AUSTRALIAN DELIVERY
Cars that are officially built and complianced for the Australian market by the manufacturer and sold through an official factory dealer network are often described as Australian or local delivery.

Because overseas manufacturers build cars to different pricing structures and sometimes lower safety standards for other markets, official Australian deliveries can be safer and drive better under Australian conditions with bigger cooling systems, better suspension, extra safety features, engines better calibrated for local fuel and upgraded air-conditioning. Colour and trim options can also be different to counter high local UV levels.

The factory distributor is more likely to maintain a parts supply, a trained service network and long term warranties to maintain owner loyalty and protect their long term investment. In most cases, prestige manufacturers keep records of locally delivered cars and can help verify the authenticity of a particular example if in doubt.

GREY IMPORTS
Enforced obsolescence of near-new right-hand-drive cars in Japan generates a supply chain of cheap imports outside the factory distributors, hence the term "grey import". Some are more grey than others and can contain traps for the unwary. As more prestige European cars are sold in Japan, grey imports are no longer restricted to Japanese makes.

Legitimate importers of these vehicles can provide extra choice and value not found in local deliveries. These legitimate operators should tell you exactly what you are buying and their cars should be complianced to the applicable Australian standards with an engineer's report.

These cars can be good buying providing parts are readily available and the car checks out. The growth in popularity of certain models is now supporting legitimate service and parts specialists who source parts direct from Japan.

Laws have now closed many of the loopholes exploited by shady operators but not before thousands reached Australian roads. These cars are often moved across state borders making it harder for their true history to be traced.

Because local compliance can cost up to $5000 per car, there were several scams that trapped unwary buyers who may now be unloading their problems on the used market. One scam was to fit the required upgrades for Australian registration then remove them so they could be installed in the next example to be presented.

Another scam was to import the car as a parts wreck or a number of wrecks, spreading the parts over a number of containers then combining them into one car after customs clearance. These cars are often severely damaged in Japan then poorly repaired here to maximize profit.

By giving these repaired wrecks the identity of a written-off local delivery, it becomes much easier to bypass local safety rules and other requirements if it appears that a genuine local delivery is being presented for registration.

This scam is more prevalent among those grey imports where similar models were sold new in Australia. Checking the identification numbers against factory records is a start but a good knowledge of what the genuine article should look like can be your only defence against these impostors.

In all cases, a reputable dealer is the best place to start then check whether your insurance company will cover a grey import.

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