TradeCarView

Out of my personal experience I think that tradecarview is a great site that brings many dealers under one roof for buyers to select best deals. It is no different like other websites in the US, cars.com, autotrader.com which brings many dealers under one roof. Even on the best sites you will always find one bad dealer, and some crooks out there to get you. Word of cauction! Do your homework before you shop. Buyers shop at tradecarview because they are looking for cheaper deals. The sellers mainly list themselves as exporters, and majority do not sell the cars locally. If you want a great used car from Japan with guarantee on condition, the best place to shop is directly from the local used car dealers, ( mainly not listed in tradecarview and in most case they 100% Japanese speaking dealership, no foreign language!, Plus the cars are more expensive doh!). Having said that, I think tradecarview is a great site, that tries to bring different dealer under one roof and the buyers and compare prices and avoid being ripped off. Tradecarview recently opened regional offices overseas. They can only do this because they have a big and growing customer base.

I hope my comments here shines light to those who wrote negative reviews earlier.

Here are some tips to avoid getting scammed by those little rascals on TC-V

1) Always ask for an auction sheet.
Fact: Most cars listed there are bought at auction and will give you a good items of the condition of the car. If you do not speak Japanese you can use google translate to assist you with translating the auction sheet. Some may not have an auction sheet as the vehicle may have been purchased privately, If so move to tip #2.

2) Always, always and always ASK FOR THE VEHICLE EXPORT CERTIFICATE.
This is an official document issued for all vehicles that are to be exported from japan. If includes the correct vehicle vin / chassis number, along with the correct mileage of the vehicle. In my case those scammers deliberately covered up the mileage on the document before sending me photos of the export certificate and i was completely unaware of this until it was too late. So ensure that the document has all these details. I have attached a photo of and example of an export certificate. I have highlighted in red the chassis number of the vehicle and in green the mileage of the vehicle. The mileage at the top will be the most recent mileage.

3) Request many photos
Request as many photos as possible. Some sellers tend to display very dull photos on their listings to hide details of the vehicle, If there isn't enough photos ask them to take more photos and email them to you. Photos of font, rear, sides and the under body of the vehicle as many of those vehicle may have rust on the under body so the sellers will neglect to take a photo of the under body of the vehicle. In my case, they had about 6 photos and they deliberately did not photo the front windshield to hide the large crack.

I hope this helps you all. Best of luck.

Toyota Prado TRJ150W TZG, Dealer: Nihonsha Company, Invoice *******-1 paid for Dec 2017. Delayed due to low season for shipping and also inspection requirement.

Finally offloaded in Dar in February 2018.
Due to taxation issues vehicle was in storage >5 months. Released in June 2018.
Found: Reasonable body and paint condition. Leather seats intact, Air conditioner works.
However,
1. For a 2012 car the price at $ 29,945 was quite steep, and I expected a
Grade 4 or 4.5 vehicle, but it is not.
2. The battery had to be replaced on day one. While in storage it was being warmed up, so it must have been weak from start at best.
3. The engine takes 5 litres of oil, but there was less than 2 l of black watery oil in it which the dipstick could barely touch with its tip! Imagine!
4. The speedometer works and the trip meter works but the odometer is stuck at *******km, the reading on shipment. I got a technician to run diagnostics on it; the report almost confirms my fears: that the seller while tampering with the odometer to falsify the mileage short-circuited the dashboard and caused the odometer damage that got it stuck at *******!
5. The spare tyre is in tatters. It has fist size holes in it. You can pick a better tyre from any rubbish dump.
6. The spare wheel rim is a shumbles too.
7. The front brake discs rotors are deeply grooved by worn disc pads. The brakes are weak and the car has a clearly extended stopping distance.
8. The famed CD /DVD player does not work here. I have to purchase a new set
9. I have only driven the vehicle a couple of days. There is a good chance that there are more surprises waiting to be discovered, and more repairs to be undertaken!
Bottom line: This is a very raw deal for me as a customer. I am very dissatisfied by what I got from Tradecarview.

I have used tradecarview payment service a few weeks ago to import a car to Kenya. After I wired the money to their bank account, though my bank gave me a firm confirmation that the transaction was completed, trade car view Kenya did not see the money for many days. I had to call their bank in Muthaiga twice and follow up every day, four days latter, they confirmed me over the phone they've seen the money. For them to confirm the money reception to the seller, it was a nightmare and endless waiting time. I'm writing this review while the seller still does not have the confirmation of the money recived by carview, hopefully with more follow ups and phone calls, there might be a slight change.

Please protect yourself from this business. I purchased what was represented as a 2003 vehicle with 91,000 km in allegedly impeccable condition. What I received was a model year 2000 vehicle that had 96,000 miles on it in 2003. The seller MNE stated that it was registered in Japan in 2003, so that is how they advertised the year of the vehicle. I asked at least 5 times before I made the purchase if it was actually 91,000 kilometers. I was assured it was. When the vehicle arrived odometer was tampered with, and clearly over 250,000 miles. The a. C. is shot. The interior seats are ripped, the dashboard is peeling, the brakes are shot, the rear tires are two sizes to small. The vendor, MNE refused to take responsibility for their Fraud and misrepresentation. Dealing with TRADECAREVIEW is extremely difficult. They don't respond to claims and keep telling you to deal with the seller. Buyer beware. This is not the site or the company to make a legitimate purchase.

I put 5 star on how quickly the seller shipped the item to avoid the pay trade to do any inspection, pay trade didn't stop the seller from shipping the car before inspection, and they passed it on without inspection, which is a service i paid for, they couldn't do much after shipping, the car had accident history undiscloused by the seller and not suitable for NZ Roads, cost me $1750 to get compliance and engineering report, be aware of this trader, dishonest, never trade again either with him or on this website either

I bought a Toyota Crown off tradecarview auction website, from the seller car light corporation, the car is not getting registered in UK because the export certificate has been altered from the standard as the car was registered as a commercial vehicle in japan and it has to be modified for this purpose from the new, the ministry or transport has removed its classification and specification number from the certificate, These numbers are needed for a car to go through IVA testing in UK before registration, I contacted car light corporation and tradecarview many times to offer a solution as these details were missing from the advertisement but they newer offered any solution, also the car needed new tires and engine oil leak sorting out before going through MOT, unfortunately this website serves in favor of fraudulent sellers as it gets their charges from them and don't bother about the buyer at all, I thing we should try to boycott this website till they change their operation strategy.

BEWARE! I bought a 2004 Hilux Vigo in October 2014 through a dodgy agent in the name of Victor. In receiving the proforma invoice payment of the AGREED price, he demanded an extra US$2000 before he could release B/L. When the car arrived it had a dent which was not revealed in the photos It also arrived with no jack or wheel spanner and to top it all, it had an immobilizer(also not revealed in details & photos) which went off by accident and there were no reset keys supplied. Contacted the dodgy agent and he said he cant find the previous owner. If you read this review "VICTOR" or whoever you are, This is my rating for you and your company. " YOU ARE SICK"

Bought a car off the website. When I received it, the motor was blown. The company that sold it to me, SHIBAGAKI TRD just insisted that the engine was in good condition when it was shipped. The paint on the roof was also oxidized badly, which was quite obvious, but they intentionally avoided showing in their pictures, and did mention. When I first inquired about the car, I specifically asked if it would pass Japanese vehicle inspection requirements, upon which they insisted that it would. However, the exhaust also leaks, and a car that barely runs, pushes exhaust out the dipstick tub, and billows coolant smoke will not even come close to passing inspection.

When i contacted tradecarview.com, they simply said they take no responsibility for false advertising and fraud on their website, that the only thing they can help with is if the vehicle is never shipped/received, but I find it hard to believe they would even help with that.

Bottom line, if you value your time and money, do not use tradecarview.com, and most of all do not buy a vehicle from SHIBAGAKI TRD. There is a reason why these guys are not an accredited business in Japan (because they're frauds).

Stay away from TCV, their business model is pretty simple, they have no actual car inventory, they advertise for several Japanese used car businesses, they don't keep their listing updated, so the car that you agree to purchase may already have been sold but they pressure you to pay by international wire transfer within 48 hours, once they have your money they contact you to say the car you selected isn't available and then you argue back and forth with them for the next few weeks or months while they tell you to apply the funds you've already paid to another listing, and all the while they ignore your requests for a refund. I opened a fraud report with my bank, my bank contacted their bank who recommended that I leave the fraud report in place until they issue the refund, during this time they repeatedly insisted that they couldn't refund without me lifting the fraud report, which their own bank (Sumitomo Mitsui) said was untrue. Do yourself a favor and avoid TCV, I just got my refund from their bank (minus about $60USD for the transfer fee), their own bank refunded me while they wouldn't.

They all wanna be dealers. Most are rookies sitting there to rip people off. And i can confirm that the company called C. T. G Group buy cars from jap auctions wind back the kilometers to almost half and put it up for sale on tradecarview. I wont be shocked if the rest of them are doing the same. I wouldnt recomment my enemy to buy from this site. I have even heard they just take any pictures from other dealer sites and ship you a similar car or even different colors and thats IF they ship you a car for your money at ALL! SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM