So I started my information gathering as 2023 came to a close. I started with BEFORWARD.jp. I opened an account and started watching the trucks in the auction. Along the way, I had a lot of questions that I kept trying to find answers to by searching Beforwards Website. None of their FAQ's answerd my questions so I started sending email. for the next 10 days I have gone back and forth with them trying to get answers to these questions: 1: I'm looking for a Subaru Sambar made in 1999 with AC, 4WD, GRADE 4 or better no accident repairs or excessive rust. I can't import the car into the USA unless the Production Month and Year adds up to a 25 year old car. What happens if I buy a vehicle TODAY but it does not turn 25 yrs old until April 2024 does it sit in a yard waiting for transport to the USA? 2. What is your policy for storing a vehicle in your yard per month while it is waiting to be shipped out (vehicle is 25 years old at time of purchase). You indicated it was about a 3 months wait for a ship to Port of Long Beach. The answer to the questions never came. All I got from Beforward were more sell sheets of cars available for purchase. About an hour ago, I sent an email the Beforward that I was moving on to another company (carfromjapan) to handle my purchase because your were unresponsive. I will update my experience often so any member of this board who might be thinking about buying a car will be able to read about my experiences. The story will continue........
Haven't used them....yet. Anyone have experience with Japan Car Direct? https://www.japancardirect.com/
The Saga continues: So today I communicated back and forth with a CARFROMJAPAN agent named AMI. I was very impressed with her. Answers came quickly and honestly. I told her of my concerns regarding a Sambar I was interested in that had a production date of April 1999 which means it is NOT legal to import into the United States until 4/2024. She said requests like I was asking are not unusual for people importing cars into the USA and that there will be no extra charges to store it while waiting for shipment and/or 25 year anniversary issues. She said Port of Long Beach does not have the shipping frequency that other ports have due the large amount of NEW cars brought in from Japanese Car Makers and they have priority. She estimates it will be at least 2 - 3 months waiting for transit. Waiting is not an issue for me. And that she would make sure it does not arrive "early". I then asked if I could have some repair work done on my 1999 Sambar because parts were sometimes hard to find and they were a bit on the expensive side with shipping them here. I wanted a new alternator, wheels bearings and new clutch, pressure plate and T/O bearing. She said they don't do that or have contracts with maintenance people to do that. The Bottom Line - I took the big step and requested the invoice. I need to sell some of my. investments to fund this so I will be paying with PayPal Credit and noticed they charge an extra $350 to use paypal or other wire services. Then by the middle of next week I can pay back PayPal. All and all, my experience with CARFROMJAPAN has been very good. Great communications and Agents seem very experienced. Which is the exact opposite of my experience with Beforward.jp. Questions remained unanswered or replys seems like we were talking in circles. They just seemed to be more interested in selling me a vehicle than responding to my questions. I do not recommend them for that reason. So I am waiting for my invoice and when that arrives, I will send them the money. The story will continue......
Update: I had unsubscribed from Befoward because they were not reponding to my questions but I kept getting emails from them with pictures of cars available. I finally sat down and wrote them a letter: Joe, I left Beforward because you were not responding to my questions . I think it is important for a Company like Beforward should make a pont of answering questions in a reasonable period of time. I had a lot of questions about storing the vehicle there while it was waiting for transit to the Port of Long Beach and TODAY you decide to respond. I unsubscribed Three days ago and signed up with carfromjapan. They answered all my questions in a reasonable amount of time. So I bought a 1999 Subaru Sambar from them; business your company would have earned from me had you responded to my questions. Beforward's Reply: Thank you very much for your inquiry. We do apologize for any inconvenience. Please let us know once you are ready to purchase a vehicle from out inventory . Folks, I do not recommend Beforward for any vehicle purchase because of their inability to respond to questions maybe after reading my email they will change their ways.....The story continues
I did ok with beforward. They promptly answer my questions, but that was after I bought the truck. Their "cap" system is easy for the broker as all I did was send the broker a link and that is all he needed. One draw back was...It took 4.5 months to get the truck here in Vancouver BC.
I wanted to mention my experience buying parts from Amayama. While waiting for my Sambar to arrive in late April, I have been reading posts and watching YouTube Videos about issues regarding the maintenance condition of the truck when it is picked up at the Port. So I decided to get in front of this issues by buying parts in advance. I purchased rear shocks, timing belt, water pump, disc rotors, brake pads and shoes and other parts thru Amayama. While buying parts is expensive from a middleman like Amayama, especially considering the cost of shipping, Amayama has been very good about getting parts that I wanted and packing the parts for shipment. I highly recommend Amayama and have had zero issues so far with them.
Talk with Yoshi @ Japan Car Direct. He has imported many successful transactions. An honest and helpful man from an established company. Stop being a victim and get something done! Remember your gut - If it doesnt feel right, it isnt! get going!!
its a real challenge sending money with no guarantees.... I lost weight the 1st time I did it! JCD is credible and Yoshi is helpful to all.
So here we are in May 2024 and I still don't have transit date for shipment of my 1999 Subaru Sambar. It has been sitting in an outdoor lot near Tokyo for nearly 5 months and still no date of transit. I'm told it is because of the backup at the Port of Long Beach. I'm about ready to give up and change ports which will increase my shipping charge and increase the cost to transport the vehicle to me in Goodyear, AZ
So last week I get an email from Carfronjapan.com and they tell me my Sambar which has been sitting in an outdoor storage lot near Tokyo since January 18, 2024 will be loaded on a ship on 6/30/24 and should arrive the second or third week of July. After taking delivery of my Sambar I will inspect it and report on the condition of the truck. That's all for now
Yes I have a customs broker and he has told me the same thing about the IFS. I'll contact carfromjapan.com and remind them - thanks
I think your truck may be in better shape then you think. It doesn’t get that cold and plenty of vehicles are stored outside for years without great degradation.
I'm glad to hear about the positive experiences people have had with CarFromJapan.com and JapanCarDirect.com, both of which we just created accounts for recently. I'm completely in the dark on the entire process and it's good to know that one or both of these companies are supportive resources for importing these cars. I have to admit that I like the interface on the former site a bit better than the latter but I also like the auction sheets on the latter, which are missing from the former! lol Anyway, keep us posted on your saga, Ted. I'm excited to hear about your experience with pickup and happy to read about your progress. I hope it all goes well and that everything works out as planned! -Eric
Thanks for your interest. I agree that the former had a better user interface especially when you can really focus in on some part on the truck. Are in the Phoenix area?
UPDATE: I just saw the ship my mini-Truck is on is in Long Beach waiting in the Que for unloading. Yippy! I'll update and complete this report very soon.
When you import a mini-truck, it sounds like quite an adventure, and you must be doing well with BEFORWARD.jp. It's frustrating when you seek clear answers and keep getting the run-around. I've found myself in a similar situation before, and I understand how bewildering it can be. The rules on age compliance and the 25-year rule can be quite a headache, especially when you're ready to make a purchase. It's frustrating not to get a straight answer on production dates and storage policies, isn't it? Have you considered looking into dealer only car auctions? It sounds like the email process with BEFORWARD.jp was more about selling than helping you understand the process. It's great that you're considering carfromjapan. When investing so much time and money, you deserve clear answers and good customer service. Hopefully, carfromjapan will provide just that. I would be very interested to know what happens with the car from Japan.
Folks it has arrived! It got hung up at the port for some reason. Even though the Ship had left the port after off-loading my truck, the shipper (Vessel Operator) dragged his feet for reasons unknown to me or my Customs Broker, But they finally relinquished it after 2 days. Here's where things started to work like a well-oiled machine, CAR-GO Transport was there lickety split (thank you "CJ" at CAR-GO) and they zoomed in picked up my Sambar and it headed for Arizona. About 350p AZ time, the driver of the truck which had my Mini Truck on it called me with a 42 minute ETA I asked him it the truck starts? "Yeah pretty good after you jump it" - he pulled in front of my house almost on the minute. With the driver on his knee with one of those mini-jump starters, I turned the key and it fired right up with no smoke on start up. I sent the driver on the way (Should I have tipped him? ). I did a walk around and the first thought that came to me was "That's a lot of rust in the bed, deeply pitted towards the front of the bed but the rest of the body it was minor rust spots and a few dings with some half-hearted attempt to fix them. My Truck had a GRADE 4 on the Auction Inspection sheet - Maybe the appraiser had too much SAKI for lunch IDUNNO, if they were calling it a 4 it must have been right above the "3-Line". The interior was clean and smelled clean. I'll upload pic's as soon as I can figure out how to do that. Hopefully, by September it will be cool enough here in Phoenix, to throw the Truck on my buddy's lift and get and look underneath at what I just bought. As I stated earlier, I have been buying spare parts from Japan and can replace Clutch, shocks, Timing Belt, Water Pump, Disc Rotors and pads, Rear Shocks and lots of other goodies. Next report in September
Ok, so today I had a close look of the truck bed - severe corrosion - rust ate thru the engine access Panel in the rear of the bed. I was able to buy a new one from Amayama. It arrived with no weather stripping - I realize it did not come as stated COMPLETE Engine Access Panel does not include the weather stripping. Then I notice the previous owner had corrosion so bad in the fron of the bed, he welded a plate right over the severe rust areas and that plate itself is full of deep pitted rust. Did I mention my Truck had a GRADE 4 inspection sheet which tells me those inspection sheets are not something you should rely on. The truck bed, believe it or not is available from Subaru. The more I look at this thing the more disappointed I am with it - way too much rust. I still have to put it up on the lift to evaluate the under-belly of this rust bucket.
I have posted these pictures elsewhere on this site but I do it again here as a cautionary tale: This 1999 Sambar had a Grade 4 Auction sheet. For those that may not know; a Grade 4 Auction Sheet means "Minimum Blemishes". DO NOT BASE YOUR BUYING DECISION ON THESE AUCTION SHEETS! The engine access cover in the rear of the truck bed was corroded so bad I had to replace it. I am in the process of trying to find a new truck bed. I may have found a new one in Japan but it is going to cost $$$$ to ship it here by sea. If I could recommend to a future buyer of a KEI Car one thing it would be to find a 3rd-party inspector to inspect the vehicle
Wow, if theres that kind of rust on top, I would be afraid to look under it. Good luck with it. At least it starts and runs.
Those pictures were taken with my Sambar up on my buddies lift looking up. But you are right, seeing how badly corroded the engine cover was, I knew it had to be ugly underneath. The previous owner had a rubber mat in the bed and I suspect the Auction Inspector never bothered to lift it up for a look.
