Import Guides

Importing a car from Japan is not difficult, but it is unfamiliar. These are the things buyers ask us most often, written out properly. If something here is still unclear, ask us — we would rather answer a question than have you guess.

The 25-year rule, plainly

Two separate federal rules decide whether a car can come in, and they have different ages. This trips up almost every first-time buyer.

RuleAgeWhat it governs
EPA emissions21 years Exempt from federal emissions certification once the vehicle is 21 years old.
NHTSA / FMVSS safety25 years Exempt from federal motor vehicle safety standards once the vehicle is 25 years old.

Because the safety exemption is the later of the two, 25 years is the number that matters. Until a car reaches it, importing for road use is effectively off the table for a private buyer.

It is counted by month, not by model year. A car built in November 2000 becomes eligible in November 2025 — not on 1 January. Being out by one month means the car sits at the port. When we quote eligibility we work from the build date on the export certificate, not the year in the advert.

There is one narrow exception, Show or Display, covered in the FAQ. It applies to a short published list of historically significant cars and is not a route around the 25-year rule for an ordinary import.

How to read a Japanese auction sheet

Most cars we source come through Japanese auctions, and every one arrives with an inspection sheet. Learning to read it is the single most useful thing a buyer can do, because it is a genuinely honest document — inspectors work for the auction house, not the seller.

The overall grade

GradeRoughly means
S / 6Essentially new, delivery mileage.
5Exceptional. Very low mileage, no meaningful faults.
4.5Excellent. Minor cosmetic marks at worst.
4Good, honest car. The sweet spot for most buyers.
3.5Average. Will need cosmetic attention.
3Rough. Expect real work.
R / RARepaired accident history. Not automatically bad — but read the detail.

The interior grade

A separate letter, A down to D. A car can be a grade 4 body with a C interior — smoked in, worn bolsters, cracked dash. On a car you intend to keep, the interior letter often matters more than the number, because trim for a 1990s JDM car is far harder to find than paint.

The map

The diagram of the car carries shorthand for each blemish. The ones worth knowing:

  • A — scratch (kizu)
  • U — dent (ukumi)
  • W — wave or ripple, usually a sign of repair
  • S — rust
  • C — corrosion
  • X — panel needs replacing; XX — already replaced
  • B — dent with a scratch

Numbers next to a letter indicate severity, 1 being slight. A sheet covered in A1 marks is a normal used car. A sheet with W down one side is telling you something about its past.

Auction sheets are written for a domestic trade audience and are terse by design. We translate the sheet in full before you commit — and we will tell you when a car is not worth bidding on.

The import, step by step

  1. Confirm eligibility

    Check the build month against the 25-year line. Everything downstream depends on this being right.

  2. Find the car

    Auction, dealer stock, or a private find. Auctions give the widest choice and the honest inspection sheet; dealer stock can be quicker.

  3. Inspect and bid

    We review the sheet, request extra photographs where it matters, and agree a ceiling with you before bidding. We do not bid past your number.

  4. Purchase and export paperwork

    The car is deregistered in Japan and an export certificate is issued. This is the document that proves age and identity for US customs, so it has to be right.

  5. Shipping

    Roll-on/roll-off is cheaper; a container costs more but protects the car and allows parts to travel with it. Sailing time to the US West Coast is typically a few weeks, plus scheduling.

  6. US customs clearance

    Entry is filed with the export certificate, bill of lading and purchase documents, along with the EPA and DOT declarations claiming the age exemptions. Import duty applies — see below.

  7. Collection and delivery

    Once released, the car moves from the port to us in Phoenix, or direct to you.

  8. Title and registration

    The imported car is titled in your state. See the Arizona notes below.

What it actually costs

The auction price is not the landed price, and anyone who quotes you only the first number is not doing you a favour. Budget for all of it:

  • The car — hammer price plus Japanese auction fees.
  • Inland transport in Japan — auction house to port.
  • Export paperwork and deregistration.
  • Ocean freight — RoRo or container.
  • Marine insurance — worth having.
  • US import duty — see the breakdown below. It is very different for a car than for a truck, and it has moved more than once recently.
  • Customs brokerage and port fees.
  • Domestic transport from port to your door.
  • Title, registration and any state inspection.

Import duty, as it stands

VehicleRateMade up of
Passenger cars 12.5% 2.5% standard duty, plus a 10% Section 301 tariff that took effect 24 July 2026.
Light trucks & cargo vans
including kei trucks		 25% The “chicken tax” that has applied to light trucks since 1964. No additional surcharge on top of this at present.

This is why a kei truck and a coupe of the same hammer price do not land at the same number, and it surprises people every time. Classification follows how the vehicle is built, not what you intend to use it for — a kei truck is a truck to customs even if it never carries anything heavier than a toolbox.

Import duty is a moving target — do not budget from a number you read somewhere. Rates have changed four times in two years. Passenger cars alone have gone 2.5% → 27.5% → 15% → 12.5%, and the surcharge underneath that has been rewritten twice in 2026 alone. The figures above are what we are seeing at .

Rules can change between the day you bid and the day the car clears customs, and the rate that applies is the one in force at entry — not the one when you bought. Always ask us for a current landed estimate on the actual car before you commit. We would rather set the number correctly at the start than surprise you at the port.

Titling an imported car in Arizona

A freshly imported car arrives with no US title — it has a Japanese export certificate and customs entry paperwork instead. Arizona MVD needs to establish identity before it will issue a title, which normally means a Level I vehicle inspection for a vehicle with no prior US title.

Bring everything: the export certificate with its translation, the bill of lading, the customs entry, the bill of sale, and your EPA and DOT declarations. Missing paperwork is the usual reason a first appointment fails.

A right-hand-drive car is legal to register and drive in Arizona. Insurance is readily available — see the FAQ for the carriers buyers most often use.

Check current requirements before you go. State rules, fees and emissions boundaries change, and they differ if you are registering outside Arizona. Confirm with Arizona MVD, or ask us and we will walk you through what we are seeing on current cars.

Five mistakes we see repeatedly

  1. Counting the 25 years by model year

    It is the build month. Off by one month means the car waits at the port.

  2. Budgeting the hammer price only

    Freight, duty, brokerage and transport are real money. The truck duty in particular catches people out.

  3. Ignoring the interior grade

    Paint is fixable anywhere. A cracked JDM-specific dashboard is not.

  4. Assuming every R-graded car is damaged goods

    Some repaired cars are excellent value and were repaired properly. The sheet tells you which — that is what it is for.

  5. Waiting for the perfect car

    Good examples of the sought-after models do not sit around, and the supply is finite and shrinking. If your dream car is a year or two too new, we can hold it in storage in Japan until it is eligible.

Ask us about a specific car