Stage 1 – Find a car

The first thing you will notice when trying to buy a used car in Japan is that almost nobody sells their own car. Old cars are scrapped or tend to be given away to a friend or relative. Cars that still have some value, are usually traded in when purchasing a new (or newer) model.  

Outside of the foreign community, there seem to be very few private sales.  You don’t see cars with the Japanese equivalent of  FOR SALE signs in the window. Used car magazines and even internet auctions are almost entirely filled with cars being sold by dealers rather than individuals.

Having to purchase from a used car dealer makes things more expensive, but does mean they can help you with Stage 2 – the labyrinthine process of producing and filling out the correct paperwork.

I browsed through the various internet sites and a few cars caught my attention. These are a few of the cars that were of interest, but not quite what I wanted:

Honda NSX

Advantages: Aluminum (The world’s first all-aluminum and aluminum monocoque chassis production car)  so doesn’t rust – perfect for the salty island breezes.  Designed with the assistance of Ayrton Senna. Looks fantastic.

Disadvantages: Almost no luggage space. The cheapest cars are still 2 million yen, and these are high mileage automatics with dodgy black leather seats.  If I wanted an NSX it would have to be the type R which were all manual with non-leather seats, but the cheapest examples are over 5 million yen.

Nissan Skyline GTR

1996 Nissan Skyline GTR 51000km ¥1,750,000

Advantages: Speed and power that make other road users (or other competitors in motorsport)  tremble in its wake. Nicknamed Godzilla, the GTRs  are brutish supercars.

Disadvantages: 80 KPH speed limit on expressways in Okinawa, 50 KPH on main roads. You would never be able to unleash Godzilla. Four wheel drive, four wheel steering, dual turbos, titanium exhaust systems and the like are all fantastic but I’m pretty sure will cost a fortune when they need to be fixed or replaced.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution

2003 Mitsubishi Evolution VIII GSR 43000 km ¥1,780,000

 

Advantages: Rally car thinly disguised as a basic family 4 door sedan. A technological marvel. 

Disadvantages: Rather thirsty. Not too many rally stages in Okinawa. (Would seriously consider this however if I was living in Hokkaido where 4WD and things like Super Active Yaw Control might come in handy.)

Suzuki Cervo

2009 Suzuki Cervo SR 7km ¥1,550,000

Advantages:  A new car and therefore 3 full years before shaken.  66occ engine means it is a Kei Jidosha and will be have cheaper road tax. Turbo charged engine gives it some power  (64PS) while the CVT gearbox means it can do 23 km per liter. Gearbox has a “manual mode” allowing you to select from 7 gears. Small cars are perfect for Okinawa’s narrow streets and tiny parking spaces.

Disadvantages: The small engine means that you would be thrashing it to make any progress. I’d prefer a manual gearbox rather than an  automatic gearbox with a  “Manual mode”.

Finally I found what I was looking for:

Suzuki Swift Sport

2009 Suzuki Swift Sport 98 km ¥1,650,000

 Advantages: An almost new car. A manual gearbox. Very similar to a Mini Cooper, but without the exorbitant import charges. Fun to drive, but still quite frugal at 15km/L. This car also comes with the Japanese set options of Recaro seats and HID lights.

Disadvantages: The standard Suzuki Swift is perhaps the most common rental car on Okinawa. You may therefore struggle to find your car if you visit the aquarium or Shuri Castle.  The luggage space is quite small when the rear seats are up. Never had a new car before so will probably go through a stage of new car paranoia where I am afraid to let dogs, people or dirt anywhere near it. 

So the decision has been made. Time to move on to stage 2.