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This would be exactly my thoughts.
In my opinion better off going for something like a UK model Corsa which can be got for somewhere about the £1000 mark, cheap to run, easy to work on or if you can't or don't want to something that virtually any garage in the UK would be happy to work on , loads of new and used spares availability and plenty of breakers around if he bumps it and easy to sell on when he wants to get something a bit better in the future and fairly reasonable to insure even for a 17 year old.
In the last few years I have bought 2 for my grandchildren as there 1st cars and although both have now been sold on as they have moved onto newer and better cars could not fault them for what I paid
The 1.2 litre is in my opinion the best option being a bit more powerful yet still pretty economical and cheapish to insure even for a 17 year old.
Can be got for about the same sort of cost or even less than just the shipping for a car from Japan before you even buy the car or add on all the other costs
As an example is this what looks to be a very tidy 2011 1.2 with 86000 miles with an asking price of £1271 which for a cash deal could most likely be got for less. Virtually a full years MOT up to 17/12/26 and passed last 2 mots with no advisories and has full service history and from a UK dealer so a bit of comeback if problems which you will not have with a self imported car from Japan
2011 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2i 16V [85] SE 5dr HATCHBACK PETROL Manual | eBay UK
Information about the vehicle above is provided by the Dealer for guidance. Our vehicle history check is provided for guidance only. Original colour Pass. Original number plate Pass. Not imported Pass.
www.ebay.co.uk
Anything comparable from Japan is likely going to cost at least a minimum of approx £3000+ by the time you buy the car, pay Japan agents costs to buy it at auction and deregister for export and Japan transport to port and shipping costs to the UK and pay the 10% import duty and 20% vat, (which has to be paid on the total cost including cost of car, shipping etc) UK port fees, transport to you etc plus you will still need to get it mot'd with potential for extra costs and fog light fitted etc plus no JDM car in Japan is properly undersealed so this should also ideally be done
Although some of these costs such as UK transport, fitting fog light, underseal etc can be reduced if you are able to do it yourself but most will be a fixed cost which is a large part of the reason why buying a low cost car from Japan such as the ones you are looking at does not work as the type and cost and miles and potential UK resell value of the car just does not justify the associated fixed costs of importing it especially now that the cost of shipping has increased over the last few years compared to what it was.
It will also be potentially more difficult to sell on and and you would really need to be able to work on it yourself as it will be quite often difficult to find people to work on it at a reasonable cost if not. Also by there very nature most kei cars will have been hammered as they usually have high revving engines which have to be worked hard to get the performance out of them and are designed for congested big cities like Tokyo but not really that well suited to UK conditions and longer journeys.
Also dependent on what you went for unlike the Elgrand now that they have become more popular when most parts are available in the UK parts could be more difficult to find.
All worthwhile in regards of something like the Elgrand or even Alphards which have no real competitors in the UK at the price point or other high spec and high performance JDM cars but not in my opinion for a runaround for a 17 year old as his 1st car.
