Seven steps from first enquiry to local registration — and for each one, the specific point where shipments in our destination markets most often lose time.
Most guides to importing a car describe an ideal sequence. This page describes the same seven steps, but pairs each one with the point where it actually stalls in our destination markets — the mismatch that holds a vehicle at port, or the certification step that can no longer be arranged cheaply once the car has shipped. Treat it as a checklist to run through before you commit to a purchase.
You send the model, model year and target budget; the exporter comes back with the units actually available, condition notes and inspection photos or video.
Where it stalls in practice: Quotes for the same unit differ mainly in what they include, not in the car price. If inspection, certification or destination port handling sits outside the quoted figure, the cheaper offer is not actually cheaper. Compare the offers line by line, not by the headline number.
Have this ready: Model, model year, body and trim, destination city and port, and whether the unit must be new or may be used.
A sales contract fixes the vehicle, the price basis (FOB or CIF), the payment schedule, and who carries inspection, certification and port charges.
Where it stalls in practice: Disagreement over who pays inspection and the port-level charges. A contract that states only the vehicle price leaves those items open, and they resurface later as a request for additional payment.
Have this ready: A confirmed Incoterm, the payment schedule, and a written note of which side carries inspection and destination port charges.
The exporter files the export declaration in China. For a used vehicle, a used-vehicle export licence is part of that process.
Where it stalls in practice: File consistency starts here. The description, model year and VIN recorded at export are the same ones presented at destination; once the vehicle has shipped, correcting a mismatch is slow and expensive.
Have this ready: The VIN, the exact model-year basis you are buying against, and confirmation of who files the export declaration.
Depending on the destination, the unit may need inspection or conformity work before it leaves China.
Where it stalls in practice: Sequencing. Requirements tied to the destination market cannot be retrofitted cheaply after the vehicle has shipped; work that should precede loading sometimes begins only after arrival, and the vehicle sits while it is done.
Have this ready: The destination market's current certification requirement, confirmed in writing before payment.
Ro-ro or container, booked to the destination port, with inland transit arranged where the destination is landlocked.
Where it stalls in practice: Mode chosen on price alone. Ro-ro is usually cheaper for a single running vehicle but leaves it exposed on deck; a container protects the unit and allows consolidation, which matters for high-value or non-running vehicles. Landlocked destinations add a second leg that is often left out of the plan altogether.
Have this ready: Destination port or inland city, and whether the vehicle must arrive protected.
Customs at destination assesses duty and tax against the documents presented, and releases the vehicle.
Where it stalls in practice: The most common stall of all: documents that do not agree with one another — invoice against bill of lading, declared model year against the age rule the destination actually applies. Whether a limit counts from production year or from first registration is the classic trap.
Have this ready: Invoice, bill of lading, certificate of origin, and the age-limit basis the destination actually applies.
The vehicle is released, moved inland and registered locally — which in some markets requires a local conformity step of its own.
Where it stalls in practice: Registration requirements discovered late. A vehicle can clear customs and still not be registrable without a local approval that was never scoped at the start.
Have this ready: Written confirmation of the local registration requirements for that market — before you buy, not after arrival.
Invoice, bill of lading, certificate of origin and the declared model year are read against one another. A single inconsistency can hold a vehicle at destination well beyond the sailing time.
Destination-market approval cannot be added cheaply once the vehicle is on the water. Confirm the requirement in writing before payment, not after arrival.
Who releases what, and when, is the quietest source of delay. Fix the sequence in the contract: documents against payment, release against documents.
This page describes process structure, not fixed rules or timelines. Requirements, certification regimes and charges change and differ by destination — confirm the current position with the destination customs authority, your clearing agent, or us, before committing to a purchase.
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