import cars - service history

Im looking at getting a new car, considering a jap import.

I've seen one, a fresh import, but the service history is in japanese (obviously) and my japanese isnt really up to scratch! I want to know if the cambelt has been changed but the dealer said they are not sure due to the history being in japanese.

anyone have any experience of anything like this/know of any specialist companies who can translate or similar. I need the japanese AA

tell them if they want the sale to get the history translated. im sure in these desperate times they'll oblige...

[Gazza77]

Or alternatively tell them you'll buy it if they change it first or just change it yourself. That way you know for sure it has been done. You might find a lot of the paperwork is Japanese auction info, not service docs anyway....

thanks for the info guys. I think i will see how much money i can negociate off, and see about changing it.

[mister c]

I bought an import Nissan Skyline a few years ago. I told them I wanted the cambelt replacing as part of the deal. The way the market is at the moment I can't see that the Garage would complain if they get a sale.

For the timing belt service look for a sticker like this:




The numbers on the second row are Year / Month / Day

The year is in the Japanese calendar (Year of the Emperor) so year 00 = 1988 ... year 21 = 2009 ,etc

Kilometres at the time of change are underneath.

If you find the sticker and have any trouble making sense of it, post up a picture and I'll see if I can help.

HTH

awsome, thanks.

I can see some crawling around under the car, being a flat 4!

The word for timing belt / cam belt is:

タイトルに

Let me know if you can't see the Japanese characters above.


Try and match the first two characters if you are scanning through the service history. That line should then have something similar to the year and mileage as shown on the sticker.

yeah i can see them thanks. never thought the .org would be teaching me japanese!