Japan continues to struggle from the effects of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and one of the biggest issues facing the nation has been the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. The facility is now a grade seven nuclear disaster, which puts it on the same scale as the Chernobyl disaster in Russia during the 1980s.

Damaged Nuclear Plant

Radiation from the plant has been found in agricultural sources, too, which has prompted 29 countries and regions to suspend or tighten controls on food and dairy products. Bloomberg reports that radiation fears have prompted the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) to begin testing vehicles for radiation prior to shipments at home and abroad. The move follows steps already being taking by Nissan to test all vehicles prior to shipment.

JAMA has mainly decided to perform the radiation checks to calm the nerves of some customers who have asked if their products are still safe, and so far radiation has been negligible. JAMA tells Bloomberg that, at least so far, foreign countries haven’t introduced suspensions or strict measures. One container ship was asked to head back to Japan from China after radiation levels of 3.5 microsieverts per hour were detected. The typical X-ray is 100 microsieverts.

[Source: Bloomberg via The Wall Street Journal| Image: AFP/Getty]

At ShipMyCar we have been shocked by the recent disaster in Japan, it is hard to imagine how it would feel to have a natural disaster of such scale here in the UK and how people would deal with it. It becomes more real when you see images of the aftermath from the earthquake and tsunami which you can relate to from your day-to-day work and when we saw these images from the areas we deal with such as the Hitachi car port it really hits home as to the level of destruction the Japanese people are facing.

Below are some images of cars, planes and ships that have been thrown around like toys:

Shipping Containers following Tsunami

Hitachi Port following Tsunami

Jet damaged from Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

Container ship following tsunami

Cars at Hitachi Port

Planes and Cars damaged in Japan

Cars on top of houses in Japan

Needless to say all car shipments to/from Japan are on hold, even the major manufacturers have either stopped production or slowed right down. It is too early to say at the moment whether the events will affect car production in the USA. All of this is insignificant of course in relation to the loss and ruin of human life.

Our thoughts go out to anybody affected by the events in Japan and we urge people visiting our site to donate to Doctors Without Borders (MSF) here

We at ShipMyCar loves cars, we love shipping cars, but we also love cool dogs, and this dog is just about the coolest we have seen in a long time.

Dog on scooter

So a tenuous link for today is that Norman the Briard comes from Georgia and we can ship cars from Georgia to anywhere in the world but in particular the UK where we will make sure we carry out all of your IVA, MOT and DVLA Registration requirements

Imported Car Insurance Advice
The annual price of car insurance for motorists rose by 40% in 2010 according to the AA, meaning that the average driver is now paying £791 per year on insurance for their vehicle alone. Some groups are being hit by these price rises harder than others; with the general trend being for insurance firms to target groups that they feel are the biggest risk. This has hit imported car owners hard, but it doesn’t mean that people should be put off importing a vehicle as there are still cost savings to be made.

Background information
There are two primary reasons why car insurance firms are targeting imported car owners in particular. The first is the extra costs which are anticipated when ever spare parts for a repair are required due to the need to seek out and import these parts from another country.
The second reason is the varying standards of quality which are imposed by legislators in different countries. For example, cars manufactured in America are designed to comply with a different set of regulations from those manufactured in the EU. This has led to car insurance firms classifying imported vehicles into two different categories:
• Parallel imports- These are vehicles which have been built in Europe and therefore comply with EU legal specifications.
• Grey imports- These are vehicles which have not been built in Europe and are therefore not EU approved.
Owners of Grey imports can generally expect an interrogation from potential car insurers for the reason of these varying legal specifications to which manufacturers must adhere. It has also not escaped the attention of car insurers that cars imported from Japan generally have higher specifications than the same vehicle when it is created in Europe. This means that Grey import owners will likely be asked to disclose their cars exact specifications (i.e. top speed, acceleration, brake horse power etc) to the insurer so that they can calculate a premium and can occasionally face higher premiums.

Money saving tips
There is still significant savings to be made through buying vehicles from abroad due to the high pre-tax costs which are placed upon vehicles bought in the UK. This makes it likely that cost savings can still be made despite the slightly higher annual insurance costs. However, there are still things that imported car owners can do in order to lower insurance premiums:
1. Search far and wide- the best piece of advice that can be given is to compare prices with as many different insurers as possible in order to give you the best chance of finding the cheapest possible premium. The quickest and easiest way of doing this is through price comparison services which will compare offers from hundreds of different insurers in a matter of moments.
2. Look into specialist insurers- Insurance firms which claim to specialise in imported vehicles will often offer lower premiums as they will likely have more knowledge of the car specifications of the vehicles. However, this is not always the case as these insurers are sometimes unable to compete with their larger competitors in terms of offering lower prices.
3. Preparation is everything- Make sure that you prepare yourself for the car insurer’s interrogation, particularly if you are the owner of a grey import. This means you have to be clued up on everything about your vehicle’s specifications in order to give you the best chance of getting the cheapest premium. However, never purposefully lie about specifications to your insurer as this could render your policy void in the event of a claim.
4. Your mileage allocation- The more miles you travel, the more likely you are to have an accident. This basic fact is the reason why car insurers will offer lower premiums to drivers who travel less. However, be careful not to set your mileage allowance too low as this would be another good way of rendering you policy void; allowing your insurer to dodge a payout in the event of a claim.
5. Parking and security- Imported vehicles are generally more valuable than those bought in the UK because they are generally rarer. Insurers recognise this and will therefore offer cheaper premiums to imported car owners who have made an effort to ensure that their vehicle is both parked in a safe place and equipped with security systems. This means that imported car owners should try to park in a garage when possible and fit approved Thatcham security systems such as alarms and immobilisers which will result in a significant insurance cost reduction.

Want to see what happens when a lorry covered in snow goes under an overpass in the USA?

Incredible footage:

If you are looking at shipping a car back to the UK please contact us first at ShipMyCar to make arrangements

Snow Truck under Overpass

So 2011 has started with a nice rise in VAT to 20% – petrol prices are up at 125p and diesel up to 130p a litre, but we have made the decision to freeze all of our prices from 2010 in order to help if you are planning on shipping your car to the UK

This means our containerised shipping cost from New York is still an unbeatable £695 and all modifications for IVA remain at our highly competitive 2010 prices.

We at ShipMyCar wish everyone a very happy new year

Having just checked the weather forecast for this week we were shocked to see the forecast stating -14°C this Thursday – that is seriously cold!

Snow and Ice Milton Keynes

When the ice & snow comes down it can cause havoc with collecting vehicles from the port as many of the major ports shut their doors in adverse weather conditions

Luckily all of our customers cars are safely stored in our warehouses out of the way of the weather. We are also working hard this week to collect as many cars as possible prior to the change in conditions…

Milton Keynes often seems to have it’s own weather to the rest of the country, we luckily missed the worst of the recent snow fall, fingers crossed the next snowfall waits until the offices are closed and Christmas holidays have begun!

President Barack Obama has told Americans to ‘look out for one another’ to help the country climb out of its worst economic slump in decades.

Making his weekly radio and internet address, Mr Obama urged people in the U.S. to do everything they could to boost the stagnant economy as it struggled with near 10 per cent unemployment.
Speaking from the White House, he said: ‘This is not the hardest Thanksgiving America has ever faced.

‘But as long as many members of our American family are hurting, we’ve got to to look out for one another.
‘And as long as many of our friends and neighbours are looking for work, we’ve got to do everything we can to accelerate this recovery and keep our economy moving forward.’

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. unemployment stands at 9.6 per cent – or around 14.8million people nationwide.
More than 150,000 people lost their jobs last month alone.

But Mr Obama stressed in his address released on Thanksgiving Day that the country was improving.

He said: ‘We can be a vibrant nation that makes sure its children are the best-educated in the world.

‘A healthy, growing economy that runs on clean energy and creates the jobs of tomorrow. A responsible government that reduces its deficits.

‘We can do all this, because we’ve done it before.’

In the weekly Republican message, Georgia Rep-elect Austin Scott said his party would focus on creating jobs and slashing spending.
‘As much as we have to be thankful for, too many Georgians and too many Americans have been out of work for far too long.
‘Our new Republican majority is ready to focus on creating jobs and putting a stop to the runaway spending in Washington D.C.’
After the heavy defeats for the Democrats in the mid-term elections earlier this month, Mr Obama stressed the need for cooperation in the U.S.
‘We’ve got to do it as one people. And in the coming weeks and months, I hope that we can work together, Democrats and Republicans and independents alike, to make progress on these and other issues

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1333031/Weve-got-look-Barack-Obama-urges-Americans-dig-deep-Thanksgiving-message.html#ixzz16JhdqQkw

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