Moving the car when relocating overseas is challenging, and many consider leaving it behind. The reason is more than evident. Moving the vehicle is expensive, demands preparation, and could cost much more than you have expected. On the other hand, you can have severe troubles with customs clearance and with the car itself. For all those reasons, you should cooperate only with trustworthy and reliable companies like Kokusai Express Japan. Also, you should learn what to do when shipping a car overseas and have a good plan before starting.

How to prepare paperwork before moving?

Preparing the paperwork is one of the first things you should do before organizing your car when relocating overseas. You will need to prepare documents about owning the vehicle, insurance, and your driving license—all you can inform about from the moving company.

Choose a trustworthy company

The first item on your planning list should choose the best sea freight forwarders. They will organize shipping in a way that protects your vehicle but also the items inside. A good company will recommend the best transportation method and how to pack for transport. Finally, you can choose the proper packing and protective material for loosening parts and mirrors. Remember, it is a challenging job to organize alone.

Do the paperwork

Depending on the country, you will need to prepare papers and allowances specialized for car shipping. If you want to properly organize your car when relocating overseas, first learn about all the documents you need. There is a Declaration of Dangerous Goods, a Shipper Export Declaration, lien holder paper in two copies, and more. Each country’s registration process differs, so you will need to check on the official site. However, you will make this job much easier and faster if you rely on the best moving services Japan. They will do all the paperwork.

Prepare for the customs and duty

Japan customs and duty has specified rules and demands that you must learn before you prepare your car when relocating overseas. Professional overseas relocation services are well-organized and prepared for it, too. It could be complex depending on the contents of your shipment and other details. So, moving your car when relocating overseas should include duty and tax calculation, customs bonds, protest preparation and filling, duty drawback system, and trace facilitation solutions.

What to do with the car when relocating overseas

Preparing the paperwork is one thing, but training the car is entirely different for car owners. They need to inspect and remove all parts that can damage or lost. Also, you will need to clean the car and check for corrosion and loosened parts.

Remove all loosened parts

Cars have a lot of parts that can fall off or be damaged during transporting, like additions, accessories, decorations, mirrors, and similar details. The best way to protect them is to remove them before you pack and park the car for transport. It is for sure that you will need to clear the mirrors and decorations on the vehicle. However, ensure that you have removed all similar parts inside the car.

Visit the mechanic

You may know your car thoroughly, but it is more complicated. There are minor damages that you should know for before transporting. The only mechanic will check the vehicle properly, knowing what vulnerable parts of your car are. So, before transporting the vehicle, visit your mechanic and check all details with him.

Clean and wash the car properly

Your car will go through a complicated procedure and travel a little longer when moving your car when relocating overseas. You must find out what the trip will look like. Also, you would need help to control the process when the vehicle is on the ship. However, learn how to clean the car and keep the car clean, even if it will travel longer on rainy days. The vehicle will be even dirtier when you finally get it, and you will have a tough job cleaning it up. Also, workers at the ports will have a more accessible position to recognize the car’s color, license, and other details if they have washed the vehicle.

Make the final inspection

All cars are usually clean and work properly, but you should not rely on them when transporting a vehicle when relocating overseas. There are a lot of details that you need help preparing for. Also, you can easily forget those details if you do not adequately prepare the car. So, after you have packed the car, check the procedure.

Protect the car before transporting

Protecting the car from damages, scratches, and loss before transporting is essential. Although companies and shipping companies will transport items as safely as possible, nobody can predict what can happen. Make sure that vehicles are protected from all potential problems.

Transporting

You will have many different shipping options when organizing to move your car when relocating overseas. Companies usually use the simplest and most comfortable method, but you can choose another.

• Container car shipping is packing the car into a large container alone with only protection material;
• You can ship the car when relocating overseas with the RoRo technic, where you directly load the car into the ship;
• Boat shipping is when companies transport the car on large boats with RoRo wheels.

Purchase shipping insurance

It is not easy to protect the car from damages and loss, so companies recommend taking insurance. There are a lot of great insurances that you can take for your vehicle, so do not hesitate to take one. Although people are afraid of too high costs, insurance could only help you in this situation. Some insurances are a part of the obligated car insurance so you might be covered during transportation. On the other hand, if you need to take a separate insurance policy, you will pay 1.5 to 2.5 percent of the car’s value. It is a small cost when you want to ship your vehicle when relocating overseas.