How long does a VIN check take?

A matter of seconds. You enter the number and get the country and city of the assembly plant plus the answer to whether that Sienna meets the condition for the customs preference. The check is free, needs no account and can be repeated for every lot you consider.

Does a sale in the USA mean assembly in the USA?

No. American sales also move cars built in Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia. Where a car was auctioned has nothing to do with the origin condition, which is why the assembly plant of a Sienna is checked separately, on the VIN.

Who deals with customs clearance?

We do. We put together the proof of origin, prepare the customs declaration and keep contact with the agency. For a Sienna that qualifies on its VIN we apply for the 0% rate, and the customs office decides on the documents.

What about models built in two countries at once?

That is a common case, and it is exactly where the VIN becomes essential. Two Sienna cars from the same model year can carry different rates, 0% and 10%, because they came off lines on different continents.

Can I check a car before the auction ends?

Yes, and that is the point of doing it. Enter the VIN from the lot while bidding is still open, read the assembly plant, and you know whether to count on 0% or 10% before you set the highest figure you are willing to go to.

Where the Toyota Sienna is assembled

Our database holds 59,154 Toyota Sienna cars with an American assembly plant on record. Those clear at 0%, the rest at 10% — one model name, two different rates. Before you set a bidding limit, check which line the car you are looking at came off.

Where is the Toyota Sienna assembled?

The split shows in the data: 59,154 Sienna cars reached us with an American assembly plant, the rest came from plants in other countries. The first group qualifies for 0% duty, the second for 10%. The counts cover every car recorded in our database, not the current offer.

Plant	Country	VIN prefix	Cars in our database	Duty
Princeton	United States	4T3, 5TD	56,020	0% duty
—	United States	5TD	1,585	0% duty
Georgetown	United States	4T3	1,549	0% duty

Made in USA • Tax 0%

How do you check a specific car?

The check runs on the VIN, not on the auction description. You enter the number of a Toyota Sienna and you get the assembly plant plus whether the origin condition is met. The lot description, the seller's country and the yard location say nothing about where the car was built.

How much will you save?

Run it down both routes, because the Sienna exists on both: a car from an American line at 0% duty, a car from a plant outside the USA at 10%. The rest of the bill is identical — excise by engine size and 23% VAT. The calculator shows both versions from the same inputs.

Work out the import cost

What the import cost is made of

The bill is made of a few fixed percentages and one variable, which is the customs value of the car. Duty is 0% on a Sienna assembled in the USA and 10% on the rest, excise is 3.1% or 18.6% by engine size, and 23% VAT is charged on the value with duty and excise added.

Component	Rate
Duty — car assembled in the USA	0%
Duty — everything else	10%
Excise	3.1% up to 2.0 l, 18.6% above 3.5 l
VAT	23%

Rates, not amounts — the calculator works the sum out on current data.

Zero-duty paperwork — our job

Our customs agency handles the formalities. We gather the assembly data for the Toyota Sienna, prepare the declaration and see the clearance through. The rate finally granted is the customs office's decision, taken on the documents submitted.

What to watch for when buying at auction

Risk on a Toyota Sienna from auction sits in three places: the extent of the damage, the completeness of the paperwork and the history of earlier repairs. None of them touches the duty rate, which follows the assembly country alone, but all three decide what getting the car roadworthy really costs.

Damage	Cars in our database
Front end	26,496
Rear end	10,693
Side	8,463

From the USA or from Europe?

The key difference is procedural rather than a matter of badge. A car from the European market goes through no import, a car from the States does — and then the assembly country counts: an American line means 0%, any other 10%, with excise and 23% VAT on top. For a Sienna, the check starts at the VIN.

See current listings: Toyota Sienna