No obligations, just the facts, make an informed choice
Get matched with real loan offers from up 60 lenders
The rates are based on who you are and where you are at in life
In Australia, most lenders will not approve a secured car loan for a “grey import” vehicle. These are vehicles that are not sold as “new” in Australia and are instead imported from Japan, the United States, or areas of Europe as used vehicles for sale.
There are a few reasons lenders will not approve secured car loans for these vehicles:
These factors alone make approving secured finance for these vehicles very high-risk for lenders.
Combine this with a borrower demographic that is generally on the younger side, and applying for a secured car loan for this type of vehicle can be (at best) a waste of time or (at worst) a negative experience that impacts your credit score.
Thankfully, it is possible to get finance for a Nissan Skyline or other grey import vehicle, and borrowers can easily compare offers and find the best available rate if they know what to look out for.
Read on to find out how to compare your options and choose vehicle finance in the section below.
You can finance a Nissan Skyline with an unsecured personal loan.
Financing a grey import with a secured car loan is possible, but the number of lenders that will offer this is very limited, and the included fees and rates will often be very high due to the relatively high LVR (Loan-to-value ratio), either putting them out of the price range of most borrowers, or making them an overly expensive and unsuitable option.
Your vehicle loan LVR is simply explained as the cost of your loan vs the value of your purchased vehicle. The higher your LVR, the higher your rates and fees will be to compensate for the risk to the lender.
Your LVR can increase if:
You can generally reduce the LVR on a car loan by providing a deposit, or using a major asset (e.g. property) as security on the loan. However, as most buyers of grey import vehicles are in younger demographics, they are generally unable to provide either.
Unlike a car loan, an unsecured personal loan can include additional costs in the borrowing amount (including insurance costs), which means borrowers can finance the purchase of a vehicle and ensure they have adequate coverage in the case of an accident or theft.
Not all imported vehicles classify as grey imports and, if you are buying privately, you will need to check the vehicle’s history to determine whether it was sold new in Australia or imported as a used vehicle.
This is common with specialist, high-performance vehicles, although can also include some cheaper, reliable vehicles such as a Toyota Corona or Nissan Terrano.
If you’re considering the purchase of a second-hand vehicle from the list below, make sure you conduct all relevant checks on the vehicle before applying for finance.
Mitsubishi | Mitsubishi Delica, Mitsubishi Galant, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, Mitsubishi RVR, Mitsubishi Starion |
---|---|
Nissan | Nissan Elgrand, Nissan Silvia, Nissan Skyline, Nissan Terrano |
Toyota | Toyota Corona, Toyota Cressida, Toyota Crown & Caldina, Toyota Estima & Grand Hiace, Toyota Hilux Surf, Toyota MR2, Toyota Soarer, Toyota Supra |
Other Companies | Chevrolet Camaro, Chevrolet Corvette, Honda NSX, Ford F150, Shelby GT350R, Shelby GT500 |
You can learn more about how to import your own vehicle and also view a list of eligible import vehicles listed on the Register of Specialist and Enthusiast Vehicles.
If the vehicle is not included in the list, you may be able to apply to have it added to the register, otherwise you can check if the vehicle is already ineligible (along with the reasons for exclusion) to save yourself the time and money spent initiating an unsuccessful import process.
Finally, if you are planning on importing a left-hand drive (LHD) vehicle, make sure that you are eligible to register the car as a personal vehicle in the state you live in.
Most states will either ask that you modify the vehicle to right-hand drive, or only allow LHD of a particular age to be registered (between 15 and 25 years old).
Shaun
McGowan
Shaun McGowan
Shaun is the founder of Money.com.au and is determined to help people pay as little as possible for financial products. Through education and building world class technology. Previously Shaun co-founded CarLoans.com.au and Lend.