Can I import this car?
Usually yes — but the answer belongs to a variant, not a model name. Search a model and we'll show you which versions of it have a pathway into Australia, and what each one involves.
Search a model and we'll check it against the current SEVS register extract, then show the variants that have a pathway and what each one involves.
Why wait for one from Japan?
Eligibility is the first question. This is the reason the question is worth asking at all.
We compare the full landed cost against a comparable Australian car: same year, similar kilometres, similar specification.
Auction grade, condition notes, verified kilometres and the inspector’s sheet, translated. In-person inspection on selected vehicles where available.
We search across the Japanese auction houses instead of the few of that model listed locally this week.
Poor sheet, questionable repair history, or bidding past sensible money: we stop and wait for the next one.
Yes, importing takes longer. The reason to wait is to get the right car, with more information, rather than simply the first car available locally.
How cars get in
Three routes cover almost everything we import, all applied for through the Department's ROVER portal. Which one applies — and whether any does — depends on the exact vehicle, its model code, variant and build date.
Manufactured 25 or more years ago — a rolling window, so as things stand that means built 2001 or earlier. No register match needed and the simplest compliance of the three.
Newer vehicles never sold new here, or no longer genuinely available new. The variant must be listed on the register, and compliance runs through a Registered Automotive Workshop.
Where an applicable approval pathway exists. In practice many factory Welcab builds appear as their own register entries, so they run as specialist vehicles rather than a separate scheme.
Three things people get wrong
Eligibility attaches to a model code, variant and build date range — not to a name. Two Alphards on the same auction day can have different answers.
A register listing means the model has a pathway. Approval is still applied for per vehicle, through ROVER, and it has to be granted before shipping.
It matters, but it isn’t automatically fatal. Specific variants and whether the model is still genuinely available new here both feed into it. Worth asking.
Eligibility information on this page is a guide to how the pathways work, not legal advice or an approval. Register listings and requirements change — every vehicle is verified against current Department requirements before you commit.