Importing a Car from Japan to the UK: Step-by-Step
Honest answer: importing a car from Japan is four jobs, not one. You buy the car through an auction agent or exporter. You ship it by RoRo or container from Yokohama or Nagoya. You clear UK customs and pay duty plus import VAT. Then you register it with the DVLA, usually via an IVA test. Six to nine weeks to get it here, and about three months before you can legally drive it.
The short version
- Four stages. Buy in Japan. Ship it. Clear customs. Register it.
- Six to nine weeks. The sailing is four to six of those. The rest is collection, loading and UK paperwork.
- Shipping is the small number. Typically £900 to £1,600 from a main Japanese port.
- Tax is the big number. 10% import duty as standard, then 20% import VAT on car plus shipping plus duty. But since 1 February 2026 the UK–Japan trade agreement zero-rates Japanese-origin cars — if your exporter will issue a statement on origin. Ask before you bid.
- Most Japanese-market cars need an IVA test. Budget time and a few small modifications.
- NOVA within 14 days of arrival. Miss it and you cannot register the car.
How do you actually buy a car in Japan?
This is the part people get wrong. There is no single shop. Japan runs enormous weekly dealer auctions, and almost every UK import starts life on one of those lots.
You have three realistic routes.
- A Japanese auction agent. You pay a deposit, they bid on your behalf at USS, TAA or similar, and they handle export clearance. Cheapest per car, most homework required from you.
- A Japanese exporter's own stock. Cars already bought and photographed. You pay a bit more for the certainty of seeing what you are buying.
- A UK importer who sources for you. Highest price, lowest effort. You are buying somebody else's time and their read on the auction sheet.
Auction sheets are the key document. Every car gets an inspector's grade and a hand-drawn damage map. Grades run roughly 1 to 5, with R or RA meaning repaired accident damage. A grade 4 with a clean sheet is a genuinely good car. A grade 3.5 with corrosion marks along the sills is a project you have not budgeted for. Pay someone to translate the sheet properly if you cannot read it yourself.
To be straight about it: RollShip does not buy your car. We arrange the shipping and customs side once you own it. If someone offers to do the buying, shipping, clearing and registering as one anonymous package for a suspiciously round number, check who you are actually dealing with before you send any money: Companies House filings, a real landline, and payment to a business account in the trading name, never a personal one.
How does the shipping leg work?
Your car leaves from Yokohama, Nagoya, Kobe or Osaka, and lands at Southampton, Bristol, Tilbury or Grimsby. Two ways to send it.
- RoRo. The car is driven onto a dedicated vehicle carrier and parked on a deck. Cheapest, most frequent sailings, nothing can travel inside the car. Fine for a normal running vehicle.
- Container. The car is strapped inside a steel box, alone or shared with others. More expensive, better protection, and you can ship parts and wheels with it. Sensible for anything rare, low, non-running or freshly restored.
We go into the trade-offs properly in RoRo versus container shipping. Short version: RoRo for a daily-driver import, container for anything you would be upset to see scratched.
Typical ocean freight from Japan to the UK sits around £900 to £1,600 for RoRo, more for a sole-use container. The sailing itself is usually four to six weeks. Add a week or two either side for collection, port cut-off dates, and UK unloading. If you are shipping in the other direction as well, the same maths appears in our car shipping cost calculator.
Take the marine insurance. It is normally 1.5% to 2.5% of the declared value, and it is the only thing standing between you and a total loss on a ship you will never see.
What do you pay when the car lands in the UK?
Two taxes, applied in order.
Import duty on cars is 10% of the customs value as standard, which is the price you paid plus freight and insurance to the UK. Since 1 February 2026 the UK–Japan trade agreement zero-rates Japanese-origin cars, so the duty can be nil. The catch is documentary, not substantive: you need a statement on origin from the exporter, and plenty of auction exporters will not issue one. Ask before you bid, because it is worth 10% of the landed value. Import VAT is then charged at the standard 20%, calculated on that same customs value plus the duty. So VAT is charged on tax, which surprises people every time.
Rates and commodity codes change, so check the current position on gov.uk's importing vehicles guidance rather than trusting any forum post, including this one.
One relief worth knowing: vehicles at least 30 years old, in original specification and of historical interest, can sometimes be classified as collectors' items with a reduced VAT rate and no duty. The criteria are narrower than people assume and HMRC decides, not you. If your car is near that age, read our classic car shipping guide and get the classification confirmed before the car sails.
Then there are the unglamorous fees: UK port handling, customs entry, quarantine or cleaning if the underside is dirty, storage if you are slow, and delivery from the dock to your door.
| Cost line | Typical range (2026) | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Ocean freight, Japan to UK | £900 – £1,600 | RoRo from a main port. Container costs more. |
| Marine insurance | 1.5% – 2.5% of value | Loss or damage in transit. |
| Import duty | 10%, or 0% with proof of Japanese origin | UK–Japan agreement zero-rates Japanese-origin cars from 1 Feb 2026 — needs a statement on origin. |
| Import VAT | 20% of that total plus the duty | Reduced rate possible for qualifying historic vehicles. |
| UK port, customs entry and agent fees | £300 – £600 | Handling, clearance, documentation. |
| Inland delivery from port | £150 – £400 | Depends on distance and whether it runs. |
| IVA test and preparation | £700 – £1,800 | Test fee plus lights, speedometer and fixes. |
| DVLA first registration, plates, VED | £150 – £400+ | VED band varies a lot by engine and age. |
| RollShip booking fee | £99 launch price (rising to £199) | Launch pricing. Shown as its own line, never buried. |
These are typical market ballparks for 2026. Your quote confirms the real number.
A worked example
Say you've won a 1998 Skyline at auction. By the time the hammer price, auction fees, your agent's commission, inland transport to the docks and Japanese export clearance are settled, the car has cost you £14,000.
RoRo from Yokohama to Southampton comes in at £1,200. Marine insurance at 2% adds £280. That makes your customs value £15,480. Duty at 10% is £1,548. Import VAT at 20% is charged on £17,028, so £3,406. UK port handling, the customs entry and delivery home add £600.
Once it's here, IVA preparation and the test cost £1,100. First registration, plates and the first year of VED come to £250. The RollShip booking fee is £99.
Total landed and legal: about £22,500. The car was £14,000 of that. Everything else was the process. And because a 1998 car is 28 years old in 2026, it misses the 30-year collectors' threshold by two years. On this example that threshold is worth about £4,200 in tax, because it removes the duty and cuts the effective VAT rate to 5%. Sometimes the honest advice is to wait. Equally, if the exporter will issue a statement on origin, the duty disappears today and the total falls to about £20,500.
How do you get it registered and road legal?
Order matters here. Doing step three before step two costs you weeks.
- Clear customs and pay the tax. Your agent files the entry and you settle duty and import VAT.
- File a NOVA notification. Within 14 days of the car arriving. HMRC then confirms the tax position to the DVLA.
- Book an IVA test. Most Japanese-market cars have no European type approval, so Individual Vehicle Approval is the route. Details are on gov.uk's IVA page. Some older and historic vehicles follow different routes, so confirm which applies to yours.
- Get an MOT. Required if the car is over three years old, which it almost certainly is.
- Register with the DVLA. Form V55/5, plus your NOVA confirmation, IVA certificate, MOT, Japanese export certificate with translation, and proof of identity and address.
- Fit UK plates. From a registered number plate supplier, once the DVLA issues your registration.
The IVA is where budgets slip. Common jobs include a speedometer reading in mph, a rear fog lamp, headlights with the correct beam pattern, a compliant front number plate mounting, and sometimes seatbelt or glazing marking. None of it is dramatic. All of it takes time and money you did not plan for.
What is it actually like to run one?
- Insurance costs more, and not every insurer will play. Grey imports are rated differently. Use a specialist broker, and consider an agreed value policy if the car is rare or modified.
- Clean air zones need evidence. ULEZ and city CAZ compliance is judged on emissions standard. A Japanese-market car often has no European certificate to prove it, so you may need to supply manufacturer evidence to have it reclassified. Until then, expect to be charged the daily rate. Check the position with the relevant scheme operator before you assume.
- Parts are fine, mostly. Popular models have strong UK supply chains. Something obscure means importing parts from Japan and waiting.
- Servicing needs someone who knows the car. A specialist independent will save you more than they cost.
Where does RollShip fit in all this?
We handle the middle. You find and buy the car. We arrange the shipping, the marine insurance and the UK customs clearance, and we point you at the right people for IVA and registration.
It works like this. You fill in one quote form with the car, the Japanese port and where it needs to land. We take that to vetted UK shipping and customs specialists and come back within 24 hours with itemised quotes. Not a single number with a shrug behind it. Line by line, so you can see what the freight costs and what the fees cost.
You pay on confirmation, by card or bank transfer. Our booking fee is £99 while we are launching, rising to £199, and it appears as its own line on the quote rather than being folded into the freight price.
Being straight with you: RollShip launched recently. What we have is a team with real UK freight-forwarding operations experience and a network of established specialists, not a decade of our own trading history. We would rather say that than invent it.
Quick answers
Is it cheaper to import a car from Japan than buy one here?
Sometimes. For a model that was never sold in the UK, or a well-kept low-mileage example that would be tired at the same price here, the sums often work. For anything freely available on Auto Trader, they usually do not. Work out the full landed cost including tax and IVA before you decide, not just the hammer price.
How long does it take to import a car from Japan to the UK?
Six to nine weeks from purchase to the car sitting in the UK, with four to six of those at sea. Then allow another two to six weeks for IVA preparation, the test itself and DVLA registration. Plan on three months before you can legally drive it.
Do I need an IVA test for a Japanese import?
Most Japanese-market cars do, because they have no European type approval. Some older and historic vehicles follow a different route. Check the criteria on gov.uk for your specific vehicle rather than assuming, because getting this wrong costs a lot of time.
Can I drive the car home from the port?
No. It has no UK registration, no plates and no insurance in your name yet. Arrange transport from the dock. Most people include it in the shipping booking so it is one job rather than two.
Tell us what you need. We'll price it.
Every shipment is different, so we don't publish a price list. Tell us the car and where it's going, and vetted UK specialists come back with itemised quotes within 24 hours. Free, no obligation.
Prefer email? Tell us what you need at [email protected] and we'll price it.