Hi guys,

Starting to look for replacement for Nissan Navara Dual Cab STX V6 Petrol. Have been building a holiday house on the Gippsland Lakes as a owner builder for the past 3 years and now that it is finished want a car with nice ride as we do 6-700kms most weekends and the ride of the Navara is just too harsh.

Unfortunately when it comes to replacements they have me over a barrel as I need a diesel because we do 27-30000kms a year and it has to have a minimum 2500kgs towing capacity as I have a 24ft Yamaha Twin Engine Jet Boat. I bought this in from the US so if there is anyone looking at doing this send me a PM and I will tell you how easy it is if you do it right. Do not need offroad but could be handy.

So Diesel with 2.5T towing, so bend over and say please take all my money. There are only 6 SUV's that can handles this weight. Anything decent starts at $85K but with options you are looking at $100K +

Nissan Pathfinder - same as Navara with a canopy
Mitsubishi Pajero - Yuk plus technology is to old.
Toyota Prado - Rides like the Navara.
Toyota Landcrusier - no way I would pay 110-140K for a Landcrusier.
Landrover Discovery - nick name the flying brick - wife hates the look.
BMW X5 - Forums are full of issues with these. What do you expect when a german car is made in the USA
Merc M350CDI See X5

VW Touareg - did not like the old shape, will wait until April to see if the new one looks any better. The pictures look ok.

Range Rover Sport TDV6 Luxury. Road tested and was impressed except for the tyre noise. Would look to change 20" to 19"s. I expect that doing this will also make the ride even better.

Porsche Cayenne Diesel - Road tested this and I have to say that it blew me away. Again had tyre noise as it was fitted with 21" 30 profile tyres, I would go with the 18" if I decide to buy. At 100kms the engine is doing 1500RPM thanks to the 8 Speed auto. Top two gears are overdrive. LPH 6.3. A guy in Germany has a holiday house in Italy which is 1464kms away. He did it on a tank (100L) and still had 8lts left.

RRS is high on the list as I have spoken to the dealer and he told me that he could do a Luxury ex demo for around the 115K drive away. The Porsche would be close to 140k and the lead time is 4-5 months. Love the Porsche but can not get my head yet around spending 140K on a car.

I am in no hurry, the Navara is not due to be replaced until September but is I go with the RRS I will look to do it in May - June.

Enough of the history.

With all the electronics on the RRS are there any known issues that I need to be aware of.


Cheers

Firstly Welcome Aboard.

Firebird wrote:

I have a 24ft Yamaha Twin Engine Jet Boat. I bought this in from the US so if there is anyone looking at doing this send me a PM and I will tell you how easy it is if you do it right. Do not need offroad but could be handy.

Firebird wrote:

Nissan Pathfinder - same as Navara with a canopy
Mitsubishi Pajero - Yuk plus technology is to old.
Toyota Prado - Rides like the Navara.
Toyota Landcrusier - no way I would pay 110-140K for a Landcrusier.
Landrover Discovery - nick name the flying brick - wife hates the look.
BMW X5 - Forums are full of issues with these. What do you expect when a german car is made in the USA
Merc M350CDI See X5
VW Touareg - did not like the old shape, will wait until April to see if the new one looks any better. The pictures look ok.

Firebird wrote:

Range Rover Sport TDV6 Luxury. Road tested and was impressed except for the tyre noise. Would look to change 20" to 19"s. I expect that doing this will also make the ride even better.

Firebird wrote:

Porsche Cayenne Diesel - Road tested this and I have to say that it blew me away. Again had tyre noise as it was fitted with 21" 30 profile tyres, I would go with the 18" if I decide to buy. At 100kms the engine is doing 1500RPM thanks to the 8 Speed auto. Top two gears are overdrive. LPH 6.3. A guy in Germany has a holiday house in Italy which is 1464kms away. He did it on a tank (100L) and still had 8lts left.

Firebird wrote:

RRS is high on the list as I have spoken to the dealer and he told me that he could do a Luxury ex demo for around the 115K drive away. The Porsche would be close to 140k and the lead time is 4-5 months. Love the Porsche but can not get my head yet around spending 140K on a car.

Firebird wrote:

I am in no hurry, the Navara is not due to be replaced until September but is I go with the RRS I will look to do it in May - June.

Firebird wrote:

With all the electronics on the RRS are there any known issues that I need to be aware of.

JONRRS wrote:

Bargain Hard as LR have ambitious sales targets this year, as their new owners want to sell cars (Though I reckon the Evoque will sell like a ba$tard when it arrives mid year).

 L322 Big Daddy SUPERCHARGED 5.0 Autobiography - Here & Now!

5 series for the miles

RRS S/C factory built HST - Gone

45 others have been and gone!

Hey JONRRS.

Thanks for the info.

Stupid bloody forum will not let me send you a PM as I have not posted 5 times. Wish they would tell you that before you spend 15 minutes craeting the PM and then loose every thing that you wrote. PM Me with you email and I will send you all the info on importing a boat.

I would post back looks like adding an image is a pain in the ar_e.

Cheers

New Cayenne interior is stunning. Looks as good or better that the picture.

http://images.newcars.com/images/car-pictu...eats-2.png

Black look the best, Grey is ok, Cream not so great.

Cheers

Firebird wrote:

Hi guys,......

Range Rover Sport TDV6 Luxury. Road tested and was impressed except for the tyre noise. Would look to change 20" to 19"s. I expect that doing this will also make the ride even better.

Cheers

I have swapped 20's for 19's due to poor weather and I think the ride has improved

I bought RRS because like you said Disco looks like a brick and my wife hates it too but with hindsight I think Disco 4 would have been better  Wanted a Series 2 LR since childhood but previously owned MY16 Disco Sport HSE TD4 Auto, MY13 RR Sport Black Edition TDV6 Auto, MY10 RR Sport HSE TDV6 Auto, 2007 Freelander 1 Freestyle TD4 Soft Top, 2009 Freelander 2 GS TD4 Auto, 2007 Freelander 2 GS TD4, 2004 Disco 2 Metropolis Auto, 2002 Disco 2 GS, 2000 Freelander 1 SE TD4 SW

Still hoping for a S2 one day!

It was the TDV6 Luxury so it was on 20" tires, I am most likely go with 19".

VW Touareg will now arrive late April-Early May. My wife thought the old one looked like a hurst, particually from the back. Not sure if the new one looks much different. Best place to see pic is www.netcarshow.com

Just got the initiaal price from the dealer with out any coporate discount or negotiation and it is $124,700.00. At that price I would buy the Porsche. The RRS would need to be 20-25K less considering that the Porsche has all the latest stuff that they will be putting in the 2012-2013 RRS.

Hopefully I may be able to pick up a ex demo. I see the RRS as competing against the Touareg price wise.

Cheers

Firebird wrote:

Stupid bloody forum will not let me send you a PM as I have not posted 5 times.

[quote="muddywheels"]

Firebird wrote:

Hi guys,......

Range Rover Sport TDV6 Luxury. Road tested and was impressed except for the tyre noise. Would look to change 20" to 19"s. I expect that doing this will also make the ride even better.

Cheers

I have swapped 20's for 19's due to poor weather and I think the ride has improved

Hi,

I found that the ride was ok but the tyre noise was bad. What is it like on the 19". If I can buy a ex demo and it has 20" I will simply change tyre brands when they are due for replacement. I have 285-60 R18 Nitto Dune Graplers on the Navara and they are quiter.

Cheers

I bought a set of 19's with goodyear wrangler F1 on and although they have poor reviews I have found them better than 20 contis it came with  Wanted a Series 2 LR since childhood but previously owned MY16 Disco Sport HSE TD4 Auto, MY13 RR Sport Black Edition TDV6 Auto, MY10 RR Sport HSE TDV6 Auto, 2007 Freelander 1 Freestyle TD4 Soft Top, 2009 Freelander 2 GS TD4 Auto, 2007 Freelander 2 GS TD4, 2004 Disco 2 Metropolis Auto, 2002 Disco 2 GS, 2000 Freelander 1 SE TD4 SW

Still hoping for a S2 one day!

Please post the info about boat importing publicly as I'd be keen to see that...



Firebird = About 8 RRSport.co.uk car owners are meeting a month at Narbathong, come along, you'll find out all about the RRS and the positives and negatives

[quote="2nd Rower"]Please post the info about boat importing publicly as I'd be keen to see that...

Hi guys well finally this weekend I should get to put my new 242L in the water. I thought I would provide anyone looking to import a Yamaha some tips on how to do it.

1. Up need an Vehicle Import Permit in order to import the trailer. They do not care about the boat. Getting the permit is easy. Just fill out the form ensuring you include all the requested information. You will need yo have bought the trailer at this stage as they need a VIN. It takes 20 days to get this through on average.

2. Find a friendly dealer, preferrably close to a port. If you buy new then you do not need to get an inpection done on the boat, if second hand I would get it fully checked out.

3. Get the trailer modified by the dealer. The Yamaha trailers are easy, all you need to do is get them to move the guards in, (they bolt on), replace the axles with shorter ones, you may be able to get away with the standrad override brakes if you strip everything out of the boat before you put it over the weighbridge. Mine weighed 2080Kgs. I opted to have the dealer fit electric/hydraulic brakes. I was also lucky in that I was going to the USA so I took an Australiab Spec coupling with me which the dealer fitted. Total cost to mod the trailer including the brakes was $1430 USD or $490 without the brake upgrade. Much cheaper to get it done there than here.

4. You need a shipping company. Send me a PM and I will send you the contact details for Andy. The best way to ship is Ro-Ro (roll on roll off), it costs approx $7000 USD in insurance.

5. You will need to find a local customers clearance house. If you are in Melbourne PM me and I will send you the one I used. They were great.

6. The boat will be ready to pick up from the dock within 4 days. BTW after 4 days they will start to chrage you storage fee's. Also you are not allowed on the dcok without a union ticket so you either have to pay $220 to be escorted or in my case the customs agent organised for a mate to pick the boat up and bring it out to me. Cost $100.00. Also if it is second hand make sure it is cleaned before it leave the USA and also will need to be fumigated before which is an additional cost.

7. Beaware, you will need to pay GST and 5% import duty on a Yamaha boat, even though it is made in the USA. The engines are made in Japan and as they are the most expensive part of the whole boat you have to pay duty. Total taxes plus custom agent fees, dook fees etc was $9700.00 AUD. GST and duty is paid on the invoice price based on the US exchange rate on the day it is calculated, not what you paid. So in my case when I bought the boat the exchange rate was .86 but when the GST etc was calculated it was .94.

9. Trailer plug and Lights. This is the hardest part. American Trailers have 1 wire for Stop and Park Lights so you will run a wire down both sides of the trailer as we need 1 for stop and 1 for park. I was lucky as I have some old plasrtic hydraulic steering tube lying around so it was easy to push this through the trailer frame attach a wire to the end and pull it back. Once this is done the rest is easy.

10. Trailer registration. All depends which stste you live in but in VIC you need to add clearance lights to the top of the guards, amber reflectors on the side of the trailer, clear relectors running forward, mud flaps, Compliance Plate (you can buy blacks and get the details etched in), Number plate light. I was lucky, I got a great guy at VICROADS that registered the trailer with some of these not done.

11. Boat Registration. Again will very but in Vic it was simple.

12. Biggest TIP, check all the paperwork. Make sure that the VIN on the invoice matches the VIN you put on the Application. Make sure when you recieve the Import Permit that the details are correct. The trailer manufacturer is Metal Fabrication NOT YAMAHA. This is what delayed me getting the trailer registered. The VIN was different. Mind you only took a week to get changed.

Lastly, importing a boat is so easy. As you can see none of these are major.

In the above Yamaha sells a complete package including trailer.

For boats where the trailer is an option then you can buy in USA Aussie Spec trailers which makes life easy. Other thing to consider is New vs Secondhand. New, you know the history, secondhand you don't. Yes you can get a independent inspection done but most also include a trailer which will need to be modified. Other thing is that you will need to get the boat throughly cleaned inside and out plus it will need to be fumigated when it gets here. You would need to be saving a packet otherwise it is not worth the hassle.


Cheers

http://www.rrsport.co.uk/gallery/displayim...&pos=2

There are 3 more of the boat and 1 of the Navara.

The boat cost just under 70K to import. Here you would be paying 130-160k for something of this length and options. Would generally be a sterndrive.

Cheers