Warning: Images Some JDM fans will find disturbing
"Do it yourself m8, you'll save loads". "Importers make 3-4k a car, right rip off". "well easy, do it yaself".
Some of the comments you see on Japanese Car pages on FB are comical.
I wish we made 3-4k a car! I digress,
We've had a customer on our books for some time, he had a decent budget for an FD2. Preferably Championship White, must have the red interior. Mild state of tune acceptable so intake, muffler that has JASMA approval.
We'd lost out on a few cars at our trusted sites and along comes a Grade 4 with 116,000 km / 72,095 miles. B interior. The auction sheet listed 2 A1s. Offside rear door just above the skirt and the front bumper. Perfect!
So we got the translation through from the auction sheet:
Xenon Light
Push start
Aftermarket 18 inch AW
Seat a bit dirty
Dirty on Steering
Minor Damage on AW
Paint marked on Side mirror
Paint coming off on front grill
EG room dirty
Painted underneath, possible surface rust
OK, not the end of the world. So we cleared this with our client and budgeted for the extra work required. We instructed the auction house to carry out an inspection at our cost. Nothing more to report than what was on the auction sheet.
News came back the following day, for a pretty good price too. Everyone was happy.
Now this is where we differ from most "importers". With all cars won in the southern part of Japan, the car is transported from the auction house to our facility in Nagoya. There the car is put on a ramp and checked over thoroughly. A bit like a pre-MOT inspection. From here we photograph the car underneath and once the inspection is over, take it to a traditionally Japanese area for photos.
To say we were shocked at the report is an understatement!
Rust on the roof in multiple places
Plastic cover for wipers faded
Bubble and rust
Overspray on rubbers
Faded headlights
Paint damage on grille, front bumper, front lip
Surface rust and corrosion underneath
All wheels have 3-5cm non deep damage
Front door black trim scratched
Rust around engine mounts
Dirty Shift Boots
Damaged Driver Seat Floor Mat
Dirty / Surface Rust Underneath with areas painted with black paint
Ask yourself, if you had won this car at auction via one of "internet only" importers who literally bid on your behalf and any inspection is done by the auction house themselves, would you be happy?
We were open and honest with our customer from the start and that wasn't going to change once we inspected the car. We told him straight, we aren't happy. We will not be selling you this car. We attempted to go back to auction house to raise a complaint. They weren't interested.
We ended up selling the spare wheels and putting the car back through auction at USS Nagoya. They graded it a more accurate 3.5 with B interior.
It sold today for what it was truly worth. Around 1m Yen (£6620). We lost around £1500 from this ordeal. We could have covered up the defects, got the roof repainted and undersealed over the corrosion and rust.
Our reputation is worth more to us than £1500 or £15000. These are special cars that hold a place in our hearts. This FD2 maybe be repairable and can be put right, but transparency is everything to us.
We have since won a fantastic example at USS Nagoya for our customer which leaves Japan soon. The FD2 is quickly becoming a popular import and now with the RR hitting 10 years old (we've sold 4 now!) we hope to see more great FD2s coming over in 2018.
