If you have visions of driving a beautiful new vehicle in Zambia, you have just a few ways of turning this dream into reality. You can either get a new or second hand car from a supplier here, or import it yourself from Japan, USA or UK. Of the three, importing one of the many Japanese vehicles is very popular. More and more people in Zambia recognise this as the most convenient and cost effective option.
It is estimated that five years ago approximately 1,500 Japanese used cars were being imported into Zambia each month. Now the figure is closer to around 4,000 per month, and still rising.
This great influx of used vehicles has not been without problems. Traffic has been getting increasingly congested in the cities of Zambia. This has gone hand in hand with higher rates of accidents, partly due to unsafe and unroadworthy vehicles making it onto the local streets. This brings us to an important question:
If you decide to purchase one of these second hand Japanese vehicles, you will need to make a careful selection based on telling indicators such as low mileage and good body condition. There should be no bumps or rust. So look closely at the photos of the undercarriage and engine.
Another pointer is who you’re buying from. Some companies specialise in selling top condition vehicles. But there are always a few dishonest ones, hungry for profit at all costs. These may try to pass off a damaged vehicle with an accident history as a top notch car. There are over a thousand car exporters in Japan today. Be careful which one you use.
The introduction of JEVIC has helped to maintain a certain standard for imported vehicles. JEVIC stands for ‘Japanese Export Vehicle Inspection Centre’. All used Japanese vehicles coming into Zambia are required to have a JEVIC roadworthiness inspection certificate.
You’ve probably seen the recent ZAMPOST advertisements on purchasing and importing Japanese vehicles. CardealPage, one of the more established Japanese car exporters, is the company working in partnership with ZAMPOST. The offer enables buyers to pay for their vehicles securely and conveniently via any of ZAMPOST’s branches.
CardealPage has also just launched a new promotional campaign on their website. They are offering Japanese vehicles in tip top condition, which you can buy direct from local Japanese dealers. This new ‘Premium Time Sale’ campaign offers vehicles with mileages of less than 70,000km. The listing period of these CardealPage vehicles is just two weeks. After that, they are replaced with a fresh set of vehicles. So you can be confident of a good choice of vehicles.
In addition CardealPage has set up a customer support centre at Baldys in Lusaka. Here you can speak face to face with an expert. They can advise you on duty and tax issues, the CardealPage city delivery service, and maintenance options for your chosen vehicle.
Many Japanese companies are now offering inland transportation service from the port to your nearest city. So importing a vehicle has never been easier. And we understand that more exciting developments are on the way to keep up with the changing demands of the fast growing Zambian economy. We’ll keep you posted!