Man imports $8,000 Honda from Japan to the UK – faces unexpected costs and complications months later

This UK YouTuber imported a Honda S660 to himself, a car you can only get from the vehicle market in Japan.

He won it for $8000 in auction and had it imported to him directly, to see if it is cheaper to get it imported yourself or pre-imported.

The YouTuber found himself hit with unexpected costs and complications months later after he had to check to see if it is road-worthy in the UK.

There are a lot of things you have to do to make a Japanese car road-legal in the UK and would he really save money doing them himself?

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How to import a car from Japan

Car-based content creator Mat Watson decided to import a used Honda S660 directly from Japan instead of purchasing a pre-imported one.

He used a Japanese trading company to help him with sorting the importation to the UK, meaning he didn’t have to visit Japan directly.

This showed Mat’s YouTube subscribers how to import a car directly, but he shared that he was a bit hesitant as he was worrying about what condition the car would be in as he never saw it in person before it arrived.

When the car finally arrived, everything seemed in great condition with high-quality servicing and minimum wear, despite its age.

The unexpected costs and complications begin

Mat found a small amount of corrosion on the car, but this is typical in used cars.

The YouTuber said that despite this being normal, he will underseal the car to prevent further corrosion.

The content creator decided to take the imported Honda for a (Ministry of Transport) MOT test to check its roadworthiness in the UK, even though everything seemed in shape.

Much to the surprise of the owner, the car failed its MOT.

The Honda S660 didn’t come to the UK with a fog light, which is required by UK law for imported cars.

He also experienced some issues with tire regulations, but after checking and replacing the tires, it made them compliant.

After the speedometer was recalibrated from kilometers to miles per hour so it was up to standard for the UK, the car finally passed its MOT.

Mat seemed to believe he saved himself a considerable amount of money by importing directly from Japan.

Although he never specified the amount he saved, a pre-imported Honda S660 in the UK comes to around $15,000, even with the costs of the MOT and modifications, the total cost would be considerably less.

Mat is extremely pleased with his purchase and as he said: “MOT passed, plates on, and now it’s time to enjoy it properly!”