Toyota is the largest manufacturer in the Japanese domestic market by volume, which means it also produces the widest range of JDM-only vehicles that the UK never officially received. The UK gets the Yaris, Corolla, RAV4, and Land Cruiser. Japan gets those, plus an MPV lineup that ranges from the compact Sienta to the flagship … Read more
Japan has over 120 active car auction venues. Every week, roughly 140,000 vehicles pass through these auction halls across the country. This is the supply chain that feeds the entire UK JDM import market, and most UK buyers never learn how it works. Your importer bids at these auctions on your behalf. The car you … Read more
The Toyota Alphard is the car that made the UK aware JDM MPVs exist. It is also the one most likely to confuse a first-time buyer, because four generations span twenty years of production, and the trim level hierarchy within each generation is deep enough that two Alphards at the same price point can be … Read more
Every car that passes through a Japanese auction house receives a grade. The grade is an independent assessment of the car’s condition, carried out by the auction house’s inspector before the sale. It is the single most important piece of information on the auction sheet, and it is the value your importer uses to filter … Read more
The IVA test is one of the things that makes people nervous about importing a car from Japan. It sounds intimidating (Individual Vehicle Approval) and the government documentation reads like it was written to discourage you. The reality is less dramatic. The IVA is a structured safety and emissions inspection. It checks that the car … Read more
For a Japanese car bought at auction in 2026, the total UK landed cost is the FOB (free on board) auction price, plus shipping and insurance, plus 10% import duty on the combined CIF total, plus 20% VAT on top of all of that, plus a stack of fixed compliance fees. The UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic … Read more
Importing a car from Japan is not complicated, but it is poorly documented. Most of the information online is fragmented across forum threads, dealer FAQs that stop at the point where you hand over money, and government pages written in a dialect of English that no human actually speaks. This guide covers every step from … Read more
Japan was building hybrid family cars a decade before Europe took the technology seriously. Toyota had the Prius in 1997; by the mid-2000s, the hybrid powertrain had spread across Toyota and Honda’s MPV, saloon, and estate ranges. The result, in 2026, is a deep pool of well-proven hybrid imports that deliver 40-60mpg, seat five to … Read more
The UK’s default response to winter is to buy an SUV. This is not wrong, but it is not the only answer, and it is rarely the most enjoyable one. Japan built a generation of turbocharged, all-wheel-drive estate cars that handle wet, cold, and occasionally snowy British roads with more composure than most crossovers, while … Read more
The GT-R gets the press. The S2000 gets the YouTube channels. The Supra gets the memes. Meanwhile, a handful of genuinely excellent Japanese cars sit in the £3,000-8,000 bracket almost entirely ignored; importing for sensible money, going unnoticed at every meet, and quietly being very good. These five are not compromises. They are cars that … Read more
The kei truck is one of those JDM categories that sounds absurd until you see one in person. A 660cc, mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive (or four-wheel-drive) utility vehicle the size of a large shopping trolley, built to Japanese kei-class regulations and designed to navigate rice paddies, mountain villages, and Tokyo back streets with equal competence. The Honda … Read more
The Japanese MPV market has been feeding UK families remarkable transport for about fifteen years, and in 2026 it is better value than it has ever been. A used Toyota Alphard with captain’s chairs, twin sliding doors, and 60,000km on the clock costs less than a new Ford Galaxy base trim. That is the market … Read more
Europe thinks it invented the hot hatchback. Japan perfected it. While VW was putting a turbo four-cylinder in a Golf and calling it a day, Honda was building naturally aspirated four-cylinders that revved to 8,600rpm, Mitsubishi was fitting rally-derived turbo engines to family hatchbacks, Toyota’s racing division was turbocharged a Yaris before anyone thought to … Read more
Most JDM imports will not appear on comparison sites. You will type in the model, get no results, and end up on the phone to a specialist broker. That is the standard experience for anyone importing a Japanese-market vehicle to the UK. But there is a small category of JDM imports that sidestep this problem … Read more
Nobody buys a JDM import because they want easy ownership. The whole point is the car: the engine note, the styling that never came to Europe, the rare-grade interior trim Toyota never offered the UK-market Auris. But the difference between an import that becomes a long-term keeper and one that ends up under a tarpaulin … Read more
You have found the car. You have sorted the import paperwork. You have passed the IVA. You go to CompareTheMarket, type in the model, and nothing comes up. This is the standard experience for anyone importing a JDM vehicle that was never sold in the UK. The Toyota Noah, the Nissan Elgrand, the Mitsubishi Delica, … Read more
The Toyota Noah, Voxy and Esquire are the same car wearing three different jackets. Together they are the best-selling Japanese family minivan of the last twenty-five years — and one of the most rewarding imports a UK family can buy. This guide covers all four generations: R60, R70, R80 and R90. What changed, what to … Read more
The UK family-car market in 2026 is essentially a choice between SUVs that pretend to be 4x4s and 4x4s that pretend to be family cars. Meanwhile, Japan has spent twenty-five years quietly perfecting a different kind of vehicle entirely: the family MPV. Sliding doors, three rows, hybrid power, captain’s chairs, and proportions that fit a … Read more