AutoPivot
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Japanese imports for Australian dealers

See the profit on a Japanese car before you bid.

AutoPivot reads Japanese auction and dealer listings, translates every auction sheet, works out the full landed and Victorian driveaway cost, and checks what the same car sells for in Australia.

Get early access Try the profit calculator
  • Customs duty, import GST, luxury car tax and Victorian duty built in
  • Resale range from Australian comparables, with a confidence score
  • Every number labelled as an official rule, an estimate or your input
Black Toyota Alphard Hybrid in a Japanese showroom
Example import
AutoPivot estimateMedium confidence

2017 Toyota Alphard Hybrid G F

Price in Japan
¥3,280,000
Driveaway in Victoria
A$49,082
Resale, 7 comparables
A$58,990
Estimated profit
+A$9,908

Reads listings from

  • Goo-net Japan dealers
  • Japan Car Direct Auctions
  • Prestige Motorsport Auction lots
  • Autotrader Australian prices
  • Your sales records CSV import

How it works

From a Japanese listing to a profit estimate in six steps.

You choose the make, model, year and source. The agent does the reading, translating and maths, then hands every car back to you for review. It never bids or buys on its own.

  1. 01

    Search

    Pick a make, model and year, then a source: Goo-net dealer stock, Japan Car Direct auctions or Prestige Motorsport lots.

  2. 02

    Read and translate

    An AI model pulls out more than 15 details per car and translates them. Prices like 328万円, mileage like 3.8万km and Japanese era years become plain numbers.

  3. 03

    Check the auction sheet

    Exterior and interior grades, mileage warnings, damage codes and ownership history are translated, and risky cars get a repair allowance.

  4. 04

    Cost it to the road

    Landed cost under Australian Border Force rules, then luxury car tax, Victorian motor vehicle duty, roadworthy and registration for the driveaway figure.

  5. 05

    Price the resale

    Matching Australian listings and your own sales records give a likely sale price, a low to high range and a confidence score that explains itself.

  6. 06

    You decide

    The dashboard ranks every car by estimated profit. You review the numbers, refresh a listing when its price changes, and place bids yourself.

The dashboard

Every car ranked by what it would make you.

Four example cars from four sources. The R34 shows why the full driveaway cost matters: luxury car tax and Victorian duty turn a A$265,000 purchase into a loss.

Sorted by estimated profitExample data · ¥98 = A$1
Red Toyota Supra in a Japanese car park
1996 Toyota Supra SZ (A80)
Goo-net · Grade 4, interior C Over 15 years old
¥4,350,000A$44,388
A$62,435incl. A$500 sheet allowance
A$74,9903 comparables
+A$12,555Low confidence
Silver Toyota Alphard on a wet road
2018 Toyota Alphard 2.5 X
Goo-net · Grade 4.5, interior B
¥2,650,000A$27,041
A$40,502no sheet allowance
A$52,5009 comparables
+A$11,998High confidence
Black Toyota Alphard Hybrid in a showroom
2017 Toyota Alphard Hybrid G F
Japan Car Direct · Grade 4, interior B 2 damage codes
¥3,280,000A$33,469
A$49,082incl. A$800 sheet allowance
A$58,9907 comparables
+A$9,908Medium confidence
Midnight purple Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 on a showroom floor
2000 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec (R34)
Prestige Motorsport · Grade 4.5, interior B Luxury car tax A$72,179
¥26,000,000A$265,306
A$405,957incl. A$26,964 VIC duty
A$395,0002 comparables
−A$10,957Low confidence

Example figures for illustration. Japan Car Direct lots often show no price before the auction; AutoPivot doesn't treat an opening bid as a price, so you add your intended bid to see the profit.

Profit calculator

The same sums the agent runs on every car.

Change any figure to see the landed cost, the Victorian driveaway cost and your profit move. The example is the 2017 Alphard Hybrid from the dashboard.

Car in Japan
Shipping and border
Arrival and compliance
Auction sheet and repairs
On the road in Victoria
Resale in Australia
Median A$58,990 A$52k A$66k Typical range A$55,960 to A$61,180
Estimated profit+A$9,90816.8% of resale
Landed costA$40,688
Driveaway in VictoriaA$49,082
Driveaway breakdownA$49,082
  • Car purchaseA$33,46968.2%
  • Japan costs, freight and insuranceA$3,5207.2%
  • Customs duty and import GSTA$3,6997.5%
  • Arrival, compliance and repairsA$4,90010%
  • Victorian on-road costs and LCTA$3,4947.1%
  • 2 damage codes add a A$800 repair allowance.
Every line, with where it comes from

Example figures. Customs duty is charged on the customs value (FOB) and import GST on the value of the taxable importation, as the Australian Border Force sets out. Luxury car tax uses the 2026–27 thresholds and Victorian duty uses the current bands, both applied to the landed cost. Freight, insurance, compliance and repair figures are estimates you can change in your dealership cost settings. This is decision support, not a quote.

Auction sheets

Japanese auction sheets, read and priced.

The agent translates each sheet and turns condition risk into a dollar allowance, so a cheap car with a poor sheet doesn't look like a bargain.

  • Exterior grade R, RA, 1 or 2+A$2,500
  • Exterior grade 3 or 3.5+A$1,200
  • Interior grade C / D+A$500 / +A$1,000
  • Each damage code, up to A$2,000+A$400
  • Mileage warning on the sheet+A$750
  • Accident, flood or fire history+A$1,250
オークション出品票Auction sheet
出品番号Lot51846
評価点Grade4
内装InteriorB
年式Year
2017
車名Model
Toyota Alphard Hybrid G F package, 4WD
型式Chassis
DAA-AYH30W
排気量Engine
2,493 cc
走行Odometer
38,000 km, no warning
装備Options
Factory navigation, dual power sliding doors, ETC toll unit, reverse camera
展開図Damage U1 A1
検査員報告Inspector's notes

Light scratch on the rear bumper (A1). Small dent on the left sliding door (U1). One owner.

AutoPivot readingGood condition

Grade 4 is good condition with minor marks. The two damage codes add a A$800 repair allowance to the driveaway estimate.

Built for Australia

Australian import rules, already in the maths.

Each official charge is calculated from the published rule and labelled with where it comes from. Estimates and your own inputs are labelled too, so you can see exactly what to check.

  • Customs duty · ABF5% or 0%On the FOB value. 0% for Japanese-built cars with proof of origin.
  • Import GST · ABF10%Of the value of the taxable importation: FOB, duty, freight and insurance.
  • Luxury car tax · ATO33%Above A$80,809, or A$91,661 for fuel-efficient cars, in 2026–27.
  • Motor vehicle duty · VICA$8.40–A$18Per A$200 of value, in bands at A$80,809, A$100,000 and A$150,000.
  • Registration checksRAV and VASSFlags cars not yet on the RAV, modified or converted cars and cars over 15 years old.
  • Your costsYour settingsAgent fees, freight, insurance and on-road costs saved with every estimate.

Video: “Car carrier 01” by Koffermejia, CC BY-SA 4.0, trimmed and re-encoded.

Preview · AI photo studio

Car park photos in, showroom photos out.

We're adding an AI photo studio so you can list a car the day you buy it. It cuts the car out of a cluttered auction or car park photo, places it in a clean studio and replaces the number plate with your own.

  • Background removed and replaced with a studio set
  • Colour and contrast lifted, shadow added under the car
  • Number plate found and swapped for your dealership plate

These examples were made from real photos with two open-source models: BiRefNet for cutting the car out and a YOLOS licence-plate detector for finding the plate.

Blue Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 in a clean studio with an AutoPivot plate The same R34 photographed outside a workshop with its original plate Original photo AI studio
Supra, R34 and Alphard

Questions

What dealers ask first

Does AutoPivot bid on or buy cars for me?

No. It finds cars, reads them and costs them. You review every estimate and place bids yourself. Human review stays in charge of condition, import eligibility, final costs and every bid.

Which state does the driveaway cost cover?

Victoria: motor vehicle duty, roadworthy, registration, TAC and plates. Tell us your state when you sign up for early access.

Where do the resale prices come from?

Matching Australian listings from Autotrader, plus sales records you import. Each estimate shows how many comparables it used, a low to high range and a confidence score with its reasons, such as a small sample or old listings.

How accurate are the costs?

Duty, GST, luxury car tax and Victorian duty follow published rules. Freight, insurance, compliance and repairs are estimates you can change. Every line is labelled, so treat the result as decision support and confirm final costs with quotes.

Why do some auction cars show no profit yet?

Auction lots often have no price until they sell. An opening bid isn't a price, so AutoPivot waits for one. Enter the price you'd pay to see the full estimate.

Can I use my own costs?

Yes. Dealership cost settings cover agent fees, freight, insurance, duty overrides and on-road costs. New searches use them, and each car keeps the settings it was costed with.

When is the AI photo studio available?

It's in preview. Ask for it when you sign up and we'll include you in the first group.

Early access

Your next import, costed to Melbourne before you bid.

We're opening AutoPivot to a small group of Australian dealers and importers first, starting in Victoria.

  • A walkthrough on the cars you're watching right now
  • Your own agent fees, freight and on-road costs set up
  • First look at the AI photo studio