A novices guide to Elgrand acquisition

[Johnny88]

Does any of these points work for the e52 3.5 also?

 

[LeStempy]

Does any of these points work for the e52 3.5 also?

Yes, you can make all the checks listed in the first paragraph.

 

[Johnny88]

I'm going to view an e52 that has LPG 3.5l but the owner says the cats haven't been messed with and they shouldn't be if run properly. Can you physically see if anything has been done ? Cars on 110k kilometres so would they have been replaced by now

 

[LeStempy]

E52's are an entirely different beast to the 51's. Only one secondary cat for a start. If on LPG all cats can be removed for absolute peace of mind. At the very least it may be best to have the secondary cat decored, but it's unlikely you will be able to physically see if any have been decored.

 

[Johnny88]

E52's are an entirely different beast to the 51's. Only one secondary cat for a start. If on LPG all cats can be removed for absolute peace of mind. At the very least it may be best to have the secondary cat decored, but it's unlikely you will be able to physically see if any have been decored.

That sounds a lot less hassle
Anything else worth checking on it?

 

[LeStempy]

That sounds a lot less hassle
Anything else worth checking on it?

The CVT gearbox is a known weak point so make sure it's been regularly serviced.

 

[Johnny88]

The CVT gearbox is a known weak point so make sure it's been regularly serviced.

Advert claims recent CVT service I'll check for receipts.

Also how do you add pictures on here so I can put a pic of the add up on my other post

 

[LeStempy]

You need to be a premium member to add pictures directly, otherwise you'll need to use a host site and link to it.

 

[Johnny88]

You need to be a premium member to add pictures directly, otherwise you'll need to use a host site and link to it.

Ah ok cheers

 

[deemi786]

This write up is amazing!, noob here, my kodiaq goes back in a week after leasing and thought I would buy, we are a family of 6 and saw one of these bad boys today. I fell in love....anyone got any recommendations on a dealer around the Herts area. One I say today was 13k for a 2012 plate and not sure if the price range is correct or not.

 

[LeStempy]

This write up is amazing!, noob here, my kodiaq goes back in a week after leasing and thought I would buy, we are a family of 6 and saw one of these bad boys today. I fell in love....anyone got any recommendations on a dealer around the Herts area. One I say today was 13k for a 2012 plate and not sure if the price range is correct or not.

You're not too far from Ace Imports in Reading. Highly recommended dealer.

 

[deemi786]

You're not too far from Ace Imports in Reading. Highly recommended dealer.

cheers mate, seems the E52 in black is quite sought after, cant seem to find a decent one in my price range (12-14k) - will keep looking around...

 

[Nick H.]

Are prices dropping? There are 102 Elgrands on autotrader, and none are priced at more than 15k. I have a feeling they were much more expensive when I was looking in 2021. But maybe my memory is faulty.

 

[AceImports]

Are prices dropping? There are 102 Elgrands on autotrader, and none are priced at more than 15k. I have a feeling they were much more expensive when I was looking in 2021. But maybe my memory is faulty.

The cost to import e51s has never really been higher, strong auction prices and less shipping options make them a lot more expensive to import than they were in 2021.

E52's are perhaps a little more affordable at auction but maybe less desirable here in the UK - can't really speak for them beyond that as we don't stock them ourselves.

 

[IronmanJon]

Excellent info thanks for sharing.

 

[ElGrandNacho]

cheers this is a very useful thread, saved it in my faves as 'gold dust'

 

[ElGrandNacho]

The cost to import e51s has never really been higher, strong auction prices and less shipping options make them a lot more expensive to import than they were in 2021.

E52's are perhaps a little more affordable at auction but maybe less desirable here in the UK - can't really speak for them beyond that as we don't stock them ourselves.

could you explain why the e52 is less desirable please? I though it was newer and therfore more desireable , funds permitting I suppose ?

 

[AceImports]

could you explain why the e52 is less desirable please? I though it was newer and therfore more desireable , funds permitting I suppose ?

They're less of an all round do it all vehicle, the interior is smaller / less practical than the e51 and they use a CVT gearbox which has a bad reputation unfortunately.

 

[Craig M]

Great advice, thank you

 

[birdyman]

Here’s my Elgrand buying experience in case it helps anyone else in the buying process.

After deciding that I really wanted an Elgrand, I found a dealer quite near to me. I had already decided I didn’t want to spend time and expense trawling up and down the country looking for my new car, so some internet research led me to the more local options.

Being a novice in the import vehicle field I also decided that I was willing to pay a bit more for someone else to deal with procedures involved in bringing a car in from Japan rather than trying to do it myself. I could also be sure to see the vehicle before making my purchase.

I found a likely candidate at my nearest dealer who were advertising it as low mileage and top quality on their website and ebay. The vehicle in question had not yet landed from Japan, it was a silver Rider model but sounded from the description that it would be just what I wanted.

I visited the dealer and left a deposit on the strength of their pictures, advertisement and description. Then, whist awaiting its arrival I thought it might be a good idea to do some further research online and signed up to this club to seek advice and information about my impending purchase. Good move.

After much reading and advice from those more experienced in Elgrandery, I discovered the many ways of checking how closely the dealers spiel matched reality. As it happens I saved myself a wait for a vehicle that wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. It turns out that the dealer in question are importing low grade auction vehicles then tarting them up on arrival. Happily, they refunded my deposit without quibble when I approached them with the discrepancies I had found.

Here’s what I checked using the vehicles chassis number.

Firstly, they claimed the the vehicle had Jevic mileage certification. I checked the chassis number on the Jevic website https://www.jevic.co.uk/index.html but it returned no results. Warning bells started to ring.

I next paid for a CarVX report at https://carvx.jp/ costing £25 plus £3.50 for the translation of the Japanese auction sheet. The report showed that this vehicle was a low R grade auction rating, had been repaired following accident damage and had a replacement door panel which was an incorrect shade of silver. It was rusty underneath, dirty, smelly and marked inside and full of pet hair, and had numerous dings to the bodywork amongst other horrors.

On the plus side, the recall history was complete which can be checked here http://www.Nissan.co.jp/RECALL/search.html and this shows that important recall work has been carried out, most importantly correction to the over fuelling problem which adds to the premature disintegration of the catalytic converters, and also the dodgy fuel gauge issue. But even so, this seemed to be a poorly maintained vehicle and certainly best avoided I thought, and I note it was subsequently removed from sale by the dealer.

Finally, I also checked https://Nissan.epc-data.com/Elgrand/ which shows up some basic info on specification, including factory options, but doesn’t show any spec for vehicles which finished production at Autech such as Rider models, as they all leave Nissan as basic VG models before receiving the Autech upgrades. For any further information, Nissan are quite helpful and can be emailed at postoffice@Nissan.co.jp.

Further searches found two more likely vehicles. The first I checked was a white Rider but it had not had the over fuelling recall carried out and although it showed a full Japanese service history it didn’t have Jevic mileage certification either, so I passed. It had also been pimped somewhat in Japan and I was looking for something that had not been too interfered with.

Third time lucky I found a gem from an ebay trader and Japanese import specialist in Kent. A low mileage 4x4 twin sun roof white Rider with verified Jevic mileage certificate, full service history and 4.5 auction grade shown on the CarVX report with no issues reported on the auction sheet. All recalls have been carried out and on inspection I found it had been very well looked after by its Japanese owner, modifications being to the side and mirror repeater indicators, a remapped ECU and a throttle control unit.

It is quite hard to believe that this is a 15 year old vehicle, with only 44k miles it looks only two or three years old and is in super condition. As you can tell I am delighted, as without this splendid club I could well have ended up with a lemon.

Just as an addendum, when you have acquired your piece of masterful engineering you MUST have the secondary catalytic converters de-cored or fit bypass pipes or your lovely new Elgrand WILL die prematurely. It's also a very good idea to have them undersealed as JDM vehicles are bare underneath, so factor the cost of these things into the cost of the purchase or risk an unnecessarily short ownership or huge expense down the line.

It's also worth checking the age of the tyres as many ship over with the original factory fitted tyres due to the much lower annual mileage that the Japanese do. So even though they have tread enough to pass the MOT they will have degraded and there have been numerous reports of blowouts due to disintegration.

I've added a PDF of this and more for download below.

Brilliant write up!