Are Japanese imports impossible to insure?

I was thinking of buying a Japanese import but didn't in the end as I couldn't get an insurance quote. It seems to me Irish insurance companies won't insure Japanese imports which I think is crazy. My question is, why won't Irish insurance companies insure Japanese import cars?

Sean Fallon (Wexford)

Sep 2025 Filed under: insurance

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Expert answer

Hi Sean,

Irish insurance companies clearly do insure Japanese imports, or else there wouldn't be so many of them on the road.

Without knowing the full details of the car, yourself and the policy it's impossible for us to know why you had difficulty, but there are cases when the car isn't recognised by an insurer database. Separate to that, an insurer may see a given car - or driver - as too big a risk. Most of the time they'd quote a ludicrously high premium instead of an outright refusal, however.

Shane O' Donoghue - Complete Car Advisor