Chosing Right Exporter

How to Chose the Right Japanese Car Export Company

Importing used cars from Japan can be extremely simple and rewarding, but troublesome and risky at the same time.

The first thing you as importer have to do is to make the right choice in selecting a reliable car dealer in Japan that will give you good service. There are many Internet Scams these days and a lot of people end up losing their hard-earned money. They get a wrong car shipped to them or find there is no shipment at all once payment is made. It is therefore important to spend sufficient time in finding the right company that exports top quality used cars from Japan.

But how to chose a right company?

First of all, make sure the company you choose is registered with the prefectural police. This is compulsory for export companies with websites.

Secondly, check if the exporter has the used car licence known as Ko-Butsu-Sho. The number of the licence must also be mentioned on the exporter's website. Such a licence is necessary and is the first step to trade in any kind of used products, including cars, in Japan.

People can export cars from Japan even if they're not a registered company. However, it is very difficult, almost impossible, for you to check the legitimacy of a non-registered company in Japan. Therefore we advise you deal with registered companies, because their legitimacy can be verified by third parties.

Feel free to ask your exporter to provide you with their company registration details. The document that proves the company registration is call Tohon. It gives the company's name, company's owner(s)' name(s), as well as paid up capital, address and company formation details.

As this document is in the Japanese language, we suggest you contact Japan Embassy in your country and get the Tohon checked to make sure the document you recieve is genuine. You can also contact your country's embassy in Japan to verify the authenticity of Tohon. JETRO office branch in your country or your local Chamber of Commerce may be approached for help and alternatively you can also contact any Chamber of Commerce or JETRO office in Japan to check if your export company is genuine, as well as the authenticity of the company's Tohon.

We also suggest you make sure your exporter is a JUMVEA member. If your car exporter is not a JUMVEA member, encourage your exporter to get this membership. JUMVEA will only give membership to a genuine and authentic company with no bad records and with proper police registration, etc. If a JUMVEA member does let down its clients, it is very easy to take legal action against such companies. JUMVEA is the only export association in Japan approved by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

There is a long list of things we can suggest you to check about your exporter in Japan. However, if such company is a JUMVEA member, you can be well assured, because all the necessary checks are made by JUMVEA before allowing exporter to join.

For your peace of mind, you can take following additional steps to ensure you deal with right company.

• Check the physical address of company. This should contain a post code (area code or zip code), prefecture name, city name, street address, building name etc. Ask for directions and check through Google Maps if the information tallies with your exporter's address.
• The company you deal with must give you a landline phone number. Avoid dealing with companies that give you only mobile phone numbers. Mobile phones can be purchased even by blacklisted people or foreignors who have no valid visa in Japan.
• Ask your company to give you the name of shipping company they deal with and preferably the name of a specific person in the used car export section of the shipping company. Don't hesitate to call the shipping company and ask questions about the legitimacy of the car exporter. There must be someone who can speak English in the shipping company. (Make sure you speak loud, clear and slow, as Japanese may not understand if you speak too fast).
• You can also ask for a reference of a previous client in your country to check about the condition of the car exported, how fast the shipment was, and get their comment on the whole process from confirmation of the car to the delivery of vehicle and documents.
• If you know someone in Japan, ask them to visit the export company on your behalf and check the vehicle's availability, condition and documents. Your exporter should not hesitate to accomodate any such request.

Your exporter has a moral obligation to answer all the questions you may have and you, as a client, have every right to ask any question to ensure you are dealing with the right company.

If you have any problem dealing with any export company in Japan, please feel free to contact us for any advice you may require. You can also contact us before dealing with a new company and we will be very glad to give you all possible assistance.

Japan Auto Exports Co., Ltd is a genuine, legitimate, authentic car export company, properly registered with concerned authorities, registered with the Aichi Prefectural Police. We have been in business since 2003, have extensive knowledge and experience in export of brand new and used vehicles from Japan. Proudly a member of JUMVEA, JETRO and Nagoya Chamber of Commerce and multiple auction houses in Japan, we are always here to assist you so feel free to contact us anytime.