No grey Nissan GT-Rs

THE back door has officially been shut and cross-bolted on second-hand volume imports of Nissan’s new hotshot coupe, the GT-R.

There has been some suggestion that private imports, cars purchased new in Japan and then imported by private owners into Australia as a used car, have already started appearing on local streets ahead of the official release of the GT-R.

Nissan has been keen to quash any suggestion that the GT-R can be imported in any way other than official channels - any GT-Rs already imported cannot legally road registered. The approved list of vehicles that qualify under the Specialist Enthusiasts Vehicle Scheme - the only low-volume method under which the GT-R theoretically could be imported and certified for registration - will not include the GT-R.

Nissan’s marketing manager, Ross Booth clarified the situation recently when talking to GoAuto.

“Under the SEVs scheme, we have already registered this car as being a full official import, so therefore it cannot be registered through this used import scheme.”Booth says that people will just have to wait for the real deal, and at present he has 3000 expressions of interest registered for the new car on the Nissan website.

“So what we are very keen to do is make people aware that of the fact that they need to buy a genuine Nissan GT-R [through authorised dealers], as that’s the only way that will get full warranty, full servicing as part of the genuine deal”If anyone brings one in, for whatever purposes, are on their own”, concludes Booth.

There are two other avenues available to Australians wanting to import a GT-R.

The first is to own the car while residing overseas for 12 months, and bring the car in as a private import. This scheme is quite strict, and logs books, registration and passport information is checked. The car can be road registered once it meets basic roadworthiness requirements.

The other method is to bring the GT-R in for racing purposes. Proof of the applicant’s motorsport participation, a racing licence and other documentation is required for approval.

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