Imported cars in the UK are usually cheaper, often have better equipment and sometimes are unusual models that were not available to the UK market. So the question is - why isn't everyone importing cars from abroad? Car imports generally fall into two main categories, EU imports/parallel imports (cars bought in other EU countries or cars purchased which are normally exported to the UK) and Grey imports (cars which are normally only exported to non EU countries). Each type of import has its own advantages and disadvantages.

The rise of the parallel car imports came in the late 1990s when an official report revealed that prices for car models in the UK were considerably higher than their identical counterparts in many other European countries. This resulted in a huge rise in importing across the channel. Today however, the price gap has narrowed so this option is less popular than it used to be. Never the less, this popularity has resulted in many parallel imports entering the used car market in the UK.

The main advantage of buying a parallel import is that, due to EU wide regulations (European Whole Vehicle Type Approval), all cars sold in Europe meet the same minimum standards for crash protection, exhaust emissions, lighting, brakes, steering etc. So when you purchase a EU parallel import you the car meets the same high standards as one bought through a dealer in the UK. Although the specification of the car may vary in terms of standard equipment such as leather trim, sunroof, alloy wheels etc so you do have to be careful when it comes to pricing that you are comparing like for like. In addition, warranty terms can differ so this also has to be investigated, but UK dealers will honour the warranty on an EU sourced vehicle, any new car that is sold within any member country of the European Union has a one year manufacturer's pan-European warranty as a minimum, although most manufacturers have now extended this to three years.

For Non–EU or so called Grey Imports, these vehicles are in the main sourced from Japan or the USA. Japan is the most popular source for these imports by a considerable margin. This is primarily due to the fact that Japanese vehicles are right hand drive just like the UK. Many independent dealers now specialise in imported vehicles from Japan. Other factors which make Japanese imports so attractive for UK customers include the higher specification, exclusivity (many models were never sold in the UK) and the low prices.