Car

[Firebird]

Well, ill try again to get some answers here, anything will be apreciated.

So i will leave to Nihon on a Working Holiday Visa on Tuesday and im still planning to buy a car if possible (even i know its gonna be very difficult). So here are some Questions to those who live in Japan and/or have owned a car there.
1. I have been reading that i will need a parking space. What are the cheapest options in the outskirts of Tokyo, what would you guess? I will not use the car inside Tokyo, as this would be crazy, and i will use the space only for leaving the car there during winter (4-5months), but will probably have to rent it for the whole year.

2. How expensive is breaking the driving laws (nothing major!) Like going over a Orange light, driving 60 or 70 if 50 is allowed, etc.

3. I know nearly all Highways take high tolls. Do you think it is possible to drive most of Japan without using Highways ( lets say you do around 250km driving a day, i got some sparetime) I would also buy a car-navi for that point, hope to get one wich can english in Akiba.

4. How much is unleaded fuel and or diesel at the moment?

5. Any experiences with the "extra" expenses when u first buy a car ( taxes, insurance,... for 1 year).

I plan to get a middle big car, maybe just that big that i could spend some nights in the back on campinggrounds or similar. But it just have to be cheap, bring me from A to B and fit my things and maybe a second Person.
Well, like said above, any info will be appreciated.
Firebird

[Sangetsu]

If you shop carefully and look around, you can find an inexpensive car from a private party, and often the car will have as much as a year left on the inspection and insurance, which can save you a lot of money. Check Craigs list Tokyo, you can usually find listings there.

Gasoline is about 170 yen per liter now, definitely not cheap. Tolls are high. Between my house and Tokyo the toll is 2200 yen, about double what the train fare would cost.

You can find your way around on non-toll roads, they are not the fastest way to get around, but you'll get to see a lot more scenery. You can research your travel routes on Google maps.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by Firebird

1. I have been reading that i will need a parking space. What are the cheapest options in the outskirts of Tokyo, what would you guess? I will not use the car inside Tokyo, as this would be crazy, and i will use the space only for leaving the car there during winter (4-5months), but will probably have to rent it for the whole year.

If it`s only going to be in that spot over the winter... Where are you going to park it the rest of the year?
Parking spaces can easily be rented by the month. The thing is, you have to have a space in order to register your plates and need to register each time you change the space.

2. How expensive is breaking the driving laws (nothing major!) Like going over a Orange light, driving 60 or 70 if 50 is allowed, etc.

More than the price, I`d be concerned about the way Japan does their license system. You have so many points, and when those points are gone so is your license.

3. I know nearly all Highways take high tolls. Do you think it is possible to drive most of Japan without using Highways ( lets say you do around 250km driving a day, i got some sparetime) I would also buy a car-navi for that point, hope to get one wich can english in Akiba.

It is completely possible to go anywhere in Japan without using any toll roads. (Unless, of course, your destination is actually on a toll road.) We drive all over and never use toll routes. 250km is possible, but it`s going to take ALL DAY if you`re not on a highway, because of the stop lights etc.

4. How much is unleaded fuel and or diesel at the moment?

167/liter self.

5. Any experiences with the "extra" expenses when u first buy a car ( taxes, insurance,... for 1 year).

Expect sales taxes, yearly tax, inspection tax, and the like.

I plan to get a middle big car, maybe just that big that i could spend some nights in the back on campinggrounds or similar.

Please note, auto camping grounds are ungodly expensive during the on season, and generally closed in the off. If you`re anywhere around Tokyo, good luck. It ends up cheaper to spend a few days in a nice hotel as auto-camping ends up being like a glorified parking lot.

[MMM]

I am just wondering, why would you want to buy a car in Japan for a working holiday.

[Firebird]

Thanks for all the answers first.
Now 170 yen is still cheaper than here, as it is 200yen in switzerland and around 250 yen in Germany and France.
To Nyororin: Well i plan to move around the rest of the time. I want to do a travel for about 2 Months in Hokkaido and than slowly move back to Tokyo for Winter and work there. After that i wanted to move south. The actual plan was to use camping as cheap alternative to Hotels and maybe spend some nights just on the roadside (outside the citys off course!)

Well im not a lawbraker, the only thing i ever got was 5 parking tickets abd 1 speeding ticket for 1km/h to much.... We also got a point system running in Germany and i think thats more than good. I was just curios if i can risk driving 60 when there is 50 allowed or will i face a fine like in Switzerland for that (that will cost you more than 100$ there!).

Well about the 250 a day, i was aware that i will be driving all day for that, but i have time and i will maybe be a bit faster around the rural areas (like most of Hokkaido). If i go this fast i can cover 2500 in 10 days and 5000 in 20. So lets extend that and say i´ll do 10000km that year, so i spend around 40 days driving, wich i think is alright, i probably spend more in Australia on Highways, but Australia is bigger.

To MMM: Well my plan was to move around alot, as i also like to see some spots off the beaten track and they are mostly hard to reach on public transport. 2. i can carry all my stuff without worriyng, wich can be pretty anoyinng if you dont have a car. I can transport a small gas-oven and i can buy food and dont have to throw it away the next day because i just cant carry it. 3. You can stop anytime and anywhere when you see 4. more of the scenery between the citys than in a train, bus etc. You can maybe find a travelmate or invite people on a weekend trip.
I know using the car inside the citys is crazy and i will try to avoid it like i did in Australia. I checked in, in a cheap place on the outskirts of the city where the had a parking and than always went to the city by bus or train. Worked out pretty well.

Note that i will take a little bit more money with me than most people on a WHV, so i hope that this will somehow work out. If not, than thats also ok, but first i want to try that out.
A little calculation. Lets say i do the 10000kms in the year and lets say petrol goes around 180yen all year round. Now lets say my car takes 10l for 100km than i would run a 180000 yen wich is around 1800$. I dont know how much i might spend on trains and busses to cover that distance AND come to the special spot you hardly reach without a car.
Now why buying i can could rent? Ever calculated how much a rental car costs for lets say 4 months? I can easily get 2 cars for that price.

Thanks to everyone anyway

[Sangetsu]

I have a car which I bought from another foreigner who was leaving the country. The price was good, and the car came with more than a year left on the inspection and insurance. Parking for me wasn't an issue, my apartment here came with a space, and my GF's apartment in Tokyo also has a space.

A car really isn't necessary in the metro areas, and in many cases it is an inconvenience. Finding your own parking space is hard enough, finding one while in the city shopping is another ordeal altogether.

But I live outside the city, where the roads are nice and the traffic is light. It's nice to have a car to take to the beach, or for going shopping. Before getting a car, shopping for large items was a pain. I would have to arrange for delivery, and and try to rearrange my schedule so as not to miss the delivery people.

A navigation system is a must; addresses in Japan are not sequential as they are in other places in the world, so you might find #19 between #6 and #7, rather than next to #18. Many navi systems are multi-ingual, but they are expensive. In my case, I use the GPS/navi on my cell phone for finding addresses.

[Nyororin]

I don`t see the plan of getting a car inherently flawed on it`s own.
There are just parts of the plan that seem a bit sketchy and hard to pull off.

I`m not really familiar with the laws, but how do things stand with working holiday visas and owning things like cars?

You also have to have a method of disposing of the car when you leave - and if the car has been sold used more than once, it will be VERY hard to find somewhere that will take it off your hands without charging you a fee. When we bought our car - brand new at the dealer - as our old car had been sold used twice it was deemed to be lacking any resale value. The best the dealer could arrange for us was to waive the recycling/disposal fee. We checked at used car dealers and they would have charged us a significant amount to dispose of the car.
Of course, this doesn`t apply when you`re handing the car directly over to another buyer, but you can`t always count on finding one in time... And I would be flat out disgusted if you fell into the seemingly popular path of just abandoning the car when you left Japan, making someone else dish out the money to clean up after you. (Not saying you would do this, but it IS a significant problem - on the same scale as running off without paying the last month`s rent, or running up huge bills just before leaving Japan so you can get out of paying them, etc.)

I also think you have slightly skewed views of just how friendly Japanese roads are toward long distance travel. Sleeping at the side of the road is not really acceptable unless it`s in a designated rest area - which are VERY rare if you`re not on a highway. Driving around for a few months on it`s own isn`t unthinkable - but still, that`s 2 months plus the 4 or 5 months you mention just letting the car stay parked... What about the rest of the year? (as I presume you`ll be in Japan longer than 6 months.)
You can`t just find parking spaces anywhere, even in the countryside - particularly at night if shops with parking lots are closed. And in most of the country, the normal roads are too narrow to stop at the side. Also be warned - using a gas stove (Anything with flame) on the side of the road or in a parking lot is enough to get you arrested. Japan is VERY strict when it comes to anything involving fire. When camping, you aren`t even allowed to cook anything at your spot - it has to be done inside a building or in a specific designated area. If a fire happens and someone happens to have seen you cooking at the side of the road - expect your life to basically be destroyed, regardless of whether you were at fault or not.

Anyway - as for speeding in Japan, the posted speeds are far closer to recommendations than actual limits, it seems. Virtually everyone drives over the speed, and the only time I have actually heard of someone being pulled over was when they were going more than double the posted speed or recklessly driving. It really only strongly comes into play in an accident - if you were going over, then things are definitely not going to go in your favor.
Driving about the same speed as the other drivers is normal, regardless of how far over they are driving. (I regularly drive 120km/h on 60km/h posted highways. Just like everyone else in the right lane. But that`s on the highway.)

I may sound negative, but I definitely think that driving about is a wonderful way to see Japan, especially outside the cities. I love my car, and that is how we travel. I wouldn`t give it up for anything, even for inner city travel. Then again, I don`t live in Tokyo - which brings me to another point. Why end up in Tokyo? You could base yourself out of anywhere in Japan. Jobs are just as plentiful in other big cities - actually, easier to get around here as there isn`t the huge community of foreigners like there is in Tokyo.

[jasonbvr]

I suggest a scooter or motorcycle. A scooter is all you will need for cruising around especially if you won't be on the expressways. Then meet some Japanese people who have cars, and they will drive you around. Problem solved.

[MMM]

Is it possible to drive to Hokkaido?

[Firebird]

It is possible to own a car on a working holiday visa, i called the embassy here. Yes i plan to stay in Japan for 1 year. I know that disposing the car will be another big headache, im still trying to figure out something. Best would be off course to sell it, but its sometimes hard to find someone in the right time. Otherwise i thought i might leave it to some friends who live in the countryside if they would like it.
Thanks alot for the information about the Gas stove thing, that is a very important thing to know, it kinda kills the "nomadic" plan i had ^^. Yes you sound negative, but i appreciate that you are not lying about things, because i kinda wanna know if it is worth the try and so i need to see the bad sides too. Now im not sure buying a car would be the best option anymore. But thanks anyway, i will see the rest once im there (takes only 4 days from now).

jasonbvr: I thought about a scooter or small motorcycle but there are some things wich i didnt like. When it rains you get soaked and with you probably all your things. You cant fit a navigation, try to get around without one in the citys (you cant read the map either, you will have to stop and get off). You cant sleep on the motorcylce (but as Nyororin said that will be difficult anyway). When it is cold you get cold. You cannot carry so many things around (like i wrote on the PRO site for a car). So bassicly its not such a good option.

I assume you can get a ferry to Hokkaido wich carries cars.

Thanks
Firebird