# Buying a car in Japan



## ESL Prof

Hi, it's me again...

My husband and I want to buy a car since we'll be living in Japan about a year. I've heard you can get a car for about 1/2 price of what you'd pay in the U.S., and I was even thinking of buying a new car and then shipping it back to the States. Or, even a used car. However, from what I've read, used cars can be costly with taxes and inspection fees.

Is this true? Any thoughts?

ESL Prof


----------



## larabell

ESL Prof said:


> I've heard you can get a car for about 1/2 price of what you'd pay in the U.S...


I haven't priced cars in either place but I'd be very surprised if you could get anything here for half of what you'd pay in the US. If you heard this about *used* cars, that may be true. I've heard that maintenance and inspection fees increase significantly for older cars -- so much so that it often pays to trade up to a newer model every few years (I heard that from one of my car-owning friends who was thinking of just *giving* me his previous car).

To buy a car here, you have to prove you have a space in which to park it. Of course, as you might expect, there's a black market for "parking spaces" that don't really exist. Or, at least, they're rented out to multiple people at any one time.


----------



## kyledesu

ESL Prof said:


> Hi, it's me again...
> 
> My husband and I want to buy a car since we'll be living in Japan about a year. I've heard you can get a car for about 1/2 price of what you'd pay in the U.S., and I was even thinking of buying a new car and then shipping it back to the States. Or, even a used car. However, from what I've read, used cars can be costly with taxes and inspection fees.
> 
> Is this true? Any thoughts?
> 
> ESL Prof


Depends, you can get them cheap but yes Taxes can be a pain. 
But if you get one with the shaken(taxes) paid for a year then you wouldn't need to worry.

However, there are other things to consider such as proof of parking space which you would need to prove..

I can connect you with someone who can help you find a car and all the requirements needed to legally drive/own it if your interested.


----------

