shipping Prius internationally..

Since telling our friends and neighbours about our success with Japanese auctions and the subsequent positive experience we have had with our second hand Prius, we have been overwhelmed with requests through these contacts from other right-hand-drive countries (primarily in the UK, Australia and New Zealand). It is amazing how fast and how far news travels...

Apologies to US readers who may not be interested in this post!

The used car prices in Japan are very good - cars are usually very well maintained, have low mileage, and would be great value overseas. We picked up a 2001 model in pristine condition with 70,000kms for about 6,000 US dollars. We keep getting asked if it is a brand new car.

I am trying to sort out some of the chaos we've created so I have some understanding in how I can respond to this.

First the UK. I believe both Classic (NHW11) and 04/05 (NHW20) Prius models have been sold in the UK. A quick check on the internet shows a huge gap between second hand prices in the UK and Japan - which explains why everyone and their uncle is asking if we can help them by sending them used ones!

I am trying to find out if it is possible to send the Japanese 1st generation Prius (NHW10) as well. If anyone can direct me to a comparision between the 1997-2000 model and the 2001-2003 model, that would be appreciated too!

Cars imported privately to the UK must have the odometer read in miles, not kilometers. Does this mean that the odometer would have to be swapped out (expensive!) or can it simply be reprogrammed from kms to miles? Does anyone know of any other UK specs that would prevent someone from importing a Prius privately in the UK?

Exporting used cars from Japan to AUS/NZ is big business and as I understand it, most problems lie with unscrupulous importers who handle the registration or "compliance" issues and over charge based on the auction prices here in Japan. Friends there are asking if I will help them import privately - does anyone have experience with this?

Sorry if this post is in the wrong place but I have to start somewhere!