Hi everybody, I'm looking to import my first mini truck soon. I am looking for some advice/reviews of exporters. Reading through old posts I compiled the list below. If you have any experience with one of these, or if there are some to avoid I would appreciate any feedback. Looking forward to becoming a mini truck owner. List of exporters I have found: Beforward Japancardirect Autorec Minitruckdealer Pacific coast auto Thanks for the help!
For a run of the mill truck, I would not look any harder than Be Forward. They make it easy and fairly cheap. No auctions to win, no auction fee's. Buy inexpensively from their stock and have it shipped over.. I've used them once and I'd use them again if I ever get the urge.. For higher dollar cars, PCA or JCD are who I would use and then pay attention to auction grades
BeForward is great for convenience and speed, but mine through Japan Car Direct will be thousands cheaper than buying through BeForward even after factoring in auction fees and their fee. The guys at JCD are very good about walking you through the process and guiding you, if you ask them to, on what ones to go for, what ones to avoid and how much you should be bidding. Just remember, you'll pay costs individually that way. The winning bid on my truck was ~$800. In total I should be right at $4,500 after all fees. There's similar trucks on BeForward that are close to that, but many that are $2,000 more for similar condition and similar mileage.
It won't be anywhere near thousands cheaper, hundreds at best if you end up buying an R/RA or ** grade truck. Covid did raise Be Forwards prices a little. Trucks used to run about $1,300 and now they run about $1,800 for a 4x4.. 100,000 yen for the export fee is what kills it and you get about a day and 3-4 tiny pictures to decide if that truck is for you unless you want to spend even more on an inspection.. Be Forward's staff is very nice as well, and they will even do Paypal now which can make it real easy. I bought my Jimny from Be Forward and imported I had it for less than $3,000 delivered to my door, that was using an import broker and a shipper from the port to my house
I think it really depends on your patience and diligence. Mine was a grade 4.5, 4x4 truck with low KM. Currently similar trucks on BeForward are running $4,000-$5,000 shipped to the nearest port, mine was just under $3,000 shipped with a winning bid under $800. If you go by an average price of $1,800, there’s not much savings either way.
Which is why I said run of the mill truck.. Grade 3-3.5 is generally in good condition. Grade 4-4.5 are unicorn trucks and you will pay dearly for one as they are in like new condition. Never base your purchase on the odometer as the trucks are generally 5 digit and have rolled over.. There is a nice 1993 Suzuki Carry on Beforward right now for $1,660, and it would import for a little over $2,800 + the import paperwork state side
