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Tiger Beer
Joined: 08 Feb 2003
Posts: 778
Location: Hong Kong
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 Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:46 am Post subject: Cars in Japan |
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I'm about to accept a job in the countryside of Japan. Looks like a car is necessary.
Anyone have a car in Japan? What model, what year, and how much did you pay?
What is a general price range for a car in Japan? |
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flyer
Joined: 16 May 2003
Posts: 539
Location: Sapporo Japan
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Lyrajean
Joined: 19 Jul 2006
Posts: 109
Location: going to Okinawa
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| Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 4:12 am Post subject: |
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Its not only about what you pay upfront for the car.
There are essentially 2 types of cars in Japan:
white plate= real car, larger engine, power, cost significantly more for mandatory shaken inspections and road tax, and eat gas like an American car.
yellow plate car= lawnmower that looks like a car, under 660cc engine, little power (get out and push on hills) cheaper to gas up, inspect and pay taxes on.
Shaken inspections are due every other year (?) on cars older than 3 years and cost several man depending on your engine size, a yellow plate could be 4-6man, a white plate can be over 10man.
The price of used cars rises and falls depending on when the shaken is due again. Often if you see a price that seems too good to be true on asking you discover that the shaken is due, and the car really costs several man more with the shaken to make it road legal.
I live in Okinawa and a decent used car can cost between 10man and 30man for a keijidosha (yellow plate). Because of the mild climate issues like body rust and snow tires aren't much of a problem.
I would suggest if you look for a kei car to find one with less than 100,000km on it as the engines do wear out quicker.
Just an example: I bought a 6 year old subaru pleo kei car with 89000km on it, auto trans. a/c, and 9mos of shaken left for 32man, which included all fluids changed, tune-up, new battery, and 2 new tires. I bought it figuring it has a good chance of lasting 2-3 years while I'm doing JET. I love it and while it was more expensive than I'd hoped. it is relatively reliable and hopefully won't be spending too much time in the shop.
Best of all I fill up my tank once every 3weeks (about 230km) and it costs under 3000yen. |
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ironopolis
Joined: 01 Apr 2004
Posts: 379
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| Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 6:38 am Post subject: Re: Cars in Japan |
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| Tiger Beer wrote: |
I'm about to accept a job in the countryside of Japan. Looks like a car is necessary.
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To be honest, the first thought that occurred to me here was;- if a car really is necessary, why are you not offered one as part of the job conditions?
Leaving that point aside, I think lyrajean has already given some useful information on what's available.
And I'd agree that you have to be thinking a long, long way past just the initial upfront price, as whilst cars can seem fairly cheap here, there are an awful lot of other expenses running one in Japan. You'll have to pay for a parking space, including perhaps a 2-3 month deposit up front. In rural areas, maybe not much more than a few thousand a month, but if you live in an urban area, it could be over Y10,000. And when you're away from home, remember that legal free parking space is hard to find in Japan, and the police exploit the money making potential of this to the full.
The shaken (govt car roadworthiness check) is due when the car is 3 years old and then every 2 years. As lyrajean already said, the shaken is insanely expensive considering what little it involves, so if you're buying a car with only a little of the 2 years left, make sure you're getting it a lot cheaper than one with most of the shaken remaining.
I don't know anything about your precise situation, but a kei car (yellow number plate) is possibly a good bet for you. Not much of a driving experience and personally I can't stand them and always gave my local dealer serious grief when they offered me a kei as a courtesy car when mine was being serviced. But keis DO make a lot of practical sense. You'll pay less for everything - less upfront, less tax, often less for parking and tolls and less on fuel. Additionally, depreciation is less severe on kei cars than on bigger ones. The downside is that kei cars are not much good if you're going any kind of distance in your car. But there again, speed limits are very low on normal roads here, expressways are ridiculously expensive, so travelling a longer distance by car will either take you ages or cost so much that it's only worth it with a few other people sharing the cost. This is why so many Japanese people profess a love of driving, but would rarely contemplate journeys much over 250-300km. |
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flyer
Joined: 16 May 2003
Posts: 539
Location: Sapporo Japan
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| Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:27 am Post subject: |
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| Lyrajean wrote: |
yellow plate car= lawnmower that looks like a car, under 660cc engine, little power (get out and push on hills) cheaper to gas up, inspect and pay taxes on.
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I have a yellow plate and unless you have 2 kids or more or plan to drive long distances often they are fine!
plenty of power for the average person!
and you save about 40,000yen on taxes alone a year (thats an ipod a year) plus pay much less on gas!
I have had a yellow plate for 3 years and I would never buy a bigger car! |
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