new owner questions on 3rd gen... any comments?

[da SLUG man]

i've had a reply from a member near me who is looking at a surf today... just quickly, are the E-SVA regs in force right now? i seem to remember that they are, i spoke to him last night on the phone and i think he may be buying it today... looking at a black over silver 3rd gen, which i haven't seen yet in the UK (only red, blue and green)... anyway, here's what he emailed me, if anyone has any comments that may be helpful to him?
p.s. the don't be impulsive is just meant to mean, don't go out and get the first one you see just cos it looks clean... plenty of minters about!

Thanks for the reply.

The "don't be impulsive" bit is what worries me!!
The Surf that we saw yesterday is in our favourite colours of Black over Silver - I haven't seen that combination before and an Autotrader search didn't reveal another one for sale anywhere in the UK.
The guy wanted £10,500 for it and freely admitted that black ones carry a premium.What do you reckon to this price?
He was also muttering that the new E-SVA rules would make it too expensive to import vehicles younger that 10 years - does this also apply to personal imports as this is another of our ideas to get the vehicle we want at the price we can afford.

[Rob]

There was a great looking black 3rd gen SSR-X Limited at the garage a year ago when I bought mine. I think it was up for over £14000 at the time. It was sold very quickly.
Not 100% sure but I think the ESVA rules are the ones already in place.

[andy]

Not 100% sure but I think the ESVA rules are the ones already in place.

Yes they have been in place for some time.