Should you Hire a Clearing Agent when Importing an Exjap?

This, undoubtedly, is a question that you will be confronted with when it comes to importing a used Japanese car to Africa. Is it necessary for your to hire a clearing agent? Can you do the clearing on your own? Is it really worth paying someone to do the clearing on your behalf, or can you do it on your own? Should you hire a clearing agent when importing an Exjap?

You can definitely do the clearing on your own

The first thing to note here is that you can actually do the clearing for the used Japanese car that you are importing to Zimbabwe on your own. It’s not required that you get a clearing agent in order to complete the process.

Why you should hire a clearing agent?

However, the fact that you are allowed to do it does not mean that you should do it. If, like me, you are fearful of offices and their owners, it’s actually best for you to pay the money to have someone else clear your vehicle on your behalf.

What happens when I choose to clear my car on my own?

When you choose to clear your car on your own, your car will arrive at your chosen port, and it will be handed over to an agent that has been selected by Be Forward. The agent will contact you, and you will notify them that you do not wish to have them clear your car.

They will still hold on to the papers, along with your t-shirt, which they will hand over to you on your arrival at the port. Once you have collected the papers from the agent, you will then have to move from office to office, having things sorted out.

What happens when you hire an agent to clear your car on your behalf?

This is the path that I took when it came to importing my car from Japan. When the agent got in touch with me, informing me about the imminent arrival of my vehicle, I told him to sort out the clearing on my behalf. What that meant was that when my car arrived, the agent did most of the paperwork.

When I arrived to collect my car, the only thing that was left to do was to pay the duty and drive off in my car. The whole process took less than an hour. That, in any case, could have had to do with the fact that I used Plumtree as the port of entry for my car. Plumtree is not as busy as all the other ports. In fact, there were probably only three of us having our cars cleared on that day. That was nearly three years ago, so things could have changed.