Okay I know this sounds dumb but it’s my first time using a car loan to pay for a car. It still has a few months left but the shaken is coming up next month. I used the dealer for the first shaken two years in and it was egregiously expensive so I’m hoping for cheaper options.
So, I was wondering if I can go ahead and use an outside garage to do the car inspection like I’d done with past cars. The estimate has it at about half of what I’d pay at the dealer. But can it still happen despite the “Owner” of the car on the shaken paper be the dealership, at least until I pay off the remainder of the loan and they transfer it to me.
6 comments
Yes, you can use whatever service you like.
Yes, you can even do it yourself, especially for a newish car without many problems. Just google for “user shaken”.
Car shaken? *shakes your car* your car has been shaken
The thing to remember about user shaken, is that it’s just a quick visual for leaks, etc., and the testers. If you take it to an actual minkan shakenjou, by law, there’s a whole different inspection they have to do. Like removing the tires and actually inspecting the brake pad thickness, leaks in wheel cylinders, worn bushings, and a whole host of other things that don’t get inspected when just rolling the testers.
Some people just want it as cheap as possible. Some people want a car in good mechanical condition, and worn items replaced.
The dealer does a lot of stuff that doesn’t “need” to be done, but a lot of what “should” be done. A decent minkan place will go somewhere in the middle. Brake pads aren’t required to be replaced unless the lining is under 1mm (which a user shaken won’t tell you). But do you want to be running around on 1.5mm pads? Belts may pass, but be really old and close to failure. That’ll leave you stranded. Hybrid brakes on a Toyota last forever, but the caliper slide pins still need to be lubed every couple of years.
And on and on.
I advise people who don’t do their own maintenance to take the car somewhere and have it inspected properly. I use the user shaken option, but I also do a lifted, tires-off inspection myself.
Shaken have a really good DIY system. Just get a japanese fluent friend with you.
Yes, I just did mine and did my friend’s car once.. I think taking it to a shop is a big waste of money.. change a lot stuff you don’t need changed ..