Beware of Hidden Costs

There are hidden charges in your costs and car exporters take advantage of your ignorance and make money out of customers. Yes, export companies do have the right to charge reasonable and genuine profit as part of a deal, but they have no right whatsoever to inflate the car cost with additional hidden charges without the knowledge and consent of their clients.

The way used vehicle exporters in Japan charge fees and evaluate prices have been debatable for quite some time. There tend to be many sneaky ways to hide additional charges and you need to be careful not to be fooled by these. You need to know exactly what you are paying for. Many car dealers deliberately neglect to mention the true facts about costs. Unnecessary fees are sometimes included in the price and the dealer tries to screw you with those extra fees. A greedy exporter will try to slip hidden fees past unwary consumers.

Before you confirm your order, you need to know the costs that you may have to pay.

Here are a few tips to help you out.

• 5% sales tax. When buying car in Japan, whether from an auction or through a dealer, this sales tax will apply and added to the total cost of the vehicle. However, once car is exported to overseas, total amount of 5% sales tax is replenished to the exporter once he provides the proof of shipment to overseas. Make sure your exporter does not include this 5% sales tax in your price.
• Recycle Charge.  This charge also is refundable to the exporter after the vehicle has been exported. As such, this too, should not be included in your price.
• Number plate cancellation or Deregistration of a vehicle cost is little more than 1,000 Japanese Yen. Dont agree to pay more than this. Some auction houses will charge 4,000 Yen to cancel the number plate. Ask your expoter to help you save this cost by not rendering the services of auction house. If done by exporter himself, the cost can be minimised 4 times.
• Road tax on vehicles.  This tax is charged on the cars with valid number plates but once the car is deregistered, as is the case with exports, the tax is refunded to the dealer.
• Transport charges.  Transport charges from auction house to the port of shipment will differ depending on the size of the vehicle and also depending on distance from auction house to the sea port. However, due to bad economic conditions, car transporters have reduced their prices. Make sure the same old high transport cost is not added to your invoice.
• Shipping Freight.  Shipping companies have reduced their freight charges and depending on the destinations, they are offering incredibly low costs. Freight charges to countries like Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, UAE etc are too low and still there is a room for discount if negotiated.

At Japan Auto Exports, we have always been honest with our clients, always reveal true and accurate information about the actual costs incurred and keep clients informed of true facts. Moreover, we have no hidden charges whatsoever.

If you suspect you are paying more to your exporter than you should, please feel free to contact us for our professional advice. Our staff at Japan Auto Exports will assist you in determining the right costs.

We sincerely believe that this article will help you decrease your unnecessary costs and increase your profitablity.