Hellooo,

Thinking about buying a s2000 V reg import....whatcha all reckon? Know any dealers in the south? What's the difference between the Jap import and the UK spec? Parts the same?

Cheers

 

Kev,

be wary if its a jap, make sure you get it HPI checked to be sure it wasnt stolen in Japan, apparently a lot of cars were being stolen and shipped over here for sale. Differences are wheels, certain parts of the bodywork i.e the rear bumber, no light washer (a waste of space anyway), a slightly more powerful engine and probably a radio thats useless for FM (unless its been changed).

If youre buying a Jap Import of that age make sure you pay rock bottom price for it as your insurance premium will be loaded.

You should have no problems getting the car serviced and getting standard spare parts here i.e. filters, brake pads, etc. Just dont prang the rear as they wont put a uk rear on the car and will need to import the parts from Japan (did it in my JDM prelude) and this can take time and be costly.

Good Luck

 

Kev,

I looked at a Jap import before I bought my UK car. I did not look into it much as the seller did not take me seriously and knew little about the car (they are mainly a 4x4 importer). However, the car I looked at ('99 silverstone/black) was priced almost the same as a UK car, which surprised me. Also, it had a big sat nav screen in the center of the dash - BUT - it is not possible to convert them to English and the seller would not fund Japanese lessons for me!

I have also watched programs like Top Gear when they talk about Jap Imports, the only real benefit is the price, parts might not be the same as UK cars.

Look carefully for a UK car (do a search here - people are selling), if you can get one the same price then take the UK car!

- Frisky

 

I currently have a Mitsubishi FTO which is a Jap import so I know about stolen car thing and the radio thing. If I remember correctly, a HPI check won't reveal if it's been stolen. Apparently, the particular car I'm going to look at has FSH from Japan and has the DeReg documents as well. Hopefully that should be enough to prove that the car isn't stolen, but I may get it's VIN number and pay 30 odd quid to a Honda dealer and get them to check it.

The only thing I was concerned about was parts. Like my FTO most of the parts have to be ordered from Japan, but the most expense thing of all is the damn labour.

 

Don't the JDM cars have a speed governer fitted too (180kph or so)? I know TDi will bypass it for a reasonable sum

 

If you can find me a fairly decent 99-00 UK spec one for 18-19K then let me know.

 

Tif is correct - speed limit is always set at 180km/h for JDM cars (most analogue dash only read to this!) - this can be fixed but costs about 100quid last time I checked.

the other thing to check is the exact spec since wheels and interior options are different - you have to order leather seats in Japan and only about 50% of the cars seem to have that option but then some come with BBS 6 spoke wheels instead.

you get the engine in 250BHP trim due to a different compression ratio - I assume UK petrol works ok?

the service interval and history I think is different to UK standards

the dashboard normally only reads km/h - there is no button to convert to mph as UK car.

to start the engine the clutch pedal must be depressed

the will be no alarm or security protection unless it was added aftermarket.

the fuel nozzle might be different than UK.

there is no Honda badge above the S2000 on the wing.

I'ts a while for me yet ( maybe 1 year) - but I'm still mentally debating if I will personally import my s2000 back to Europe since I could not sell mine in Japan and get one for the same price here. I Was out last night driving my friends MX5 in Belgium - and thinking (dreaming!), if only I had the S2000 here...it would be fantastic.....but my biggest concern is for the insurance and the future resale since I have a non-Euro colour and options (unique for the supermeets though!) ...I think I would only bring it if I intended to keep it long term. Given the thoughts of bringing it I am heavily mentally debating now on the Mugen hardtop.

 

Kev

Mine's an import. Came in in Feb. I had mine traced through a series of friend's (long story) but I got full rundown on the owner and the mileage. The car is beautiful (or was until some tosser scratched it yesterday). The JDM spec as it arrived off the boat was:-

BBS alloys (aftermarket)
Sports suspension & engine brace

Speed limited to 113mph

Dashboard in kph (inc mileage)

Back bumper - no.plate gap square not oblong. (BTW, if its damaged, you can get a replacement UK bumper which fits perfectly)

Radio/cassette (FM modulator required to find UK stations

 

Kev, if noone here wants to sell (less risky as they tend to be looked after) then try AutoTrader (www.autotrader.co.uk), nationally at the moment there are 98 S2000's for sale from

 

Kev,

if youve managed to do this you are a very lucky man indeed, when I had my JDM prelude most insurance companies refused point blank to insure the car and then when I did find someone the premiums were almost double that for a UK car.

I think for 18-19K you could easily pickup an early UK car, for a 99V Jap I wouldnt want to pay much more than 15K purely because of the insurance shit.

Dont get me wrong Im totally in favour of imports, Ive had a JDM prelude, we own a JDM CRV and my S2000 is EU import. The insurance thing is a scam and its a bloody disgrace but they keep getting away with it.