Going to Japan, bringing back a container of Delicas...tips?

[delikamoot]

Well hey there,

This is Delikamoot, unfortunately devoid of delica. However me and some buddies are just so interested in Delicas that we want to go to Japan, buy our own, chuck em into a shipping container and send em back to good ol Canada. The idea being to sell 2 at a reasonable price to pay off the shipping and the remaining Delica (we estimate that 3 vans fit in one container).

I probably sound quite green...well, that's because I am. I would be MEGA grateful for any tips, advice, guides that y'all could give to me on this process.

The dream is to get a nice bunch of good condition Delica Vans and convert one, if not all of them, to Waste Vegetable Oil. Then this super van would go around the continent, inspiring people to live more sustainably. Also facilitating trade and exchange between the fine people our own ever-growing network of sustainable lifestyle enthusiasts.

Thanks a lot!

Delikamoot

[RichD]

My tip is call a professional importer.

[ABdelica]

A crazy idea ... if you are expecting to make any $money off it.

Consider - do you speak Japanese?

Banking arrangements?

Cost of living? How long (days/nights) will you be there?

Etc.

[mararmeisto]

A crazy idea ... if you are expecting to make any $money off it.

Consider - do you speak Japanese?

Banking arrangements?

Cost of living? How long (days/nights) will you be there?

Etc.

I wouldn't say "crazy", but definitely more challenging if you don't speak Japanese. The language is nuanced in ways English no longer is, so it can be difficult to communicate effectively, especially a business transaction.

Making money on a Delica? Obviously there is money to be made otherwise others wouldn't be importing them and selling them to the general public. I don't know what the margin is, but I would suggest it's slimmer than the used car salesman down your street what with purchase, exchange, importing, paperwork, inspection, conversion. You might not walk away with what you're hoping to.

It does sound like an adventure though. If you have the opportunity to visit Japan - do it! I sailed in with the Navy back in 2000, and it is a wonderful country with heaps of history and if you show interest the Japanese will share it with you.

[oficer hejgo]

Hello! My name is Oleg. I live in Kazakhstan.
I wish I could buy a Delica in Japan ......

But alas, we have banned the import cars from Japan (from behind the wheel).

but in general Delica - it's just super

[delikamoot]

Thanks for the post Oleg! I'll invite your astral form into my passenger seat.

[Super Exceeded]

Delikamoot,
I imported my Deli from Japan myself, and while I did get it for a lot less than buying it from an importer, by the time you add all of your costs together you may find that a wekend or two of overtime would have paid more. (Do you have a company that you can write off the taxes with?) The best way to make this work is to have some one in Japan do the buying for you. I could help you there. If your looking for a way to have a trip to Japan paid for, then go for it.

[RichD]

Hello! My name is Oleg. I live in Kazakhstan.
I wish I could buy a Delica in Japan ......

But alas, we have banned the import cars from Japan (from behind the wheel).

but in general Delica - it's just super

The joy I feel from the fact that this Kazakhstani post is real is offset by the resulting disappointment that I cannot tastefully use any of half a dozen good Borat jokes.

[jessef]

Well hey there,

This is Delikamoot, unfortunately devoid of delica. However me and some buddies are just so interested in Delicas that we want to go to Japan, buy our own, chuck em into a shipping container and send em back to good ol Canada. The idea being to sell 2 at a reasonable price to pay off the shipping and the remaining Delica (we estimate that 3 vans fit in one container).

I probably sound quite green...well, that's because I am. I would be MEGA grateful for any tips, advice, guides that y'all could give to me on this process.

The dream is to get a nice bunch of good condition Delica Vans and convert one, if not all of them, to Waste Vegetable Oil. Then this super van would go around the continent, inspiring people to live more sustainably. Also facilitating trade and exchange between the fine people our own ever-growing network of sustainable lifestyle enthusiasts.

Thanks a lot!

Delikamoot

Two will fit in one container. Container will be more expensive than RORO.

Flying to Japan and thinking you can just walk on site at any auction and bid on what you'd like is quite complicated.

I would highly recommend to contact a good exporter in Japan who may be able to take you to a few auction houses to see how it works. The physical auction process there is very different than a Richie Bros. auction over here for example.

I almost flew to Japan twice and was going to do what you planned. First time was 6 years ago and the last 2 years ago. I came to the conclusion after dealing with exporters in Japan and importers here in Canada, that flying there with the intent to purchase only a few vehicles is really only good in two ways.

1. Just for adventure and try something new
2. Going to a dealer or private for a specific/specialty vehicle sale in person

Other than those two things, the downsides are your cost will be higher than you think, roaming free at auction houses won't happen and doing this on your own without help from either a Japanese speaking person and/or a local person knowledgeable in this industry may prove to be difficult.

By the end of the day, I calculated $15,000 I wanted to shell out for a landed Landcruiser 70 series. I was very specific in what I wanted. After calculating flying there and all of the above, I ended up with $24,000+. The extra 9,000 was the flight, food, stay in Japan, paying someone for their honest help, inspections, in Japan shipping, registration, paperwork, ocean freight and my return home.

Needless to say, I didn't make it over to sushi-land.

I'd love to hear good stories of people who did such a thing though.

[delikamoot]

Delikamoot,
I imported my Deli from Japan myself, and while I did get it for a lot less than buying it from an importer, by the time you add all of your costs together you may find that a wekend or two of overtime would have paid more. (Do you have a company that you can write off the taxes with?) The best way to make this work is to have some one in Japan do the buying for you. I could help you there. If your looking for a way to have a trip to Japan paid for, then go for it.

I don't have a company but I am looking into the possibility of making one. Do you mean having a person fluent in Japanese to help negotiate at auction houses? Or just a friendly Japanese person who could help guide me around? Any help would be awesome! I will be looking into Couchsurfing in Japan and WWOOF as well to help minimize cost of living and to maximize the possibility of meeting an awesome human being who would be willing to help me. I am going to China first and airfare for that is taken care of. Getting to Japan from should be less than gnarly ...hopefully.

[delikamoot]

Two will fit in one container. Container will be more expensive than RORO.

Flying to Japan and thinking you can just walk on site at any auction and bid on what you'd like is quite complicated.

I would highly recommend to contact a good exporter in Japan who may be able to take you to a few auction houses to see how it works. The physical auction process there is very different than a Richie Bros. auction over here for example.

I almost flew to Japan twice and was going to do what you planned. First time was 6 years ago and the last 2 years ago. I came to the conclusion after dealing with exporters in Japan and importers here in Canada, that flying there with the intent to purchase only a few vehicles is really only good in two ways.

1. Just for adventure and try something new
2. Going to a dealer or private for a specific/specialty vehicle sale in person

Other than those two things, the downsides are your cost will be higher than you think, roaming free at auction houses won't happen and doing this on your own without help from either a Japanese speaking person and/or a local person knowledgeable in this industry may prove to be difficult.

By the end of the day, I calculated $15,000 I wanted to shell out for a landed Landcruiser 70 series. I was very specific in what I wanted. After calculating flying there and all of the above, I ended up with $24,000+. The extra 9,000 was the flight, food, stay in Japan, paying someone for their honest help, inspections, in Japan shipping, registration, paperwork, ocean freight and my return home.

Needless to say, I didn't make it over to sushi-land.

I'd love to hear good stories of people who did such a thing though. [/quote]

Yo thanks for the great post. What is RORO? Can you recommend any good exporters in Japan? I'm curious as to where you got your numbers for inspection costs, in Japan shipping (register vehicle to drive to container?), registration, paperwork (...customs broker?) and ocean freight (container...or this mysterious RORO?). You said you were looking into this two years ago. If you could point me to where you did your research, I could check to see if prices have changed (also saves you from typing out an invoice for me).
I am totally up for adventure. More research is required but I am confident that I will be able to minimize cost of living AND meet a helpful Japanese friend through the Almighty Couchsurfing or WWOOF Japan. Also, I wonder if there is a Craiglist type alternative (private sales) to these auction houses I know so little about. Are auction vehicles better in some way (inspected, ready to export,etc.?).

Thanks for your help.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Yo thanks for the great post. What is RORO?

Roll-On/Roll-Off.

[Super Exceeded]

Delikamoot,
I imported my Deli from Japan myself, and while I did get it for a lot less than buying it from an importer, by the time you add all of your costs together you may find that a wekend or two of overtime would have paid more. (Do you have a company that you can write off the taxes with?) The best way to make this work is to have some one in Japan do the buying for you. I could help you there. If your looking for a way to have a trip to Japan paid for, then go for it.

I don't have a company but I am looking into the possibility of making one. Do you mean having a person fluent in Japanese to help negotiate at auction houses? Or just a friendly Japanese person who could help guide me around? Any help would be awesome! I will be looking into Couchsurfing in Japan and WWOOF as well to help minimize cost of living and to maximize the possibility of meeting an awesome human being who would be willing to help me. I am going to China first and airfare for that is taken care of. Getting to Japan from should be less than gnarly ...hopefully.

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