Hi guys. If its your first time your importing from Japan avoid auction at all cost. Go for stock cars. Stock cars are cheaper, and delivery on time. What if you buy from auction and fails test. Buy if you want to go ahead create an account with www.jpctrade.com it has over 16auction house. My contact info@auto-eliteglobal.com

There are several ways of killing a cat! My first import was direct from the auction but I used an exporter. I window-shopped(web-sites) from various exporters and was able to set a CIF price. Next I approached a reputable exporter and we agreed on the terms, price range, grade of vehicle, colour, year/month of manufacture....

The exporter would send me pictures of the unit for approval before binding and sometimes even review the state of the car and cancel the bind. I finally got the car within a month! Communication was daily through email and phone calls(they would call at around 9 in the morning). Deposit of US$1,000 is mandatory b4 binding in the auctions and amount forms part of CIF.

I got most of my confidence, and even the agent who cleared the vehicle, from Wazua family! The agent even sent the vehicle from MSA to me in Meru at a driver cost of 5k only.

Chiba?

@Matatuman do you know that the government has appointed new companies for inspection?? Where is your showroom mine is in highridge with 50 stock cars. I import atleast 10cars monthly so offering me advice is useless. Auction cars especially when you have a tight budget you can stay bidding upto to two months and finally you result to grade R car. Second the company you will use for bidding will charge you a minimum of $600 for the service. 3rd the movement of car from auction to inspection to getting of documents and finally booking for shipment takes one month. Shipping another one month, meaning you can get a car after 4months. What I mean is auction is for bigwigs.

Is the $600 a deposit (not just for a single car in a single auction but for the whole time one is buying thro' an exporter) or rather a service charge for bidding process? Once one's bid is successful, one is issued with the invoice of the actual price (I understand this is kept secret by many of our local importers). Auction has a diverse selection unlike the yards, car auction reports translated to enable one understands what he/she is buying etc. @Muchemi, with your experience, why not compare buying a car via auction to stock cars with an actual example? To assist price conscious wazuans like myself. Yeah, yeah I know buying a car isn't an investment but also it's not pocket change either!