Car dealer query

[Pwills85]

Thanks for all that information, it’s really helpful I will pass this on to him

 

[Danalexa2731]

In terms of the mark up regarding import via an agent, once more will vouch for Jap Auto Agent, - very transparent on the website. Other the the deposit to start the search we only paid the invoices as they came in for the auction costs / Free on Board and then the shipping costs and duty on arrival.

Paul sends a spreadsheet detailing the expense at every step so you can figure your auction budget vs the 'on the road' price. I think the commission JAA takes is extremely fair given the service. (I don't work for him!!! but will be going through him for our next car very soon!)

 

[kfgas]

In terms of the mark up regarding import via an agent, once more will vouch for Jap Auto Agent, - very transparent on the website. Other the the deposit to start the search we only paid the invoices as they came in for the auction costs / Free on Board and then the shipping costs and duty on arrival.

Paul sends a spreadsheet detailing the expense at every step so you can figure your auction budget vs the 'on the road' price. I think the commission JAA takes is extremely fair given the service. (I don't work for him!!! but will be going through him for our next car very soon!)

Sounds like he is one of the better ones.

Out of interest I have just had had a look at his website and in comparison to many UK agents his fees do look very fair although his minimum fees assuming that this would be like to like with a Japan agents fees and that they do not cover UK port clearing fees Nova, UK delivery etc are still best part of 3 times what most Japan agents would charge in fees if going direct and apart from the spreadsheet the process would be exactly the same giving you assess to the upcoming live auctions, translating the auction sheets, bidding on the auctions Japan paperwork and arranging transport to port and shipping etc.

Having said all the above as I said in my previous post there can be a lot of benefits to using a UK based agent of which probably the biggest in my opinion is that they would also possibly give you advise on which cars to bid on based on there experience of buying in the past and the current market and maximum bids to place.

This can be very helpful as in my experience not all auction houses in Japan are equal and something like a good grade 3.5 b/b from one of the more stricter auctions which has been honestly graded can actually be a better car than a grade 4 c/c from one of the laxer auctions and will be significantly cheaper as most dealers in the UK and Australia tend to look for grade 4's which will quite often push the price up as this is what they see as the easiest sale and the auctions know this and some will take advantage of it.

This in itself can be worth any extra in fees as this is something that would be highly unlikely to get if using a Japan agent direct as they typically will only bid on the cars you instruct them to up to your maximum bid with little or no advice whatsoever on whether they consider it a good car or if your maximum bid is set at the right level

Would have thought that they would be aware of it but not all are but one thing that it would be worth checking with Jap Auto Agent is that unlike when you imported your first Elgrand with them and most probably paid up to 10% import duty the Import duty is now from January 26 0% when importing a car made in Japan from Japan under a trade agreement made with them (CEPA) but he must obtain a statement of origin and or the invoice from Japan must show some very explicit wording.

This must be claimed by using preference code 300 on the UK customs entry form by your UK port clearing agent otherwise the duty will default to 10%.

This represents a major saving as not only does it save on the cost of the duty but also the 20% vat that used to charged on top of it.

Best of luck with your search and will be very interested in knowing what you have bought.

For the benefit of others it is worth pointing out that no UK agent or importer that I am aware of can bid directly on the Japan auctions as the criteria to bid is very strict not least that they must be registered as a Japanese company with premises and compounds etc in Japan.

There are also numerous other expensive criteria which are not worth them meeting so all will use a Japan agent to bid and arrange shipping.

 

[Danalexa2731]

Sounds like he is one of the better ones.

Out of interest I have just had had a look at his website and in comparison to many UK agents his fees do look very fair although his minimum fees assuming that this would be like to like with a Japan agents fees and that they do not cover UK port clearing fees Nova, UK delivery etc are still best part of 3 times what most Japan agents would charge in fees if going direct and apart from the spreadsheet the process would be exactly the same giving you assess to the upcoming live auctions, translating the auction sheets, bidding on the auctions Japan paperwork and arranging transport to port and shipping etc.

Having said all the above as I said in my previous post there can be a lot of benefits to using a UK based agent of which probably the biggest in my opinion is that they would also possibly give you advise on which cars to bid on based on there experience of buying in the past and the current market and maximum bids to place.

This can be very helpful as in my experience not all auction houses in Japan are equal and something like a good grade 3.5 b/b from one of the more stricter auctions which has been honestly graded can actually be a better car than a grade 4 c/c from one of the laxer auctions and will be significantly cheaper as most dealers in the UK and Australia tend to look for grade 4's which will quite often push the price up as this is what they see as the easiest sale and the auctions know this and some will take advantage of it.

This in itself can be worth any extra in fees as this is something that would be highly unlikely to get if using a Japan agent direct as they typically will only bid on the cars you instruct them to up to your maximum bid with little or no advice whatsoever on whether they consider it a good car or if your maximum bid is set at the right level

Would have thought that they would be aware of it but not all are but one thing that it would be worth checking with Jap Auto Agent is that unlike when you imported your first Elgrand with them and most probably paid up to 10% import duty the Import duty is now from January 26 0% when importing a car made in Japan from Japan under a trade agreement made with them (CEPA) but he must obtain a statement of origin and or the invoice from Japan must show some very explicit wording.

This must be claimed by using preference code 300 on the UK customs entry form by your UK port clearing agent otherwise the duty will default to 10%.

This represents a major saving as not only does it save on the cost of the duty but also the 20% vat that used to charged on top of it.

Best of luck with your search and will be very interested in knowing what you have bought.

For the benefit of others it is worth pointing out that no UK agent or importer that I am aware of can bid directly on the Japan auctions as the criteria to bid is very strict not least that they must be registered as a Japanese company with premises and compounds etc in Japan.

There are also numerous other expensive criteria which are not worth them meeting so all will use a Japan agent to bid and arrange shipping.

Dead right on the duty and tax and we have been made aware of this in context of our On the Road price already. JAA has also raised the issue on shipping delays. They appear to be dealing with this through the purchase of containers as they often have multiple cars coming in. With the reduction in fees / VAT this probably results in a swings and roundabouts cost saving, but I was told to expect around 2k for this vs 1k we paid in 2020. we will see if we come up against auction houses restricting sales for export. I hope not!

I'll update on my experiences if they are interest re importing this time around - though I am afraid to say we are committing sacrilege and targeting a 20 series Vellfire/Alphard

Many thanks for your replies!
Dan

 

[CatD]

Cheers, going to visit them on monday and see waht it's all about. They have a car I'm interested in but so do vineplace and I know they are well regarded.

Sorry, we backed out in the end. They might have been good but we got put off by the pressure sales tactics.
I’d definitely recommend Dave at Vine place. He’s incredibly fair and trustworthy. Great bloke.
How did you find Castle Prestige when you went, just out of curiosity?

 

[Danalexa2731]

Sorry, we backed out in the end. They might have been good but we got put off by the pressure sales tactics.
I’d definitely recommend Dave at Vine place. He’s incredibly fair and trustworthy. Great bloke.
How did you find Castle Prestige when you went, just out of curiosity?

Hi, did you visit in person?

We haven't been, no. We did book a viewing but then cancelled. They seems to offer quite a bit in terms of service/upgrades, but the prices do seem pretty high? We have just commissioned an agent instead to look for a vehicle in Japan at auction.

 

[Importland]

How did you find Castle Prestige when you went, just out of curiosity?

I think the name of that place would be enough to ensure I never visited

 

[Daisuki JDM]

Tom at Castle Prestige is a good chap, you won't get any clocked/crashed stuff.

We do offer an import service, if you don't have any luck, feel free to reach out.