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YurikaChan

Random Thoughts and Life in Japan

JAPAN Uncategorized

Owning a Car in Japan

konnichiwa~ yurikachan desu

as i have mentioned from my previous post Me taking a japanese driving license part 3. I have already acquired my Japanese Driving License and its time for me to buy a car. Ever since my exam
days, I always search for kei cars (small cars good for 4 people) in some websites such as carsensor.net and goo-net.com where sellers close to my area posts their listings, this websites really helped me a lot saves time and effort I mean I can actually check the cars condition before deciding on going to the shop. The cars are chuuko (2nd hand cars) but are in a very good condition. Prices vary on the condition of the car; the lower the consumed mileage and the earlier year model it was built, the higher the price.

So what are the things I look in the item description? oh by the way, I use Mr. google translate on chrome to help me translate it haha

* Price! I wanted to buy cars that will fit on my budget. from 30~50万
* No repair history!
* low mileage
* has atleast 1 or 2 yrs remaining shakken ( car registration) because it will really save me lot
* shop that offers after service, Since I am buying a 2nd hand car it is really advisable to have this option because we don’t know what might happen after getting the car

I decided on getting a HONDA LIFE but most of the listings already have a high mileage and my husband is bugging me that HONDA LIFE is a car for OBAACHAN which is not true ughhhh

then as I surf for another kei cars and this car caught my attention!!

modern look 😉 HONDA ZEST SPORT
Ever since I saw this car in carsensor.net I cant stop looking at it everyday !!! I see to it that its not yet sold that the listing is still there! good thing is that the dealer shop is like 2 mins by car away from our house! how lucky right? but the price is higher than my budget which is really obvious because the car is in pristine condition ( low mileage , 2007 model, no repair history and 2 yrs shakken) but since I am really sure of getting this car I disregarded the fact that it is pricey! 
I told hubhie about it and he told me there is no problem with buying it but the thing is I dont have a license yet so just pray that the car is still available after you pass the exam. how sad right? but luckily 1 week after I saw this car I passed the exam 🙂 
After I passed the exam we immediately go to the shop just to look at it but what happen next was amazing! we did not plan to buy it on that day but the owner told us why wont we try applying for the loan? So my hubhie did and guess what? His application was accepted 30~40 mins after!! that was fast. So they explained the whole thing what are the services offered on our selected option blah blah blah and they also explained the insurance. Since my age belongs to the 18~25 bracket my insurance is expensive but they told us that if I reach 26 my insurance will be half the price right now. 
oh the things you need before going to a shop: 
* a friend who knows nihongo if you are not good at it like me >..< 
* your bank book 
* your hanko (personal seal) which you also use on your bank 
* juminhyo (residence certificate) 
* your license 
* i am not sure about this but if you are not a permanent resident then the loan company might require you of a hoshonin (guarantor) 
* after your loan was accepted make sure that before you get your car you already have a parking space for it. 
the requirements written above are for small cars only. If you will buy large cars or cars more than 660 cc then you will need this additional requirements 
* a registered hanko and its certificate 
* a parking certificate 
**by the way, if you decided to buy large cars please be aware that the road tax for that will vary on the size, weight and engine of your car. In our case, my husband owns a Honda Stepwgn which is a 2000cc. Our yearly road tax for that is 4万２千 and for the shakken which is good for 2 or 3 yrs I think Im not sure will cost us around 10万　if the car doesn’t have any problems upon inspection. If the car does have problems then that is a different story. 
As for kei cars, I am not sure how much it is now but in 2010 we own a Suzuki Wagon R and we paid around 8千 for road tax and for the shakken we paid around 5万・６万　at that time. **
look how i parked the car loool
It took them almost a week to do the paper works and after that they release my car! I am so happy 
what an achievement lol and I was really thankful for the blessings that GOD has given me. I hope this post will help my kababayans and other gaijins who wanted to pass the driving exam and to own a car in JAPAN! I wish you all the luck! 
GOOD LUCK~!

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