Handpicked cars, curated from Japan

Japan Car Auctions

Use our quick calculator to get estimated costs of importing a vehicle to the UK



1. Finding Your Car

We offer 2 levels of service.

We are happy to assist you when needed with finding a car to meet your requirements or are happy if you would prefer to do this yourself. We have an agent in Japan who will assist us with getting more information on potential cars which you are interested in as well as translating descriptions where needed.

GO TO AUCTION SEARCH PAGE


2. Vehicle Purchase

Once you have found a car which you would like to bid on we take a deposit based on the values below. Once this has been taken we are happy to authorise any bids which you place.

NB: We reserve the right to ask for a larger deposit if the car being bought is of a high value.

When you win a car we will bill you for the car, shipping, maritime insurance, Japanese agents buying fee, transportation cost to get the car to the docks in Japan and our buying fee. Please note that there could be an additional charge for raising the car, should it be very low. This is not applied to every car though. This is everything you will need to pay to get the car to the UK.

Costs:

  • Car Cost
  • Shipping – around £1,500 depending on the size of the car and currency rates. Based on a typical vehicle such as a Nissan S15/R33 car. Final shipping cost is calculated on actual volume of the vehicle, so the larger the vehicle, the higher the shipping cost. Small ‘kei’ type cars can cost considerably less. Port selection can also affect cost. We are always happy to provide a close estimate on shipping for a specific vehicle.
  • Maritime insurance – 5,000 yen (unless its a high value car).
  • Local transport in Japan – from seller location to our premises in Osaka Japan.  This rate will vary by distance, but usually around £295 – £350 but can be more than this for vehicle a long distance from our premises.
  • Low down car raising fee – 32,000 yen.
  • Japanese agent buying fee:
    Up to 9.9M Yen = 130,000 Yen,
    10M Yen – 15M Yen = 3.5% of bid amount,
    15M Yen to 20M Yen = 4% of winning bid amount.
  • Our buying fee;
    £799+VAT for Vehicles up to 1.49M JPY
    £995+VAT for Vehicles 1.5M JPY to 5.99M JPY
    £1500+VAT for Vehicles 6M JPY to 9.99M JPY
    £2000+VAT for Vehicles 9.99M JPY to 14.99M JPY
    £2500+VAT for Vehicles 15M JPY to 19.99M JPY
    For vehicles above 20M JPY – please get in contact

Points to note:

  • Vehicles under 10 years old will require ESVA / SVA tests, which aren’t something JDM Garage Parts Ltd assist with.
  • The JDM Garage Parts Ltd registration service is available only for vehicles over 10 years old.  
  • Customers are responsible for all registration processes unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing.
  • Limited availability on board ships from Japan to the UK has caused an increase in shipping times.  JDM Garage Parts Ltd are unable to guarantee a timescale between the purchase and arrival of a vehicle.  Approximate current guidance is to allow 3 months minimum from purchase day to potential arrival in the UK.
  • Vehicles are not insured during transit other than for total loss.  Every care is taken by the shipping line staff to get vehicles from Japan to the UK in good order, minor damage can however sometimes occur.  All easily removed small items are removed from all vehicles prior to shipping, and couriered with the paperwork from Japan to JDM Garage Parts to avoid theft or damage to them.

Your deposit will be deducted from the final amount payable. We will require this payment, also by bank transfer, within 2 working days.


4. Shipping

Before the car can be shipped it has to be de-registered and transported to the nearest port. Once the car is there and ready to be shipped we get a selection of more detailed photos provided to us by our agent which we then pass on to you, the customer. This can take anywhere between 2 & 4 weeks normally, although sometimes on a rare occasion it may take longer. When the car is booked to leave Japan & we know the name of the vessel the car will be transported on, we will provide you with a tracker & an estimated date which it will arrive into the UK.


5. Arrival & Collection

When the car reaches the UK there is VAT and duty to be paid to the shipping agent. We use Kleerfreight and this is who we would recommend to any of our customers. The invoice the clearing agent provides must be paid before the car is able to be released from the docks.

Prior to the car arriving in the UK you will receive original documents as follows:

  • Bill of Lading (3 originals and numerous duplicates).
  • Invoice / Bill of Sale.
  • Japanese Export Certificate (de-registration) in Japanese.
  • Japanese Export Certificate (de-registration) translated into English.

To clear your vehicle through customs Kleerfreight will require email or fax copies of items 1,2 & 4 only. We can send these to Kleerfreight for you or you can email them to [email protected] or by fax to +44 (0)1795 666611. They will also require your full name and address with contact phone number.
To clear your vehicle through customs Kleerfreight’s fee is £95.00.

Once in receipt of your documents they will calculate the taxes due, add their £95.00 fee and ask you to transfer the funds into their bank, from there they send them to HMRC to get the vehicle tax paid.

Your taxes are calculated from the CIF price of the vehicle (Cost-Insurance-Freight). Duty is currently 10%, VAT 20%.

Example

  • CIF Price of car £1000.00
    £1000 x 10% = £100 in Duty
  • VAT is calculated as follows
    £1000 (CIF price) + £100 (Duty) +£95 (Clearance fee) then x the total by 20% = £239.00 in VAT
  • Total payable to HM Customs in taxes would be £339.00

Once customs cleared, your vehicle will need to be released by the shipping company, this is achieved by lodging with them the ORIGINAL bill of lading and paying the terminal handling charges. Terminal handling charges are typically somewhere between £75 and £100. You can then collect the car from the docks.
HM Customs will then (within 7-10 working days) place your vehicle on the NOVA system which will tie up your vehicle as tax paid when you come to register it. Kleerfreight forward copies of your customs declaration/clearance by email along with an invoice once everything has gone through.


6. Collection From Docks

We use LP Motors to collect our cars from the docks, his number is 07557 049 430. Leon would be happy to discuss your requirements. Just give him a call.


7. Registering Your Vehicle

If the vehicle is over 10 years old, it is as simple as putting the car through an MOT test, filling in a V55/5 which can be requested from https://www.gov.uk/dvlaforms. The cost of registration is £55 plus the applicable cost of tax for your car.

If the car is below 10 years old it may require an SVA certificate. It may have to be taken to a test station for this.

If require any further information, please contact [email protected] or call us on 01409231887.
If you need any help with registering the car & filling in the forms, please just give the office a call, Rosemary or Natalie will happily help you with this.


Understanding the Japanese Auction Sheet

Examples:

Grades:

Grade S>6>5 – Brand new to perfect condition
Grade 4.5 – very good condition
Grade 4.0 – good condition
Grade 3.5 – fair condition
Grade 3 – average to poorer condition
Grade 2 – spares/repair
Grade 1 – modified vehicle
Grade 0 / 0.1 / 0.2 – Accident repaired (see vehicle report for replaced parts)
Grade R / R A – Accident repaired / with very clean repair – usually by the insurance companies.
(Please note some Grade R or A or O might be just cosmetically repaired so dont rule these out)
(* next to milege indicates – meter change history or aftermarket speedo fitted before or now – so don’t dismiss these)

Any cars with aftermarket speedometer or speedo changed in Japan must be deemed incorrect milege unless we can verify – The current ODO display is what will be used

Condition Markers:

A1: small scratch
A2: scratch
A3: big scratch
B1: little dent
B2: dent
B3: bit dent
W1: small repair mark
W2: repaired mark (waved)
W3: not well repaired mark (waved)
C1: small rust/corrosion
C2: rust/corrosion
C3: big rust/corrosion
X: need to be replaced
XX: replaced
H: discoloration
Non Genuine (Not maker’s original)
F: Front
R: Rear
T: Temporary (Tyre)
W : double
AC: air condition
AAC: auto air condition

WAC: double air condition
FA: Floor Automatic transmission
CA: Column Automatic transmission
5F: 5 speed Floor manual transmission

5C: 5 speed Column manual transmission
SD: sedan
HT: hard top
PS: power steering
PW: power window
AW: aluminum wheel
ST: stereo
CD: CD player
MD: Mini Disc player
TV: television
ABS: Anti-lock Brake System
AFC: Air Flow Converter
CPU: Central Processing Unit
EVC: Engine Valve Controller (for boostup)
G bird : anti-corrosive paint
LSD: Limited Slip Differential
SRS: air bag
TRC (or TCS): Traction Control System
VICS: Traffic Information Navigator
Nox Regulation : Exhaust gas regulation applicable only in Japan

If the above link doesn’t log you in, click here and use the following details:
ID: japimportsuk
Pass: JDMGARAGENO1

Grade S>6>5 – Brand new to perfect condition
Grade 4.5 – very good condition
Grade 4.0 – good condition
Grade 3.5 – fair condition
Grade 3 – average to poorer condition
Grade 2 – spares/repair
Grade 1 – modified vehicle
Grade 0 / 0.1 / 0.2 – Accident repaired (see vehicle report for replaced parts)
Grade R / R A – Accident repaired / with very clean repair – usually by the insurance companies.
(Please note some Grade R or A or O might be just cosmetically repaired so dont rule these out)
(* next to milege indicates – meter change history or aftermarket speedo fitted before or now – so don’t dismiss these)