Self importing Japan

[jono2200]

Good morning all. As per title guys.
I'm looking to buy and import a car to the UK. No idea what just yet and don't even know if it will be cheaper or not. I just like the idea of giving it a go... so does anyone have any links or auction houses to look at please. Any rough cost estimates for shipping, fees etc, info and suggestions would be most welcome.

As an idea I'm looking at hondas, mostly integras

[Bear-n]

Lurking Japanese

[samoht]

https://www.goo-net-exchange.com/ is the 'obvious' place to browse cars for sale at Japanese dealers.

https://www.japaneseusedcars.com/ is an agent which handles inspecting, buying at auction and shipping, you can also browse dealer cars on their site.

I imported a 180SX years ago, the process has changed slightly now but the write-up I did then may help https://www.sxoc.com/vbb/showthread.php?342007-Gui...

The yen is cheap I think, so not a bad idea to have a look especially if you want a car which often suffers from rust on UK roads. You probably won't save money but you could well end up with a lower mileage, significantly better condition car.

[TommoAE86]

https://www.goo-net-exchange.com/ for japanese dealer prepared cars (more expensive) but usually larger number of pictures.

https://www.jdmauctionwatch.com/ for upcoming auctions.

https://prestigemotorsport.com.au/auction-guide/ guide to the auction sheets.

I'd defo recommend finding someone with a stellar reputation to inspect the car before you do any bidding, the misnomer that they're all a scam is just made up twaddle, but just like buying a used car here there are some less than honest cars so it always pays to be careful.

The shipping is the worse part, you have just won a dream car and it takes fking ages to crawl around the planet, it's totally worth it as soon as you get that first drive though.

Over 10yrs old it's the foglight and converting the odo/speedo for the mot and DVLA registration.

For me I've used a company to do it all for me (TorqueGT) and have been very happy with the two cars I've had from them, they are more expensive than doing it yourself but I wouldn't say I feel short changed.

[Scootersp]

samoht said:

The yen is cheap I think, so not a bad idea to have a look especially if you want a car which often suffers from rust on UK roads. You probably won't save money but you could well end up with a lower mileage, significantly better condition car.

You can also import a car (over 10 years old I think it has to be) that domestically would cost you the >£700 pa tax car and pay approx half once imported,

eg a LS460

[jono2200]

Thanks guys a bit of food for thought.

[Jayho]

Scootersp said:

samoht said:

The yen is cheap I think, so not a bad idea to have a look especially if you want a car which often suffers from rust on UK roads. You probably won't save money but you could well end up with a lower mileage, significantly better condition car.

You can also import a car (over 10 years old I think it has to be) that domestically would cost you the >£700 pa tax car and pay approx half once imported,

eg a LS460

I believe imported cars also don't have the ULEZ restrictions which domestic cars have? I could be wrong, but someone mentioned it to me recently and I'm just repeating.

[C5_Steve]

Jayho said:

Scootersp said:

samoht said:

The yen is cheap I think, so not a bad idea to have a look especially if you want a car which often suffers from rust on UK roads. You probably won't save money but you could well end up with a lower mileage, significantly better condition car.

You can also import a car (over 10 years old I think it has to be) that domestically would cost you the >£700 pa tax car and pay approx half once imported,

eg a LS460

I believe imported cars also don't have the ULEZ restrictions which domestic cars have? I could be wrong, but someone mentioned it to me recently and I'm just repeating.

I don't believe so, it needs to be correctly recorded on the V5. If it's left blank (the CO2 section) it'll automatically not be exempt. I have that issue with my car, it should be exempt and the came models sold in the EU are but most US imports aren't, even though there's no difference aside from how they're registered when they arrive.

[samoht]

For ULEZ, imported cars will be exempt if first registered in Japan from 1 Jan 2006 onwards (2016 if you're dumb enough to ship a dirty diseasal from the other side of the planet).

What you don't get is the benefit of pre-06 European market cars, which can get ULEZ exemption on the basis of homologated NOx values if their engines anticipated Euro 4 regs.

[Dg504]

Outstanding knowledge in here - thank you.

As i wrote on another I’ve been looking at import v60 t6’s as a possible next car.

Is there a decent list of uk garages who deal in imports anywhere?

Was surprised to see the one above don’t list on AT

[Tarmack]

I feel like if you haven’t done it before it’d be complicated to do by yourself for the first time. As far as i’m aware you’d need to communicate with someone in Japan at auction, then arrange shipping. Then register the car with number plates, MOT and change dials etc. Rather spend the extra money getting a personal import service to take care of it unless you know what you’re doing. For me even if I did know what to do i’m nowhere near any of the ports so wouldn't really be feasible for me

Edited by Tarmack on Thursday 3rd October 19:34

[samoht]

Tarmack said:

I feel like if you haven’t done it before it’d be complicated to do by yourself for the first time. As far as i’m aware you’d need to communicate with someone in Japan at auction, then arrange shipping. Then register the car with number plates, MOT and change dials etc. Rather spend the extra money getting a personal import service to take care of it unless you know what you’re doing. For me even if I did know what to do i’m nowhere near any of the ports so wouldn't really be feasible for me

I went through JapaneseUsedCars to handle everything on the Japan side, up to and including putting the car onto an appropriate Southampton-bound ship.
I then paid a customs agent to do clearance this side, took a train to Southampton and drove back.
The MoT and registration is fairly straightforward really. You might want to find a garage to convert the speedo to MPH and fit a rear foglight if you're not confident with basic electrics.

On the one hand it is a process, and I wouldn't criticise anyone for talking to a reputable personal import service who will take pride in finding a really good car and putting it on the road and on your driveway in top condition.
On the other hand the UK side really isn't that hard, and I wouldn't want anyone to be put off having a go. It's less involved than buying a house, and a majority of people manage that at some point in their lives.

[InitialDave]

TommoAE86 said:

Over 10yrs old it's the foglight and converting the odo/speedo for the mot and DVLA registration.

Not actually a requirement - makes life easier, but you're not obligated to do it.

A friend imported a car himself earlier this year, he's not registered on PH but I've sent the thread on to him and can pass along any specific questions about what he did with the different stages of the process.

[Tarmack]

samoht said:

Tarmack said:

I feel like if you haven’t done it before it’d be complicated to do by yourself for the first time. As far as i’m aware you’d need to communicate with someone in Japan at auction, then arrange shipping. Then register the car with number plates, MOT and change dials etc. Rather spend the extra money getting a personal import service to take care of it unless you know what you’re doing. For me even if I did know what to do i’m nowhere near any of the ports so wouldn't really be feasible for me

I went through JapaneseUsedCars to handle everything on the Japan side, up to and including putting the car onto an appropriate Southampton-bound ship.
I then paid a customs agent to do clearance this side, took a train to Southampton and drove back.
The MoT and registration is fairly straightforward really. You might want to find a garage to convert the speedo to MPH and fit a rear foglight if you're not confident with basic electrics.

On the one hand it is a process, and I wouldn't criticise anyone for talking to a reputable personal import service who will take pride in finding a really good car and putting it on the road and on your driveway in top condition.
On the other hand the UK side really isn't that hard, and I wouldn't want anyone to be put off having a go. It's less involved than buying a house, and a majority of people manage that at some point in their lives.

How much do you think you pay on top for the importers to cover all the logistics and clerical? I’m thinking it’d be around a grand? that you could save if done yourself

[TheWokeBlob]

Posted this over on the barge thread a little while ago, might be useful

To give a bit of mini tutorial for those interested.
You can harvest price list data from here -
https://www.japaneseusedcars.com/auction/auctions_...

I found it much easier if you know chassis codes and even better, powertrain codes especially for mercs. Since you mentioned V8s, let's go for a 211 5.5 shall we (211072)



Unfortunately it doesn't grab every car that goes through the blocks and gives very little information and no pictures as a pleb without an account - But (t)WB has you all covered... sort of

But using a site that plugs into the auction systems directly, you can have a bit of nosy - I personally use prestigemotorsport.com.
https://prestigemotorsport.com.au/auctions/


Finally, pictures... sort of. Again, you can't view everything that has gone through and even more annoyingly USS the largest auction house only supply a single image too low to even work out if its RHD or LHD, but you still see the odd non-uss car you can get a bit more nosy with speaking of which, something has caught my eye



51000km, grade 4.5 (basically new), RHD... Coming soon to a forecourt near you for what? £15k? £20k? What did it hammer for?...

£3500.
https://prestigemotorsport.com.au/auction-vehicle-...
(let me know if the link doesn't work - They never used to)

Fag packet maths is £2k to get it shipped, lets say £1500 for japan side fees and transport, 10% import duty on that total and then 20% VAT on top of everything, then maybe a grand for UK custom's clearance, getting it from the docks, MOTed and registered, so a £3k car there quickly becomes a 10k car on the road here.

Still, the 15k-20k a dealer would probably try and sell a 5.5 211 on 31000 miles is pure, pure profit.

Highly advise anyone that is interested to make contact with a good exporter/broker and see what they advise.

Hope this helps

In hindsight my fag maths are maybe on the over zealous side (been a while since I've had concrete numbers) but point remains stuff does add up.

[SnowySpeeder]

A timely video from Mat Watson on this topic

https://youtu.be/MWFfjMmJzfI

[turbomoggie]

I imported from a Japanese company (who helped to source the car I wanted) rather than a UK based company and had great service. I would do the same again. Have a look at my post history to find the thread.

I decided to leave the car in km/h else your odometer gets messed up- with some of the distance recorded in kilometres and some in miles. Also, depending on the vehicle, if this is badly done it can mess up other car behaviours like the hicas rear wheel steering in a Nissan Skyline.

[grudas]

https://www.chrisbryson.me.uk/import-car-japan-uk/

a very good post about the whole process.

[grudas]

samoht said:

I went through JapaneseUsedCars to handle everything on the Japan side, up to and including putting the car onto an appropriate Southampton-bound ship.
I then paid a customs agent to do clearance this side, took a train to Southampton and drove back.
The MoT and registration is fairly straightforward really. You might want to find a garage to convert the speedo to MPH and fit a rear foglight if you're not confident with basic electrics.

On the one hand it is a process, and I wouldn't criticise anyone for talking to a reputable personal import service who will take pride in finding a really good car and putting it on the road and on your driveway in top condition.
On the other hand the UK side really isn't that hard, and I wouldn't want anyone to be put off having a go. It's less involved than buying a house, and a majority of people manage that at some point in their lives.

drove back from southampton ? how did you do that with no plates/mot etc?

I presumed that by default, you'll need to get it trailered to a very least an mot station before you get paperwork to register it ?