Buying your first car online-
what you need to know
Now this can seem very daunting at first but i assure you its pretty easy anyone can do it. here i will highlight a few prerequisite which you must consider before taking on this task.
Age of Vehicle
There are regulations surrounding the age limit for vehicles which can and cannot be imported into a desired country so always check with your local authorities for their import regulation. For this article all reference will be made to Jamaica as this is my country of residence. In Jamaica the regulating body is the Trade Board. you can visit the trade board website and find all the necessary information for importing your motor car. The age limit for importing cars into jamaica is 6 years old. Hence the importation of cars older than six years old is prohibited.
the age limit for buses vans and other commercial vehicles differ so pls visit the trade board website for more information.
Credible Websites and Exporters
There are many exporters in japan which are ready and willling to sell cars to eager buyers however be on the look out for unscrupulous persons looking to rip you off, while there are not many cases of this happening please be careful as online fraud is pretty common and many unsuspecting persons have fall victim to it. From my experience purchasing cars and doing business with dealers in japan i have found three sites that i consider to be credible: where you can get quality cars at reasonable rates.
The most popular exporter is SBT japan. SBT is a leading player in the used car business and have been around since january 1993 they have offices setup in Jamaica where you can go and speak with their representatives.
Beforward is another good used car dealer portal for buying cars, from my experience they tend to have bettter rates when compared to SBT but they do have fewer options so be mindful of this.
Lastly there is Autocomjapan. Autocom is not that well known but they have really competitive prices its also my opinion that their vehicles tend to be in much cleaner conditions upon arrival.
There are many other exporters, thousands of them actually here are some of the less popular players just to name a few; Respect Motors,SS cars, Kobe Motors,Oliac, JIMEX and Japanese Car Trade.
Funding
Now you will either be buying your car cash or financing it from your local bank, either way the process is really simple. If you are planning to finance your vehicle then bare in mind that the banks do not pay out any money until the vehicle is here in the country and you have presented the certificate of registration in your name. Hence you will need some out of pocket funds to start the process. luckily there are companies that will make the purchase for you and you can reimbursed then once the bank release the cheque. For a more detail explanation of this please see our contact info so i can personally walk you through how this is accomplish.
Customs and Duty
the clearance of all motor vehicle require a customs broker. A broker typically charges anywhere from 20-30k depending on the amount of work they have to do to clear the vehicle. Duties and taxes are charged on all vehicles entering the island. Some of these include: general consumption Tax (GCT), Environmental Levy (ENV), Customs administration fee (CAF) and Import duty among others. Please visit the Jamaica Customs website for more information regarding all duties and taxes involved in clearance of any vehicle.
Duties and taxes usually accumulates to 80-100% percent of the CAF (cost and freight) of the car. yes i know what you’re thinking, 100%? oh my god!. This is bad but its standard procedure and everyone has to observe the laws. below will i give you a quick method of estimating just how much it could cost you to import a vehicle. For instance; if the CAF of the vehicle is 4200 then double that figure and multiply by the days currency exchange rate. Hence: (8400*150) this is typically a safe way to estimate just how much a vehicle will cost upon arrival. Now remember this is just an estimate and the final cost can be alot lower than using this method, so for more detail information please contact us via email or Tel at our contact details listed here.
until next time Drive well.