Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

The Nissan 350Z is a snazzy sports car which was once voted Car of the Year by Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Top Gear Magazine. There have only ever been 7,500 sold in the UK.

Tammy Prescott from Bridgend had always had the 350z at the top of her car wish list.

So when she saw that the Treforest car dealership, Evans Halshaw, were advertising a Nissan 350Z in Auto Trader for just over Β£13,500, she jumped at the chance.

She traded in her old car and got a loan of Β£7,000 from Black Horse Finance to pay for it. Initially she was very impressed with her new purchase.

"When I had it, I loved it. I went driving everywhere - it just felt nice to have that car. I got a lot of comments off everyone and things like that," she said.

But when Tammy got her insurance documents, she realised the car wasn't quite what it seemed.

"It was printed on there it was a imported vehicle and I didn't know what that would mean to me. And then the service book was all in Japanese and it hadn't been stamped by the garage," she explained.

Although Tammy thought the car was a 350Z, which is the model sold all over Europe - she had actually bought a Fairlady Z, the Japanese version of the car.

Cars not specifically made for the UK market are called 'grey imports'. Selling a car like this isn't illegal, but Tammy says Evans Halshaw never told her it wasn't the car she thought it was.

But even though Tammy's car was roadworthy, owning a car which is not specifically built for the UK market can be problematic. Our car expert Mark James explained why:

"Often grey imports are designed and built for a market that is very different from the UK. You might find engines, gearboxes, suspension, brakes, that are very different to those fitted to British market cars," he said.

Many finance companies won't lend money to people to buy grey imports, because the cars don't always meet UK specifications.

Tammy got finance for her car through Black Horse Finance. But she found out they actually have a policy not to finance grey imports.

She said: "I have found out since that they are not allowed to do finance on a grey import vehicle, so I want to know why that happened anyway?

"They said the details that they have had passed to them are the 350 Z Coupe which is the UK spec for the car".

But even though most of Tammy's paperwork refers to the car as a 350 Z, neither Evans Halshaw or Black Horse Motor Finance were willing to take the car back and refund her, leaving Tammy very angry.

"If I'd wanted to buy an import, I would have searched for an import and got a much cheaper car," she said.

Mark James also explained how to check you're not unwittingly buying a grey import.

"The badging should give it away," he said. "For example the Mazda MX5, is known as the MX5, but it's the Mazda Unos in Japan and it's the Mazda Miarta in America.

"So if the badge on the car says anything more than a MX5 chances are its an import. Also on the V5 the log book that should say, declared as a import.

"Also if the price is a little to good to be true, then do a bit of digging. Generally speaking grey imports are worth less than a UK car for a whole number of reasons, and if it looks to good to be true, the chances are it is to good to be true."

Evans Halshaw told us that after an investigation they believe both Tammy and Black Horse finance were made aware that the car was an import at the time.

But when we asked them why the car was advertised in Autotrader as a British 350z rather than as a Japanese Fairlady, they didn't respond.

And what about Black Horse who financed the deal? They say they don't finance grey imports, and were not made aware that Tammy's car was an import when they agreed a finance package.

However, they did add that they were given the registration number of the car at the time of the deal and that their own checks should have flagged it up as an import. They're now trying to work out why this didn't happen.

But since we got involved Black Horse has now reversed the finance deal and Evans Halshaw has agreed Tammy can return the car.