Is there any variation from one Japanese car auction to another? Should I purchase from any Japan car auctions or should I ask my agent to look for vehicles in certain specific Japanese vehicle auctions?
Personally I would only choose to purchase from certain auctions if I was purchasing a car for myself. There are a number of factors to consider.
1. Locality
Purchasing a vehicle from one of the three main centers: Tokyo, Nagoya, Kansai, means the costs of internal transports from the Used Car Auction to the wharf area where you are having your car exported, are minimal. Always ask our sales staff to search for your car from auctions such as CAA Tokyo, TAA Tokyo, USS Tokyo …. basically anything with the word Tokyo or Yokohama included in the used car auction name.
The same goes with Nagoya: Honda Nagoya Auction, USS Nagoya, CAA central (Chubu), TAA central (Chubu). Also any words using Gifu is also in the Nagoya area.
Kansai is a little more complicated as you have used car auctions in the areas of Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara to name a few. One of the largest, also being close to the port so not needing large transportation fees is HAA Kobe.
If you view a car on another site from a USS auction in a place you have not heard of before, and you are interested in purchasing this car through us, ask us where the used car auction is and how much transport would be to the nearest exporting port. Just reduce that inland transport amount from your purchase price. Sometimes you can get bargains from these distant auctions EVEN WITH the extra inland transport. Think of the over all picture and costs. Although we can not show you USS car auction details due to copyright inflictions, there are many, many sites out there that blatantly show their data, so check their sites and then come back to us with your order.
Once you are outside of the 3 main auction areas of Japan, inland transport is a major factor. Purchasing used cars in auctions in Kyushu or Hokkaido means transportation costs as these islands usually do not have shipping lines that export to your country. Make sure you know the most likely cost of your internal transport to your local port for export before you purchase.
2. Locality warnings
Just a small note to say, some used car auctions in Japan, are just not worth bidding on. First of all, you all know that there was a nuclear meltdown in North Eastern Japan that nearly spiraled out of control. Well it did have an impact on some of the cars sold in the Used Car Auctions of Japan. These auctions include anything with the name Tohoku and Fukushima. Our staff regularly check number plates in ALL Japanese used car auctions with license plates relating back to these areas.
Apart from “glowing” car warnings, there is also a “rusty” car warning. Some cities in Japan receive huge amounts of snow, Niigata I think receives world record amounts of snow, being on the wintery cold western side of the Japan alps. To melt this snow, certain salts are spread onto roads that helps reduce the melting point of the snow, and therefore the snow itself. The chemical result of this chemical reaction is … acid, sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid has a natural ability to turn all your iron associated parts of your car into red rust! So avoid any small mention of rust from auctions in the Niigata area as well as the snowy Hokkaido used car auctions. Just ask our staff whether the auction you would like to bid on may have a rust problem.
Again, we have a network of people throughout the auctions to check cars you are interested in purchasing from.
3. Used Car Auction reputations.
Although we’d like to present to you a picture that all used car auctions in Japan present their cars in equal presentation with unbiased judgement, unfortunately that is not true. The reality is, some are more honest than others. Rather than writing a list of the “good used car auctions” in Japan against the “bad used car auctions” in Japan (we might get in trouble here, the Japanese used car auctions can cause us trouble), just ask us the reputation of the auction that we find a car for you to purchase from.
Having knowledge as a tool in your purchasing arsenal about what auctions to purchase from is your edge in this competitive industry. We strive to give you that edge.
