Storage Yards At The Port
Cars and other vehicles getting ready to be exported from Japan are stored temporarily in yards at the port. These resemble very large parking lots, but have security and only authorized personnel are permitted to enter.
This is where most of the vehicles that we buy from the Japanese car auctions are kept for a short period of time before they are shipped out of Japan. (Remember our goal is always to get them out to you as quickly as possible so you can sell them, then come back and buy more.)
These yards are usually surrounded by fences and gates, as well as be monitored with security cameras. However, they are open to the elements, so are not suitable for the high-value vehicles that we purchase for some customers.
Enclosed Storage For High Value & Exotic Vehicles
High-value vehicles are not exported using Ro-Ro Shipping. Instead, we ship them out using container shipping, or even fly them out as airfreight. Prior to shipping, they are kept in highly secure enclosed warehouse locations run by companies that specialize in the transportation of exotic cars and race cars. The fact that they are kept in controlled warehouse conditions means that they are protected both from the weather and from prying eyes.
While in storage, high-value and exotic vehicles will be insured, but this will be an additional charge on a per-day basis over and above our usual charges. This insurance is part of the storage package.
There is no additional charge for storage of vehicles in these yards while they are awaiting export.
Extended Storage Option
Some countries, like the United States of America and Canada, have age restrictions on vehicle imports which either make it impossible or difficult to import vehicles which are younger than a certain age.
As a result, there can be fierce competition at the car auctions for vehicles which are about to become eligible for importing.
To avoid that, we can purchase vehicles for you which are currently too young, then hold them for you in our extended storage area until they are old enough to be shipped.
Of course, we can time the shipping to make sure that the vehicles arrive just as they are becoming old enough, meaning they leave Japan they are still too young. We know you want to get them as quickly as possible so you can sell them on while the market is hot.
Although extended storage typically costs 300 JPY per car per day, equating to approximately 9,000 JPY per month, we offer free extended storage for however many additional months you require. The only additional charge will be an extra 5,000 JPY transportation cost to bring the car from the extended storage area back to the port when it is time to be shipped.
Please note carefully that you must tell us that you want your car to be sent to the extended storage area at the time of purchase. If not, then it will end up in the regular yard at the port where an extended stay will result in an extra per-day storage charge.
For example, let’s imagine you buy a car that needs to be held on the Japan side for an extra 3 months before shipping. Instead of having to pay an additional 27,000 JPY of fees for that extra three months, you would pay a single charge of 5,000 JPY to move the car from the storage area back to the port. In this case, this would result in a saving of 22,000 JPY.
Now, remember that the cost of moving your car back to the port (5,000 JPY) is going to be the same whether it has been stored for three months or six months, so this makes longer storage periods even more financially effective if you buy through us.
The only thing you need to bear in mind if you ask us to do this for your cars is that they will be stored in an outside parking lot and will not be started or moved during a whole storage period. A car which is running and driving the start of the storage period may well deteriorate over a period of many months to the point where it cannot start or move when it comes to be taken to the port. This kind of deterioration can result in extra transportation charges to move the car back to the port, but also could result in the car being unable to be loaded on the Ro-Ro ship without repair work being done.
So, there are advantages in our free extended storage option, but you do need to make sure you take these risks into account as well. It is up to you to make the decision whether you think it will be worth it.