Third of used car imports risky

More than a third of used Japanese cars imported into New Zealand this year would not comply with tough new crash standards that come into force next week, says the Land Transport Safety Authority.

A further 52 per cent would fall into the "don't know" category.

Imported cars will have to meet the improved frontal-impact standards Japan began introducing for its new cars in 1994, including airbags and crumple zones.

But Japanese car manufacturers were given two years to fully implement the new safety features, making it difficult to determine at what stage various models became frontal-impact compliant.

New Zealand car dealers said the cost and difficulty of finding out if a "grey area" model was compliant would effectively stop the importation of all pre-1996 cars and push up the price of imported cars by an average $4600.

When their bid for a simplified rule banning all pre-1994 cars failed, car dealers went on a buying frenzy.

Car imports for January and February rose almost 40 per cent compared with the same period last year.

The rise sparked claims that dealers were stocking up on the cheaper but less safe older models.

Of the 19,765 cars imported over those two months, 6676 (33.80 per cent) were pre-1994, down nearly 4 per cent on the same time last year.

A further 10,374 (52.5 per cent) fell into the 1994-1996 grey area, up 64 per cent on the same time last year.

Although just 2278 (13.7 per cent) were in the post-1996 compliance category, this was 182 per cent more than for the same time last year.

Land Transport Safety Authority spokesman Andy Knackstedt said the figures indicated that importers were now buying more cars that they knew would comply with the new standards.

Independent Motor Vehicle Dealers Association chief executive David Lynn said dealers took advantage of a window of opportunity to bring in what would soon become non-complying cars.

The higher than usual demand for used Japanese cars meant prices would rise.

One Auckland dealer was outbid at a Japanese auction by an average $4900 on each of 17 cars.

- NZPA