Here is a post for you folks wanting to import a low mileage car from Japan. They are called JDM cars(Japanese Domestic Market). My experience was mixed possibly because of who I purchased it from. You can only import cars older than 25 years into the US or older than 15 years if imported into Canada. I found a white Camry wagon called the Gracia. The pics looked great. Mileage was 89000 kms or about 50000 miles. It had a nifty radio touch screen and cloth interior with faux wood trim, no dents, no rust. I paid about $2800 for the car and shipping to Tacoma was another $2000. I ordered in in Nov 2022 and it finally arrived late December 2023 or about 14 months after I ordered it. It was supposed to be shipped in early Jan 2023 but that didn't happen. Problems with transport I was told. This went on for 8 months with the same excuse and finally the emails dried up. No car and I was out 5 grand. Scammed I assumed. Finally in early fall 2023 I decided to write registered letters to the Tokyo Times and to the CEO of the company telling of my plight and demanded immediate shipment or my money back. Nothing for a month from the newspaper or the company and then finally an email from the CEO's office giving me an exact shipping date of November and an arrival to the Port of Tacoma in December. They promised import documents which you need to fetch it and get thru customs. They were to be sent DHL to my home address about when the car left Japan. They never arrived. The car did and the Port people said "Come and get it!" You have to use a customs broker who helps you to file the correct forms. You have to get the Japanese import documents translated as well which costs money($130). The Custom broker I used charged about $750 and she was absolutely wonderful and competent but without documents I was up the creek. After 10 days the car starts to accumulate storage charges of about $25/day. I had been calling Japan and leaving texts from well before Christmas but no one answered. It seems they take a LONG Christmas/New Years vacation but finally after New Years I got a text saying my documents had JUST been sent DHL and they arrived in Wyoming in the first week in Jan of 2024, this year. From then on things moved swiftly and my broker got everything approved and I drove to Tacoma and returned with my Camry a few days ago. But it was not the low mile condition Camry I ordered. It did not have 89000 kms. It had 250000! It did not have a nice double din radio. It had a big hole where the radio had been and a broken bezel trim panel from inexpert removal. The Car Jack was also removed. So they either sent me another white Camry wagon or they lied about the mileage and removed the radio. That is the bad news. The good news is that this wagon is pristine for a 1998 and has had excellent service clearly obvious when I put it on a lift. No rust, all the fluids like new and great tires exhaust system, drive lines etc. I am still trying to negotiate some settlement with these folks but so far no communication other than " we will get back with you." My fees after the car arrived were about $1000 for the broker. Excess storage charges were $460 and then there was my travel about 1900 miles RT with motels,meals dolly rental and mods to my Tahoe which came to almost another $1000 and then another $250 for a tow truck when my 4x4 Tahoe got mired in deep snow passing through Idaho..
I have learned a few things from this episode and I can offer some advice for anyone contemplating importing a car from overseas, primarily Japan. One useful website is Japanesecartrade.com. This is a clearing house of information on the used car export trade. There is also an association called JUMVEA which is composed of 213 member exporters. There are different levels of membership depending upon time in business and feedback from buyers and other Japanese rating organizations. The highest level is "Gold."These exporters buy their older used cars on daily auto auctions. all over Japan. They bid on these cars and so can you but you have to use them do offer your proxy bids OR you can just buy from them directly. I bid for several months without success and I used two dealers who were well established and members of their dealer association. They were SBT and Integrity Exports. I found they gave excellent service but they were unable to find the car I wanted, a 25 year old Toyota Camry Gracia wagon. I ended up going to a small recently admitted dealer member of JUMVEA who happened to have one. I have chosen not to reveal its name for obvious legal reasons. When I attempted to buy it by wiring funds from my local bank, my banker called me and said he was concerned about the risk I was taking. His objection was the company had a minimal website which had only been up and running for 8 months and they were unable to get feedback from buyers using that company or meaningful financial information. I then went back to the internet and tried to find any news, good or bad on the company and could find nothing. After mulling this over I decided to go ahead. It was my money, my risk after all. . The bank discouraged me but wired the funds. And you know the rest. The reason the big dealers didn't have many old Camrys was obviously their low value. They preferred to deal in older high value cars like LandCruisers and Prados , Camper Vans and Mercedes. There are many organizations here in the US that regularly import used JDM vehicles for USPS mail delivery vehicles as well as those desirable LandCruisers which are often available in excellent condition with low miles and no rust.Japan is a small country with a small road network and excellent mass transit and most cars get little use. It can be a good deal and Youtube is full of videos on the process. The problems I had were poor dealer service and communication and some level of misinformation verging on fraud, I suppose. But in the end despite all these hurdles, I ended up with a satisfactory older and very rare stationwagon never available in the US after 1996, albeit for a very stiff price of nearly $7000 after all costs were taken into account. Would I do this again? The answer should be obvious.
