FAQs

Grabacar is part of the Autoport Group of companies with offices in Japan - www.autoport.jp, New Zealand - www.autoport.nz, Australia - grabacar.com.au and the UK. Autoport was started in New Zealand by the founders who created one of the first motor vehicle listing sites in the country back in 1998, that site, AutoBase, going on to be bought by Trade Me, an iconic site for buying and selling in NZ.

Effectively we are buying a car to order for you but giving you the security of dealing with a company that has businesses in both the UK and Japan therefore eliminating any risks that normally occur when buying a car privately from another country.

1. Once you have found the car you want to purchase click the Buy Now button and then confirm your purchase.


2. At this point we will confirm that the vehicle is still available and start doing history and quality checks from information available online and from the seller.


3. You will then be invoiced for the Buy Now price of the car, with the required deposit being due immediately to secure the car.


4. Once the deposit is received, all quality checks are done (we do reserve the right to cancel any purchase if we deem the car not suitable to be imported into the UK for any reason) and all aspects of delivery to the UK are arranged. You will be kept informed of all movements of the car up until the hand-over point when you take possession.


5. Once the car arrives into the UK the process of making the vehicle road-worthy takes place and a hand-over date and time is arranged with you. Delivery of the vehicle within the UK can be arranged but will be charged for separately.


6. The balance of the Buy Now price of the vehicle is due before you pick up the vehicle.

For cars that are listed from sellers in the UK, the normal rules of buying and selling apply so negotiation, as always, can occur. For cars that are listed from overseas suppliers, the vehicle prices have been set based on the local value of the car in the seller's local market. When they sell a vehicle for export, they do not have the opportunity to make additional revenue on things like warranty and finance commission that they would normally make when selling to a local buyer and so will not discount their sale price at all if the vehicle is sold for export.

For cars that are showing a Drive Away price from Japan - everything! The price displayed is the price to drive the vehicle away from the pickup point in the UK and includes import duty, VAT, as well as any costs of making the vehicle road worthy e.g. registration etc. The price will fluctuate with changes in the exchange rate up until the point you click the Buy Now button. Once Buy Now has been clicked the price is locked in and will not change for you. For vehicles being sold from sellers in the UK, you will need to contact them directly to find out what is included in the price if it is not explicitly stated. For cars that are showing a CIF price the explanation of what is included is displayed in the panel below the price.

Simple answer - security, the price is the price and we do everything! Our process provides absolute security of your money and the car being purchased as well as providing quality checks of the car. The Drive Away price is the total amount you will pay. We only ask for a deposit to secure the car for you with the balance being due just before handover. All aspects of getting the vehicle from its point of origin, making it roadworthy, legally able to be driven on UK roads and into your posession, are handled by us. Most brokers require you to pay 100% of the price of the car up front and then send your money to a seller in Japan. This means at some point both your money and the car you are purchasing are in Japan with very little a broker can do if it all goes wrong. Hopefully one of those two things makes it back to the UK and if it is the car, that is is the actual car you thought you were buying!

Whether imported cars are cheaper or not can depend on several factors, including the make and model of the car, the country of origin, exchange rates, local taxes and duties, shipping costs, and the condition of the vehicle. Some models aren’t available in a domestic market and therefore are only attainable through importation.

From Japan it usually takes 7 - 9 weeks to arrive in the UK. After that there’s about 3 - 4 weeks for us to get it through Customs, have it complied, registered, valeted and ready for collection or delivery.

If the car you have found is located in Japan then absolutely we can and have done so for many clients. We would load the car into our system and give you a Drive Away price so you know exactly how much the car will cost you before purchasing it. The car will then go through our normal importing process including being checked for quality in the country of origin so any issues can be highlighted. You will only need to pay the deposit to secure the car with the balance due before the car is picked up in the UK. Having an office in Japan, the Autoport process provides you with the security of importing your own vehicle without the risks of doing it through a broker who normally requires 100% of the purchase price up front and will have no security over the vehicle should anything go wrong!

Yes, we offer a 'Find Me a Car' service for just this sort of request. You will need to be very specific in terms of what you are looking for.

At this point do we do not, however, if you are a wholesale trade customer please contact us to discuss terms.

We accept bank transfers only to our UK bank account.

Yes, we provide tracking information once the car is shipped, allowing you to monitor its progress until it arrives.

Warranties are available on most cars but must be quoted at the time of purchase and are not included in the Drive Away price showing.

Yes. We would need proof that you are a registered car dealer in the UK but if so, you will be able to use our wholesale website at www.autoport.net to buy cars at wholesale prices. Check out the Dealers link in the main menu of this website for more information.

You can contact us via email, or through the information here. Our customer service team is available Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM.