Importing a car from Japan to New Zealand: the 20-year line, GST and the border inspection

A used car from Japan can be imported into New Zealand, and it arrives right-hand drive because both countries drive on the left. How much work it takes depends mostly on one date. As we read NZTA's entry certification manual, a passenger car manufactured or first registered outside New Zealand 20 or more years before it is certified for entry doesn't have to meet the frontal impact, exhaust emissions or electronic stability control (ESC) requirements. A younger car has to meet all three.

The money side is short: no customs duty on a car, and 15% GST. The part buyers underestimate is the border inspection. The inspector looks underneath, and NZTA's guidance says a car with signs of rust prevention or under-sealing on its structure must be referred to a specialist repair certifier. Photos show less than you think.

Which cars can come in

• Right-hand drive is normal. Japanese-market cars are built for driving on the left.
• 20 years or older: three requirements fall away. NZTA's manual says the ESC requirement doesn't apply to a passenger car "manufactured, or first registered outside of New Zealand, twenty years or more before the date of its first certification for entry into service". The frontal impact and emissions sections draw a similar 20-year line, worded slightly differently in each. Our reading, not an official rule: count from the earlier of the build date and the Japanese first registration, and if the car is close to 20 years, ask an entry certifier before it ships.
• Younger than 20 years: all three apply. A used passenger car inspected at the border from 1 March 2020 must have ESC fitted. It must meet an approved frontal impact standard. And it must meet an approved exhaust emissions standard: for a used petrol car inspected at the border from 30 April 2024 to 30 June 2028, that's Euro 5, US Tier 2, Japan 2005 Low Harm, Japan 2018 or ADR 79/04. From 1 July 2028 it rises to Euro 6d, US Tier 3, Japan 2018 Low Harm or UNR83/08.
• Some cars are exempt for other reasons. The manual lists immigrants' vehicles, vehicles granted a special interest vehicle permit and certain motorsport vehicles.
• The export certificate matters. For a car from Japan, NZTA works from the export or de-registration certificate. For a younger car, NZTA accepts the original Japanese certificate with a three-digit emissions code as proof of meeting the emissions rule. As we read NZTA's manual, certifiers also record a four-digit "variant" code for cars from Japan, taken from the de-registration or export certificate, or 9999 if it isn't there. On our own car's papers, the four-digit category number (ruibetsu kubun bangō) is 0009, next to the type designation number 16806; we read that as the code meant, but ask your certifier.

• A removed chassis number stops the car. A used car from Japan with its identifier partly or totally removed can't be processed unless Japan's transport ministry has re-identified it and issued an authentic export certificate with the new identifier.

• The papers usually show the first registration month, not the build month. Japanese registration and export papers usually show the month the car was first registered, not the month it was built. For New Zealand that's one of the dates the 20-year line counts from. More on Japanese car build dates.

The three letters in front of the model code

For a car under 20 years old, NZTA reads the emissions standard straight off the Japanese papers. Its technical bulletin on emissions says the code is the prefix before the hyphen at the start of the model code on the export or de-registration certificate, and it lists which prefixes count.

On our own car, a 2012 Toyota Prius α, the model code on the shaken certificate is DAA-ZVW41W, and the first registration is August 2012. Where those boxes sit on the card is on how to read a shaken certificate. As we read NZTA's table for a used petrol car:

Border inspection	Petrol codes NZTA lists	Our car (DAA, first registered August 2012)
30 April 2024 to 1 July 2028	Beginning with D, if first registered anywhere on or after 1 January 2012. Also E, G, H, L, M, R, Q and 3 to 7	On the list
From 1 July 2028	5AA, 5BA, 5LA, 6AA, 6BA or 6LA	Not on the list

So the same car, with the same papers, could go from accepted to needing other evidence, such as a statement of compliance, just because it crosses the border later. That would last until it reaches the 20-year line. For our car that's August 2032 counted from first registration, or earlier if the build date can be shown. We've read our petrol hybrid as petrol, and the date column in NZTA's main emissions table reads "to 30 June 2028". Ask your entry certifier before you rely on any of this.

A model code with no prefix at all is common on older cars and on some trims. NZTA says that also means other evidence is needed, unless the car is 20 years old.

What to do with this: ask the seller for the full model code exactly as it's printed, prefix and all, and the first registration month. A listing that shows only "ZVW41" has dropped the part NZTA looks at.

What it costs

Item	How much	Notes
Customs duty	0%	NZ Customs' rate for a car. Motorhomes and campervans are 10%
GST	15%	On what you paid, plus international freight and insurance, plus any duty
Clean Car charges	Ask your entry certifier	Some import guides list a "Clean Car" cost. The Ministry of Transport says the Clean Car Discount, the rebates and fees charged at registration, ended for vehicles registered after 31 December 2023. A separate CO2 standard for importers of light vehicles, the Clean Car Importer Standard, continues. Whether it means a charge on your one car is for NZTA to say, so ask before the car ships
Border inspection, entry certification	Fees	Charged by the inspecting organisation. Repair certification is extra if the car is referred
Shipping, customs broker, registration and licensing, insurance	Quoted separately

A rough example. For every ¥1,000,000 paid for the car (about NZ$11,270 on 1 October 2026), GST comes to about ¥150,000 (about NZ$1,690), plus GST on the freight and insurance. That's an estimate at the European Central Bank's reference rates of 1 October 2026 (NZ$1 = about ¥88.7). Customs works out the real figure.

The steps, in order

1. Before you pay for the car: confirm the first registration month and anything that shows the build date. If the car is under 20 years, check that it has ESC and find the emissions code on its Japanese papers.
2. Make sure the original export certificate travels with the car. NZTA records the car from it.
3. Have it cleaned before it ships. The border inspector can refuse to inspect a car presented in a condition that makes inspection unreasonably difficult, such as components covered in dirt.
4. Customs clearance. Lodge the import entry and pay GST.
5. Border inspection. The inspector checks the engine compartment, both sides, the luggage area, the underbody or chassis frame and the passenger compartment, records the odometer reading and any obvious defects or damage, and checks the car against the Takata airbag recall lists.
6. Entry certification, and repair certification first if the car was referred.
7. Registration and licensing before it goes on the road.

Where Japanese imports get stuck

Rust, and what's been sprayed over it. NZTA's border guidance counts corrosion that weakens the body structure as structural damage. Its technical bulletin on acid-washed imports says a car must be referred to a specialist repair certifier if signs of repair, rust prevention, acid wash or under-sealing on any part of the structure are evident. Much of that is underneath the car, where dealer photos rarely go. Our own car is a used Prius α bought in Japan, and its rust shows the kind of thing an inspector would be looking at: where it is, and whether it's on a part or the body, is on our Prius α page and rust on the body or a part.

A car just under the line. A car that is 19 years old and has no ESC is, as we read the manual, in a different position from the same car a year later. The month counts.

An unreadable chassis number. If corrosion or damage has taken the number with it, the car can't go through. Our page on Japanese chassis numbers explains what the number tells you.

An open airbag recall. Border inspectors check Takata recall lists, and a car on them is flagged.

What this page can't tell you

• Whether your particular car will pass. The border inspector and the entry certifier decide. Ask one before it ships if you're unsure.
• Registration and licensing details. NZTA handles these. Check its importing pages for the current steps and fees.
• The car's condition from here. We don't lift cars, and we don't say whether a car has been in an accident.
• Legal or tax advice. This is a plain summary of the official guidance, checked on the date below.

The paperwork and the 20-year line can be worked out from New Zealand. What the border inspector will find underneath can't, until the car has already crossed the sea. Send us the listing and tell us which parts worry you: the strut tops, the sills, the arches, the underside. We'll photograph what can be seen without lifting the car or removing anything, and tell you what we couldn't see. See how a viewing works.

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What to ask the seller before you buy

• A clear copy of the export certificate or the Japanese registration details, showing the first registration month and, for a younger car, the full model code with its emissions prefix (on ours, DAA-ZVW41W)
• A photo of the chassis number stamped on the body
• Whether the car has ESC, if it's under 20 years old
• Close photos of the underside from ground level at each corner, and whether anything has been sprayed under it
• Close photos of both front strut tops from the engine bay, with the bonnet (hood) open

Car outside the Tokai region (Aichi, Gifu and Mie)? Start with a Remote Check. We phone the dealer in Japanese, ask your questions, and ask for the photos you're missing, such as the underside from each corner, before you pay for shipping to New Zealand.

Written by Yoshiaki Sagara, a paintless dent repair and detailing technician in Japan. He looks at cars for overseas buyers through Ninja Desk Japan. About us

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