FAQ

1.  Why import direct?

You can obtain the exact car that you want at wholesale price, avoiding the  larger retail markups. Even with the brokerage 
fee, you  will save typically $3,000 on a $15,000 car. 
We buy directly to your specifications, and  have detailed quality information on the cars  that are presented for auction in Japan from the vehicle auction  sheets.

2.  Why Japan?

Choice, Quality and Price
Choice: The volume of  used cars in Japan  is huge, with average weekly sales over 100,000 cars.
Quality: The country’s  highly organized car auction system provides important information to enable  consumers to assess the quality of each car
Price: Used cars in Japan  are relatively cheap because of the high cost of meeting their ‘WOF’  
requirements, giving owners an incentive to replace after only a few years’ ownership.  Further, the cost of shipping  from Japan is low, with  fortnightly shipments to New Zealand.

3. What about the  quality of the vehicles?

By buying direct from the auctions  themselves 
rather than from retail Japanese  agents, the exact grade and condition of the vehicles can be determined. The  auctions use a grading system to specify the quality and condition of their  cars - broadly ranging from grades 0 through to 5, with 0 being the worst and 5  being the best. There are some near new vehicles that are given higher gradings  than 5, depending on their mileage, condition etc. Our recommendation is that  we only normally buy grades 4 and above to ensure high quality. The auction  sheets specify and illustrate whether or not the car has any minor damage of any description, e.g minor scratches, dents etc. We  only bid on cars that satisfy our clients, satisfy our criteria for quality and  that have genuine mileage. You are provided with a copy of the original auction  sheet to keep with your car documentation after purchase is confirmed.

 4. How long does it take?

Once we have purchased a suitable vehicle it takes approximately 6-7 weeks for the vehicle to arrive in NZ, and be on  the road for you to drive away. In return for this wait you will have saved a great deal of money and hand-picked exactly what you want.

5. Do you handle  everything including all paperwork etc?

YES!! That is one of the many advantages in 
using our services! EVERYTHING is  done for you on your behalf, until you pick up the vehicle from NZ Compliance. You have nothing to do except drive it away!

6. How much cheaper can  it work out?

Comparing like with like, for a car of the same 
grade  and quality typical savings are normally in the order of $3000 - $4000, sometimes even higher. Be aware, when comparing to retail prices, that not all the cars on the local yards  were of high grade when they left Japan. Many are 
grade 3.5’s, and in  some cases even lower. By purchasing through us you will know exactly what grade your car was in Japan and you will have a copy of the auction sheet for your vehicle as  soon as the purchase is confirmed.

7.  How does the buying process work?

There are three stages to the process. When 
you have chosen a suitable car, we lodge  a bid and wait for the result to come through. If successful, the initial payment  covers the price of the car, all the Japanese costs and our brokerage fee.The second payment,  covering the import costs (freight, GST, Customs and Port charges etc) is made  about a week before the ship arrives in port.The final payment covers  the cost of the NZ Compliance check, is payable to the Compliance company when  you collect the car.

8. How specific can I be when ordering a car? Can I specify a favourite colour or colours?

Anything is possible! So long as the car was manufactured with it -you can have it! For example: sunroofs, alloy wheels etc. Colour preferences can also be specified, but the primary buying criteria should always be  quality and condition. In this regard, if you are happy to specify more than one colour choice, this will widen the search and enable a more expeditious  purchase, as sometimes we have 
to wait for a car of better quality when searching  for only one colour. Sometimes you may decide to pay less  for a high grade car without alloy wheels fitted, but then purchase your own to taste here when the car has arrived.

9. How do the new emissions regulations affect the car buying process?

The new New Zealand regulations have now been implemented. We buy only in accordance with these new regulations.  The major impact has been on diesel vehicles, with petrol vehicles having fared quite well. Broadly, the effects of the new regulations are as follows:


For Petrol Vehicles: Minimum standard is now Japan 05/Euro 4 emissions standards. Broadly speaking this means mainly Year 2005 and onwards for Japanese vehicles, with the majority of European vehicles only meeting this standard from approximately 2007 onwards. There are some exceptions, (eg, some Euro vehicles from 2005 and onwards are fine) and every vehicle is individually checked to ensure compliance with the standards required, and only imported if meeting the standards

For Diesel Vehicles: The same standard of Japan 05 /Euro 4 emissions regulations have a far greater impact on diesel engines and essentially most vehicles prior to 2005 no longer comply. We check the eligibility of every vehicle under the new regulations prior to commencing any search. From now on all diesel vehicles will be the latest models only.