buying cars in japan

[Roywhitep5]

i've heard that in japan cars(japanese) are reletivly cheap compared to here.
how much do cars cost over there and can you give a comparison to a usdm car?

 

[Mikey444]

I dont know any comparisons but the reason for them being cheap is that they are built there, and there are no export import, transportation fees, additional taxes hidden in the import export cost to pay.

 

[sundevilMP5]

i can't speak for japan personally...but i knew somebody that bought a mercedes in germany because it was "cheaper" but then by the time it was shipped over and all said and done it was just as expensive as here...go figure...but at least he got to go take his car out on german roads (autobahn)

i would assume the same situation in japan

 

[BlueWolfCry]

im not exactly sure except for the fact that tokyo has the most expensive things in the world (fact), but i know that in Europe, having a mercedes or bmw is no big deal. they are way cheaper in europe

 

[jred321]

they're cheaper, but still not cheap. unless you're living there or a country where you can legally and easily import them, don't even worry about it

 

[jersey_emt]

i can't speak for japan personally...but i knew somebody that bought a mercedes in germany because it was "cheaper" but then by the time it was shipped over and all said and done it was just as expensive as here...go figure...but at least he got to go take his car out on german roads (autobahn)

i would assume the same situation in japan

If I ever buy a new BMW I'm doing that option.

A 3-series costs about a couple thousand less if you buy it in Germany and have it shipped over. They give you 30 days of insurance. I'd spend the money I saved and go to Germany for a two weeks to a month.

 

[vodapas77]

I don't know about new cars, but I read that the reason you can find so many cheap used cars there is because of some inspection they have when a car reached three years of age. I guess the inspection is so costly and so comprehensive that many times it is cheaper to trade off or sell off the vehicle for a new one than it is to keep the current one.

Now, I don't know the truth of that. I am sure Antoine could shed much more light on the subject. I read it in a Miata book where they were explaining why there were so many JDM Eunos Roadsters in the UK. I guess many of them were bought from Japan after they reached the three year mark and that even after shipping costs they were still competivley priced with the MX-5 (European Miata) in England.

 

[solid_snake2x]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]This is pretty much what it comes down to when buying a car overseas[/size][/font]​

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]In order to import the vehicle to the US legally it must be imported though Motorex,Inc. .The cost for us to legalize a car for you varies from $16,000 - $25,000 depending on the year of the vehicle. This does not include shipping , bonds ,tarriffs , custom brokerage fee , and associated shipping fees.
The additional cost varies as the bond cost (450% of the value of the vehicle) , and tarriff cost(2.5% of the value of the vehicle) varies with the value of the vehicle , also shipping can be roll on/roll off or container. Expect the other costs to be $4000 - $5000.[/size][/font]​

 

[jersey_emt]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]This is pretty much what it comes down to when buying a car overseas[/size][/font]​

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]In order to import the vehicle to the US legally it must be imported though Motorex,Inc. .The cost for us to legalize a car for you varies from $16,000 - $25,000 depending on the year of the vehicle. This does not include shipping , bonds ,tarriffs , custom brokerage fee , and associated shipping fees.
The additional cost varies as the bond cost (450% of the value of the vehicle) , and tarriff cost(2.5% of the value of the vehicle) varies with the value of the vehicle , also shipping can be roll on/roll off or container. Expect the other costs to be $4000 - $5000.[/size][/font]​

Umm that's only for a Skyline.

 

[solid_snake2x]

well I am just giving you an example of what it would probably cost

 

[Roywhitep5]

im not talking about importing or anything. im just wondering the prices in japan. my friend knows a guy in japan that bought an old skyline over there for $400, but the cost of gas + parking+ all of the other s*** was crazy

 

[mp3moose]

One must also remember that when living in an area with a high standard of living salaries are higher to cover it. Thus more poeple can afford more expensive vehicles.

Oh, and Jersey, I brought a 911 over from england and cost was almost 7K for everything and that was an american car (i e, left hand drive).

 

[oki_boy]

used cars in japan are extremely cheap for the most part. i lived there for around 9 years and had a ton of em.

first one i bought was $250 bucks for an ae92 levin apex limited.
i had friends that sold their r32 skyline gts-t's for around $2500 and picked up other ones for about the same price.
another friend bought an s13 silvia k's for about 2k.
these are if you buy them from someone thats selling their own car

keep in mind, these arent beaters. they're in excellent shape with no mechanical problems at all. japan is not that big, so the milage on the cars stays extremely low.

lemme see if i can dig up some pictures from my last trip....

 

[oki_boy]

this was a local sports car dealership....all these cars are pretty much brand new. im just rough translating prices on a 100yen to 1 dollar scale (actual rate is around 120 to 1 dollar i think)

a couple of type-r's for $9900, and $10,900 respectively.

a few of the famed 22b STI's ranging from $10,800 to $13,500

heres a couple supra TT's for under 10k. (the celica gt-4 was $8500 and the soarer 2.5gt was around $9000 IIRC)

r33gtr in perfect condition for $18,900. r34gts for $15,900

of course these are dealership MSRP and prices can be bargained on just like over here.

 

[FrigginGLI]

Dam Japan is so clean and nice , look at the car dealer. In america there would be trash and garbage all over the ground, and look at those dam trees perfectly trimmed. Row of Supras made me s***.

 

[Akaveli]

aw damn! thoughs cars do look nice n clean. Basically cars outside of the USA are cheaper but like they said, when the importing taxes, shipping taxes etc..etc, the price of that car balances out to what it is over here or possible even more. Best bet, is to have connections or be filthy rich.


Damn that Skyline is Beautiful!

 

[Blown]

Gotta love being Canadian. Anything 15yrs and older in Japan can be shipped to Canada and can be driven on our streets without any major modifications(only has to pass a safety inspection).

 

[Phoenix5]

Yeah,add another 15k to 20k to those cars(for shipping and legalization),then it won't be so cheap.That's the thing that sucks about importing cars from other countries.

But if I had to import a car here,I'd get a Skyline R32 GT-R or a Silvia S14 or S15.

 

[Blown]

$11K US is all it costs for a GT-R32 bought and shipped to my door. No modifications needed, no special license, no special registration, etc...

 

[mp3moose]

$11K US is all it costs for a GT-R32 bought and shipped to my door. No modifications needed, no special license, no special registration, etc...

Show me where and my mp3 is sold.