Perhaps you’ve heard the term grey import vehicles before and have wondered what it means. While the term may sound rather dubious, it actually refers to cars that have been imported legally from another country, but not through the carmaker’s official distribution channels. If you choose to purchase a car from Japanese used car exporters, for example, this vehicle would be considered a grey import. Another term that is used occasionally for this type of automobile is parallel import.
Many Japanese used car dealers find it very profitable to export cars to other countries where people also drive on the left side of the road, rather than trying to sell all of their stock within the country. Japan has a high rate of vehicle deprecation and very strict road tests, which means the vehicles aren’t worth very much after six years.