Most important part of importing a vehicle from Japan or any other country is to make sure all import rules and regulations in your country. You may be able to get that information from your countries relevant government authority.
Customs levies and taxes
You have to pay government levies and taxes at customs in your country to get the vehicle released out of the port of discharge. It is good to get an estimation of all levies and taxes you have to pay so that you know how much it will cost you in total approximately. Contact a customs clearing and forwarding agent in your country for this purpose. Make sure that the person knows the stuff of Japanese used car import to your country.
Local market values
Do some outside research to find the local market values of the vehicle you are planning to import. As a result, you are able to judge price you should pay to buy your car from Japan. Visit GTE Japan to get a price estimation of the vehicle you are planning to import.
Terminology
FOB: Free on Board. This is the price you have to pay to get the vehicle on board a ship in port of shipping in Japan. FOB price includes costs of vehicle, transport and customs clearing in Japan. It also includes the profit margin of your supplier in Japan. Almost any European country, Australia and New Zealand allows importing on FOB basis. In this case, you will have to pay freight and insurance to the shipping company in your country.
C&F: Cost and Freight. Basically this is FOB price plus freight.
CIF: Cost, Insurance and Freight. This is FOB price plus freight and insurance.
BL: Bill of Lading. Shipment documentation provided by the shipping company.
Necessary documents
GTE Japan will send you at least 4 original invoices, BL, Japanese export certificate and certified English translation by courier. If you need any other documents such as certificate of origin etc, please inform us in advance. Pre-shipment inspection certificate can be provided to those customers from countries that require pre-shipment inspection.
GTE Japan Sales team