Agree with Bazza, its the unusual JDM models that are popular imports, plus classic european rarities in specifications that may not have been sold here at all or those that have would have rotted away given our fetish for road salt, plus ladder chassised JDM 4x4's are sought after because they've never seen road salt in Japan, ie Toyota Prado/Surf.

Imports tend to be 10 years old or more, there are issues regarding the necessary testing of vehicles imported here, newer cars requiring the equivalent almost of type approval = costly.

Had i not bought the present Landcruiser a grey import Prado was planned, had to be of a certain age though re that testing routine, newer cars and costs became ridiculous.

Edited by gordonbennet on 08/10/2023 at 20:55

My local "2 blokes in a cabin" dealer sells a lot of imported BMWs, seemingly successfully. They told me that they can get the higher performance models (M3s etc) at a much better price than in the UK and they sell very nicely. The market for these tends to be younger men who want to show off, and are perhaps less concerned about service history and more about cost.

I've owned three Japanese imports over the years and had no problems. The main issue tends to be that they're not undersealed, so you need to take care of that. They used to export a lot of ropey diesels, which always seemed to have the wrong coolant in, but that seems less common.

The key seems to be having an agent at the other end who can take a look at stock and let you know how good it is. Don't rely on the Japanese reputation for fastidiousness.