Should you buy an ‘unofficial’ import?

There are plenty of companies out there ready to separate you from your cash in exchange for a shiny new pick-up or muscle car from North America – but are you getting what you’re paying for?

At first glimpse, a grey import can look just as spiffy as an official import, but there are a number of ways it could cause you heart break.

And that applies whether the importer has full- or low-volume compliance for the vehicle, and whether it was originally produced in right-hand drive or converted to RHD locally.

The Ford Mustang is the only global muscle car (originally produced in both left- and right-hand drive ex-factory), but none of the full-size US pick-ups are built in RHD by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

While the Ford F-Series, Nissan Titan and Toyota Tundra are locally converted and sold by unofficial importers here, RAMs and Chevrolet Silverados are both imported and converted by official, factory-appointed distributors – RAM Trucks Australia (RTA) and GM Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) respectively.

Co-incidentally or not, both the RAM and Silverado are converted to RHD by the Walkinshaw Automotive Group, which goes to considerable lengths to ensure their ‘remanufactured’ vehicles are safe (in part thanks to local crash testing), built to the OEM’s quality standard (using hundreds of locally sourced replacement parts) and are suitable for local conditions, following rigorous durability and ride/handling programs.

When it comes to American pick-up trucks, the official local RAM and Chevy distributors (RTA and GMSV) give you a three-year/100,000km warranty backed respectively by Stellantis and General Motors, the ‘factories’ that build the vehicle in their original left-hand drive form.

Many grey importers match that warranty for duration and kilometres, but it is likely underwritten by a third-party insurer. In effect, you’re buying a short-form extended warranty – such as you could arrange through any dealer.

And that could mean warranty exclusions that don’t necessarily apply with a factory warranty.

Whether or not this kind of warranty is honoured also depends on the converter/importer paying the premium and the insurer/underwriter remaining in business.

And without a third-party warranty from a grey importer, you’re left with little more than the statutory warranty that applies to all used cars in Australia – typically around three months or 5000km, depending on the state or territory in which you reside.

When a vehicle is sold by a private owner or a rogue dealer group based in North America to a grey importer in Australia, that vehicle is deemed to be ‘used’ in the eyes of the law.

It is purchased by the converter and then on-sold to a retail customer in Australia. In theory the factory warranty should be transferrable, but that’s untested.

Also in theory, if anything goes wrong with the vehicle within a short duration (however that is defined), the customer is entitled under Australian Consumer Law to seek redress.

That redress might place an onus on the converter, or the vehicle owner may have to deal directly with the factory in the USA. Just because ACL dictates that the consumer’s rights be upheld doesn’t mean that they will be, unless there’s much complaining and threats of legal recourse.

So there are many grey areas, but in general a factory warranty from a factory-appointed converter of new factory-sourced vehicles sold via a factory-backed retail network will provide more peace of mind, if your choice is between two trucks that appear to be the same on the surface.

What do you do if you hear on the grapevine that your vehicle is subject to a recall – and it’s one of the important safety campaigns, like Takata airbags, for instance?

If you’ve purchased your vehicle through a factory-appointed distributor in Australia, you’ll face no problem having the matter resolved.

Even if the distributor closes shop, as happened with Holden, the parent company is obliged by law to continue supplying parts and service for the vehicles it sold in Australia for a set period via its dealers, who will also take care of any recalls arising.

On the other hand, if the company that converted your vehicle doesn’t have a nationwide dealer network and is based two states away from your home address, how do you get the recall notice and repair work addressed?

Will the converter care in any case? For the company that purchased the vehicle before on-selling it, there’s no partnership in place with the OEM that built the car in the first instance.

There’s no contractual obligation for the local converter/importer to be held responsible for recalls and there’s no onus on the grey importer to help consumers with recalls, no matter how honest or well intentioned they might be.

This is not just conjecture; numerous ‘grey’ BMWs sold in Australia were the subject of a global recall for a fire hazard in 2012. It was only through the good grace of BMW Australia that these low-volume imports were fixed without charge to the owner.

When you’re cross-shopping a new vehicle, check out what’s on offer from an official importer/distributor, not just the grey importers.

Not all the grey importers are as thorough or committed to delivering the right ownership experience for their customers as they should be. Tell-tale signs of a bodgy job could include:

- A steering column with more than the usual number of joints, rods and arms to get around engine-bay hardware on the right-hand side
- A gas-axed hole in the firewall on the RHS and a poorly concealed and insulated one on the left
- Loosely rerouted wiring and air-conditioning plumbing under the dashboard
- A flimsy or creaky dashboard with a vinyl crashpad rather than the standard leather-upholstered unit
- A microphone for the multimedia system’s voice activation function on the wrong side of the cabin
- A radio that won’t find digital and even FM/AM stations
- Wipers on the wrong side of the scuttle for right-hook operation
- Fuel filler release nearer the front passenger than the driver
- Glovebox won’t sit squarely when closed
- Controls located on the wrong side

None of this is to say a grey importer selling you an American pick-up today is a cowboy or fly-by-nighter. There are some respectable conversion companies that have delivered many high-quality locally converted vehicles to many happy customers.

But consumers should do their homework before committing to any new vehicle purchase, especially in the case of locally converted vehicles sold through unofficial channels.

Before you buy, ask the salesperson what’s covered under the warranty offered, what’s excluded and who is underwriting the warranty. If you’ve never heard of that insurer, and a Google search yields nothing, think twice about buying.

Ask the salesperson how recalls will be addressed, whether all of the vehicle’s safety and infotainment functions work, and whether durability testing of its new components was undertaken.

Make a direct comparison between official and unofficial versions of the same model by taking your smartphone along to a dealer and snapping some pictures of the engine bay and interior in a representative vehicle – not the one in the showroom, but a customer car – and anything about the conversion that looks dodgy.

Careful scrutiny of the pics will likely reveal subtle but important differences you may have missed.

Check out the price and specifications of the vehicle you’re contemplating; does it match or improve on the value of the vehicles offered by the official distributor in Australia?

If it’s cheaper, what’s missing? If it’s more expensive, how is that justified?

And let your salesperson know in advance that you won’t settle for anything less than you can get down the road when it comes to safety, quality, durability, suitability, aftersales support and peace of mind.