Tokyo Revealead-Documentary-Part.1
Strange as it may seem, I had never actually owned a car in Japan until December, I never needed, as I was living in the middle of Tokyo, where parking spaces can cost more 60,000 yen per month, but a move east wild Chiba and the arrival of my first child meant I had no choice; no bus near my home and the nearest train station is 4 km I live near the sea, so that wasn t planning on splashing anything expensive, like all metal rusts far very, very fast here, I set out to find five year-old car with less than 50,000 km on the clock for less than 500,000 yen.
Even if the Japanese now tend to keep their new cars longer for an average of seven years, against five in the past, there is still a lot of used cars out there Part of the reason is that people do usually want to buy a car that is old, they downgrade instead and buy a new car cheaper.
But there is another factor that determines what you are buying on the market shaken used car notorious It is composed of all bits of bureaucracy you need to keep your car on the tax weight of the road, vehicle inspection and tax mandatory vehicle insurance and comprehensive insurance cover are separated If you buy a new car, you have three years until you need to jump through the hoops and start forking over money after that you must do it every two years, and it can easily cost more than 100,000 yen each time.
The end result is that people tend to sell their cars when shaken not usually flows dealers also arrange shaken so that potential buyers have two years to go to a big point of sale on the secondary market The result of all this is that used cars will generally be available when they are 3, 5, 7, 9, or 11. so, the first thing you want to check is the length of the left shaken.
At the same time, you want to check the documents of the vehicle you are looking for Japanese car owners tend to be meticulous about maintenance, so that most vehicles will come with a full service folder all but guarantees their history.
This does not mean that cars come with warranties owners could sell a vehicle because they want a newer, bigger, better, but they also could also be selling because of problems Reliable Car Japan is legendary, but they are not infallible.
Foreign cars in Japan tend to lose their value much faster than the Japanese, and it is often quite easy to pick up a bargain if you go this route and negotiation not common practice in other areas in Japan is often an essential part of buying a used car here, but it depends on where and how you're purchasing.
Auctions, which tend to operate online these days, as are the modern equivalent of haggling This is where you are likely to find the best deals and biggest lemons Most of the time you buy on spec the closest you'll get to the car before paying is an image and a profile on your computer, but reputable auction houses scrutinize cars well and rank them precisely auction houses only sell to dealers which will target certain vehicles for you and make an offer on your behalf The alternative is to use an online auction site like Yahoo.
But Mick Lay Mick Lay Auto Leasing and Sales Tokyo offers a warning auctions are not perfect in terms of the cars ranking, and if there is a problem, the supplier may not be willing or able to help you, he said, and beware the scam with fake auction where dealers charge a small fee, but inflate the selling price to the actual auction.
I was looking for a small break sedan and ended up chasing a number of Subaru and Demios Mazda via a distributor based in Nagano introduced by a friend to be thwarted by as little as 20,000 yen auctioneer submit a high price computer, so you can not change your mind if you outbid the end, I changed my specs and started looking Nissan steps and quickly struck gold, get a 5 of 5 years, 1 of 4 liters March to 43,000 km on the clock to 485000 yen.
car sensor and Goo are two massive publications also check their websites and that can give you an idea of prices that vary a little, and the dealers in your area Another easy way to find a car is a private company, I offered old cars without a shaken free, and in the countryside, you can find good cars for sale by the side of the road for as little as 50,000 yen.
Buying a car is not without risk, but there are a lot of genuine good deals out there and it is much better than carrying your golf clubs in the train.
This story appeared in Metropolis magazine.
Today Japan 1 Japan.