glastoveteran

Thanks all for the replies. Harry and Andy I' be interested to know what Nissan say if you wouldn't mind letting me know?

Cheers.

Hi all,

I've just picked up my JDM roadster and there seems to be a problem with the roof. It has only successfully opened once and now it just refuses to go all the way down. It gets to the stage where it's folded back and almost tucked away and then just stops. If you release and press the swictch again you can hear a relay clicking on somewhere but nothing else happens.

Because it's only opened properly once I just wanted to check I'm doing everything I should which is holding my foot on the brake and holding the open button. Nothing else I should be doing?!

Thanks,

Alex

Thanks guys for all the comments.

Sorry Chris for not having put the shift kit on ebay yet - been quite busy but I promise I'll let you know when I do!

ungarsee - I've got the Z4 3.0i Sport Coupe and I love it. In terms of comparrison with the zed, some things are better and some not but overall I prefer it to the 53 reg UK zed I had:

0-60 (0-62) times are identical to the 07 Zeds - 5.5 (5.7) - but the Z4 is lighter and has a 3.0 litre straight six so it easily averages over 30 MPG and will do 300 - 400 miles on a 55 litre tank!

One thing I liked about the zed was that it's not that common - can easily go for a while without seeing another, and whilst the Z4 Roadsters are as common as dog @*!# you hardly ever see Coupes, and I really like that.

The interior feels more expensive than the Zed's (to be expected from a BMW) and has a few more toys as standard - automatic headlights and wipers, memory seats and aircon settings linked to the keyfobs and much more in the way of optional extras which can be both a good and bad thing I suppose. If you're buying used then you might get lucky with a well spec'd one. Base stereo is pretty crappy but does at least have an AUX input as standard.

I probably don't drive on the limit enough to be able to notice much difference between the handling but I certainly haven't got any complaints! Quite noisy on the motorway partly due to the runflat tyres.

Maybe I'll come back to the zed one day...

Congratulations mate - looks wicked! I'm so glad it didn't turn out to be as much of a nightmare as mine, which incidentally I still haven't got!!

In fairness to them it was ready mid-September but I asked them to try and sell it for me. Needless to say not much luck there so I'm off to pick it up next week to try myself.

Who did the tests to get the model report produced in the end - I assume if you've already got it that it can't have been MIRA?

Hope it's all been worthwhile - enjoy!

Hi all,

I need to sell a 2007 Roadster and I know demand and therefore prices tend to be lower at this time of year, but the question is do you think I am better off just shutting it up for the Winter and waiting until Spring to try and sell? I know it'll probably be easier to sell then but would I achieve a better price now or wait 4 - 5 months? Depreciation verses lack of demand at this time of year...

For those that have ready any of my previous posts this is my JDM import that I foolishly decided to import through Bonsaicars last December. 11 months later and I'm finally off to pick it up next week but I really couldn't care less for it any more and I just want to see the back of it. I had to go out and buy something else for daily use and also for a big European trip so bought a Z4 Coupe instead [waits for abuse...]! It's a real shame that this experience has put of off the Zed but I'd just rather keep the Z4 now.

Thanks guys,

Alex

If anyone is still watching this thread and is interested in one of these kits then I have one for sale here:

http://www.350z-uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=234902#234902

Hi all,

I ordered one of these directly from Works Bell in Japan whilst expecting my JDM import to be ready. I've wait so long for the car that I've now gone and bought something else instead so this column shifter kit is up for sale.

Here it is in action on YouTube:

And here's the details on the Works Bell website:

http://www.worksbell.co.jp/en/products/boss/column_shifter.htm

The difference between the "paddle shifter" in the video and the "column shifter" which I am selling is that the paddle shifter is for aftermarket steering wheels and the column shifter is for OEM. Also the paddles on this kit are carbon fibre with an alluminium body.

You don't need to buy anything else to go with the kit and I can provide you with English instructions and a link to a step by step install guide on a US forum (looks like an easy enough DIY job to me taking about an hour).

As far as I know these aren't available from any UK sellers and to my knowledge nobody on the forum has one so be the first! Needless to say this is only for JDM tiptronics!

I just want to get back what I've paid with VAT and shipping etc, so the cost is £260 + £9 next day delivery.

Please PM if you're interested. Thanks.

is that a mini disc incorporated?

Yep - slightly better than a tape but only just! I can imagine them at Nissan thinking hard about which on-the-way-out music format to replace the old died-a-death-20-years-ago tape player with! Why MiniDisc?! If they had spent their efforts putting an ipod / aux input on instead they would have saved themselves some cash and had much happier customers!

2007 JDM:

At least it's vaguely hopeful that the GT-R won't have a tape player!

I'm just weighing up the differences between the TomTom XL Europe V2 and the TomTom GO 920 which seem to both be available for around the same price, yet the GO 920 seems to offer more functionality, e.g. Bluetooth, hands-free calling, FM transmitter etc.

I think the GO 920 is an older model than the XL Europe V2 but is there much new with the XL that makes it worth going for?

Anything else I should be looking at? My main requirements are a decent sized screen and Western Europe maps.

Thanks

Thanks for all the replies guys

They do fit, but not easily. Without the power lead it's fine, but with it in, and because it's located at the bottom of the unit, you need to remove the rubber mat and kind of wedge the whole thing in at a jaunty angle so it stays put, and so you can actually see it. It'll bend the crap out of the power connector itself, but the socket remains safe so that's the main thing.

So does that mean it's actually the height that's more of a problem than the width?

Cheers Ekona - useful to know.

Yeah lomoto's looks pretty cool but I really want the 4.3" widescreen version so it was just whether there is enough width to support that.

Not sure what the dimensions of the cubby are (haven't got the zed yet!) but wondering if a TomTom XL v2 (118 x 83 x 25 mm) would fit?

Thanks!

Beavis for the purpose of the search I'll certainly mention who it is but I'll just wait until the whole process is over if that's ok and see what compensation package they give me, and then form my opinion of them.

It's glasto's thread so he should be the one to do it, but in all honesty a very basic search of posts started by either him or me will turn up the result...

 

I'll just say its a well known miniature name in the JDM car import business!

Well I need them to be as cooperative as possible so I'm slightly reluctant to do anything to jeapordise that!

Sarnie I've paid £18.5k. Obviously in December when I bid and March when it should have been ready it was still a reasonable price, but of course now it's less so. At least it's a less common colour (Night Blue) and leather (Frost Grey) combination, plus it will be the only one of its type in the country, for a little while at least. I'm not sure you could get a UK 2007 roadster for that price just yet, but nearly.

Salieri I think you'll be ok. Ask them when the lab in Southampton is going to be up and running again as if yours goes through there to get the test data produced then it should be much quicker. Mine has taken this long as it sat with MIRA for four months with nothing happening.

Thanks all for the responses.

model report available here.

 

http://www.modelreports.com/acatalog/available.PDF

Thanks so much for passing that on Phil.

I believe it is in fact www.modelreports.com that are commissing my report to be produced. They've got one there for a Manual Cabriolet 2006> but mine is a tiptronic, and they have also got Auto 2006 > Petrol but it's coupe but not roadster, so I think they have pretty much everything there apart from 2007 tiptronic roadster!

So Kevin at modelreports.com is probably quite happy, as he's getting a missing report out of it! At least someone is benefitting from my dire situation!

Thanks so much all -

what a nightmare! I presume the main problem is that you have effectively bought the car yourself and they are simply an agent. In which case you already own the car?

Yeah that's pretty much the case so I think that possibly means I don't have a legal leg to stand on really.

may be worth a call to Jurgen at JM Imports.

He at least may be able to help in seeing what documents may be missing to complete the SVA process, he has brought in a few 350Z's now and will be aware of obtaining the model report etc.

Thanks Phil - I will indeed give him a call, and I'd held off until now as I thought it was a bit unfair running to someone saying "well I've got this problem with one of your competitors and I'm after your advice"!

I've learnt a lot more about the process now than when I started and I think I know what the holdups have been and what still needs to happen.

I think the problem has been made worse by the fact that the normal lab in Southampton that does the noise and emmissions tests is being moved so instead my car was sent to MIRA in Nuneaton and they are not sending the required test data to VOSA in order to be able to compile the model report.

There should be a model report for both Z's, coupe and roadster, by now. I assume you are referring to the 07 Z. I remember someone had to get a report done for an 07 before.

Well I may be wrong, but as I understand it there are 3 seperate elements that determine whether a new model report is required and that's body type (coupe / roadster), transmission (manual / tiptronic) and model year. So for each model year there are 4 different reports for the different options x 3 model years = 12 different reports. Unfortunately my 2007 tiptronic roadster falls into the category of needing a new report.

Why is there no model report? Are you the first to import a MY07 roadster?

Looks like it. There's actually a list on the VOSA website of all the reports available to the public and who owns them which might be handy to someone at some stage:

http://www.vosa.gov.uk/SCRIPTS/texis.exe/webinator/search/?query=model+reports&pr=CORP&x=0&y=0

That would have been useful to me at the start! But I guess the reason for going through an importing agent is because you don't know enough about the process, and they are supposed to take care of it all for you. I do now know enough to handle it myself I think - and certainly what to avoid!

Hi all,

I'm sure some of you might have read the odd whinging post from me going on about how I've been waiting ages for my JDM to get through the import process, and I've been pretty patient up until now, but I have finally snapped and lost my patience in a big way and I'm hoping somebody might be able to offer me some legal advice.

I won't mention the importer's name just yet, but basically I won an auction in December last year, and the car arrived in the UK in March this year as agreed, but only then did they tell me that there was no model report in existence and one needed to be produced. Since then I have been chasing and chasing and chasing and I'm always assured that "it won't be long now". I've started to do my own research and contacted the relevant people directly, and this morning was told by VOSA that they still haven't received the technical data for the model report that the importers claimed had been sent a long time ago.

So it's 8 months in now and the car is still a long way off being ready.

I've had a driving holiday in Europe in September planned and booked for ages, but there is no chance of the car being ready, so I'm more angry and disappointed than I can begin to explain. It's a roadster and given that I'll have missed out on an entire summer with it and also won't have it for this road trip of a lifetime, I just want to get my money back.

I have spoken with Trading Standards how initially told me I could give them 28 days notice to get the car ready after which I would be entitled to a full refund, albeit without the 8 months worth of interest. However when I explained to them how the payment process works - i.e. payment to Japan for the car, payment to customs for import duty and VAT, SVA payment, importers fee etc. - they said it was too complicated and I would need to seek legal advice.

So, that is now what I am considering. I'm not really sure where to start - I just know that as soon as I start talking to a solicitor it will cost money from the word go and I would only stand any chance of getting that back if I was successful in court. I don't doubt that I will eventually get the car - maybe this year, maybe next year - but by the time I do get it it's going to be worth significantly less than what I have paid.

Any legal eagles out there that might be able to tell me honestly where I stand?

If there is anybody reading this that is thinking about importing, I urge you to think very carefully about it and understand exactly what is involved. I wouldn't want anybody to get hemselves into the horrific situation that I have got myself into.

Thanks guys,

Alex

Moderators - sorry for posting this in the general forurm when perhaps it should be in JDM but I hoped that it more people read it I might stand more of a chance of finding help.

Also Nimrod, was your route Davos to Stelvio via Bormio, and if so did you do it in both directions? We're only going to be doing it in reverse - i.e. Stelvio to Davos via Bormio and I'm not sure if that matters.

Cheers

We're driving to Tuscany and back in September, taking in this route, so might have to contact you for some tips!

Just go here:

http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm95/Nimrod58/Zorro/Stelvio%20Road%20trip/

Do they actually affect the sound quality in any way then? I've read on here that most people hate them because the resulting sound is crap. Is that because the reception just isn't very good for whatever reason?

There are a few around me actually - Redland / Clifton - anyone on here?

Seen on Monday 7th July.