Japanese imports and increased insurance premium

[Palfrem]

I'm looking at buying a Japanese import.

It's via a proper company in the UK and is a splendid looking 1994 G Wagen 300 GE.

Just done an insurance quote and if I say it's imported, the premium goes up by 25% and my excess increases by £150 over what it was when I got a quote with no declaration of it being "imported"

As these are built in Germany and my one is exactly the same as all the other European ones, how do they justify a higher premium?

Probably best to phone I guess and talk to a real person but don't the Meerkats annoy you sometimes..

 

[markjay]

I believe the reason might be that it is nigh on impossible for the insurer to track any modifications on imports. Wheels, suspension, engine power, etc.

E.g. the owner can simply say that this is how it was sold new in Osaka in 2004, and it would be impossible to disprove.

So they assume that some of these imports will have undeclared modifications.

 

[tec]

Also it will be difficult to track if the car is stolen or has been in a bad accident.

 

[def90cars]

Some points.

1. Made in Austria.
2. Mods are never tracked anyway in the UK... unless the owner tells the company.
3. Stolen or bad accident; even in the UK it's no guarantee... depends if it is recorded.

The main reason for the imports comes down to risk.

A. Could be a model or have parts not ususally available in Europe/UK and therefor difficult/impossible/expensive to replace.
B. Proably no Conformancy Certicficate - so MAYBE not complient to EU regs. eg light/ABS/Airbags - there a potential risk.

Many cars sold outside the EU are identical to the EU version, but in these cases some insurers will consider if it is "EU spec".

In the case of this G-wagen I woudl try to find out if there is any difference to an EU model.

 

[Danaf]

Hi,

Perhaps give us a call here at Adrian Flux as we have a number of schemes for imported vehicles. There are often a number of reasons why some insurers tread carefully when providing cover for imports. Often there are subtle differences in the specification from the country of origin but generally after the IVA (Individual Vehicle Approval) test many are happy to cover at often not much increase on the UK-spec'd counterpart.

If you ring on the generic club Freephone and mention your club membership you will also receive up to 15% discount.

Regards.

Dan

 

[Palfrem]

The car will have to pass an MOT before being driven, so surely all is well.

Apart from a speedo in KM (to be changed for MOT) and a radio that is tuned to Japanese frequencies, I am told is it a bog standard G.

 

[grober]

Most volume insurers work on statistical risk. Volume is the name of the game- Never mind the quality feel the width approach. This can lead to a generalisation approach. Many Japanese imports a few years back consisted mainly of high performance models not retailed on the British market various Subaru Mitsubishi and Nissan models come to mind. These are high risk models in themselves and if taken as a group-- Japanese imports may have had their historical risk profile skewed due to this phenomenon.
G WAGONS are in themselves a vehicular anomaly- a utility vehicle which has taken on a prestige vehicle mantle --- and price-- this may mean that repair costs in the UK have also been skewed because of this.

 

[Alfie]

I'm looking at buying a Japanese import.

It's via a proper company in the UK and is a splendid looking 1994 G Wagen 300 GE.

Just done an insurance quote and if I say it's imported, the premium goes up by 25% and my excess increases by £150 over what it was when I got a quote with no declaration of it being "imported"

As these are built in Germany and my one is exactly the same as all the other European ones, how do they justify a higher premium?

Probably best to phone I guess and talk to a real person but don't the Meerkats annoy you sometimes..

Be very careful because the Japanese cars are wired totally differently to the rest of the world. On virtually all Mercedes models you cant just change the steroe unit for a european one. The wiring is completely different. so much so that the connectors are all very different.

We have converted a few now and some cost a couple of thousand to convert, many cost a lot more!

 

[Calcifer]

I'm not sure whether that's a justifying reason to charge extra.

My brother has a Japanese spec 300GE (AMG) and Adrian Flux charged him a hefty premium for being an import.

 

[dinoy]

have one insured as classic with peter best brokers in colchester no additional premium as mercedes are not different from uk models hope this help

 

[devonjem]

I have a G500 Japanese import and paid £220 insurance premium last year, so shop around a lot. The Flux quote I got was very high.