Hi, all. Recently I’m looking to purchase a used car. I haven’t decided what to get yet, but Ive been thinking of something like a small suv like Porsche Macan gts or a four door sedan like BMW m340i.
I visited one dealer in Setagaya, and checked a few cars that I saw online. As soon as I asked for a quote (見積もり) for the car, they marked up the price on the website by 300000 yen. I felt uncomfortable and said I needed to think about it and make some comparisons.
So, what’s your experiences of purchasing a used car in Japan? Do you have any recommended dealers or places to visit?
14 comments
I bought mine from Big Motors but… well… given the recent news, y’know…
I also asked a buddy of mine who has his own used car shop and he was able to check the auctions for me, but I found the car I ended up buying through car sensor, getting a quote, haggling down the price because of all the bullshit extras they were trying to sell to me, and still ended up paying a bit over sticker price, but that’s to be expected.
Which area do you live? I might share a contact of a trusted friend who has a car dealership
just a wild assumption but I feel they marked it up as a “semi-reservation” to hold the car for you with mitsumori as actual price
https://www.yanase.co.jp/ yanase
Also depending on the shaken timing etc they will add shaken plus check, any basic overhaul on top of sticker price….don’t like it but looks about right.
Unless you’re planning to buy from a reseller w some kind of maintenance, warranty etc plan, I’d be asking around among groups of expat finance etc people, posting at TAC or something – people moving on wanting to shift their ride smoothly….esp people maybe returning to left hand drive countries.
I’d love to find a reasonably priced R32 GTR!
I call first and ask if the price on the website is the final price. If not, I don’t waste my time. In a few very rare places, it’s the final price, but in many others they are willing to make a deal matching the site price (specially if it’s a car that has been sitting there for a while).
If you’re looking at used Porsche or BMW, TUC group is a good option.
I would definitely buy it at Big motor right now. They’re probably one of the safest places to buy a used car right now. I mean this seriously.
I’m no expert and dislike pretty much everything about cars especially the extra costs which get added on here. We looked at a few cars before realising a lot could be removed – new number plates (no thanks), parking permit (we’ll do it ourselves) etc. We told the dealer we wanted to pay sticker price and the final thing to go to get us there was JAF membership but he threw it in anyway and gave us the price we wanted. YMMV.
Of course none of this stops him from calling every 6 months offering yet another oil change and he managed to persuade my wife to change the battery on one occasion.
At the car store. Where they sell cars?
Just find it online on car sensor. Go to the dealer, have a test drive and check, negotiate a bit on the price and options?
I buy new, from the dealer. Where a used dealer goes, there’s the price of the car, and then the price for detailing it, registration, inspection, and all that. On many cars, that’s easily ¥300k
Also, rule or Euro in Japan: People who can afford the repairs on used Porsches and BMWs don’t buy used Porsches and BMWs.
What was the 300,000 yen itemized as on the quotation? A lot of times it’s stuff like ceramic coating which you can refuse.