Importing a car for the first time raises a lot of reasonable questions. Here are the honest answers — including the ones about money.
Legality, cost, and who is responsible for what.
A vehicle generally becomes eligible for U.S. import 25 years after its actual date of manufacture — not its model year. A 2001 model-year car is not automatically eligible in every year that follows.
We verify the true manufacture date on every single vehicle before it is listed, and we deliberately say "may qualify for import — verified per vehicle" rather than making blanket claims. How eligibility works
One figure covers the vehicle purchase and export documentation, ocean freight and marine insurance, duties, customs clearance and port fees, and our coordination and delivery support — to your door.
State sales tax, title, and registration. Those are paid by you at your own state DMV when you register the car, exactly as they would be on any vehicle purchase. We would rather you hear that here than at the tag office.
No — and this matters. McMillan Imports is a sourcing and import coordination service. We do not buy, sell, or take title to vehicles.
You remain the purchaser and the importer of record. Our licensed customs broker files entry on your behalf. We coordinate the exporters, inspectors, brokers, and carriers so you deal with one team.
We tell you before you commit a dollar. Eligibility is checked individually before a car is listed, and if a vehicle does not cleanly qualify we say so rather than letting you find out at the border.
What you commit to, and when.
A refundable $500 deposit holds the specific vehicle you chose. It is credited in full toward the price, and it is refundable until you approve the vehicle and sign the sourcing agreement. You can stop at any point before signing.
Yes. An account is required so documents can be shared with you securely, and so you can follow your car's progress, paperwork, and shipping in one place. Your account
Not yet. We are working with lending partners to offer financing on imported vehicles, but it is not available today — current purchases are paid directly.
Payments are processed by Stripe. Card details never touch our servers. No vehicle purchase is final until you review the documents and e-sign.
Condition, provenance, and where they come from.
Japanese auction houses inspect and grade each car on condition, typically from 1 to 5. Broadly, grade 4 and above indicates a well-kept example, and grade 3 indicates visible wear you should expect to see.
The grade shown on each listing comes from that inspection, and the full inspection report and additional media are shared with you as you move forward.
Yes. Tell a specialist what you are after and we will source against it through our network, with the same verification and the same single all-in price as anything already in the catalog. Talk to a specialist
Japan is live today, sourced through the Japanese auction network. The UAE, England, Italy, and Germany are on the roadmap — we open one proven lane at a time rather than claiming coverage we don't have. See all markets
Shipping, timing, and staying informed.
Routing is set per vehicle by its origin and destination port. We quote both RoRo — the car is driven on and off the vessel, and this is the usual choice — and container, which is sealed and enclosed for better protection at higher cost.
Your quote states which applies to your car before you pay anything.
Typically 8–12 weeks from reservation to your driveway — covering export documents, booking and sailing, ocean transit, US customs clearance and inland delivery.
Sailing schedules and customs both move, so the exact schedule is confirmed for your specific vehicle before you commit. You get status updates at every milestone, including ocean tracking once it sails. See the full timeline
Your account shows live progress at every stage, all import paperwork in one place, ocean tracking once the vessel sails, and a named contact rather than a support queue.
Inland transport brings the car the final mile and you take delivery. We help with title and registration guidance from there — remembering that the DMV fees themselves are yours to pay.
A specialist will answer it personally — about a specific car, eligibility, timing, or the all-in price.