Introducing the Japanese Import Price Calculation Worksheet
I’m often asked “If this car sells for 𝒳 yen in Japan, how much will it cost once imported into the UK?”
I developed this worksheet to help you answer that question, if you’d like to import your own car from Japan or are just curious about all the costs involved.
What you get
A 2 page worksheet to fill in, to help you convert a the selling price of a car in Japan into a UK ‘on the road’ price. The worksheet is delivered electronically in PDF format.
There are 3 versions of the worksheet, depending on whether you are looking at FOB, CIF or CF prices. What do these abbreviations mean?
FOB = Freight on board
This is the most common option. FOB stands for freight on board (or free on board) and is a reflection of all the costs involved up to the point where the vehicle is loaded onto the ship in the country of origin.
CIF = Cost, insurance and freight
CIF stands for cost, insurance, freight and is a reflection of all the costs involved up to the point where the vehicle is unloaded from the ship in the destination country, including the cost of shipping insurance.
CF = Cost and freight
CF stands for cost and freight and is a reflection of all the costs involved up to the point where the vehicle is unloaded from the ship in the destination country. Unlike CIF, it does not include shipping insurance.
What you don’t get
This worksheet won’t tell you how much your chosen car will cost in Japan. This is something you’ll need to research yourself. The calculator and pen aren’t included either!
Assumptions & Prerequisites
Please make sure all of the following apply to your situation before purchase.
- Roll on roll off shipping is being used to get the car to the UK (this is almost always the case).
- The vehicle is being imported and registered for use in England, Scotland or Wales.
- The vehicle will be over 10 years old at the point of registration with the DVLA.
- You know the FOB, CIF or CF price in Japanese yen (JPY, ￥) of the vehicle of interest, or know how to calculate it.
- You have a means of opening PDF files.
If any of the above don’t apply, please be aware this product might not be for you.
Frequently asked questions
What about the auction selling price, do you have a worksheet to convert this?
It would be really difficult to write a worksheet to cover this, because the auction selling price doesn’t include the fees you’ll probably have to pay to get the car deregistered and onto a boat. For this reason, these worksheets are based on FOB, CIF or CF prices.
Is there an online / spreadsheet version of the worksheet?
No there isn’t. I find this more manual approach works better because it helps people understand where all the parts of the final cost arise.
The website I’m using is listing prices in $ not ￥, is there a separate worksheet for this?
There isn’t a separate worksheet, but you can still this worksheet for prices quoted in $. The worksheets come with instructions on how to do this.
Can you guarantee the cost calculated using this worksheet will be exactly what I’ll pay?
Absolutely not. The cost produced by your calculations through this worksheet will almost never be exactly what you’ll end up paying. There are so many factors involved, but the biggest influence is changes in exchange rates. These change almost every second of every day, and can have a huge impact on the final cost of your vehicle. I have designed the worksheet to be as accurate as possible, but I can’t influence exchange rates. If I could I’d probably be out racing one of my fleet of Lexus LFAs round my private test track….or something like that 🙂