About JDM History

JDM History is a UK website for people buying Japanese used-car imports. It joins a car’s Japanese records to its UK DVLA and MOT history by chassis number, and explains in plain English whether the mileage, identity and paperwork add up. Its check and its tools are free to use.

Who runs it

JDM History is run by Dean, its founder. JDM History is pre-launch and the company is being set up. You can reach us at [email protected], including to tell us something on the site is wrong: we’d rather know.

Why imports need their own check

Japanese-market cars have a chassis (frame) number, such as BNR32-012345, instead of a 17-character VIN. Its model code (BNR32) identifies the model, and it is the one thing that links a car’s Japanese history to its UK records.
A normal UK history check starts the day an import was registered in the UK, so it misses the car’s life in Japan: its auction grade, its mileage before shipping and whether it is really the model it claims to be.
Common problems with imports are kilometres recorded as miles at the first UK MOT, swapped instrument clusters, and lookalikes sold as rarer models (a Type R badge on a car whose chassis code is not a Type R).

What’s on the site

Check a car

Free check: MOT history, mileage and model checks from a registration and chassis number.
Auction sheet translator: Upload or type in a Japanese auction sheet and read its grade and notes in English.
Export certificate translator: Read a Japanese export certificate in English and check its mileage against the UK MOTs.
Shaken certificate translator: What a Japanese inspection certificate or record says, with its dated odometer readings.
Chassis number decoder: What a Japanese frame number says about the car it’s stamped on.
Build year finder: The year a Japanese car was built, from its chassis number and the carmakers’ own lists.
Japanese recall check: Recalls filed in Japan since 2001 for a chassis number, which UK records don’t show.
ULEZ checker: Read the emissions code and see what London and other UK clean air zones would charge.

Research a model

Model guides: Buyer’s guides to the imports UK buyers look at most: codes, engines and known problems.
Specs by model code: Factory engine, gearbox, weight and fuel economy for any Japanese model code.
Colour code decoder: The factory colour behind a paint code, where to find it and how to spot a respray.
MOT statistics: Pass rates and common failures for Japanese imports, from every MOT in Great Britain.
How many are left: How many of each model are still registered in the UK, taxed or SORN.
Owner reports: Owners on faults, running costs, real-world mpg and parts, model by model.

Buy and import

Imports for sale: Japanese imports on eBay UK by type, from hero cars to kei trucks, each with its guide and a free check.
Import cost calculator: Yen to pounds, shipping, duty, VAT, registration and road tax, with official rates.
Japan import tracker: How many used cars Japan ships to the UK each month: hybrids, kei cars, values and ports.
Importer directory: UK importers, dealers, garages and parts suppliers, from the Companies House register.

Where the data comes from

Every figure on the site comes from a published source, named on the page that uses it. These are the main ones.

Source	Used for
MOT History APIDVSA	A car’s MOT tests, mileage readings, failures and advisories in the free check
Vehicle Enquiry ServiceDVLA	A car’s make, colour, engine size and first registration date, once our DVLA access is live
Anonymised MOT tests and resultsDVSA	Pass rates and common failures for each import model
Vehicle licensing statistics (VEH0124)Department for Transport	How many of each model are still registered, taxed or SORN
Recall filingsMLIT, Japan	The recalls filed in Japan since 2001, matched by chassis number range
Fuel economy lists (自動車の燃費一覧)MLIT, Japan	Factory engine, gearbox, weight and fuel economy by model code
Chassis number listsJapan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA)	The year a car was built, from its chassis number
Trade Statistics of JapanMinistry of Finance, Japan	How many used cars Japan ships to the UK each month
Overseas Trade StatisticsHMRC	What UK customs counted arriving from Japan, and its declared values
Company registerCompanies House	The importer directory: who is trading, where and since when
Duty, VAT, road tax and test feesHMRC, DVLA and DVSA on GOV.UK	The official rates in the import cost calculator
Clean air zone rulesTransport for London and GOV.UK	What London’s ULEZ and other UK clean air zones charge a Japanese import
Brochures, press kits and heritage pagesThe carmakers	Factory power and torque figures and paint colours, each cited on the page that uses it
ListingseBay UK	Japanese imports for sale, shown with each model’s guide and a free check
Owner reportsOwners of the cars	Faults, running costs and real-world mpg, each checked against our rules before it is published

Government data is used under its own licence (the Open Government Licence for UK data, the Public Data License for MLIT’s), and the analysis and any errors are ours, not the publisher’s. JDM History never scrapes auction sites. Japanese auction history in the full report will come from a licensed data partner.

How the checks work

A check takes a UK registration and the chassis number, gathers every record it can for them, and runs fixed rules over the records: does the chassis code match the model claimed, do the Japanese and UK mileages line up, and is anything missing. Every flag shows the records behind it, and anything we couldn’t check is listed rather than left out. The rules are written in code, not left to an AI. An AI model is used to read photos of Japanese paperwork, such as auction sheets and export certificates, and to help screen owner reports and the importer directory.

Our model guides are written from public sources and marked “Not yet confirmed” wherever a fact hasn’t been checked against a second one. The made-up cars on the sample report are always labelled “Illustrative”.

What’s free and how the site is paid for

The free check and the tools are free to use and need no account. A paid full report, which adds the car’s Japanese auction history, isn’t on sale yet. Join the waitlist to hear when it opens. When you buy through the eBay links on our imports for sale pages, eBay may pay us a commission; those listings are labelled.

JDM History is not affiliated with the DVLA, the DVSA or any Japanese government body. See the privacy notice for what we keep, and the terms for full reports.