Do you want to import a clean, low-mileage Japanese used car to the West Indies? You can do it by contacting the Auction and Export Agents at Japan Car Direct. Cars recently imported from Japan to the Caribbean include a Suzuki Jimny to Trinidad, a Toyota Aqua to Saint Lucia, a Honda Fit and a Honda Grace to the Cayman Islands, a Toyota Harrier to Jamaica, and a Mitsubishi Canter light dump truck to Granada.
Key highlights for importing to the Caribbean:
*Roll-on/Roll-off (RoRo) service to Trinidad. Grenada, St Lucia, Jamaica, and the Caymans.
*Easy import of used cars from Japan to these paradise islands.
*All good, clean cars, nearly new and rust free.
*Japan Car Direct’s team of experienced Auction and Export Agents are ready to help you with the necessary documents for the import of your used vehicle from Japan,
*We will help you with: the Bill of Lading, Commercial Invoice or Pro Forma Invoice as required, Certificate of Title, Export Certificates, CARICOM Area Customs Declaration forms, and such.
*We will help you correctly calculate the import or excise taxes and VAT and we will arrange shipping for you.
*Right hand drive (RHD) vehicles are used in all of these countries so you have the whole Japanese used car market to choose from.
*Age restrictions: Countries like Trinidad (four years old or less), and Jamaica (maximum six years old) have restrictions on the import of older cars but the Caymans, Saint Lucia, and Grenada do not. (But always check with Japan Car Direct’s Auction and Export Agents since rules like these change from time to time.)
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I have been itching to tell our customers something about shipping a good used car from Japan to the Caribbean for some time now, but I have been struggling. Struggling because the whole region is so diverse. Depending on how you want to count them, there are something like 16 countries in the region. And depending on how you want to count them, there are over 10 languages. And depending on how you want to count them there are over 10 religions! We don’t deal with exporting to every country in the Caribbean and each country has its own rules for importing a good used car from us here in Japan. So what’s a car guy to do?
Well, I’ve decided that the best thing to do is show you some of the good used cars we have exported directly to the Caribbean in recent months so you can see the quality of the used vehicles (cars and trucks) that have been going from Japan to the Islands. My gosh! You want diversity? The countries of the Caribbean are not even all the same sort of little islands. Jamaica is big, Trinidad is pretty big too. St Lucia, Grenada, and the Caymans are like little emerald gems set in the shining blue Caribbean sea.
And Guyana is actually not an island at all! It’s on the continent of South America, but we tend to count it as being part of the Caribbean.
So let’s look at some of the cars that we at Japan Car Direct have exported to the countries I’ve just mentioned (except Guyana, will look at Guyana in a later JCD Blog post) and let’s also have a quick look at the rules that each country has for importing a vehicle from Japan.
Let me start with Trinidad because one of the funniest stories I ever heard about a family car was told to me by a Trinidadian colleague of mine when we worked together back in Toronto, in Canada, long before I came to Japan. My colleague was an ex school teacher from Port of Spain, where we recently sent this very attractive clean, blue Suzuki Jimny.
I asked him one time: “What kind of cars do you have in Trinidad?”
And he told me; “When I was a boy, we mostly had old British cars. My Dad had this old Hillman Minx,”
And he launched into a long rambling tale that built in my mind a bright colorful picture of life in Trinidad, back in the day: “That was a hard car. Nothing could stop it or kill it. It had seats for six people, including my Dad who always did the driving, but we would pack over ten people in there on a regular shopping outing to downtown: My mother and her two sisters were in the car, and they were not small women, you know; and there was my grandmother, my mother’s mother, that is, and then the kids, a sea of kids. That car was packed, Man, packed. And on the way back the boot was filled to the brim with foods and new clothes, presents for friends, and goods my father needed. And I swear, Dave, and this is no lie, we drove back with more people than we went into town with! We’d pick up another sister or a cousin or two, and yet that old car always got us home again. That was a hard car!”
I loved this story and a laughed at the image of all those kids and relatives packed into the old Hillman Minx.
Now this Suzuki Jimny Sierra that we are shipping now to Trinidad, via Port of Spain, is also a “hard car,” The Jimny, I’ve had three, actually, is one of this best light off road machines you’ll find anywhere. And this unit is a very clean one, indeed.
This is a serious off road and on road machine, but not a big oversized hog. He’s economical and capable. This car will run for years, and it still has body on frame construction, which is the best chassis for off road work. And the engine is still visible as an engine, everything is not hidden by plastic coverings as is the case with too many modern cars. (I’m griping, I know.)
This Jimny Sierra JB74W sure looks like a new car to me. And this is what you can expect from the used cars you export to Trinidad from Japan because they must be less than four years old (less than three if you are going to use the car as a taxi), and used cars from Japan which are that young are, well, basically new!
Import rules that you need to comply with to ship your used car direct from Japan to Trinidad are that you need to provide the Supplier’s Invoice, the Bill of Lading, the Designation Certificate showing that the car’s engine number and chassis number match up, four copies of the customs C82 Declaration Form, and the CARICOM Area Invoice.
Here at JCD our auction and export agents will help you with all the necessary documents and import rules and the calculation of taxes to import your used car direct from Japan to Trinidad and Tobago. And, of course, we arrange the shipping to Port of Spain. We’ll help you with sourcing a good car from the used car auctions here so that you’ll get the right car for you, whether it’s a “hard car” like this Jimny here, or whether it’s something more “civilized.”
Overall, the documentation you need to ship a used car from Japan to Trinidad is not too much. And another good point: There is no final inspection required. Yeah! Good road!
By the way, have a look in on our Japan Car Direct Suzuki Jimny page. One of my old Jimnys is up there. Yes, he was a “hard car” too. Nothing stopped him.
Now another of the countries in the Caribbean that we have recently shipped used cars from Japan to is the beautiful island of Saint Lucia:
Called by some people the “Caribbean Dream,” and it’s easy to see why. (It’s less easy to see why I don’t live there. I guess that importing me to Saint Lucia is more difficult than importing another good used car from Japan!)
We recently exported this very handsome and very practical Toyota Aqua to Saint Lucia via the port of Port Castries.
All vehicles imported to Saint Lucia either arrive via Port Castries or Port Vieux Fort. No problem there. The documents you’ll need to import a car to St Lucia include the Vehicle Title (Registration) Certificate, the Commercial (or the Pro Forma) Invoice, the Bill of Lading, and the Export Certificate. Now our auction and export agents will be happy to help you with all of this. No problem there. But it is always best to consult directly with our agents because the calculation of the Excise Tax is based on vehicle engine size and vehicle age, and you want to be sure of your figures here and of any other rules or regulations on importing a used car from Japan to Saint Lucia. For example, there are Duty Free import options but there will be restrictions on when you can sell the vehicle on, so talk to us first.
Super good news? There is no inspection requirement, Yeah! What do I always say? “Good Road.”
And this Toyota Aqua is also good road.
All very nice. This clean used car is very fine and that’s for sure. With 62,301 kilometers on him and in such good, clean condition, I can say that our customer importing this car to the “Caribbean Dream” is a “Winnerman” to be sure! (Check out the JCD story behind the “Winnermen,” (Part 2 and Part 3).
Another of the Hot and New Destinations for Good Used Cars Direct from Japan has been the paradisiacal Cayman Islands.
When I was a young guy in freezing Toronto in the winter, the Caymans were one of the places people “in the know” would go to for their winter getaways. I never got anything
like a winter getaway and now, living in a semi tropical area of Japan, I don’t need it. But, back then, the Cayman Islands were the tropical paradise par excellance. At least in my image. And now, to be involved in exporting used cars from Japan to the Caymans is a bit of a special pleasure for me; no, I’m not there, it’s true, but “my” cars are.
There are two nice cars I’d like to show you today that we are shipping now to the Cayman Islands, via George Town: a Honda Fit and a Honda Grace.
But this is not at all surprising for a used car from Japan with low mileage on him. In fact, it is the good condition of these machines from Japan that you can directly self import which is one of the major selling points of our cars: good condition coupled with good price. It’s really simple, actually, and this Honda Fit going to the Caymans is a perfect example.
It’s the same story with the Honda Grace. A low mileage car (55,978km), clean inside and out. Check out the load space and the front seats:
Really nice! Of course, it helps that the Grace is certainly a rather handsome machine.
And you want good gas mileage? He’s a Hybrid! You don’t get things much better than this in a vehicle in this class.
When it comes to importing your good used car to from Japan to the Caymans there are some nice points in your favor but there are also some specific details that you’ll have to watch out for to ensure that everything goes smoothly from “door to door.”
The good things are that there is no age restriction on the vehicle, nor is an inspection required. Right hand drive vehicles (RHD, same as Japan) are clear for import; in addition, the port of destination is always the same: George Town.
The usual paperwork will be required, such as the Bill of Lading, Supplier Invoice,
Customs Import Entry from, etc, and our auction and export agents, experienced in shipping used cars from Japan to the Cayman Islands, will help you with all of that. They will also help you work out the tax duty on your vehicle.
There are few special rules that apply to importing a used vehicle to the Caymans such as: 1) To import a vehicle that has a passenger capacity (excluding the driver) of more than nine people, you need to get special permission of the Governor of the Cayman Islands. 2) You can’t import dune buggies or beach buggies or “Mokes” or things like that to the Caymans. Sure, they are fun, but you can’t import them to the Caymans. 3) You can’t have a motor cycle with a side car and, 4) you can’t import a double decker bus so, while it would be great for the tourist trade, forget it.
Otherwise, we here at Japan Car Direct have been importing good used cars from Japan to the Caymans for a little while now so just contact us and we’ll help you to find the right car for you.
When I think “Caribbean” or “West Indies” I often think “Jamaica.” That’s partly because one of the fellows I worked with for years back in Toronto and who was also one of the most fascinating men I even met in my life, was from the land of the famous Blue Mountains.
He was my boss in a corporate security company I worked in not long after I left high school and, being the empty-headed young fool that I was, he, a senior man, kind of took a shine to me and rather took me under his wing. He gave me good advice that he hid in the form of stories about life in the West Indies. Among other things, he’d been a cop in Kingston, Jamaica many years before I met him and he’d certainly seen life from the top to the bottom. And, Man! He could tell a story!
We talked about cars, too, and he’d certainly approve of this car that we are sending now to Jamaica via the main port of Kingston.
This Toyota Harrier is the perfect combination of luxury and road domination that you want in a modern SUV. My old boss would say: “Dave, that is the car for Jamaica today! He’ll get you into….and more importantly out of….pretty well anything; and he’ll do it all in style”
He liked style, my old boss; and in a car like this Harrier, you will travel in style, that’s for sure. Whether you are cruising downtown Kingston or exploring the Cockpit Country up island or whether you’re out for a night in Montego Bay, this is the car. This is definitely the car.
This Toyota Harrier is the perfect combination of luxury and road domination that you want in a modern SUV. My old boss would say: “Dave, that is the car for Jamaica today! He’ll get you into….and more importantly out of….pretty well anything; and he’ll do it all in style”
He liked style, my old boss; and in a car like this Harrier, you will travel in style, that’s for sure. Whether you are cruising downtown Kingston or exploring the Cockpit Country up island or whether you’re out for a night in Montego Bay, this is the car. This is definitely the car.
Now in terms of shipping a used car from Japan to Jamaica there are a fair number of hoops you need to jump through. You need to apply for an Import License, but before you do that you need to have a pre shipment inspection completed by an authorized agency and a Pre Shipment Inspection Certificate (the PSIC) issued.
Then you need to get the basic documents prepared: The Bill of Lading, the Bill of Sale (invoice), and the Certificate of Title (registration certificate) which must include the VIN, the year and model of the car, and other details. At Japan Car Direct we’ll help you with that.
But you’ll also need a customs broker in Jamaica who will submit additional documents on your behalf. Frankly, it is a process. We’ve done it before and we’ll do it again for you, but some patience is required to ship your used car from Japan to Jamaica.
Now my old boss from Jamaica, when he left the police force, opened up a small trucking business, and the next vehicle I want to show you that we are shipping to the West Indies, Grenada this time, is a car after his own heart: A Mitsubishi Canter singe axle dump truck.
Back then he told me: “Dave, it’s the single axle trucks that were over half of our business. A lot of the roads in the Islands are still pretty tight, you know. Anything other than a single axel? No way. Of course we’ve got big rigs, but that’s very much in the heavy construction trade. I just was running a small delivery business with my brothers.”
And he told me wild stories about the trucking business they ran, the trucks they’d had stolen and recovered, all that sort rough and tumble that the times were back then. But he did give me a few pointers about the best machines for the job there and this Canter truck going to Grenada, via the port of St Georges, really typifies what my boss said was best for a trucking business in the Islands: single axle, which we have already touched on, but also leaf springs front and rear. And the whole machine in the three to five ton range with the dump bed usable for multi purpose haulage. This Mitsubishi Canter is what my old boss would have called “a truck for the Islands, Dave, a truck for the Islands.”And the whole machine in the three to five ton range with the dump bed usable for multi purpose haulage. This Mitsubishi Canter is what my old boss would have called “a truck for the Islands, Dave, a truck for the Islands.”
In terms of the rules for importing a used car from Japan to Granada, there are no big surprises. You can ship your vehicle via the port of St Georges, which we are doing with this Canter dump truck, or via the port of Grenville, on the opposite side of the island,
The documentation is pretty standard: you’ll need the Bill of Lading, the Commercial (or purchase) Invoice, Certificate of Registration (title), Import License with the Value Declaration Form, and such, all of which our auction and export agents will help arrange for you, as well as setting up the shipping from Japan to Grenada. And of course there are taxes and import duties as well, and we’ll help you to get those right, too. And the good news? There are no age limits or restrictions as to the type of vehicle, but it does have to be a right hand drive machine; and that’s no problem considering the cars in Japan are right hand drive, too.
As with importing a used car from Japan to any of the Caribbean destinations we have mentioned, contact our experienced auction and export agents to make the process smooth and enjoyable.
And before we send this Canter off to Granada, I’d like you to have a look at the odometer reading of this machine:
Now that we are getting more vehicles going to destinations outside of our main markets of the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, or Ireland ( just click on the country name and you’ll be taken to the correct page on our main Japan Car Direct website)
I’ll be writing to you further blog posts about shipping a used car to the Caribbean in this our “Hot and New Destinations for Good Used Cars Direct from Japan” series. For now for all those people who are looking at importing a fine used car from Japan to the West Indies, to Trinidad, to St Lucia, to the Caymans, to Jamaica, or to Granada just get in touch with us and it will be our pleasure to assist you. Just register with our free Auction Registration Service. Let us be a part of your Caribbean Dream, too.
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