Japanese friend of mine, “Y”, is a mechanic. Good guy, but a bit of a quick temper. He makes his living buying cars at auction, fixing them up nice and re-selling. He’s reliable as hell and has sold a number of cars to a number of friends of mine and everyone has been pleased with the results.
Hooked him up with another coworker, “X” and I was acting as translator as they don’t speak Japanese and know very little about cars/shaken/taxes etc. in Japan. They were looking at buying a kei car that Y was using as a service loaner. They asked him to take care of a few issues with the car before they took possession, i.e. refilling the A/C gas, new tires and a bunch of rust on the front hood.
He did all that, and had worked it in to the final price of the car. He had said, “as is, (lower price), but with all that, it will be 275,000 yen.”
We had meant to go to his shop on the 16th to pick up the car, but he received a bunch of service requests and informed X that he’d have to wait a week to take possession. I message X this past Sunday “When do you want to go out to get the car” and he replied “I’ve actually found an option more suitable to my budget so I’m backing out of the deal with Y.”
Y flips out. It’s understandable, because of two things – he had missed out on selling it to another customer because he was holding it for X, and also he put 2 full days of work into repainting the hood and other maintenance, outsourced AC repair, etc. He printed up a bill for parts and labor and it comes to around 90,000 yen. As well, he was out a service loaner for 2 days, which was a major pain in his ass.
So, I see Y’s side, but I believe X is well within his rights to back out of a deal since no signing of papers has occurred yet.
However, Y is threatening legal action. He has X’s name and address, and has told me that he’s going to go to X’s company and the police in X’s town. I think that this is just bluster because he’s (rightfully) pissed off, and that he actually has zero legal leg to stand on. However, I want to know just how much legal trouble X could be in, since a handshake (well, *bow*) deal has been made for the improvements on the car.
33 comments
W basically agreed verbally to purchase the car.
Otherwise Y wouldn’t have fixed up the car.
Y isn’t Amazon with a 30 day return policy.
Don’t deal in bad faith
I am not confident about the details, but I definitely recall reading that actually signing a paper is not necessary to establish a contract. Verbal agreements are just as valid. Your mechanic friend may very well be in the right on this one. If he has any way to prove that a verbal agreement to purchase was made, then your coworker is likely in trouble if he doesn’t follow through.
At least, YOU have learned what kind of person X is. X is a person you can never rely on about anything.
The upshot is that you’ll probably end up losing both of them as friends.
X is in the wrong. He strung your poor friend along… distance yourself from him
Whether it’s technically legal or not what your x friend did sounds pretty shitty. They verbally agreed to buy the car and therefore mechanic buddy did work on it only in the agreement the car was sold.
X is in wrong. He had given his word from which he backed out. Btw tell me X is you? Right. 😂 😂.
契約は口約束でも成立します。契約書は、契約内容を明確にし、後日の紛争に備えるため作成される書面です。
More info [here](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.caa.go.jp/policies/policy/consumer_education/public_awareness/teaching_material/material_010/pdf/teaching_material_1_171221_0009.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwil95fFmtb4AhUHm9gFHV3cAmMQFnoECAYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3Po1tCExys55ZoNUNtDmSl). It’s from the Consumer Affairs Agency.
Verbal contracts are legal in Japan.
Don’t know about the legal side. All i know is X is a dick. He already asked for some work to be done on the car. Materials used. Hours of work done. And I’m guessing Y had shaken it too. Also. He didn’t even think about the spot you would be in. Its like you and him went to eat at a burger joint, he’s late. He calls you and asks if you could order for him a hamburger with peanut butter on the outside, chocolate inside, cheese outside, then butter on the inside. A few minutes after you order for him he calls you and tells you he won’t be coming since he saw a burger joint that sells the same burger but with rum ham sides.
mechanic should have asked for a deposit but not cool of your coworker… but the police won’t get involved…. not criminal… civil … i unfortunately it kind of makes you look bad
Verbal contracts are a thing here. If he instructed the mechanic to perform work, how dare he then back out of paying – that’s common sense.
And this is why you don’t mix coworkers, friends and money.
As people have mentioned, verbal contracts are legally binding in Japan. Y is 100% within his rights to file a civil suit should he want, and since he has receipts and likely some more proof, i.e you and the fact that he refused another buyer, he’ll likely win in court.
Id tell X this. Also, Id stop dealing with X. Dude sounds like a dick.
Your co worker is 100% in the wrong.
Legality aside, X is an asshole. Since X requested for repairs and fixes before purchase this not only solidifies the idea that X will be purchasing the car but also took time and money away from Y. Y has legal standing here. If taken to civil court X might need to pay the 90,000 yen due to the opportunity costs of a deal being broken + court costs + time off work to go to court.
X has put OP and Y in an uncomfortable situation. If X doesn’t pay, Y might be forced to go to civil court. OP will probably also be asked for their statement (since their translated).
I hope X didn’t already buy the other car, because he’s likely to get stuck paying for this one as well: it’s not clear-cut that he’s “in his rights to back out” because there was not only a verbal agreement but that verbal agreement included custom work requested by X. If Y takes this to court, Y likely wins. It’s not just bluster. He has legal legs to stand on.
This is the part of translating for people that sucks.
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Purchaser is likely contractually bound. Purchaser likely be forced to go through with the deal or make the mechanic whole again.
Not a police matter though. And no need to go dobbing to the purchasers company.
Tell the mechanic to go to a lawyer and sue.
Y and X have legal contract (verbal). Y has right to go to the police and demand X to cover costs and lost profit.
Y is in the right. You should land 100% on Y’s side. It’s X’s side you shouldn’t see.
At the moment, this becomes one of those “Why do so many Japanese landlords refuse to rent to foreigners?” kind of things. Experience, or many a story from others of being royally screwed over by foreigners.
Y is right.
X is wrong.
Y can probably settle this in small claims court, it’s a civil case.
X may need to explain to his company why he cannot come to work that day because he’s in court getting justiced.
Take Y’s side.
Ditch X, because he/she/xhe cannot be trusted.
The precise law for this is probably in the Consumer Contract Act, and the Civil Code. I don’t know.
Regardless, this sounds like a verbal agreement. Y will have evidence of work done, and you as a witness to the agreement between Y and the delinquent customer X.
Pro-Tip: The next time the call volunteers goes out, take a step backwards.
Wait a minute, you’re not X are you?
Take a big bottle of good booze over to Y, tell X they have to pay (witnessed [you were there] verbal contracts are binding in most developed countries and if X says he didn’t understand that, you could also be on the hook for derelict translation), and distance yourself from the situation. You can bet X will lose in court and will have to pay the cost of the vehicle and repairs, damages to Y for time lost dealing with the situation and all court/lawyer fees, presuming the court doesn’t throw a bunch of compensatory damages at them, too. Y was cool by not charging a percentage before the repairs were done, regardless if there was a delay, as is apt to happen in an independent operation. X has no room to complain–this ain’t a fucking a franchised Toyota dealership. Plus he’s screwing over a person and not some corporation.
> but I believe X is well within his rights to back out of a deal
They have a verbal contract, of which you are now witness. The work Y did is also considered “consignment” work – even if X backs out, they owe the value agreed for the work they ordered.
You should tell X that Y is being very reasonable in charging ¥90,000 instead of the full ¥275,000..
Y is in the right from a legal standpoint as an oral contract was made which is binding in Japan. But the question arises was there a breach of contract by Y when there was a 1 week delay in possession. If a time frame was agreed on, implied or understood and that was not met, then the contract in null and void. Otherwise, the contact stands, but as a court case, even in small claims court, is still dubious.
Legally, your friend is in the wrong. Your home country’s rules don’t apply here. Oral agreements are just as binding as written ones. [reference](https://out.reddit.com/t3_voj8am?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26source%3Dweb%26rct%3Dj%26url%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.caa.go.jp%2Fpolicies%2Fpolicy%2Fconsumer_education%2Fpublic_awareness%2Fteaching_material%2Fmaterial_010%2Fpdf%2Fteaching_material_1_171221_0009.pdf%26ved%3D2ahUKEwil95fFmtb4AhUHm9gFHV3cAmMQFnoECAYQAQ%26usg%3DAOvVaw3Po1tCExys55ZoNUNtDmSl&token=AQAAw4O-YuVIcKScwID1oA_MbY-bUungy-vein_MtfURyST6MnbR&app_name=ios)
He made the mechanic do all that work, and now the mechanic is out the money for all the parts and service as well as a sale. It’s disgusting to as for custom work and then back out after it’s been done. Your friend owes him money. And if he doesn’t pay up the mechanic can get his employers and the police involved (police in the form of a formal report. They won’t arrest him but the report won’t look good).
If Y is Japanese and X a gaijin, it will be a not contest and if I was Y I would ask for wasting my time money aswell
As everyone else has correctly pointed out, there totally is a legally binding contract in place here. Your coworker X needs to pay Y as soon as possible and throw in, at minimum, an apology for their behaviour.
However, you don’t control X’s behaviour, and you can’t make them pay, so the real question here is how this affects you, what you can do about it, and what your exposure is here.
Firstly, you’re a **witness** to the transaction. If Y does go to the police or call your company you can expect to get dragged into this as, at minimum, a witness to the verbal contract. Now normally verbal contracts (while legally binding) are “worth the paper they are written on”, but that situation changes when there is a witness. What I would suggest you do is write down the terms of the contract as you remember them (in Japanese and English), and check them with Y and X to make sure you didn’t leave anything out. This does two things. Firstly it shows Y that you understand this is serious, that you’ve got their back, and that you know X is wrong. Secondly, when the police or your boss calls you in you have documentation that shows that you are doing all you can about resolving the situation.
Secondly, you were the **translator**. X’s easiest defence is going to be “Oh, yupjustathrowaway mistranslated and so I didn’t understand!” This is pretty much the **only** defence X can go with that might have even a snowball’s chance in hell of working – to dump the blame on you. You need to shut that down before it even starts.
So sit down with a pen and paper, and write up the terms of the deal as you remember them in both English and Japanese. Make three copies (the old “in triplicate” deal!) and sign each copy yourself, then take it to Y to have them sign that this is a faithful representation of what you translated and witnessed, and then finally take them to X, who will probably refuse to sign or generally act shitty, but leave them a copy anyway (if possible in front of witnesses and get a witness to sign that they saw you give X a copy).
Now **you** should be legally in the clear. You’ve clarified the terms of the contract (as you witnessed and translated them) with both X and Y. You’ve reassured Y that you get why they’re pissed off and that you understand that this is serious, and so minimised the chance of blowback on yourself. You’ve also got proof that you did due diligence and weren’t the source of the problem.
As a final note, I would suggest to X that if they can’t afford the full cost they might go and talk to Y (preferably with an apology and a bottle of whiskey) and suggest that perhaps they can pay some percentage of the costs (perhaps half?) since Y does still have the car and they can still sell it at some point down the road at the higher cost (since the vehicle has had improvements).
But refuse to get involved in translating unless X agrees to sign the document acknowledging that you aren’t the source of the misunderstanding here. CYA (cover your ass).
Kind of ridiculous you think X has a right to back out without paying for his request. Contracts don’t need to be on paper to be enforced . They’re just less easy to enforce. Definitely X at fault and he should do the decent thing and at least apologize and work out a deal to compensate him.
I would say, let them go to court. You’re not really in the middle of this.
Verbal agreement. Just buy it. I’m buying a washing machine for more than that next week.
Some nerve backing out of a deal after all of that work was done . Y Should have “sold” the car then do the work . in Japan , a handshake and verbal agreement carries significant meaning, probably why he’s so pissed
If a *verbal* agreement is made to purchase a car, the agreement *can* legally be canceled **UNLESS** installation work of optional/upgrade/repair parts has commenced. Once the work has started (not once the parts are purchased, but once the work has started) the deal is effectively set in stone.
Your coworker is very firmly on the hook. They can call consumer affairs if they want, they’ll be told the same thing – once the repair work started, they were obliged to complete the deal.
If they refuse to complete the purchase, the mechanic can take them to small claims court, there they will be ordered to pay the 275,000 yen purchase price, and they’ll also get hit with the court filing fees (30k-ish) as the responsible party. Further, as your coworker doesn’t speak Japanese, they’ll also need to hire a lawyer to go through the court case, and possibly an interpreter as well. Could easily end up doubling the cost of the car in the end.
My advice to your coworker would be to apologise profusely and pay for the car ASAP.
My advice to you would be to never do another favour for this asshole again.