother with one unless it is something rare...

I agree that the Yakuza drive LHD, but in the same analogy I expect there are many more LHD European brand cars than there are active Yakusa driving them.

If you take a look at the domestic car sales website : www.goo-net.com/english you can easily find many LHD BMW or Mercedes...but in the same respect you can find lots of imported classic Mini or Rover RV8. There are lots of LHD American imports, from classics to modern day Mustangs and Trucks

Given Japan's location unless it's a locally made domestic car, you can see why it would be easier to buy the 'global' model, which in many cases is the LHD configuration.

And finally Japan's population is much higher than ours, with more limited space and in certain ways socially oppressed. So Japanese people find ways of being unique or looking prosperous.

[Hitch78]

Dooshbag said:

LHD in Japan is seen as a prestige thing, highlighting the fact their car is European. They are commonly driven by Yakuza, the Jap mafia, if I recall correctly. I wouldn't bother with one unless it is something rare...

Well cars in the ME live very hard lives and generally carry above average miles so they look very tired very quickly. Cars worth less than say GBP5/6k seem to disappear into the informal local markets so finding a desirable bargain barge, which is what I'm after, is pretty tough going.

This makes the Jap stuff rare in its own sense; cheap, mint, interesting cars.

[dtmpower]

Dooshbag said:

I wouldn't bother with one unless it is something rare...

Doosh - I agree with you when it comes to comparing car's already for sale in the UK, but in less developed car markets, where dealer support, financing and warranties are less prominent. Then an imported LHD from Japan may well be a better option than say a local market high 'mileage' local Arab owned family car. Where the environment and the local economy mean most cars will be treated as white goods.

[belleair302]

I believe that importing a car into Japan from a number of foreign countries carries a serious import tax. An SL65 costs in excess of GBP 220,000!!! In the past certain models had to be LHD, ie AMG and BMW M Models, but believe these rules have since been relaxed.

Anybody ever tried to buy a car in Singapore......makes Japan look cheap!

Edited by belleair302 on Monday 1st March 10:52

[Bebs]

belleair302 said:

Anybody ever tried to buy a car in Singapore......makes Japan look cheap!

Edited by belleair302 on Monday 1st March 10:52

Pah.. try Denmark. 180% tax plus 25% VAT

[chrisr29]

The above comments about lhd and prestige are correct. I had a Jap import lhd 968 for a couple of years, was way cheaper than a uk rhd model and clean as a whistle on the underside. Another bonus is they generally come with air-con.