Terms of Service

1. Who we are and what these terms cover

Direct Car Import Sdn Bhd, trading as Carimport, sources and imports vehicles from Japan, the United Kingdom and Australia for customers in Malaysia. We have been doing this since 2013.

These terms cover this website, the tools published on it, and the import service itself. They do not replace the written quotation and agreement you sign for a specific car.

Where these terms say "your advisor", they mean the member of our team assigned to your import. One advisor handles it from your first enquiry through to handover, issues your quotation, and confirms in writing anything we agree with you.

2. Your quotation comes first

Where anything on this website differs from the written quotation and agreement you have signed with us, your quotation prevails. The website describes how we normally work. Your quotation states what we have actually agreed with you, for your car, at the price and on the schedule set out in it.

If you are ever unsure which applies, ask your advisor and we will confirm it in writing.

3. Our service

We act on your behalf to find, buy, ship, clear and register a vehicle. One advisor handles your import from first enquiry to handover.

Our import service fee is a percentage of the landed cost of your car, meaning the car itself together with duty, tax, freight and the other costs of bringing it in. The percentage depends on how you pay for the car. It is at its lowest when you pay cash, and when you finance it varies with the size of your down payment. The percentage that applies to you, and the ringgit figure it comes to, are stated in your quotation alongside every other cost.

Where you need financing, your advisor prepares your application and puts it in front of the bank officers we work with, then follows it through with them. Whether it is approved, and for how much, is the bank's decision and not ours. We take no commission from a bank for a financing referral.

• Tools we publish: the import cost calculator, auction reports, dealer-only listings, order tracking and the advisor check.
• Services we deliver: sourcing and bidding, shipping and marine insurance, customs clearance and permits, inspection and registration, financing applications, and delivery.

4. Estimates and quotations

Figures shown by the calculator and elsewhere on this website are estimates for guidance. They are built on the duty structure and exchange rate current at the time and are not a binding quotation.

A binding price is the one stated in the written quotation your advisor issues to you.

Where your quotation includes Price Lock, it holds the on-the-road total against later movement in the exchange rate and in freight costs, from the day you confirm that quotation. It covers those two things and does not extend to anything else.

Options, accessories or work you add after the quotation is issued are quoted separately.

5. Purchase routes and auction finality

There are two ways we buy. At auction, you agree a maximum bid with your advisor and we bid within it and never above it. For one-price stock, we purchase once you confirm the listing.

A winning bid at auction is a binding purchase from the auction house and cannot be withdrawn afterwards. Please treat the maximum you authorise as a commitment.

6. Payments

Payment is staged. A deposit or down payment starts the purchase, and the balances follow the shipping and clearance milestones set out in your quotation.

Your advisor confirms the schedule in writing before you commit. Payments are made to the company account named in your quotation and nowhere else.

7. Cancellation and refunds

What is refundable depends on the route you buy through and on how far the purchase has progressed. Where we have not yet committed your money to a purchase, our practice is to return the deposit in full, and in most cancellations that is what happens.

• Once a car has been bought for you, the purchase is committed and the deposit is applied to it.
• Where we have already committed money on your behalf, for example a booking fee paid to a seller or the cost of sending an inspector, we tell you what those costs are and agree the refund with you before we make it.
• If you delay taking delivery after the car is registered, storage costs may be passed on to you.

8. Condition, inspection and warranty

Imported cars are used vehicles. We buy each one against its official auction sheet or inspection report, which we verify and explain to you before purchase.

If a defect appears that the sheet did not disclose, we file the claim with the auction house on your behalf, and we work with you to put it right whether or not that claim succeeds.

Beyond that, a used car carries no warranty from us by default. A separate warranty and preparation package is offered as a priced option on your quotation, and what it covers is set out in that package rather than in these terms.

9. Risk and insurance in transit

Marine insurance covering the sea freight leg is arranged by us and itemised in your quotation.

If your car is lost or damaged at sea, that insurance is the route to recovery and we handle the claim with the insurer on your behalf. What the policy covers, and what it excludes, is set by the insurer, and we will give you its terms on request.

10. If an import cannot be completed

Occasionally an import cannot be finished. An export restriction changes, a permit is refused, a car fails inspection in a way that cannot be put right, or the car is lost before it reaches you.

If that happens we will tell you as soon as we know, explain where the import stands, and refund what has not already been irrecoverably committed to third parties on your behalf. Where the car is insured, any recovery under that insurance is yours.

We are not liable for a delay or a failure caused by something outside our reasonable control, including government or regulatory action, port and shipping disruption, and natural events.

11. Third parties and timelines

An import passes through parties we do not control: auction houses and overseas sellers, shipping lines and forwarders, customs, the permit authorities, Puspakom and JPJ, and, where you use it, your bank.

The delivery windows we publish, 8 to 12 weeks for a Japanese import and 45 to 55 days for one from the United Kingdom or Australia, are what those routes normally take. They are expectations, not terms of this agreement. Shipping schedules, weather, customs processing and regulatory changes can move them, and we will tell you when they do.

12. Your responsibilities

To complete an import we need accurate information and timely cooperation from you.

• Give us accurate identity, address and, where financing is involved, income documents.
• Pay each stage by the date in your quotation.
• Take delivery of the car once it is registered and available.
• Tell us promptly if your contact details change.

13. Website, tools and reports

The calculator, the advisor check and order tracking come with buying through us. Auction reports for cars you are researching independently are sold per report, at the price shown before you buy.

The dealer-only listings we open for you come from a network available to licensed dealers. You may not scrape, resell or republish them. The content, design and reports on this site remain ours.

14. Limitation of liability

We are liable for failing to provide our service with reasonable care and skill. Our total liability for any claim arising from an import is limited to the import service fee stated in your quotation for that import.

Nothing in these terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.

15. Privacy

How we collect, use and protect your personal data is set out in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these terms.

16. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The current version and its date are shown at the top of this page. Changes do not alter a quotation you have already signed, which continues to govern that import.

17. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of Malaysia and the Malaysian courts have jurisdiction.

If something goes wrong, please raise it with your advisor first. Most problems are quicker to fix by talking to us than by any other route.