Hello, new member here!!
I have been a bit of a fan of the Pao and to a slightly lesser degree the Be-1 for a good few years now but have never seriously persued the idea of ownership. I have been to Japan a couple of times and I always find myself sniffing round Pao's I find and taking pics of them.
I have always run slightly left field vehicles but a pao never was available in between my purchases. I am now in a potential position to source one as I have a job that takes me through 26miles of windy narrow lanes not really suited to my old 190 series 300k miles Merc! It would make sense from the head and hearts point of view!!
I know most are autos which doesn't bother me, my mate had an auto cube and loved it. A rag top would be nice but I suppose a steel roof is more sensible for a daily driver?
My questions are.
1. Are there merits to importing one myself? It seems a good 60k example can be imported for under 3k and a good one already here seems around 5k so I would estimate around a grand could be saved once all the tax etc is sorted out?
2. As salt is not ised in Japan would I be right to assume rot is less of an issue?
3. Downsides of importing?
4. Reccomended importers?
5. Am I likely to have insurance issues, I am 50yrs old with a clean driving license.
6. What should I be looking out for on a Pao this age/milage?
Any advice would be great,
Thanks, Tom.
I have been a bit of a fan of the Pao and to a slightly lesser degree the Be-1 for a good few years now but have never seriously persued the idea of ownership. I have been to Japan a couple of times and I always find myself sniffing round Pao's I find and taking pics of them.
I have always run slightly left field vehicles but a pao never was available in between my purchases. I am now in a potential position to source one as I have a job that takes me through 26miles of windy narrow lanes not really suited to my old 190 series 300k miles Merc! It would make sense from the head and hearts point of view!!
I know most are autos which doesn't bother me, my mate had an auto cube and loved it. A rag top would be nice but I suppose a steel roof is more sensible for a daily driver?
My questions are.
1. Are there merits to importing one myself? It seems a good 60k example can be imported for under 3k and a good one already here seems around 5k so I would estimate around a grand could be saved once all the tax etc is sorted out?
2. As salt is not ised in Japan would I be right to assume rot is less of an issue?
3. Downsides of importing?
4. Reccomended importers?
5. Am I likely to have insurance issues, I am 50yrs old with a clean driving license.
6. What should I be looking out for on a Pao this age/milage?
Any advice would be great,
Thanks, Tom.
