Jap saloons/estates/minivans, what's good?

[Pebbles167]

Hi all.

I'll hopefully be looking to get another car sometime in the next few months, and with the likelihood of our family size increasing to four before too long, I could do with something a bit larger than my FN2.

I find the usual suspects a bit too common, ie: Audi A4/A6 and BMW 3/5 Series, so would ideally like something Japanese. A JDM model is appealing, although it doesnt have to be, if they were also sold in UK, such as the Legacy or IS250.

I keep looking at the Toyota Crown Athlete V, which with a budget of around £8k looks like it might be doable, and it fits the bill. Even something like an Alphard seems pretty cool. Other that what I've found on here, I'm unsure of what it's like, or what decent alternatives there are. Doesn't need to be especially fast, just something interesting.

Criteria? Loosely:

- 6 cylinder or higher, or Turbo 4, ideally,
- Petrol,
- Preferably automatic, not CVT,
- At least as big as a medium sized hatchback,
- 200bhp+
- Comfy, with some toys, media, TV, nav, etc,

No need for huge answers here, just a few pointers on what to look at so I can do some research. Would be happy enough to use an importer, or grab something already registered. I've had an import EVO III before, parts were easy enough to get for them, unsure if it'll be the same for other models.

Cheers for any help

Edited by Pebbles167 on Thursday 12th November 16:47

[Pebbles167]

samoht said:

Some rarities:

Toyota Auris Blade Master-G (3.5 V6)
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/toyota/auris/...

That definitely is very cool! Although it's good enough for its size, I'd like something bigger, as I went and saw my neighbours Auris this morning.

Axeboy said:

The later 3.5 v6 athlete would maybe be a better shout, prices for these are lower and you could import a decent grade lowish KM 3.5 Athlete for around £6k

Thanks for your informative reply. I think this is the best option, and I've been doing research and looking to see how available they are in the auctions. It's got most of the bits from the earlier crown that I like, and the 3.5 V6 is a good engine. I'll start speaking to some importers and seeing what can be done.

samoht said:

Toyota Century V12, why settle for less?

They are very awesome, so is the Nissan President, but I feel that although Toyota, and largely reliable, this will cost a fortune to run and service!

Landcrab_Six said:

Just remember the TV and Nav. will be Japanese standard and language, so largely useless.

£8k should get you a facelift 10-series Alphard

Thanks for the info, I was more just wanting the screen, for audio and stuff, as I rarely drive far anyway and phone nav is so good now. Unfortunately having looked at my garage and driveway, the Alphard wont properly fit! So will have to keep driving a car, at least for now.

[Pebbles167]

TommoAE86 said:

I have a S180 Crown Athlete 60th Anniversary edition, I paid less than £6.5k for it and it had 84,000kms and was a grade 3.5 - TorqueGT did it all for me.

Thanks a lot for the long and informative reply. I'm sold, I want what you have!

So my ideal package:

Toyota Crown Athlete GRS184
White or black
Black/marble interior
Cloth seats preferable
Grade 3.5+
Below 160,000km
Under £7k registered

I'll pm you shortly to potentially discuss more!

[Pebbles167]

TommoAE86 said:

Apologies for ignoring your "keep it short" op... as I said - get abit excited, forgot to say that beatsonic stereo solution is expensive iirc.

I would recommend TorqueGT, both my Crown and Skyline were so easy - just gave them the budget told them what I wanted and then it turned up.

4 trim levels for GRS184's, only the Athlete comes with cloth seats as far as I can see.

• Athlete
• Athlete Premium edition
• Athlete G package
• Athlete 60th Anniversary

33 GRS184's in the Japanese auction system at the moment so won't be hard to find what you want.

Have a play with goo-net, I've spent about 5 times any lottery win there

Quick look just now these two white ones have cloth seats - both of these show the dash cracking above the glove box, mine is the same.
2005, 84,000km, £4.5k in Japan
https://www.goo-net-exchange.com/usedcars/TOYOTA/C...

2006, 40,000km (!!!!), £4.9k
https://www.goo-net-exchange.com/usedcars/TOYOTA/C...

Black 2007 Premium edition, 64,000km, £5.5k
https://www.goo-net-exchange.com/usedcars/TOYOTA/C...

Haha the keep it short was optional!

Is there much in the way of benefits to the premium, G package, and 60th? The cloth/velour seats are just a preference, but if I've got to skimp on other cool japanese toys and stuff if I want them, I'll get one of the other models.

What is goo-net? Is this the auction listings?

There is one for sale in UK on Ebay, other than the odd headlight lenses, does this seem legit? The sale of my R1 fell through today, so it'll probably be a few weeks until I'm in a position to buy now, and this may be gone, but I'm interested.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2005-Toyota-Crown-3-5L-...

The dash cracks above the glove box do seem common. What do you recommend to either sort, or hide it?

I've been told to budget around £3k on top of car price for an import, seem about right? If so, how are these cars so cheap?! Is it the equivalent of something like an older Merc or Jag over here?

[Pebbles167]

Landcrab_Six said:

Really like those, prefer the earlier shape, but they're growing on me.

Personally, I'd only ever buy a fresh import, not one that has been pre-owned in the UK. But that's just me, I like to see them as they come in and look underneath before underseal is applied.

I'd also probably not buy one from Oldham. That has to be up there with Keighley for questionable car sales.

Haha I didnt know that, but I've heard Keighleys reputation. The earlier ones are also great, I dont have a preference but prices seem a bit cheaper for the later ones.

I love the cool rear lights and interior on both. One of the things I like most on them.

Landcrab_Six said:

Alphard or Elgrand will fit - they're shorter and narrower than a 5-series and around 1.9m tall.

I knew of one parked on the road in my town. I got out on my R1 earlier and nipped by to have a look. You're right, its not quite as huge as I thought. More VW transporter size than Fiat Ducato size. After doing some thinking, the Crown will win out in this case. Both are funky quirky japanese vehicles, but the crown wins in performance. Whilst I need more space, itll be a family of four, so not needing huge space.

[Pebbles167]

TommoAE86 said:

Entertainment
This has it's own section because it does need it really, another bit of fun with the Crowns is that these can't easily be replaced. There are 2 options both involved Beatsonic kits. One is a VTR cable which means you can connect a phone to it and then the full conversion that puts a double din system where the cd/minidisc stacker is and you'll have 2 screens showing the same info.
You can leave it as is, it's what I've done. I have a phone mount for satnav and I use the CD player/Hard drive to listen to music along with a regular FM expander. Almost all functions will work except the satnav and some of the G-book (like a connected service) features, things like the calendar etc will work. Bit of fun - when you turn it on it'll tell you the date and time (in Japanese), it'll also wish you Merry Xmas and Happy New Year at the appropriate times too biggrin

This section interests me in particular. I can't remember the last time I bought a CD, I'm spoiled by a modern work van with integrated bluetooth, I use to play spotify through my android phone.

In the past I've used one of those FM bluetooth radio tuners to get the music, but I'm fed up of it, so would likely be trying to plug something into this car, to either give me an auxiliary port, or bluetooth connection, or something. Any ideas if the cheaper beatsonic option would work?

No problems if I have to go double din screen, but I'd rather avoid if possible.

[Pebbles167]

Axeboy said:

I used a cheap VTR cable in my crown to just run my phone through as Aux

Was the simplest option in the end.

I cant remember but I also think I managed to get screen mirroring working too, it wasnt so hard in the end but served no real purpose to me and I ended up settling on the standard JDM nav with a band expander and the £15 VTR cable giving spotify etc through my phone

This was the older shape Crown but Id say Aux-in will be easy enough certainly

Edited by Axeboy on Tuesday 17th November 20:12

Aux in Via VTR cable does seem reasonably straight forward. After about 2 days solid research on every forum and facebook group, I think I'll either do that or just use a Blutooth FM tuner. Screen mirroring, custom double din set ups and various other things owners have done seem like a big faff.

Ultimately I'm buying the car for the engine, looks inside and out, and the waftability. I've never had a car with working built in Nav before, so I'll hardly miss it.

I've just got to sell my car and bike now, but will likely wait until spring.

Any pics of your Crown? If the 170 series ones with the 1JZ were not so expensive I'd probably be after one of them, but I do love the later 3.5 180 series.

Edited by Pebbles167 on Tuesday 17th November 22:06