Japan Imports - Rust Free?

[LayZ]

I've been eyeing up R129s of late, having impure thoughts about selling my old 911 for something more usable with the kids, like an old SL 500 with full on amber indicators and big power.



This one has tickled my fancy as it has the look I'm after (no facelifts, full power 322PS V8), but is a Jap import. They make out that that means it will be rust free - but why? Correct me if I am wrong but they have a lot of coastline and plenty of rain. What makes them exempt?

Also - why are they imported to the UK? Surely SLs can't be worth less in Japan than here, we have the cheapest used cars in the world.

[eybic]

The £ is weak so importing to us earns a bit more money. AFAIK they don't use salt on their roads so therefore there is a lot less chance of seeing any rust. I have seen the underside of 10+ year old import cars looking like new.

[Fuchs]

Jap imports are meant to be "rust free" because they dont salt their roads in winter.....

All other things that cause rust still apply though.

[pidsy]

It may be rust free when it arrives, but it wont be after a winter over here!

Underseal the life out of it as soon as you have it serviced/prepped over here. Should be around £100. I underseal my import every year.

Jdm cars have no undercar protection as standard due to their weather, climate and the fact they dont use salt on their roads. We do and i have seen many imports that have rusted to pieces in a few years as the new uk owner never had it done.

[LayZ]

Thanks. So sounds like a good enough idea as long as the underseal is done regularly.

[Goldmember1]

Know it's petty ( and I could be wrong ) but on such a nice car like that it would annoy me that , looking at those pics , the speedo is in kph . Also the mileage is listed as 24,000 miles not kms.

[300bhp/ton]

doogz said:

In Japan old shoes are cool. Old cars are not (for the most part)

Isn't it down to some sort of Mot/Tax type thing that makes owning a car of 'x' age very expensive in Japan, where they get penalised?

[eybic]

You shouldn't really need to reapply underseal for a long time if enough is put on in the first place. Mine only "set" after about 5 yrs of ownership

[traffman]

We purchased a Honda crx from a jap importer , it was mint when it came over , however a few harsh winters up here put paid to the term mint.

[aw51 121565]

300bhp/ton said:

doogz said:

In Japan old shoes are cool. Old cars are not (for the most part)

Isn't it down to some sort of Mot/Tax type thing that makes owning a car of 'x' age very expensive in Japan, where they get penalised?

Yes. The Shaken.

The first one (at 3 years of age, off the top of my head) is similar to an MoT; the second one two years later involves the replacement of items that are "life expired" (things like steering rack and other safety-related items - the same sort of policy as used on Airplanes where safety-critical components are replaced at set intervals, I believe) regardless of their condition. The second Shaken is expensive so a car that needs one is worthless and it's more cost-effective to buy a new car apparently.

But these worthless 5 year old Japanese-market cars, when exported to the UK, are then generally capable of passing quite a few MoTs...

[Trommel]

pidsy said:

Jdm cars have no undercar protection as standard

Whilst it might have once been true for Japanese cars, I don't think Mercedes decided not to put any rust protection on the cars they sent there.

[300bhp/ton]

Trommel said:

pidsy said:

Jdm cars have no undercar protection as standard

Whilst it might have once been true for Japanese cars, I don't think Mercedes decided not to put any rust protection on the cars they sent there.

Shame they forgot to put it on the cars they sold in Britain though

[Trommel]

R129s aren't prone to it.

[Chicane-UK]

Wow that's a glorious machine.. and for less than a new Fiat 500! Love it!

[J4CKO]

Chicane-UK said:

Wow that's a glorious machine.. and for less than a new Fiat 500! Love it!

Yeah but lets not get all Quetin Wilson (Bentley Turbo R for the price of a Mondeo etc), its a big, old Merc with a big V8 that will do 15 - 20 mpg and come with no warranty. they were well built but it only compares with a Fiat on the purchase price, things will cost more. That said, bought at the right money it wotn depreciate much, the Fiat tends to depreciate gently but it will probably lose more money in three years, the Merc is a bit of a wildcard I guess is what I am saying.

[carreauchompeur]

That looks stunning. Quite a high price though, even with the low miles? Knowing how the Japanese tend to treat their cars though it'll probably be a good'un/ in most of the major cities you have to have an off street parking space to register a car so it has *probably* been garaged.

[cptsideways]

I used to import a lot of JDM cars & the rust free status was 90% correct, you will get the odd one that is rusty but its rarely if ever worse than a UK car. On the whole a 10 year old JDM cars looks like 3 year old UK car underneath.

[300bhp/ton]

Trommel said:

R129s aren't prone to it.

As tough as old boots I reckon. A friend has a G or H plate SL500, a bit scratched up but very solid. Although I wasn't keen on how it went, much preferred my XJ-S V12, but the Jags sadly so suffer the rust

[pidsy]

Trommel said:

Whilst it might have once been true for Japanese cars, I don't think Mercedes decided not to put any rust protection on the cars they sent there.

True. The merc isnt a jdm car though. I was illustrating the point. Still be worth doing though as a winter over here will hit it pretty hard.

[deadslow]

car looks nice, but I do struggle to trust any dealer who cannot spell 'metallic'