Lude Generation

Parties involved

* Auction house: Produces report sheets and grades vehicles.
* Exporter in Japan: Publishes report sheets on web. Provides customers with estimated guide prices, and assists with explanation of auction report sheets.
Accepts bids from customers, inspects vehicles at auction, and if in satisfactory condition, bids up to the customer’s maximum bid. where successful, purchases car and arranges for it to be shipped to the UK.
* Customs agent: Pays customs charges and bills customer. Arranges clearance from port. Advises customer on when and where to collect their car
* Shipping company: Transports car from port in Japan to port in UK. Collects shipping cost from customer (as bankers draft) when they collect their car from the UK port.
* HMRC (Customs): Charges just under 30% of shipped cost of the car as import tax and VAT. Issues form 386 to customer to show that tax has been paid.
* Garage: Tests car and produces MOT pass certificate
* DVLA: Provides registration application form V55. On receipt of all required documents showing car has been legally imported from Japan, taxes paid, and MOT’d, issues registration certificate. Charges £50 plus the cost of first year road tax (£180) for this.

Timeline

01-Oct Send deposit
05-Oct Deposit received, start browsing
11-Oct Place first bid at mid-point of estimated range. Does not reach reserve.
15-Oct Place two more bids, one at top of estimated range.
16-Oct One car was rusty, so the agent did not bid. The other car was won, at £100 above my bid.
16-Oct Send balance of payment
11-Nov Car leaves Japan on ship, bound for Southampton
26-Dec Ship arrives in Southampton. Port is closed for Christmas.
27-Dec Ring around and arrange insurance.
28-Dec I arrive in Southampton by train, and leave in my new car.
Buy new battery. Wire up rear foglight
Order form V55 from DVLA website (needed to apply to register car)
23-Jan Car passes MOT with no issues.
25-Jan Send V55 & registration documents to DVLA
30-Jan Receive rejection from DVLA. Require Japanese de-reg form, Customs 386 tax receipt, and proof of speedo conversion to MPH
31-Jan Ask exporter and customs agent about missing documents
06-Feb Receive de-registration form from customs agent, who had filed it by mistake
11-Feb Receive customs form 386 from HMRC
Buy speedo converter from eBay
12-Feb Send documents to DVLA again, together with receipt for speedo converter
18-Feb Receive Registration Certificate from DVLA. Obtain numberplates from Halfords. Take car out for a drive with girlfriend.
28-Feb Receive V5 from DVLA.

Total time taken: 4 months, 18 days.

I lost 18 days due to the document issue, which I could have saved had I known at the start which documents I required for registration.
I spent 26 days getting the car ready for MOT, because I wanted to do it myself, was doing it in my spare time, and am no expert. If you arranged in advance to take the car straight from the port to a garage to prepare and MOT it, you could probably avoid most of this delay.

Thus the ‘best case’ time is about three months, with the major time-consuming activities being:
2 weeks - sending deposit and choosing car
4 weeks - car getting to port and waiting for ship
6 weeks - shipping
1 week - registration with DVLA
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Total: 13 weeks

Costs

£60 international bank transfer fees (£30 each for deposit and balance)
£3,000 car (includes exporter commission)
£400 shipping
£1,000 import tax
£75 Customs agent fee
£50 Mot
£20 speedo converter
£230 Registration and road tax
£25 number plates
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£4,860 Total On The Road car cost