Importing directly from Japan

chabsey

I'm trying to gauge whether it's worth buying a car (Suzuki Swift) from a dealer here or getting it directly from Japan, the main reason being that many of the cars I'm looking at in garages appear to be a Japanese imports anyway, so why not skip the middle man?


If anyone has already imported a car themselves could they have a look at my calculations to see if I'm way out? And if I've missed anything obvious?

I've down a little research and the price of an automatic Swift 2006 from Japan works out at about 5-6K. Add on to this:

Shipping: 750 euros (bit of a guess)
Import duty: 500
VAT: 1200
VRT: 2500
Unforeseen Extras: 1000

Total: In the region of 10 - 12 K depending on the exact price of the car.

Same car through a garage here:

16K

Saving: 4K

So, does that look reasonable or am I missing lots of extra costs / hassles / annoyances and am I open to problems down the line where parts / servicing comes into the equation? I'm less inclined to think this (parts / servicing) is an issue cause if garages are selling imports here to essentially unsuspecting members of the public who assume they're getting european cars then when they get them serviced I imagine there'd be a lot of annoyed punters if costs doubled / trebled due to the Japanese origins.

Anyone got any tips for this kind of purchase?

Dades

I reckon shipping will be a bit pricier than that.
Also, note that VAT is payable on the car price PLUS any transport costs.

Still seems like there's savings to be had though if you're up for a bit of extra (inevitable) hassle.