Directly imported machines have come a long way, and many now do a job their price does not suggest. What remains uneven is what surrounds the machine: the manual, the traceability of parts, and the distance to the seller.
This guide argues against nobody. It lists what you alone can check on delivery day, because nobody will do it for you.
What can never be put right
A delivery note signed without reservations closes your recourse. Everything that follows is checked before you sign, not the next day.
The manufacturer’s plate. Present, legible, firmly attached to the machine. It carries the serial number, without which no parts order goes through and no resale is done cleanly. Photograph it straight away: it is the piece of information you will look for most often in the years to come.
Transport damage. A machine crosses an ocean, then a road. Walk around it: bonnet, glass, rams, bucket teeth, guard plates. What can be seen goes on the note, in precise words.
What was meant to come with it. Buckets as advertised, quick coupler, keys, manual, tool kit. A missing attachment is claimed the same day.
What can still be put right, but early
The manual. If it is missing, thin, or machine-translated, ask the seller for it in writing on day one, while the commercial relationship is fresh. Asking six months later rarely produces anything.
Levels and leaks. A machine can travel dry, or lose a seal on the way. Weeping noticed on day one is dealt with under warranty; the same weeping found after fifty hours is a matter for argument.
Consumable part numbers. Filters, oils, belts: ask for the references before you need them. This is where direct import costs you time — finding the right filter three months later, with no reference and no dealer network, is a guaranteed lost afternoon.
What you can prepare before delivery even happens
- Identify the engine in your machine. It is often an engine from a large well-known brand, and most consumables go through it. Our component pages list the models that use it.
- Check that your trailer and licence match the real operating weight, not the unladen weight.
- Plan where it will sleep. A machine stored outdoors all year ages through its seals and its electrics — two expensive repairs.
The principle that sums it all up
The quality of a direct purchase is not decided by the machine: it is decided by what you know about it. Serial number, engine, filter references, service intervals. Together, they make the machine ordinary to live with. Missing, they turn every small service into an investigation.