Import costs by model
What the popular imports really cost on Irish plates.
Five kinds of car come from Japan, and the taxes fall differently on each. Every model page below carries worked landed-cost scenarios computed with the calculator’s engine, the VRT band and why, the duty position, the NOx question and the things that catch people out.
Hybrids and EVs
The volume segment: Japanese-built hybrids and electric cars, duty-free, low VRT bands, tiny or no NOx levy.
Toyota
0% dutyAqua
The Aqua is the cheapest way into a Toyota hybrid and one of the most common Japanese imports on Irish forecourts.
- Landed from
- €9,424
- Up to
- €16,279
Toyota
0% dutyPrius
The Prius is the safest Japanese import there is: a familiar car with an Irish dealer network, known CO2 figures and a hybrid system with a long record.
- Landed from
- €9,171
- Up to
- €18,758
Honda
0% dutyFit
The Fit is the Jazz with a Japanese badge, and the fourth most imported model from Japan in Cartell’s 2025 data.
- Landed from
- €10,278
- Up to
- €16,183
Nissan
0% dutyNote e-Power
The Note e-Power is the other small Japanese hybrid on every Irish forecourt, with hundreds of ads live on DoneDeal at any time.
- Landed from
- €10,756
- Up to
- €17,204
Toyota
0% dutyCorolla hybrid
The Corolla hybrid is the grown-up alternative to the Aqua: the same idea, a size bigger, with an Irish dealer network that knows the drivetrain.
- Landed from
- €9,886
- Up to
- €20,929
Nissan
0% dutyLeaf
The Leaf is the cheapest way into a usable electric car, and Japan has more of them than anyone: nine years of domestic sales, low mileage, and a used market that prices them by battery health rather than badge.
- Landed from
- €10,463
- Up to
- €17,469
Honda
0% dutyVezel
The Vezel is the crossover version of the Fit: the same 1.5 hybrid system in a taller, roomier body, and the best-selling SUV in Japan for several years running.
- Landed from
- €13,939
- Up to
- €25,016
German-built cars from Japan
The biggest segment by volume: Golfs, Polos, A3s and 3 Series that lived in Japan, at 10% duty.
Volkswagen
10% dutyGolf
The Golf is the biggest single model coming out of Japan: Cartell counted 3,858 between January and September 2025, ahead of the Polo and the A3.
- Landed from
- €15,903
- Up to
- €27,666
Volkswagen
10% dutyPolo
The Polo is the Golf’s smaller sibling in the import statistics too: 2,588 came in from Japan between January and September 2025 according to Cartell.
- Landed from
- €11,958
- Up to
- €17,026
Audi
10% dutyA3
The A3 Sportback is the premium hatch in the Japan-import statistics: 2,043 arrived between January and September 2025 according to Cartell.
- Landed from
- €14,189
- Up to
- €25,982
BMW
10% duty320d
German premium cars made up almost two-thirds of the used cars imported from Japan in 2025, and the 3 Series is one of the biggest lines in that trade.
- Landed from
- €18,577
- Up to
- €28,297
Mercedes-Benz
10% dutyA-Class
The A-Class is one of the German cars that fill the import statistics: cheap to buy used in Japan, low in mileage, and familiar to every Irish insurer and buyer.
- Landed from
- €18,271
- Up to
- €29,765
Mercedes-Benz
10% dutyC-Class
The C-Class is the executive car of the Japan-to-Ireland trade: plentiful, low in mileage, and priced in Japan at a level that leaves room for 10% duty, VAT on the duty and shipping, and still undercuts an Irish car.
- Landed from
- €21,333
- Up to
- €30,140
Mini
10% dutyCooper
The Mini sits in the German-built hub for the same reason the Golf does: it is a European-built car that spent its life in Japan, and it pays 10% duty when it lands in Dublin.
- Landed from
- €17,038
- Up to
- €26,653
Modern JDM and high-spec
Alphards, Land Cruisers, GR Yaris, Jimnys: duty-free Japanese cars where the VRT band and the Irish value do the damage.
Toyota
0% dutyAlphard and Vellfire
The Alphard is the import people fall for on paper: eight seats, captain’s chairs, sliding doors, and a Japanese auction price that looks like a bargain against nothing comparable on an Irish forecourt.
- Landed from
- €23,461
- Up to
- €41,931
Suzuki
0% dutyJimny
Irish demand for the Jimny outran European supply years ago: the 1.5 was sold here only briefly before emissions rules turned it into a two-seat commercial.
- Landed from
- €13,563
- Up to
- €24,544
Toyota
0% dutyLand Cruiser Prado
The Prado is the passenger Land Cruiser: body-on-frame, seven seats in the longer grades, and a Japanese used market that prices them high because the whole world wants to import them.
- Landed from
- €36,858
- Up to
- €59,010
Toyota
0% dutyGR Yaris
The GR Yaris is the modern performance import that makes sense on paper.
- Landed from
- €45,580
- Up to
- €60,639
Classic and collector cars
Skylines, Supras, RX-7s, Figaros and the old Land Cruisers, and the European classics Japan kept: €200 VRT at 30, heading 9705 for the duty, and the VAT truth.
Nissan
0% dutySkyline GT-R R32
Every R32 GT-R is now more than 30 years old, and that changes the Irish tax picture completely.
- Landed from
- €34,133
- Up to
- €60,055
Toyota
0% dutySupra A80
The Mk4 Supra is the sharpest example on this site of the 30-year rule.
- Landed from
- €35,534
- Up to
- €70,564
Mazda
0% dutyMX-5 NA
The first MX-5 is the most affordable classic on this site and the one where the 30-year rule does the most good relative to the price of the car.
- Landed from
- €10,313
- Up to
- €14,516
Mazda
0% dutyRX-7 FD
The FD is the classic where the 30-year rule and the rotary engine both need respect.
- Landed from
- €30,630
- Up to
- €49,546
Nissan
0% dutySilvia
The Silvia is three cars and two tax positions.
- Landed from
- €19,420
- Up to
- €33,432
Nissan
0% dutyFigaro
The Figaro is the most imported Japanese classic in these islands, with more than 3,000 grey imports in Britain and Ireland by 2019, and it is the clearest example of what Japan does and does not offer a classic buyer.
- Landed from
- €14,516
- Up to
- €23,624
Honda, Suzuki and Mazda
0% dutyBeat, Cappuccino and AZ-1
Ireland has no kei class, so the three little sports cars arrive as ordinary cars: 23% VAT on the customs value, €200 of VRT because they are over 30, and no duty with a Statement on Origin.
- Landed from
- €13,816
- Up to
- €26,426
Toyota
0% dutyLand Cruiser 60 and 70
Ireland buys Land Cruisers the way other countries buy hatchbacks, and the old ones have become the classic that farmers and collectors agree on.
- Landed from
- €26,426
- Up to
- €37,636
Rover
10% dutyMini
Japan was the Mini’s biggest market outside Britain in the 1990s and the cars it kept are the ones Britain wishes it had: air-conditioned, garaged, unrusted, with 40,000 km on the clock.
- Landed from
- €15,217
- Up to
- €34,506
Porsche
10% duty911 (964)
The 964 is the European classic that makes the case for Japan best: Japan bought them new in right-hand drive, kept them in garages, and now sells them at prices that match Europe’s rather than undercut it.
- Landed from
- €81,293
- Up to
- €95,084
Drift and motorsport
Silvias, Chasers, Skylines and the track-day cars: the 30-year timetable, the registration rule nobody mentions, cages, containers and parts.
Nissan
0% dutySilvia S15
The S15 is the most searched drift car in Ireland and the one whose economics turn entirely on a date.
- Landed from
- €33,432
- Up to
- €50,332
Toyota
0% dutyChaser JZX100
The JZX100 is the drift saloon that crosses the 30-year line while you read this.
- Landed from
- €22,223
- Up to
- €44,489
Nissan
0% dutySkyline GTS-t
The GT-R gets the headlines and the GTS-t does the drifting.
- Landed from
- €19,420
- Up to
- €45,890
Nissan
0% dutyLaurel and Cefiro
Irish drifters have known about these for years: a Laurel or a Cefiro is a Skyline underneath, with the RB20DET or RB25DET, the same rear axle and a saloon body that nobody is precious about, at roughly two-thirds of the price.
- Landed from
- €16,618
- Up to
- €21,166
Toyota
0% dutySoarer JZZ30
The Soarer is the JZX100’s engine in a big coupé that Japan built for a decade, which puts most of the run on the right side of the 30-year line: everything registered up to the autumn of 1996 is €200 of VRT now, and the rest follows month by month until December 2030.
- Landed from
- €13,816
- Up to
- €30,341
Toyota
0% dutyAltezza
The Altezza is the cheapest well-sorted rear-drive chassis on this hub, because Ireland bought thousands of IS200s new and values them at very little.
- Landed from
- €13,358
- Up to
- €18,006
Nissan
0% duty180SX
The 180SX outlived the S13 Silvia by five years, which is why it straddles the 30-year line the way the Silvia does not.
- Landed from
- €22,223
- Up to
- €47,291
Mazda
0% dutyRX-7 FC
Every FC is over 30 in 2026, which makes it the simplest car on this hub to tax: 23% VAT on the customs value, €200 of VRT, no NOx levy and no CO2 argument.
- Landed from
- €17,319
- Up to
- €29,229
Nissan
0% dutyFairlady Z Z33
The Z33 is the cheap, honest modern rear-driver: a Japanese car that Ireland also sold new, so the underwriters know it, the certificate of conformity exists for the equivalent car, and Revenue’s valuation follows a used 350Z market in the low teens rather than a collector’s one.
- Landed from
- €18,110
- Up to
- €26,465
Toyota
0% duty86 and BRZ
The 86 is the modern grassroots car: cheap to run, cheap to fix, sold new in Ireland as the GT86 so the underwriters and the parts network know it, and plentiful in Japan at prices that undercut the Irish used market.
- Landed from
- €20,666
- Up to
- €29,431
Honda
0% dutyS2000
The S2000 is a track-day car more than a drift car, and Japan has the best of them: low-mileage, unmodified AP1s that the UK market ran out of years ago.
- Landed from
- €23,624
- Up to
- €47,472
Mitsubishi
0% dutyLancer Evolution
Ireland rallied Evos for twenty years and still buys them, which is why the valuation is the problem here rather than the paperwork.
- Landed from
- €29,241
- Up to
- €52,034
Subaru
0% dutyImpreza WRX STI GDB
The Impreza is the other half of Irish rallying, and it splits neatly across the 30-year line.
- Landed from
- €22,223
- Up to
- €41,629
More models follow as real deals give us comparables. If yours is not here, the calculator prices any car, and the guides cover the rules that apply to all of them.