Why a car still on the ship costs less

A car bought at auction in Japan spends roughly six to ten weeks getting to Ireland. For most importers that window is dead time. For a buyer, it is the cheapest moment to act.

Early Reserve & Save is our name for the discount attached to that window. It is a straightforward proposition: agree to a vehicle while it is still in transit, and the price is lower than it will be when it is sitting cleaned and photographed on a forecourt.

How the ladder works

The size of the discount is not a flat percentage. It is worked out per vehicle.

Two things set the size of the saving on any given car:

• How early you reserve against that car's arrival date. The longer the remaining wait, the more there is to compensate you for.
• The deposit you place. A larger commitment unlocks a larger share of the saving available on that vehicle.

Both are shown live on the car's own page. Move the deposit slider and the price updates in front of you, so there is no guesswork and nothing to work out on the back of an envelope — the figure you see is the figure you pay. Savings reach up to 20% on vehicles a long way out.

Once a car arrives in Ireland the discount ends completely. There is no version of it applied to landed stock.

Why the discount exists at all

It is worth being direct about this, because "limited time offer" language has made buyers rightly suspicious of any countdown.

A car that is sold before it lands never becomes stock. It does not occupy space, it does not need to be presented for browsing customers, it does not sit for two months while we find a buyer, and it carries no risk of being the car that does not sell. Those costs are real, and a reserved vehicle avoids all of them. The discount is that saving handed back rather than a price that was inflated to begin with.

The reason it shrinks over time is the same logic in reverse. Two weeks before arrival, almost all of the waiting is already done and there is very little left to compensate you for.

What you are actually agreeing to

A reservation does three things:

• Takes the car off the market at the price agreed on the day you reserve.
• Fixes that price regardless of what happens to the schedule. If the ship is late, you still pay what you agreed.
• Leaves the balance until arrival, payable once the car has landed in Ireland and been prepared.

What you see before committing is the Japanese auction sheet, the auction grade, and the photographs taken before the car was loaded. Ask and we will get more pictures or a walkaround video. Every vehicle is inspected again on arrival, before handover.

When it doesn't make sense

Reserving early suits a buyer who knows what they want and is not in a hurry. It suits nobody who needs a car this month, and it is a poor fit if you would find the wait stressful rather than merely inconvenient.

If you need to drive something away next week, the honest answer is to look at what has already landed and pay the landed price. The discount is compensation for patience, and there is no point taking it if the patience is going to cost you more in worry than it saves in cash.

A note on the taxes

The reserve price is a price for the car, not a shortcut around Irish import charges. VRT, VAT and customs duty are handled on this side before the vehicle reaches you, and are already accounted for in what you are quoted. If you want to understand how those charges are calculated, we set them out in what it really costs to import a car from Japan to Ireland.

Common questions

How much can I save?

Up to 20% off the arrival price. The exact figure depends on how early you reserve and the deposit you place, and it is shown live on each car's page as you adjust the deposit.

What does reserving commit me to?

It holds the vehicle at the agreed price until it arrives. The balance is due once the car has landed in Ireland and been prepared for handover.

Can I see the car before I commit?

You get the auction sheet, the grade and pre-shipping photographs, plus any additional photos or video you ask for. The car is inspected again on arrival.

What if the ship is delayed?

The reserved price stands. Arrival dates come from the shipping line and can move by a few weeks; that does not change what you pay.

Is the discount applied before or after Irish taxes?

The price you see is the price of the car with import charges already handled. The discount comes off that figure.