Other Japan Residents Give Me Some Info

[akeenan]

recently ive been thinking about purchasing a car and bringing it back as a private import.. went looking at some today ...

what i want to know are the approx costs involved on top of the purchase price.

eg:stamp duty, syaken, insurance .... etc etc. ive never really looked into buying a car while I have been over here but since doing some online car insurance quotes from AUS it would be silly for me not to....

I know other guys own cars here in Japan if you guys could please give me some/all the info i need. other wise I will have to go and speak to the guys around the corner.

thanks

[R32Ninja]

why do you want to import your car, can't you get the same car in AUS?

I knew a guy who imported his car from South Africa to.... well, I forgot where exactly nonetheless, it will be expensive, about 300,000 yen for a cheap container, plus import tarrifs, taxes and the lot. In addition to all the hasstle re-registering it in AUS. It gets very expensive with island countries I think

[funkymonkey]

why do you want to import your car, can't you get the same car in AUS?

I knew a guy who imported his car from South Africa to.... well, I forgot where exactly nonetheless, it will be expensive, about 300,000 yen for a cheap container, plus import tarrifs, taxes and the lot. In addition to all the hasstle re-registering it in AUS. It gets very expensive with island countries I think

The import part into Australia is pretty straight forward. Most guys who stay in japan for over a year, buy a car in Japan that you can't otherwise buy in australia (like a Legnum VR4, Altezza wagon etc), or is highly modified.

I think what akeenan's primary concern right now isn't to import the car into Australia, but the costs of buying and owning a car and registering it in Japan.

[R32Ninja]

interestingly enough, a big portion of insurance and registration depends on engine displacement. K-car's you can pay a little over 100,000 for everything, and for the big fella's (the extreme opposite)anywhere between 300,000 to 400,000 (in the extreme case) give or take some.

edit: forgot to add; usually cars will be a lot cheaper if the shakken is up, but if there is still a year or so left on it, its reflected in the price. So you end up paying more or less the same price reguardless. (unless there is mechnical or cosmetic issues in which you might get a better deal), in summary its cheap to buy a car, however expensive to maintain it.

Edited November 27, 2005 by R32Ninja

[DaiOni]

expensive to maintain a car? i don't think so, but that depends what you think falls under the 'maintenance banner'.

The first thing you need to know is that the sticker price you see on the windscreen isn't the 'real' price - that price will be listed elsewhere, hopefully on a sheet inside the car. There's usually quite a difference between these prices - so be careful. Extra fees may include sales tax, shaken, transfer, snow tyres, car tax, and a couple of other odd revenue raising taxes.

When you go to buy a car you will need to have: money or bank details (!), your hanko, your gaijin card, and a letter/form from your shiyakusho (or equivalent) that says you have parking. If you don't have a parking space - then you've just discovered a new 'extra' to life with cars in japan. A parking space in a big city can easily hit 2man+ per month (and could be a considerable distance from your apartment).

If you don't speak passable japanese - then you will definitely want to take a japanese friend with you.

With or without shaken? IMO, if you are going to be here for a couple of years - it's better to buy without shaken - I've always been able to negotiate this into the price tag. The japanese aren't as flexible in negotiations as salesmen in australia (in my experience) - but you may well be able to get away with 'okay, I'll buy at that price - but you pay the shaken'. They get better deals than us on shaken - so it works out well for both parties. You also get a clean bill of health on the car.

That said, the first thing you should do is get a basic service done on the car (or get it thrown into the deal, where possible - and check that they have done it).

On average (and for an average car), most places charge around 10-11man for shaken + replacement parts. So it can quickly add up. There are discount places who do it for marginally less. You can also do it yourself - for significantly less - but it's not the easiest process in the world, unless you can take a japanese friend with you (or speak pera pera nihongo, and can understand technical kanji, etc).

Car tax - each year this will cost you a significant amount, dependant on the capacity of the engine. With a kei car, you can pay with loose change. Standard cars, however, can get a bit scary. Most of my cars have been around the 3.5-4man mark per year.

For foreigners, insurance is much higher than australia (in my experience) - for my FD I pay (IIRC) a bit over 1.5man per month - and all that gets me is third party, fire & theft. Full coverage is horribly expensive.

Be very very very careful with insurance. Get them to show you EXACTLY what you are getting. With 2nd hand cars, or cars that they consider cheap, you will be expected to be asking for a low level of coverage. I've had to point out to many foreigners what their coverage is - and it's nearly always a shock for them. Even worse when the information comes too late...

If you're in a rural area, particularly up north - then check whether or not the car comes with snow tyres. If not, and you need them - then see if they can throw that into the deal (it's another thing that may be easily negotiated).

As for sending the car home, it's not as hard as some people make it out to be - and of course it's cheaper than buying the same car at home - as you've cut out the middleman (who pays the same fees, and adds his premium to the top). The only exception would be cars that are very common on the private sale market - r32s, silvias, soarers, etc - which you may well be better off buying at home.

Personal import fees/taxes/costs include:

* transport to the docks in japan (dependant on location)

* customs and broker fees in japan

* possibly, storage fees in japan

* shipping (relatively cheap for RORO, not so for containers)

* insurance

* customs and broker fees in australia

* 10% import duty (for private imports - this is supposed to be based on an evaluated price for the car - not necessarily what you actually paid)

* 10% GST on the value + freight and customs fees (IMO, the biggest rort of all)

* compliancing (which, for private imports, is far more lenient and cheaper than RAWS compliancing).

that's about all I can think remember at the moment - I've probably forgotten a few key points

[dodgybrooks]

Has anyone sucessfully privately imported a car back to aus but remained in Japan? I've looked at the rules and seems you have to have proof that you are returning with the car and you have plans of staying in Australia. I'm keen on sending my car back next year but have no plans of leaving Japan just yet.

DaiOni:1.5man/month for insurance? Must be something special. I pay about 4man/year for 3rd party on an Evo and I'm 26. I'll check on the fire/theft thing tonight when I have a look at the policy but I'd be willing to forgo theft while living in Japan (maybe not Australia) for a 14man saving.

[DaiOni]

That's for the FD. The forester, despite having 260hp, was significantly cheaper. Youngest person on my policy is female, 26 and foreign.

Be very careful with your insurance - I can't stress that highly enough. Compared to australia, comprehensive policies are relatively uncommon (for 2nd hand cars). As well as checking for at fault damage repair for your own cars, check for 'hit and run' (ie: while parked) as well. The only reason I have theft is because it is in 'group B' ('group C' is comprehensive).

I'll check the exact details of the insurance classes when I get home. My wife has got a better memory than me

a guy I work with is about to send his fourth car home - so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

[DaiOni]

I forgot to add two other big bonuses about personal importing...

* the car can be modified

* as it says in the dotar regs - (paraphrasing) 'the imported car doesn't have to conform to ADRs' - which is a 'get out of jail free' card, in terms of defects.

Edited November 28, 2005 by DaiOni

[akeenan]

DaiOni thanks a lot for your information. That was exactly what I was looking for

[Beer Baron]

i have a quesion what is 1 man? 10 000yen?

[DaiOni]

yes

and it turns out my 3rd party is 17600 p/month !!!

glad I only run one car now

[OBaYBe]

Oh what, the government still taxes you on your personal import? So all you end up saving is on the cost of compliance if you were to get it under RAWS.

Bah..

[DaiOni]

+ (for most people) the middleman mark-up

cost of compliance can be a big saving

+ you can mod the car while you live in japan! and no hassles when it gets back

+ you don't have to comply to ADRs

+ you get to selectively choose the car you want - test drive it, and so on - that's very important for many people

So all in all, it's a winning set of regulations

Of course, for some people there is the great incentive of buying a car, for 'X' amout of dollars, then selling it for 'Y' dollars in oz. There's plenty of profit to be made if you have the motivation and capital.

as for the government - yes they are theiving bastards - especially considering it is often a car that has been owned for some time (I've had my FD for nearly three years), and has already had sales tax applied in the first instance