Buying a newly-imported C3?

[bradmart]

G'day guys,

Trolled a number of posts and don't think any quite answers my questions; apologies if i missed one though.

Theres a rapid increase in number of unregistered/ recently imported Vettes/ Mustangs/ Trans-Ams on the market.

Are there any risks involved in buying these cars, as they appear much cheaper than the registered cars than they should be. Call me cautious... but the deals seem too good to be true.

Thanks
Brad (hoping that you can put a vette to the name soon!)

[77CVT]

From what I have seen most are still LHD and over 30yrs old so no need to get them converted.  Avoids the need to find a RAW certified converter.

[gtc]

Originally posted by bradinho

Theres a rapid increase in number of unregistered/ recently imported Vettes/ Mustangs/ Trans-Ams on the market.

Are there any risks involved in buying these cars, as they appear much cheaper than the registered cars than they should be. Call me cautious... but the deals seem too good to be true.

Are you sure they are actually in Oz? There are some dealer/importers who advertise Vettes that are still in the USA.

There are risks involved in buying any used car. You need to do your homework, and hooking up with a local Vette-savvy person is probably your best insurance. Where are you located? Are you a Club member?

[bradmart]

Have been looking around for a very long time, with the assistance of a fellow vette-er. Its all been about waiting for the right car... at the right price.

As much as I'd love to join the Chrome-bumper crew, 'the right price' doesn't quite include these. Not too worried... looking for a good condition cruiser ie 74-79 and would prefer lhd.

The point is... a decent rego'd late 70's Vette is going for mid-high 20's these days. Unrego'd; they're around the 20 mark, which makes sense at US sale price + shipping + profit.

I understand the basic risks in terms of parts, failures etc etc - the risks I refer to are with registration. I'm just very suprised that an increasing number of cars without rego or blue slip are popping up - but 'all necessary papers are included'. It makes we wonder how much work is actually needed to get them to a registrable state (in NSW - Sydney's Northern Beaches) because if I was importing to make a profit; I'd have it ready to roll on sale. On that wonderful online auction site, theres recently been 2 from the same seller. One was a burgandy 79 from memory; seemed in very good nick, pretty much stock, with the comment 'customise to your liking and register'. I've wondered whether customise = legalise. Theres a similar Trans-Am in absolutely top-notch state at $20K currently... but this isn;t the place for that. :22  

[demonx]

The reason there are so many non registered cars is because the sellers are avoiding tax. They import heaps of cars, sell them unregistered thus avoiding the tax radar until someone reports them. And it does get reported. I know of a couple locals who have been done for this exact thing.

If the car never gets registered then all they have to do is polish a turd and find a sucker. Why do you think there are so many thousand of "project" Corvettes in garages all over Australia. Cause they bought a deal too good to refuse and now they can't afford to get the thing on the road.

Only advice I can offer is if you decide to take this route - ask the seller if you can take the car for a RWC inspection prior to purchase. If they know the cars a sh#t box then chances are they'll refuse and save you the trouble.

After you add up the dollars of everything thats needed it may not be worth buying the car and you may be better off buying a car thats already registered.

[nifty]

a lot of the cars were also bought in when the doller was almost the same as the american doller....some were bought in by people looking to make a fast buck..and there is some shockers around for sure.
spend the extra and get a registered car...plenty of them around, because if you try and do it all yourself, you will prob spend more doing so.
a lot needs to be changed to aust standards ( seat belts, headlights, maybe tyres, etc etc)
this quickly adds the dollers onto the purchase price and i reckon its false economy...
dont know about elsewhere, but if a car is FIRST registered as a vintage car in south australia, you dont pay any stamp duty on the car.
check into it...thats a good way of saving maybe a grand or 2
REALLY go over the car and check it out.... you will quickly find americans cant build cars for quids...
compared to the same year aussie car, the vette is a mess with the welding etc on the chassis.
you might be lucky and find a really good one, but you can also luck out and find a really nice LOOKING one, but its a baddie if you get my drift.

plenty have bought a vette and found out the hard way its going to cost them more than they imagined.
bloke in w.a. bought a 72 for a good ammount of coin.
then spent 6mths cutting rust out of the windscreen area... THANKFULLY thats the only place it had rotted steel... but if you cant do it yourself, you will have to pay someone.
and the $$$$ will add up faster than a big block 69 tripower.

[VET-005]

Very rare to find a CHEAP good vette. Most cheap cars are cheap for a reason. Anything decent will fetch the right $$$.

As they say you get what you pay for so beware cheapest is not always best. DO your homework.;27

[nifty]

when i was looking, i found a 76 at 15k...
went and had a look, and what a friggin mess it was.
the guy didnt even put the hose on it to wash off the dust.
it had 3 flat tyres, missing an air cleaner, and flamed rocker covers...
the intrior was ripped to pieces, and carpet was filthy and had holes.
BUT it was as stright as a die.... even the paint work was good after i gave it a bit of a clean to have a look.
and i very nearly bought it...then for an axtra 12k, i found a MUCH better one.. in right hand drive and with rego.
didnt take long to work out that the 76 would have cost me a lot more than 12 k to get fixed up and on the road.
dont know about elsewhere, but to regiter it here in s.a. it MUST "appear" as it left the factory.
so no mag wheels, no flames on the rocker covers, interior must be near perfect etc etc..
 a mate with a 69 trip power 427 (missing the tri power...runs a big holley) has an eldelbrock manifold on it.
to get rego he either has to chance to a stock manifold, or grind off the raised letters so it " appears" stock.
he paid a fair ammount for this car, and its been in his shed for 5 yrs now... its almost ready, but he is in no hurry.
getting parts is pretty easy for it ( at a price) and hes done the new interior, seat belts, headlight beams etc etc, and the purchase price he paid from an importer,though steep... was fair for what it is.he would have thrown prob another 15- 20k at it so far, and its now getting new paint in the original riverside gold..so theres another 5-10k at mates rates.(fortunaltly insurence will pay for some of it, as the roof in his shed collapsed in a wind storm and came down on top of the car...
no damage to the body , but it really got stuck into the paintwork with deep scratches everywhere.

[silver1]

there are a lot of nice  Corvettes for sale already registered and restored in Australia ,thats the way I would go and in the end it works out cheaper I have found.

[nifty]

Originally posted by silver1
there are a lot of nice  Corvettes for sale already registered and restored in Australia ,thats the way I would go and in the end it works out cheaper I have found.

;51

[bootlegger]

I bought my Vette off a guy in QLD unregistered. It had never been fully registered in Australia. I went up and looked at it paid the money and drove it back to Sydney (with no plates on it). When I got home I took it to the local service station for a blue slip just like any other car and got it registered, No problems. The only thing I had trouble with was the restamped engine number. I had to get it inspected by the RTA inspectors which was just a formality.


I agree with everyone else re buying a project. It will always be cheaper to buy one done especially if you cant do all the work yourself. Just make sure its done right.

[nifty]

be wary of buying a car from another state.
not so much a stock vette, but a modified car may be a differnt story.
hot rods have a problem like that.
18mths ago, a mate bought a 34 chev truck from sydney.
it runs a supercharged 350 and cost him 98 grand.
as yet it STILL remains unregisted in south oz...
the reason?
 the car was bought not as a fully registered car, but as a nsw registered HOTROD.
it ran hotrod plates...whcih is a lot sifferent to regular rego.
the car was fully engineered, but that was 5 yrs ago...the s.a. engineer wont recognise the previous engineers report, as it has different requirements to s.a.
he has thown close to 20 grand extra at the car, and its still not good enough..
e had to have a dyno printout, or the rear wheel horsepower...
so on the dyno it went.
he was asked what was needed..."oh...about 350 at the back wheels is good...try not to go much more though"
so here is the video of 350hp at the wheels...check the revs out... it didnt even make 4000rpm, and was still pulling strong...oops.
that was passed as being the horsepower.
lane change test...
this thing is a truck, its better built than 95% of normal street cars, has all the safety equipment, including BIG brakes...
yet the lane change test involves driving at a determined speed, and simulating a child running on the road...
you have to change lanes at speed...
to do this where i live, he has to rent the airport runway, pay for the engineer to come from adelaide,and then pay for the test... brakes tests were fine, but the lane change with the big rear wheels, and the small fronts isnt doing it much good.
the delema?
 to get it passed legally, it will need to be stripped down to a chassis, and rebuilt to s.a. rules.
another mate bought a fully registered 34 chev hot rod from qld... he got the police check and it was rego the same day.
heres the video...best played loud... not many revs there thats for sure.

[bootlegger]

Its weird how the system works. Ive also got a 67 SS 396 Impala coupe it was imported and converted new in 67.

I have had the car for 21 years with no problems. Last year i took it for a pink slip and the rego guy (who happens to be an engineer) said dont ever let it run out of rego because the conversion wouldnt pass for an engineers report.

Whats crazy is every year  he passes it as roadworthy. Its been on the road for 42 years. If the conversion was no good it would have broken by now. Maybe he is being picky.
 

[nifty]

ahhh the wonderful rego department.
workmate has the very old black and white  number plate...
now this is worth money...but he wont sell it.

S.A. 32
 its the 32nd vehicle ever registered in s.a., and belongs to all things, a horse float.
the float is in a national trust museum, but he keeps the rego on it even though it hasnt been on the road for 50 plus years...
IF he ever lets it lapse, they will take the plate off of him, then they will re issue it for an inflated price.
.