OK, here's my plan and I would like some feedback/opinions from some other folks who might have done this or know about this:

Next month I am visiting the Philippines and due to the exchange rate I am fairly sure that I can get a really good deal on some new wheels/rims. I know they have the Cefiro there so it should be no problem for them to know what would fit, like for example I would want to get some 17's. As for getting them back in the country, my travel agent said you can bring back $400 worth of gifts without worry of tax. A friend who did this before said that if you say they are car parts and not gifts you won't worry about customs and taxes and all. The other advantage of this is that I might get a set of wheels no one has ever seen before.

What do you folks think?

 

The Cefiro is a pretty expensive car in Phillipines; only rich people own car like Nissans.....

They may charge you a premium for the rims. As far as I know, the Cefiro don't come with 17" wheels. Only the maxima does.

NOt many people mod cars in Phillipines, you might be disaponted to find the parts you wanted.

 

Still, I hope I should be able to find something that fits not only the Cefiro but other popular, maybe less expensive cars. I think that Mitsubishi wheels would also fit.

 

Its funny you bring this up. I went there last summer to visit my girlfriend for vacation with the intent to bring some rims back, and what do ya know? Look at the sig pic. I bought a set of chrome Mondera 17's for about $500 US (the exchange rate was 44 pisos/$1, so about 22,000 pisos). That's about less than half of what they are going for here in the states. I was only allowed 2 boxes and had to 2 rims in each box and each box had to weigh under 70 pounds. I wasn't too concerned about customs when I hit LA, they asked what was in the boxes and I just said they were just clothes, no food. If they caught me, I would then just pay the tax. Also, there are a lot of modded cars in the Philippines, mostly Hondas, so don't be surprised to find lots of aftermarket parts. I stocked up on Polargs for under $50 for every application in my max. I've seen a lot of Cefiro's in Manila but none looked more than stock. Let me know if you need any other advice.

 

BenBlanco:
Did you have a hard time finding a store with the right rims, sizes, etc? Were the prices set or did you have to do some negotiating?

 

I was supposed to go to the Phillipines with a couple of my friends last month and I had the same plan...
Currently the exchange rate is over 50 pesos per $1...
Unfortunately I couldnt go...
But let me just tell you that they had ALOT of problems with customs getting their shiet back...
Everything was ripped apart & almost everything was broken.

 

I didn't really have a hard time finding the right store, maybe because my friend knew his way around Manila and there were plenty of mag shops. When we'd go to the shops, most shops didn't really have an exact price so when I found the rims I wanted, talked down a few dollars, maybe about $100. They would ask what car am I driving, and I told them a Cefiro and the man knew that it was a Maxima in the states. Also, they think people from the states have a lot of money, so...maybe it would be better if they didn't know you are from the states or bringing it back to states because they usually will bump up the price knowing they're going to make a sell to someone with a lot of money. I mean you can tell them you're bringing it back to the states, but sometimes they want to get over on the price. As for customs, like I said, I had no problem stating that I didn't have anything more than just my clothes in my boxes.

 

I went to the Philippines last month and I saw a bunch of modded Hondas (Civics and Accords).

I didn't see too many Cefiros, just one or two here and there. Nissan doesn't seem too big there. I did see some Sentras though.

When I went to the malls in Manila, it seemed they all had this car accessory shop called Concorde. They had a lot of stuff. I saw some wheels, but wasn't really looking since I juat bought new ones recently. They had a bunch of lights and all sorts of stuff.

Customs wasn't very stict with my family and me. But then again we weren't bringing wheels back.

 

That's where I stocked up on Polargs for cheap since the exchange rate was nice.

 

Does anyone know about the stock Cefiro wheels? Are they 16 or 17? Any pictures would help greatly, Thanks in advance!