Must Check Chassis No
Most of the importers of used vehicles purchase their vehicles online from used car exporters in Japan. When you come accross a used cars' exporter's site, make sure that you look for the complete Chassis Number provided as part of the important information you find about the vehicle. Chassis Number, also known as Vin Number or Serial Number is a unique combination of alphabets and numbers. This particular number is given to each vehicle for identification purposes and no two cars can share the same chassis number.
Chassis number is commonly found in vehicles:
- On the firewall (stamped mostly in the similar colour to the paintwork)
- On the steering column
- On the dash near the windshield
- Inside the engine compartment (mainly found with Japanese vehicles, embossed on a small plate)
- Under the driver's seat, specially in commercial vehicles.
In documents, it is written in full on the CIC, also known as COC in case of brand new cars and on the Regisration Certificate, Deregistration Certificate or Export Deregistration Certificate in case of a used vehicle.
What you need to be careful when dealing with used vehicle exporers before you pay your money, is to receive the 'complete' chassis number. I am giving a careful instruction here because you may be receiving a chassis number, but could be a Not-Complete-Chassis-Number, meaning only "Part-of-the-Chassis-Number". Some exporters play this way when they do not have the actual vehicle in stock. How they deal in these cases is to go find the similar vehicle you ordered, after receiving your money. You may now start wondering why there was such a delay in receiving a vehicle after your order or ending up receiving a different vehicle from what you ordered. As you can imagine now it is not so easy to find a very similar vehicle at auctions, even in place like Japan, so it may take time or end up just finding a different vehicle.
Many car exporters on the internet, specially those advertising their companies on Car Classified Websites or Car Portal Sites inflate their stock by offering vehicles they don't even possess. They display example pictures, dummy stock on their websites only to get good exposure on Portal Sites and to attract customers. Beware of these deals and make sure you would pay for the right car for your money worth.
Japan Auto Exports prides itself in keeping only real stock on its website, with complete chassis numbers provided, supported by its ownership documents. Our stock is ready for inspection by third parties and is ready for sale and quick shipment.
If you need any further advice on the chassis number, or feel some con car exporter is after your money by offering you a dummy stock, please feel free to contact us.