Kei truck import cost
How much does it cost to import a kei truck to Canada?
$10,062 if you do everything yourself, or $13,490 if you do nothing yourself (Canadian dollars, taxes in).
Is that the first straight answer you’ve seen? If it is, I’m not surprised. There are a lot of variables that go into the cost of importing a kei truck. Some of them are obvious: how much did you bid at auction? Some are less so: What’s the duty rate for the current year for HS code 8704.31.00.10 under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership?
↪ Skip to the kei truck price calculator, or to the price breakdown.
Here's a step-by-step explanation of the math that's behind these numbers. You can play with this interactive calculator to see how each decision affects the price. Scroll down further to see a detailed breakdown of every line item.
Kei truck price breakdown
Here's the detailed breakdown. First, some key assumptions:
- We want a nice kei truck, not a 'deal'
- The truck's final destination is a day trip away from Vancouver
We'll be tallying after-tax figures in CAD only, and using a nominal JPY/CAD rate of 0.0092.
There are four categories of costs:
Purchase and export
C$8,052 easy / C$6,477 cheap
Winning bid: ¥410,000. The ball gets rolling with a bid in a used car auction in Japan. These auctions run six days a week, and you access them through an auction partner in Japan. These are the folks who execute your bid, gather the paperwork for your truck, prep it for shipment, and book its transport. ¥410,000 is a good benchmark for a well-maintained kei truck that's 15-18 years old, has less than 100,000km, and has no serious issues detected by the auction house's inspection.
Auction partner fee: ¥80,000. Almost 20% of the purchase price! That's quite the commission. But the work they do can't be done any other way, and the logistics and regulatory hoops they jump through to get your kei truck exported justify their price regardless.
Wash fee: ¥14,000. Your kei truck needs a good wash by a certified company in Japan before it's ready for export. This is to prevent soil contaminants from hitching a ride to Canada. Non-negotiable.
Transport from Japan to Vancouver: ¥200,000. This is inclusive of inland shipping (i.e., getting your truck from the auction lot to the dock). Your truck will be loaded on a "roro" (roll-on, roll-off) ferry.
My steady hands and discerning eyes: C$1,575. Here's your first decision between 'easy' and 'cheap': hire an expert – a licensed auto broker, a gremlin who's seen a thousand untranslated auction sheets and will see a thousand more to dig up your diamond in the rough, the royal kei truck taster whose palette senses poison and sweetness with equal acuity, a perfectionist who will find the one truck that matches your delusional requirements just to show you how unreasonable you are, probably has a kei truck waifu pillow, there's a calendar on the wall counting down to when the next Hijet facelift turns 15 years old – or, do it yourself. Maybe you're good at this! You're probably a natural.
Importing to Canada
C$2,139 easy / C$1,515 cheap
White glove service: C$519.75. This is your second decision between 'easy' and 'cheap'. Your kei truck's been exported, but it hasn't yet been imported. "White glove service" means your kei truck is purchased by our dealership, shipped in our name, and consigned to us. We clear it with customs, arrange for its transport, do everything necessary to get it roadworthy, and then hand you the keys. The other option - a good choice for those who enjoy talking to customs officers, doing paperwork, or dealing with ICBC - is that your kei truck is purchased in your name, shipped to you, and consigned to you. You can then arrange your own transportation, roadworthiness process, and registration. If you've cleared large purchases through customs before, want to do all the work on your truck yourself, or are importing a project truck that won't be on the road for a while, importing the truck yourself might work better for you.
Terminal charges: C$385. When the roro boat carrying your kei truck arrives at the port, your truck will be unloaded and moved to a bonded holding yard. The terminal service that does this work charges C$385. It's not negotiable.
Excise tax: C$100. Any vehicle with air conditioning that's imported to Canada attracts a C$100 excise tax. If you get a kei truck without air conditioning, you can avoid this tax.
Duty: C$102. If you import a passenger vehicle from Japan, you don't have to pay duty, thanks to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a free trade agreement between Canada and Japan (among other countries). However, kei trucks aren't classified as passenger vehicles. Eventually, kei trucks will be zero-rated as well (hence the 'Progressive' in CPTPP), but for now, they attract a 2.2% duty.
GST: C$232. The importer must pay 5% GST on the kei truck's value for duty to the CBSA. That's either us (white glove) or you. It comes out to the same amount either way, the only difference is timing – if you import your kei truck yourself, you'll pay GST when you clear the truck; if you use the white glove service, you'll pay the same amount of GST to us when you take the keys.
Transport from terminal to destination: C$595. This is the market rate for a flatbed from Vancouver to south Vancouver Island. A wrinkle of roro shipments is that only tow trucks are allowed to pull imported vehicles out of the bonded lot. That means even if you show up to the lot in person with a temporary operator permit, you'll still have to pay for a tow truck to bring your kei truck out to you. That being said, if you're importing the truck yourself and you live close to Vancouver, you can shave a few hundred dollars off this amount.
Parts and labour
C$2,565 easy / C$791 cheap
Mandatory parts: C$155. You need a daytime running lights module, no getting around it; your kei truck will not pass inspection without one. You should also do an oil service immediately. Oil filters can be hard to come by for kei trucks. (We stock them.)
'Maybe' parts: C$848. Depending on your truck, these might be nice-to-haves or mandatory for roadworthiness: a new battery, front brake service, and new tires. Batteries, brake pads, and tires for kei trucks are very difficult to come by. (We stock them.)
'Nice to have' parts: C$335. Japanese radios don't work over here; maybe you want a nice new smartphone-compatible head unit.
Labour for all of the above: C$1,228. As well as sourcing all your parts, we'll change your oil, mount your tires, install your DRL, hook up your new stereo, lick your battery, and service your front brakes.
Road-ready
C$733 easy / C$733 cheap
Inspection: C$391. Your kei truck needs to pass a safety inspection before ICBC will let you register it. Aside from functional DRLs, inspectors will look for tire and brake condition, headlight legality, side markers, and other gotchas.
ICBC registration: C$18. Did you know that BC has the fourth-cheapest insurance in Canada? It's also one of the easiest provinces for insuring kei trucks. Just read any Canadian kei truck forum, and you'll see that half of the posts are from sad people out east with nice kei trucks that they can't insure.
PST: C$325. No kind caveats for this one, but you still have to pay.
Total $13,490 easy / $10,062 cheap, taxes in.
Now you see where the numbers came from. You might notice that kei trucks retail on dealer lots for around the 'easy' price – it's not a coincidence. If you want to play with these numbers yourself, don't forget to check out the kei truck price calculator. As well as switching between 'easy' and 'cheap', try tuning the winning bid amount. Increasing your bid by 25% gets you a lot more kei truck, but only affects your total price by 10% or less - a great move, if you can afford it.