The BIG thread on how to import from Japan

revoke12

charlietheminxx wrote: »

I've recently decided to buy a Japanese import and I was wondering if anyone has an up to date list of insurers that will quote me? I've searched boards but a lot of the insurers and brokers that did it a few years ago don't seem to do it anymore (Zurich, Campion etc.)

I have gotten quotes from Liberty and Aviva but they've come in quite high and I'd like the option of shopping around a bit.

Would you try autoline in the north? They insured me previous in a silvia s14 it was fully comp classic insurance as they car was over 20 years old and also needed another daily car in order to get classic? Might be an option.

charlietheminxx

Unfortunately this will be my only car and it's a 2010 but thanks for the tip anyway

revoke12

charlietheminxx wrote: »

Unfortunately this will be my only car and it's a 2010 but thanks for the tip anyway

no problem thought it might be something a little older. I found an post insurance the best for me this year so maybe try

BronsonTB

charlietheminxx wrote: »

I've recently decided to buy a Japanese import and I was wondering if anyone has an up to date list of insurers that will quote me? I've searched boards but a lot of the insurers and brokers that did it a few years ago don't seem to do it anymore (Zurich, Campion etc.)

I have gotten quotes from Liberty and Aviva but they've come in quite high and I'd like the option of shopping around a bit.

If this is for a new policy for a Jap Import you will have very little choices. Most now refuse to even quote Jap imports for new Business. And those that do will not be cheap. There is a genuine reason why they are getting rare on our roads. Autoline are good for the classic but not everyday policies.

Maybe see if there is an Irish owners club for the model you are thinking of buying as they may be able to recommend a broker that would cover you.

charlietheminxx

It just seems mad really. I added some extra people to my policy and it brought the Liberty quote down so I'm going to go with them.

emermc

charlietheminxx, I'm having similar problems. I've put a deposit on a jap import from a dealer. It is a prius estate, 2013. Allianz said no flat out. Did you tell Liberty that it was a jap import? Was it more expensive?

The dealer told me that there would be no problem insuring the car but now I'm finding that is not true. I've paid a deposit & the dealer has registered it now in my name. Is it too late for me to pull out of the sale? Anyone have any legal advice on this?

Thanks.

charlietheminxx

emermc wrote: »

charlietheminxx, I'm having similar problems. I've put a deposit on a jap import from a dealer. It is a prius estate, 2013. Allianz said no flat out. Did you tell Liberty that it was a jap import? Was it more expensive?

The dealer told me that there would be no problem insuring the car but now I'm finding that is not true. I've paid a deposit & the dealer has registered it now in my name. Is it too late for me to pull out of the sale? Anyone have any legal advice on this?

Thanks.

Hi Emer, the best quote I got was with Liberty. I also got a good one from Aviva. Both were fine with it being a Japanese import. With Liberty I thought my quote was a bit high, but adding my mam and stepdad brought it down by about €150 (even though I'm in my thirties with a full licence and over 10 years no claims ) I did get more quotes from others (Axa directly and one through a broker) but they came in higher.

I wouldn't think the dealer was trying to pull a fast one, from people I asked it was much easier to insure an import until recently. You will get sorted, I wouldn't give up on a good car over it.

emermc

Thanks Charlietheminxx
I'll keep trying. The thing is the car reg has to be searchable for any of them to give a quote & that won't happen till next week. I'll have to wait.

charlietheminxx

That wasn't the case for me! I didn't have an Irish reg yet either You can just pick the model from the drop down menu and input the reg no when it's time to buy.

emermc

Charlietheminxx - did you do the whole quote online? Or did you have to speak to a call agent? If you did it all online, did you have to say anywhere it was an import?

If you read in the assumptions link in a lot of the online quotes they are assuming the car is not an import.

will1569reptile

This has probably been answered somewhere, But it’s before 7am so I’ll just ask the question.

Is there anything different (cheaper) to vrting a Japanese car that is already registered on UK(Northern Ireland ) plates.

Surly the vrt should be cheaper ?

Any one know anything

colm_mcm

will1569reptile wrote: »

This has probably been answered somewhere, But it’s before 7am so I’ll just ask the question.

Is there anything different (cheaper) to vrting a Japanese car that is already registered on UK(Northern Ireland ) plates.

Surly the vrt should be cheaper ?

Any one know anything

Nope, same VRT. You wouldn’t be paying VAT and import duty though.

mikezdi

I have recently bought a 2008 Toyota Alphard 2.4 hybrid from Japan.
My understanding is that when the car is shipped, you should receive invoice, export cert and bill of lading.
When paying the VRT, in order to produce a proof of CO2 emissions, will the export cert suffice? Or a printout from ROS?
Also the car make/model appears to be on ROS.

Thank you in advance.

mikezdi

Could someone confirm my comment above? Cheers

Fantom

mikezdi wrote: »

I have recently bought a 2008 Toyota Alphard 2.4 hybrid from Japan.
My understanding is that when the car is shipped, you should receive invoice, export cert and bill of lading.
When paying the VRT, in order to produce a proof of CO2 emissions, will the export cert suffice? Or a printout from ROS?
Also the car make/model appears to be on ROS.

Thank you in advance.

I have recently import same car 2012 Hybrid L-G. You will be asked to get a proof from Department Of Transport in Japan or you can download it from theirs website.

mikezdi

Fantom wrote: »

I have recently import same car 2012 Hybrid L-G. You will be asked to get a proof from Department Of Transport in Japan or you can download it from theirs website.

I'm having difficulty locating proof of CO2. Would you be able to provide a link please?

Fantom

mikezdi wrote: »

I'm having difficulty locating proof of CO2. Would you be able to provide a link please?

I can only send you a file (PDF format) by email. PM me with your email address

john_doe.

I was wondering what peoples opinion was of importing a Prius plug in Hybrid 2017. There is very limited stock in Ireland

Sabi84

Fantom wrote: »

I can only send you a file (PDF format) by email. PM me with your email address

Hi,
Could you send me that PDF file on CO emissions please?

Mark Reilly

I would like to share my Experience buying and importing a car through JDM auction watch.
I will happily share further details and all mail chains with anyone who wants more info. This was a very personal project for me. The project was to buy a car for me and my son Killian to work on, develop and enjoy.
After a bit of research and changing of the goal we decided on a Nissan Skyline R33 GTR or a R34 GTT. Being in Ireland I found the thought of dealing with a buyer in Japan a bit too risky. I found JDM auction watch mid May 2019. By Early June I had a Euro 500 bidding deposit in place. Patrick at JDM Auction watch was very helpful with Auction sheet translation and advice on price. It is difficult to bid accurately as you are bidding on a car landed in Dublin with Vat and duty paid.

Armed with Google translate or translation from Patrick and historical value I started the search. 27th June I bid Euro 16,000 on a one owner R34 GTT lot # 50175 @ USS Nagoya and the car was secured for Euro 16,240. This is landed in Dublin with Vat and Duty paid. This was Euro 240 above my max bid. I was reasonably happy with this and accepted it. The shipping was problematic and the car only landed in Ireland and cleared on the 4th November. There were three issues during the shipping.

1.Despite paying JDM Auction watch fees and various commissions to secure, ship and import the car for me Patrick said I was required to register as an importer with “EORI”. This was not an option for me as I work abroad and do not qualify to register.

2. Patrick informed me that although I bid and paid for the car landed in Ireland, I may be required to pay more VAT and duty. This is a grey area as JDM Auction watch are managing a transaction which is not in their name. There is no proof of price actually paid at auction for Vat and Duty valuation/purposes.

3. I had to sign over authority to a customs agent to act on my behalf for the clearance in Dublin. This transaction was administered by JDM Auction watch. Again, no control of a transaction that was in my name.

Another niggle was fees stated. I was told JDM Auction watch fees were Euro 500 +vat. I was charged in excess of Euro 922. The X-ray check, De-reg, port handling and storage, shipping prep and inspection fee of 126,000Yen is over double that of the competition (auto access Japan).

Finally, the car landed in Dublin port and was cleared. I was abroad at the time so paid my local garage owner to drive the car to my house on his trade plate. My brother also helped out at the port. When they arrived at the car, they checked the levels before starting.

The engine had no oil and 50% coolant. The battery was 100% dead as the lights had been left on during loading and unloading. Leslie and Dean alerted me to this issue straight away and I contacted Patrick. Patrick said to go and buy oil, coolant and a battery and he would cover the invoice and my concerns were noted. He said to drive on and see if the car was OK. This was a schoolboy mistake on my part.
This conversation was verbal and I should have told my guys to leave the car there until the problems were properly documented. The car should have been inspected at the Auction house, by the buyer in Japan, after the car was won at auction, during the pre-shipping and de-registering process and also by the shipping company.

The worst-case scenario is the car has been driven around the auction site, during transport to export location, during transport to port, during transport/trans-shipping (on and off ships 6 times). All this with a dry sump.

When I returned home on the 24th December, I had a look around the car and did test drive. The car is nice but the engine is not running right and wont rev past 4K. It is knocking and rattling badly. I did the usual tests. I also did an oil sample, compression and endoscope. After fresh oil was driving for 4 hours it shows alarming levels of hard metal, soft metal, fuel, coolant and water. Results also sent to JDM auction watch.

So far JDM auction watch have stonewalled me or passed the responsibility back to me. Patrick even went on to say that a far less patient person would have told me where to go sooner. If you pay for a service you should receive the service. If you charge fee you should stand over your product. I have asked for fees to be returned to the value of Euro 2500 (cost of a donor engine). I would like everyone to be aware of my experience with JDM Auction watch and act accordingly. Please feel free to contact me if you want to discuss details or costs involved further.
I have shared this doc with JDM Auction watch

dar_cool

Sorry to hear about your car. I have brought a few cars in from Japan before by using agents in Japan and I have never had any issues. It's a huge risk. Jdmauctiomwatch are only agents so I'd say your wasting your time looking for money back for a doner engine. Probably best to try source an engine yourself and just move on

Midnight_EG

If the car was knocking, I certainly wouldn't have tried to drive it all the way to Cork? Surely your mechanic friend would have known that.

dar_cool

Just to add this removing and fitting an engine would be great way to learn about the car and great bonding between you and your son

Titzon Toast

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles OP.
Very interesting to hear your experince in bringing a car in from Japan though.

Mjolnir

Could of had fluids quickly drained before loading.
Did they top it up with oil before dropping it off at your house?
What's the mileage on it, have you checked the turbo? Had a mechanic do a full inspection?
Read their t&c's to see exactly where you stand, but they act as an agent on your behalf, they procured the car for you they didn't sell it to you. Strictly speaking you accepted delivery and have no come back as such as they didn't sell you the car, the auction house did on behalf of the seller in Japan, they purchased. If the issue was obvious at the dock you'd refuse delivery and try sort something.

Before anyone accuses me of it, I have no affiliation to jdmauction watch or any such company.

nophd08

This is interesting, jdm auction watch have been in operation for a long time and I've only read glowing reviews on Facebook / Backroads etc. I've met and spoken with Patrick several times and was also looking to import a car. These were the problems that lads faced years ago when importing, cars in rag order with parts missing and being damaged during loading and offloading.
I was told that this was all sorted but obviously not. OK so you might have made a few mistakes but I was also told that the price you pay includes import fees and vat. I'll be looking elsewhere. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Casati

nophd08 wrote: »

This is interesting, jdm auction watch have been in operation for a long time and I've only read glowing reviews on Facebook / Backroads etc. I've met and spoken with Patrick several times and was also looking to import a car. These were the problems that lads faced years ago when importing, cars in rag order with parts missing and being damaged during loading and offloading.
I was told that this was all sorted but obviously not. OK so you might have made a few mistakes but I was also told that the price you pay includes import fees and vat. I'll be looking elsewhere. Thanks for sharing your experience.

How much was the VRT? I’m guessing even including an engine rebuild you might have got reasonable value?

If you were doing it again would you avoid these agents and buy a car direct in Japan yourself and arrange shipping and duty locally?

nophd08

Casati wrote: »

How much was the VRT? I’m guessing even including an engine rebuild you might have got reasonable value?

If you were doing it again would you avoid these agents and buy a car direct in Japan yourself and arrange shipping and duty locally?

You quoted my post, I'm not the OP

TheW1zard

Looking at importing a car a the mo, from them! Will follow thread very closely.

Midnight_EG

TheW1zard wrote: »

Looking at importing a car a the mo, from them! Will follow thread very closely.

Read between the lines, and then continue with Paddy as he's stellar and his service is excellent.