convert to dollars.what do you mean 2005/7 is free of charge

DON'T BUY FROM SBT JAPAN

I purchased a Toyota Rav4 from SBT Japan on 08 February 2012 with 100% payment upfront. At the time of purchase on the 8th, I was promised that the vehicle will be loaded on the 10th of Feb for delivery in early March.

A week later I was informed that the ship had no space so the delivery was postponed. The vehicle was delivered to Guyana in end April and cleared later. Before delivery of the vehicle, I also learnt that the true mileage reported at the time of purchase was significantly incorrect - even though I had insisted repeatedly on reporting of true mileage.
Upon receipt and within the first test drive, the car showed jerks, erratic shifting of gears and slow acceleration. The local mechanics first diagnosed a problem with the transmission and then with the ECU. I have been suggested to limit the use of the car as it may affect the transmission.

As a result, I have been unable to use the car and have incurred significant costs in car rentals. Even more frustrating is the fact that I sent the pictures of the ECU on May 18th and the spare parts department has been unable to locate a good quality used ECU. I understand that a new ECU is priced around $2000. Having imported cars from other car dealers in Japan, this is probably my worst experience.

I have been following up with SBT Japan almost thrice a week and for the last two months they have been promised to locate me a used ECU. They say the ECU is out of stock. I am not able to use the car for two months.

what foul play did you confirm from them, and how did you confirm the mileage tampering - am assuming you had not received the documents or the car, how did you find out the same.

Please include the details to inform other wazuans - and to ensure the forum is not used by competitors to discredit businesses.

220000yen = about USD 2800!!!

Note:, auction car is "as it is" .
You can't be 100% sure regarding agreed condition before receiving and test driving your car.
But there are few questions you might ask and if they are genuine in answering ( rarely happens to African market), you are assured of getting a good car.
1. How many owners - that is how frequent it has changed ownership. The more the number of owners, the high the of issues.
2. Car use in Japan .eg owned by housewives are the best . Owned by transport companies or rental cars are the worst.
3. From which part of Japan . The western and northern snowy area near the sea ,chances are high of engine has issues.
4. If you can read japanese, ask for auction paper which describes your car history including major repairs in details.

For those intending to import newer expensive cars through those companies, I suggest gather more information regarding the car. Alternatively , buy from Toyota directly or one of their dealers. The car has guarantee and (not sure this days) free service and repair after 1 ,6,12 months . That is where japanese buy their cars not auction.

i haven't used it but www.odometer-check.com may be useful in determining the mileage a car had at its first appearance at an auction. But i am not sure if it would detect tampering before the auction. If a car appears at a dealers stock with an mileage lesser than what it had at the auction, it may be suspect.

well, the problem is that they are way too expensive.

I like IBC though I've not bot from them. Papera appears more expensive on net-shopping!

Just wait. Mr. Papera is among the very Pakistan who can't steal from you. I suspect he hasn't yet bought from the auction