Some of the best examples of significant cars are not in the UK. Japan in particular has preserved cars the British market wore out. Davey & Daughters sources and checks cars overseas for UK clients, and acts in the UK for overseas clients, with the same buyer-side discipline in both directions.
Buying abroad, for UK clients
The search runs across Japan, Europe and the US where the model justifies it. Overseas cars are verified through documentation, local inspection partners and, for Japan, the auction-sheet system read properly rather than optimistically. You see the whole cost of the car landed and registered, category by category, before anything is committed. The fee stays separate from all of it, so there is no incentive to inflate a single line.
The cost of a Japan import, category by category
Every estimate is built the same way, and every line is shown: the car itself; auction and agent fees in Japan; inland transport to port and export paperwork; shipping (roll-on roll-off or container, chosen to suit the car); marine insurance; UK port handling and customs clearance; import duty; import VAT; compliance work and registration; MOT and delivery. Duty and VAT rates depend on the car's age and classification, and the estimate always states whether the applicable rate has been confirmed or assumed. Exchange rates are stated with their date, with a small buffer for movement between agreement and settlement.
The Japan route, step by step
The brief, then the auction and dealer search. Candidate cars assessed on auction sheets, photographs and history. Independent local inspection where warranted. Bidding or purchase through established agents, with limits agreed in advance. Shipping, marine insurance, customs and UK compliance coordinated through specialist partners. UK arrival, registration, first inspection and handover, with the import file complete.
Acting in the UK, for overseas clients
For clients abroad buying, keeping or moving cars in the UK: local viewings and enquiries conducted on your behalf, inspections commissioned, purchases coordinated, storage and transport arranged, and export or onward delivery into Europe managed with the paperwork done properly. You get one point of contact in the right time zone for the car, if not always for you.
A real import
A Golf GTI, sourced in Japan
Found at auction in Japan, verified, imported and landed under budget.
About the case filesQuestions about international work
Is import cheaper than buying in the UK?
Sometimes, and sometimes it is simply better rather than cheaper: condition and history can be worth more than the saving. The cost map answers this per car, before commitment.
Who handles customs and registration?
Specialist import agents, coordinated and checked by Alex. No pretence of in-house customs brokerage.
Can you deliver into Europe?
Yes, coordinated with transport and registration partners for the destination country.
I married a man who sources cars for a living, so naturally I wasn’t allowed to just buy a Golf from down the road. He found mine at auction in Japan, verified it, imported it and landed it under budget and in better order than anything here. The real compliment came a few weeks later, when he went back and quietly bought himself a second one.
The founder’s wife, imported from JapanUK judgement, wherever the car is
The whole cost mapped before anything is committed, and one point of contact from auction to handover.