Korean Job Discussion Forums

[denistron]

Has anyone shipped a car to Japan. I am thinking of taking it over on a ferry. What kind of costs should I be expecting? I am moving there in a few month and I know I will need a car since I'll be living in the country. Help please...

[okokok]

You're aware that the Japanese drive on the other side of the road, right?

[Xuanzang]

Buy one there. Plenty of second hand, quality Japanese cars for sale.

[b-class rambler]

Them driving on the left shouldn't be an issue at all. Plenty of non-Japanese makes in Japan are left-hand drive and it's mostly no problem at all to have a LHD car in Japan. Most expressway tollgates have a special lane for LHD vehicles. In Britain, if you drive a LHD car you'll pay MUCH more for your insurance, and it's one of the first questions any insurance company asks when you're looking for an estimate. But in Japan, it apparently makes no difference at all.

What you do need to weigh up though, is how much any import duties are going to be and - this is the biggie.............how easy it'd be to register the car in Japan. Bear in mind that the bureaucracy involved in owning even a car purchased IN JAPAN is more mind-blowingly tortuous than you've ever imagined.

The first thing you'll need is a parking space and documentary proof that you have it. You need that before you can register the car. That's right - if you haven't FIRST got yourself a designated parking space, you can't have a car. And someone will come and check it's big enough for the car you intend to have. If you have no parking space for a car, you'll either have to fork out lots of money in a daily or weekly parking lot or park illegally. The J-police are way too vigilant about the latter and for good reason, given the money it makes them. When they take away your car (and they will!) you'll pay the equivalent of about w400,000 to get it back.

The other major bureaucratic nightmare associated with car ownership in Japan is the sha-ken (car test), the official safety check that has to be done after the car is 3 years old and then every 2 years thereafter. Many Japanese will have you believe that it's the most stringent and thorough such check in the world. It isn't. It's just a bunch of really basic safety checks on things like brakes and lights similar to what lots of other countries require, and it's a major scam to keep people buying newer (Japanese, of course) cars. You HAVE TO get it done because you need the sticker that says you did on your windscreen. And, even if you shop around, this barely 30 minute legally required checking of your car will cost you the equivalent of around W1.3 million.

When I lived in Japan all the cars I owned were bought there. I don't know what it costs to import one nor how easy it is bureaucratically. "A lot" and "not very" would be my honest guesses. But whatever it is, you have to add on all of the above ownership costs to that import cost. Do your own maths, OP and factor in how much the car is personally worth to you.

I'd expect the best answer would be to sell the car in Korea, and then buy one (if you really do need one) once you've settled in Japan. If you're taking a job there that requires you to drive, they should be giving you a car. If they're not, find another job.

Bear in mind also that even Korean manufacturers which are now relatively well respected in the rest of the world are largely unheard of in Japan. A Korean car would have absolutely zero re-sale value in Japan.

[denistron]

Do you know who I can call to get the details?