Sourcing parts for a JDM import in Australia
The auction sheet was silent on the mechanicals. This is the part of ownership that fills that silence, and it is easier now than it has been in twenty years — if you know the vocabulary.
Every guide to importing stops at registration, as if the car is finished when the plates go on. It is not. A car built in the nineties has thirty-year-old rubber, thirty-year-old plastics and a fuel system that has probably sat more than it has run. Something will need replacing in the first year. That is not a defect in your purchase, it is the nature of the thing you bought.
The good news is that the Japanese parts ecosystem is unusually deep, and manufacturers have spent the last several years putting discontinued components back into production specifically for cars like yours.
Three kinds of part, and the words for them
Japanese parts listings sort into three categories. Knowing which one you are looking at prevents most of the confusion and a good deal of the overspending.
Factory original, in manufacturer packaging, identified by a part number.
Most expensive, and for anything safety-related or hard to fit twice, usually the right answer. On a thirty-year-old car, many of these are discontinued — which is where the heritage programmes come in.
Made by established suppliers to the same specification, often by the firm that made the original for the manufacturer.
Frequently the sensible choice for consumables — filters, belts, hoses, brake components. Not to be confused with cheap unbranded copies.
Pulled from another vehicle. Japan’s used-parts market is enormous, because cars are dismantled there at an age when they would still be on the road elsewhere.
The only realistic route for many trim pieces, switches, lenses and body panels that were never reproduced. Condition varies and returns are difficult.
The heritage programmes changed the picture
Until recently, a broken plastic clip on a nineties Skyline meant a hunt through wrecking yards. The manufacturers have since reversed that, and the programmes are still expanding rather than sitting as one-off anniversary gestures.
NISMO Heritage Parts
Launched in December 2017 starting with the R32 GT-R, since expanded to R33 and R34, with coverage extending to Silvia, Fairlady Z and Stagea. The catalogue has grown from around 80 parts to over 300, with 37 more GT-R items added in May 2026.
Toyota GR Heritage Parts
The broadest of the group, reproducing more than 300 components across eight models as of 2026, with part numbers and release dates published as they become available.
Mazda
Support covering the early Roadster and the RX-7, one of the earliest programmes of its kind.
Honda Heritage Works
Began with the NSX, with further models indicated to follow.
The NISMO catalogue distinguishes between parts returned to production by the original supplier in factory-style packaging, and parts newly manufactured from the original drawings that may use different materials or methods. Both are legitimate; they are simply not identical propositions, and the listing will tell you which you are buying.
One caveat that matters specifically to you. NISMO states that its heritage catalogue is built around Japanese-market vehicles and Japanese regulations. Fitment on an exported car needs checking, and warranty coverage may not apply outside Japan. Ordering from a photograph and assuming every R34 left the line identically is how people end up with a part they cannot return.
Part numbers are the whole skill
Almost every parts problem traces back to the same root cause: ordering by description instead of by number.
Japanese vehicles are catalogued by chassis code and production period. A BCNR33 built early in the run may take a different component from one built late, and the visual difference can be nil. “Rear tail light, Skyline, 1996” is not an order. A part number is.
Start from the chassis number, not the model name
Your export certificate carries the full chassis number. That is the key to every catalogue lookup, because it encodes the production variant.
Find the part number in a parts catalogue
Online catalogues let you drill from chassis number to diagram to numbered component. This is the step most people skip and most people regret.
Search that number, not the description
A part number searched across genuine, OE-equivalent and used listings will show you the real price range for the same item. Descriptions will not.
Check supersession
Manufacturers replace part numbers over time, and an old number may point to a current one. A discontinued number is not always a dead end.
The asbestos problem
Australia has among the strictest asbestos controls in the world, and it applies to parts as well as to whole vehicles.
Older friction and sealing materials — brake and clutch components, and certain gaskets — were manufactured using asbestos in some markets and eras. Australian border controls treat this seriously, and goods can be held, tested at the importer’s cost, or destroyed.
Before ordering friction or gasket materials from any overseas seller, confirm in writing that the parts are asbestos free. Reputable Japanese suppliers are familiar with this requirement. Used parts of unknown origin are the higher risk, and are exactly the category where people economise.
This is worth treating as a standing rule rather than a one-off check, because the cost of getting it wrong is not the price of the part.
What to buy before the car arrives
There is a window between purchase and delivery that most buyers waste. Use it.
- Service items — filters, plugs, belts, fluids. Whatever the seller says about recent servicing, a car that has been shipped and sat at a wharf wants fresh fluids.
- Perishable rubber — coolant and vacuum hoses, particularly on turbocharged engines where a failure is expensive rather than inconvenient.
- Anything the auction sheet flagged — if the sheet marked rust, a torn seat or a cracked lens, you already know what you need.
- Timing components — if there is no evidence of when they were last done on an engine that requires them, assume they are due.
Consolidating an order while you are waiting also spreads freight across more items. Small heavy parts shipped individually from Japan cost more in freight than they do to buy.
What to wait on
Resist buying anything that depends on how the car actually drives. Suspension components, clutch, and anything you are choosing on feel rather than condition should wait until you have driven it in Australia, on Australian roads, and formed your own view.
The same goes for modifications. As covered in registering a JDM import in South Australia, some changes move you from a straightforward registration into an engineering assessment. Get the car registered in the condition it arrived, then decide.
The order to work in
- Read the auction sheet again with a parts list in mind, not a purchase decision — see our guide to auction grades.
- Get the chassis number from the export certificate.
- Check whether a heritage programme covers your model before assuming a part is unobtainable.
- Work in part numbers, never descriptions.
- Confirm asbestos-free status in writing for any friction or gasket material.
- Consolidate the order to spread freight.
- Do the service items first, the feel items last.
Heritage catalogues, part availability and import controls change. Confirm current fitment and compliance for your specific vehicle before ordering. Some links on this site are affiliate links — see our Affiliate Disclosure.
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