[ Newbie Guide ] to Car Buying in Japan, Part 1

This first post will be an overview of the basics you need to know before buying a car, so I am writing in very general terms for the purposes of this guide. I wrote this guide on the basis that you have little to no Japanese language ability and are probably pretty new to Japan, otherwise, you could probably do just fine without me. I am also under the assumption you are an ALT, JET or private company hire, although much of this information is applicable for any foreigner in Japan. If you also don’t have very specific car desires and you just want reasonable, reliable transportation, definitely read on. (If you’re a car guy, message me and we can talk shop.)

Since I have a few years and over a half dozen car purchase transactions under my belt, hopefully I can use my personal experience to help a few folks every year buy their first (or second…) car in Japan! Of course, my advice is a mix from my own and others' experiences, so take it with a grain of delicious sea salt, as your situation may vary.

Contents

1. Do I need a car?

2. How much is a car? Insurance?

3. What is the shaken vehicle inspection?

4. What are the long-term associated costs?

1. Do I need a car?
The easiest answer would be to ask your predecessor or your company for more information. It generally depends on your employment needs and your personal needs. Assuming that it is not absolutely crucial to buy a car, as in you have other reasonable means to and from your place of work, then buying a car will be up to personal preferences.

The benefits of having a car, as you might imagine, is freedom and convenience. Having a car allows you to travel freely without relying on public transportation (and occasionally the kindness of others when you go furniture shopping). Public transit, especially in more rural areas, is limited to certain schedules. While most places are accessible by the massive train and bus network, a car can take you to places when and where it would otherwise be inconvenient to go… and there are countless places in Japan to explore, assuming that is your thing. Even if you don’t care to wonder out of your local municipality, having a car makes grocery shopping, going to places of entertainment, and commuting to work more convenient, especially when the weather gets sour. It rains quite often throughout the year in Japan and many regions receive snowfall in the winter.

My recommendation to most newcomers to Japan who are unsure of their situation is to wait-and-see. Unless you get an offer on a car from your predecessor you can't possibly refuse, you can probably hold out and get a feel of your own situation before deciding. (But be aware of potential hand-me-down issues and shaken! See below and an upcoming post next week.)

The main problem with car ownership is the monetary costs of owning a car.

A kei car is on the left, the right a regular compact car. Note the size differences.

2. How much is a car? How much is insurance?
The price of a car can start from literally 30,000￥ ($270 USD) and up. You can likely find many reasonable-condition smaller yellow plate kei cars for around 100,000￥. White plate regular futsuu cars, as typically found in foreign countries, are usually a bit more, some around 180,000￥.

While this might sound extremely reasonable, there is a major, hidden cost to car ownership in Japan and that comes through shaken, the mandatory maintenance and inspection that is required every two years. When you buy a second-hand car, the amount of shaken left on the car can greatly affect the price, as shaken costs, at the bare minimum, 50,000￥ for kei cars and 70,000￥ for regular cars when those two years expire. (See #3 below.)

Insurance costs, as with other countries, vary with age, location, and the type of car you choose. Expect to pay around 8000￥ a month for fairly comprehensive insurance if you are in your early 20s for a kei car, possibly around 10,000￥ for a regular car. The longer you stay in Japan without incident, the lower it drops annually.

The first part of a shaken vehicle inspection being performed.

3. What is the shaken vehicle inspection?
Shaken (しゃけん / 車検) is a government-mandated program that requires the car owner(s) to have a check performed every two years (for most cars). This check is to ascertain the operating condition of the car and ensure that there are no major issues that could pose a potential risk or hazard. Any cracked headlamps, major rust, major leaks, etc. are quickly rejected. As a result of this rather strict inspection, maintenance and some pre-maintenance work is performed by a mechanic. This is the reason cars on the road in Japan are in fairly excellent condition and why you rarely see polluting, rotting clunkers driving around.

However, all this comes at a cost. Shaken needs to be renewed at participating dealers and mechanics, starting at around 50,000￥ for a kei car and 70,000￥ for a regular car. This fee does not include the actual maintenance that needs to be performed. Expect well-running, fairly new kei cars that need minimal maintenance to cost around 70,000￥ - 80,000￥, but if the mechanic or the mileage on the odometer deem it necessary, expensive things such as timing belt changes, brake changes, etc. may exponentially increase that cost.

It is possible to find used cars with a sizable portion of the two year shaken left before you have to renew, so definitely keep that in mind if you start your search for a car.

4. What are the other long-term associated costs?

Maintenance
Beyond the mandatory maintenance performed every two years, there are the usual other maintenance costs associated with operating any motor vehicle. Oil changes are around 3000-5000￥, filters are typically replaced every other oil change at around 2000￥. I typically recommend oil changes at 3000-4000km for kei cars, 5000-7000km for regular cars, depending on the car and condition. Batteries, fluids, air conditioner gas, wipers, bulbs, etc. are fairly in line with most modern countries in terms of costs.

Gas
As of mid-2018, gas is around 145￥/liter for regular, 160￥/liter for premium gas. Most cars use regular gas. Kei cars are rather fuel efficient, netting around 17km/L (40 MPG) on the highway. Regular cars may fetch 14km/L (33 MPG) or less, depending on the car. Of course, traffic and frequent, slow, short city trips will drop that dramatically.

A typical toll road I/C entrance and exit.

Tolls
Virtually every “highway” in Japan has a toll cost. Unfortunately, they are often the fastest way around the country, particularly if you plan on travelling significant distances. For example, the relatively short distance between Kyoto and Osaka has several toll points, adding up the cost quickly to over 3000￥, though long distances can be fairly reasonable, for example the toll between Nagoya and Tokyo is around 10,000￥.

You can use the following toll calculator to get an idea of the cost of tolls: Nexco Toll Road Search (in Japanese)

Monthly Parking
This hugely depends on your housing. My apartment situation includes a designated parking space in front. Some places require an additional monthly fee for limited apartment parking and some places have no parking on-site. In those cases, rental parking lots can usually be found nearby. In congested cities, expect upwards of 10,000￥ per month or more for the privilege of a parking space. Land is at a premium in Japan, after all.

A set of winter studless tires on steel wheels.

Winter Wheels
Winter tires (ふゆタイヤ / 冬タイヤ), sometimes called studless tires (スタッドレスタイヤ) , are not necessary for all prefectures. However, in most areas, you will need to change to them from the usual all-season tires when the temperature drops below 10°C or at a certain time of the year, whichever comes first. This is to ensure safety, as typical all-season tires do not function as well as winter tires when the temperature drops and vice versa.

Expect 2000-4000￥ to remove summer wheels and mount winter wheels and 30,000￥ for a new set of kei car winter tires and wheels, more for regular cars. Used sets are cheaper and some used cars may even come with them. Financially, it makes the most sense to have actual wheels with the winter tires attached on them, as swapping just tires on one set of wheels on the car costs more in the long term.

Tax
Taxes are mailed out around April every year and vary by region, type of car, and age of car. The denser the city, the bigger the car, and the older the car, the higher it may cost. Unfortunately, I don’t have personal information regarding taxes in other areas, but in my prefecture of Fukui, it is 13,000￥ for my old kei car and around 40,000￥ for my regular car. (Please drop me a line if this is not in line with your bill in Japan and I’ll update this information.)

Still with me and still interested in taking that literal drive into car ownership? Great! Next time I’ll detail how to find and buy your new-to-you car! Update: Part 2 is up!

Feel free to leave a comment below or send me a message on Facebook or Instagram if you have any specific questions!

[ Alto Works ] Decal Removal

Ever since I purchased the car, I’ve been dying to strip off these 90s-style tuner decals that have been clinging on to the car like dried barnacles for 20 years. They might have been "rad" and "bad" and whatever other retro adjectives we used back then, but they certainly aren’t now, especially not in the current peeling, cracking, discolored state they are in. They are one of the first things I wanted to change on the car the moment I laid my eyes on it, for good reason. I got quite a few comments from my local friends about it. Maybe due to the shine on the paint and the relative dark contrast, they don’t show up in photos as hideously as they do in person.

Delicacy is not required for this task. Simply rubbing or picking at the decals result in it crumbling and coming off only a very tiny portion at a time. For most decals, a heat gun and some cleaning solvent will expedite the removal.

Not a chance. This  50mm (2 inch) portion took almost 20 minutes of heating, picking, rubbing, wiping, and spraying to achieve. For these decals that run the entire length of the body, this will not do.

After failing a few tries at solvents and the heat gun method, I was close to giving up. Doing a little more research into decal removal, I found that there are a few products purported to remove extremely old, cracked, peeling, weathered decals. I ended up ordering a Whizzy Wheel, a drill-attachable round rubber eraser, that essentially just rubs the decal until it strips off. It claims to not damage the paint when used properly.

It worked wonderfully immediately. At first, I was being really careful with the rubbing, as I didn’t want to damage the paint or wear out the Whizzy Wheel too quickly, but as I continued to use it, I realized it didn’t notably damage the paint at all. At least, nothing that a buff and wax couldn’t alleviate. I also needed to apply a bit of pressure in order for it to cause enough friction to actually rub off the decal and the remainder adhesive, just as one would use a real eraser.

By following the rotation of the drill, I realized that using the WW at the outer edges of the decal resulted in the most positive effect, as the rotation actually helps “lift” the edges and peel some of the decal off much quicker than simply erasing mid-decal. This technique allowed me to remove large portions of the decal and adhesive cleanly and fairly quickly.

Even though the rear badges were not in terrible state, they were still cracking a bit. If I wanted to rebadge the car, I’ll just update it with a more modern decal. So I took these off while I was at it.

I was initially worried that one Whizzy Wheel would be inadequate to remove the decals the length of the car, since some reviewers mentioned that two or three may be required. However, I did not find this to be the case and I still have a good 40% of the tool left intact for potential future decals.

All it needs now is a final wash, clay, and wax and it will be perfect. As it stands now, my dorky little 90s Alto Works has at least entered the 21st century. The change from the fading decals to plain black paint is especially noticeable in person. I think this was the best “modification” I have done to this car thus far and I am even more excited for further progress.

[ Alto Works ] Rear Bumper Cut (Dat Butt)

With the front bumper getting all the attention, I had to show a little love to the rear of the Alto as well. I can never leave well enough alone, as there is always something that can be done in the name of improvement… or at the very least, custom looks. (Warning, lots of rear-end shots ahead.)

Here, the improvement is more than simply a need to look cool. As previously mentioned, the rear bumper has two slots to evacuate underbody air pressure and to prevent “parachuting.” Essentially, this means air passing under the car can get trapped in little pockets toward the rear, creating a higher pressure zone and adding drag. However, it isn’t executed perfectly on this Alto. Looking at the rear bumper, I can still see huge flatspot areas where air can get caught and raise pressures.

That’s why all modern sports cars and even many pedestrian fuel-economy-focused cars like the Prius have a high rear bumpers and smooth underbodies, among other things. Take a look at even the common Toyota Camry or Honda Civic and you can spot such changes over their much older models. The styling of 1990s and older cars tend to have low rear bumpers with low rear skirts. While this might have looked great at the time, that look definitely does not lend itself well to fuel economy or high-speed driving.

Inspired by a common modification in the Civic and Miata worlds and from various modified cars on Minkara (a Japanese car site), I decided to modify my Alto Works rear bumper in the same manner as I modified my Roadster. By cutting out the lower portion of the rear plastic bumper, it can help eliminate potential drag, allowing air to escape smoothly. This is probably an effect that will only be beneficial at high speeds, but I think it also makes the rear look a lot more aggressive, since it shows some of the rear underpinnings of the car.

Granted, having a rear diffuser also would greatly improve aerodynamics. A well-designed diffuser would allow pressure from under the car to escape smoothly and draw air away, creating a vacuum effect. A diffuser works best when they are at least a certain size, angle, and distance away from the rear, not to mention in conjunction with a flat underbody. Unfortunately, the Alto was not designed in such a manner and this all can be impractical for a street car. Road debris, bumps and dips, and parking blocks are all enemies to a diffuser that juts out the rear.

Removing the rear bumper on this car is an easy task, but it actually has quite a few screws, with three 10mm bolts, two license plate screws, two side screws, and two lower screws holding it on. Both of the lower bumper screws connecting it to this bracket promptly broke off, despite a little break-free spray. I’ll have to fix this later. From here, it is a matter of simply measuring about a thousand times and cutting once.

The cutting wheel cut smoothly into the bumper even easier than it had for the front bumper. I just had to make sure to use a steady hand across the long line. Cutting burrs can be fixed later with a razor and files, but a wrong angle would be painful to correct, especially considering the length of the line across the rear.

After a bit of minor filing, I think it came out well, if I say so myself. The line is fairly clean. I just need to touch up with black a bit and it will be finished.

As much as I want a lower diffuser, it will have to come much later. It will definitely be in the Works.

[ Alto Works ] Front Bumper Modification, Part 1

One thing that bothers me thus far is that I cannot identify the model or the packages of the car. According to the official paperwork, the car was made in 1998 or Heisei 10th year. For that year of production, the Alto Works Limited was only offered in Superior White. But this car has all the signs of the Limited model: 14” wheels, steering wheel, seats, and upper rear spoiler. Listed on the VIN plate is code 0DG, the body color of this car is definitely Saturn Black Metallic from the factory. Yet, all the catalogs I could find all suggest that there was no black produced. Anyone out there have an idea?

I also can’t figure out why the front grill and intercooler intake are silver, while the logo is in red. No amount of internet scouring could explain it, since I don’t see it appear on any other cars in exactly this manner. It looks pretty professionally painted. Was it a factory option? Either way, I don’t like the contrasting color, so this has to be alleviated. Off it goes for a respray...

This bumper is mounted with more points than I expected from a kei car. Wagon Rs literally have 3 screws and 5 plastic clips and it can come off. This one has 9 screws and a handful of clips… not to say this is very difficult, either.

I’m looking to also install a tow hook or strap. Unfortunately, kei cars don’t typically have the front crash beam tapped for a threaded hook. I’ll have to come up with some option to hard mount a hook somewhere.

What can we gleam from looking at the front of the naked front? The A/C radiator is absolutely gigantic compared to the actual engine radiator, which is on the left side of the car. (Right side when looking at it directly from the front.) The bottom of the radiator is designed with a ramp to divert a bit more air to it. There is some open area to the left in this photo below the A/C, perhaps that will be a good place for an oil cooler in the future. The front wheel well guards are molded into a part of the frame, so holes will have to be made into this surface for brake air ducts.

Now that we have it off, our first modifications can begin. I saw a few interesting modified Alto bumpers on the internet and I wanted to do the same. Essentially, the objective is to increase airflow to the radiator of the car, which is on the left side of the car. (Right side when looking at it directly from the front.) The front bumper is already pretty busy and opened up for airflow. The turn signal and fog lights also take up a good portion of it as well. The only openings are in the black plastic in between the two grills.

Follow the old adage of “measure twice and cut once.” I made some templates and carefully attached it to the bumper with double-sided tape. Instead of using heavier cutting tools, I opted for a delicate dremel to cut cleaner lines. The ABS material (with very few fibers for reinforcement) is relatively soft, so it is cut fairly easily and smoothly.

It took a bit of time to do properly. I passed the cutting wheel gently over each line several passes, being careful with the corners. The proper way to use a dremel is to cut lightly, as the motor is more about speed than torque. Applying significant force might get things done, but it will burn the brushes out quickly.

To finish up the cutting, a good old box cutter is strong enough to cut through the material. In reality, I didn’t need to put so much effort into doing this properly, as this car is far from being a show queen. But if you’re gonna do it, do it right.

I think it came out really well. It is subtle enough to not be distracting, but it is a cool addition for those taking notice of such little things. It is also extremely functional, but how much additional cooling it adds is questionable. But it certainly won’t hurt.

Time to paint and find some mesh!

[ Alto Works ] Cheap (Bucket) Seats

I don’t mean to complain about the stock front Alto Works Limited sport seats seats, as they are actually quite good for an economy car. They have good bolstering along the thigh and lower back, so they feel somewhat supportive during spirited driving. I am generally pretty impressed with the comfort and, of course, they are still easy to get in and out of. However, I feel I sit at a rather high position for such a low car. So, with many things, they can be improved.

I picked up a virtually free trick from the Miata.net forums to get a lower seating position and increase side bolstering on the stock seats. All that is involved is some zip ties, some cutting tools, and a few hours of free time to cut out the foam in the seat. The Miata guys call it a “foamectomy.” The Miata Roadster seats actually have a relatively thick pad of about 4 inches so it is quite logical to cut some out in order to get a better seating position.

I actually did this on my own NA8 some years back before I picked up a Lotus Exige-style bucket. I am about 6 feet tall (182 cm), so it was necessary to get low enough to avoid hitting the roof of the car. Since it was so successful, I thought it would do wonders for my Alto Works.

The only drawback is that it is a permanent modification to the seats and does potentially ruin the comfort of the stock seats, but I figured if I mess up, I could always just buy another replacement stock seat or go full bucket. I have not much to lose.

Remove four 12mm bolts on the rails and one hidden under the center console, disconnect the seat belt sensor connector, and the seat is removed easily. I used this chance and cleaned up the carpeting.

Looking at the brackets, the seats were made decently low from the factory, as the seat sliders are bolted directly to the bottom seat pan, offering little space for further welding modification short of discarding the sliders and bolting the seat straight to the floor. As a two-door car, that’s an unreasonable change at this time, since accessing the rear seats from time to time would be a necessity. (Not to mention slightly worrisome, as my amateur welding ability could prove dangerous in an accident.)

To undo the upholstery, there are several metal rings that need to be bent and removed…Well, crap. The foam on the seats is surprisingly thin as it is, around an inch (3 cm) thick. I was considering giving up, but Matsuda-san suggested I simply re-adjust the springs. Not a bad idea! By leaving the front spring at a high perch and progressively lowering the rearward springs, it creates an decline where my rear end sits more deeply into the seat.

Relocating the springs to near the bottom of the panel gave me around 25 - 30 mm of lowering, which is quite a lot considering it is still on sliders. After multiple test sittings, I found that it felt more comfortable than the stock seat. My ample rear end could not feel the metal plate, zip ties, or springs.

Reassembly is a matter of just reversing the whole process, but instead of the metal rings clipping the upholstery to the frame, I just used zip ties to put the cloth all tightly together Saves time and works just as well, minimally affecting the looseness of the fabric, if at all. So how did it turn out?

I think it came out really well. The seat feels noticeably lower, especially when compared against the non-modified passenger seat. As a result of only the rear of the seat being lowered, it feels as if the bolsters are “cradling” me more, creating the illusion of added side bolsters without the need to replace the seat with something less livable day-to-day. A full bucket will come, but at a much later time. Right now I’m sitting pretty happy.

If you’re a bit handy, you can give your own seats a shot. I’m sure many stock seats can be modified in some similar way, as long as you don’t mind making potentially permanent modifications.