Repairing your own car in Japan--rules/laws?

[TehDude]

Konnichiwa. Oshiete kudasai?

I've tried googling for this to no avail. In the US, obviously, if you choose to perform repairs on your car yourself, you're free to do so. No one cares as long as the end result is good.

In terms of performing your own car repairs in Japan however, I can find nothing. The only thing related to car repair that I see is evidently when you have to take it in for "shaken", they just go ahead and repair anything they find wrong with it (I find this disturbing as what I've read makes it sound like I don't get a say-so in what they fix, giving those technicians a free ride to serve me an outrageous bill).

So does anyone know? Can you repair your own car by your own hands without fear of legal repercussion? If it is legal, are parts typically easily obtainable in Japan like they are here in the US?

Arigato gozaimasu...

[siokan]

Originally Posted by TehDude

Konnichiwa. Oshiete kudasai?

I've tried googling for this to no avail. In the US, obviously, if you choose to perform repairs on your car yourself, you're free to do so. No one cares as long as the end result is good.

In terms of performing your own car repairs in Japan however, I can find nothing. The only thing related to car repair that I see is evidently when you have to take it in for "shaken", they just go ahead and repair anything they find wrong with it (I find this disturbing as what I've read makes it sound like I don't get a say-so in what they fix, giving those technicians a free ride to serve me an outrageous bill).

So does anyone know? Can you repair your own car by your own hands without fear of legal repercussion? If it is legal, are parts typically easily obtainable in Japan like they are here in the US?

Arigato gozaimasu...

The charge of the car check(shaken).....
TaxTaxTaxTaxTaxTaxTaxTaxTaxTaxTax +
Insurance(Compulsion) Insurance Insurance Insurance +
Inspection expense + Repair price + Agent commission
80% of the inspection fee is a tax and an insurance.

Do you want to reduce 20% of the remainder?

[Sangetsu]

Yes, you can do necessary repairs to your own car, and you can get a car inspection checklist which you can fill out yourself, thus saving the expense of hiring a garage to do the work. The greater part of the fee is the annual road tax rather than the inspection itself, and the tax is based upon the age of your car and it's engine size. The larger the engine the higher the tax will be.

On my last car, which was 2 years old but had a 6 liter engine, the fee was 120,000 yen per year. Add the high cost of fuel and parking in Japan, you will probably end up using a bicycle quite a lot.

[siokan]

It is a Tonnage Tax that pays at the car inspection.
The Tonnage Tax changes by the weight of the car.
There is a Road tax besides it.
The amount of the payout changes into the Road tax by the Engine displacement.

90% or more of the charge of the car inspection is a tax and an insurance price when paying at the same time.

[Nyororin]

You can easily do any repairs yourself, but in the end the car is still going to have to pass shaken - and you`ll have to take it into an authorized center to have it checked. They will NOT just fix whatever - they will tell you that you have not passed and what needs to be done to pass. You can then do those repairs yourself or have a service center do them.

In the end, there are a number of things that have to pass but they don`t really care how they reach the standard. The "just go ahead and fix-it" thing is when you ask for that sort of package. Tons of packages for quick shaken are offered, and they will fix whatever is necessary to pass within the package time frame.

The exception to this is if your car is expiring/expired - either you have the repairs done immediately or you cannot take the car home as it would be illegal to drive.

In my personal experience, dealers tend to be the best deal and the most reasonable for repairs. Their mechanics are held to a high standard and are required to actually attend a university dedicated to automotive service. (In the case of Toyota, Honda, and Nissan. I`m not sure about others.) They usually have the cheapest and quickest access to parts - for example, a friend recently replaced his car`s headlight casing. At a dealer the price was about US$8 for the part, and US$30 for the labor with guarantee. Looking to order the part himself, it would have been US$60 for the part alone. Guess which route he took. (Dealers in Japan are directly connected to the company whose cars they sell. A Toyota dealer is a part of Toyota, a Honda dealer a part of Honda, etc. They don`t mix, and tend to be just nicer than any dealer I`ve seen in the US. Anyway, as part of the maker company things tend to be quite tightly regulated when it comes to service costs, etc.)

I don`t have tons of experience with garages, but I have never heard stories of them ripping people off for repairs or the like as was pretty normal in the US. People tend to have their cars serviced very regularly and replace the cars quite quickly, so there really isn`t much chance for things to go wrong. Buying a new car with a dealer warranty (not a rip-off in Japan, unlike the US) will get you free servicing, free parts, and free labor for anything that is within a normal range - ie. not because you got into an accident, put in the wrong type of something, or the like. Most people will take this option as it is rarely a waste of money. However, servicing your car on your own can invalidate the warranty if you use parts other than those specified (ie. cheaper generics, "performance" parts, etc).

[MrSamo]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

You can easily do any repairs yourself, but in the end the car is still going to have to pass shaken - and you`ll have to take it into an authorized center to have it checked. They will NOT just fix whatever - they will tell you that you have not passed and what needs to be done to pass. You can then do those repairs yourself or have a service center do them.

In the end, there are a number of things that have to pass but they don`t really care how they reach the standard. The "just go ahead and fix-it" thing is when you ask for that sort of package. Tons of packages for quick shaken are offered, and they will fix whatever is necessary to pass within the package time frame.

The exception to this is if your car is expiring/expired - either you have the repairs done immediately or you cannot take the car home as it would be illegal to drive.

In my personal experience, dealers tend to be the best deal and the most reasonable for repairs. Their mechanics are held to a high standard and are required to actually attend a university dedicated to automotive service. (In the case of Toyota, Honda, and Nissan. I`m not sure about others.) They usually have the cheapest and quickest access to parts - for example, a friend recently replaced his car`s headlight casing. At a dealer the price was about US$8 for the part, and US$30 for the labor with guarantee. Looking to order the part himself, it would have been US$60 for the part alone. Guess which route he took. (Dealers in Japan are directly connected to the company whose cars they sell. A Toyota dealer is a part of Toyota, a Honda dealer a part of Honda, etc. They don`t mix, and tend to be just nicer than any dealer I`ve seen in the US. Anyway, as part of the maker company things tend to be quite tightly regulated when it comes to service costs, etc.)

I don`t have tons of experience with garages, but I have never heard stories of them ripping people off for repairs or the like as was pretty normal in the US. People tend to have their cars serviced very regularly and replace the cars quite quickly, so there really isn`t much chance for things to go wrong. Buying a new car with a dealer warranty (not a rip-off in Japan, unlike the US) will get you free servicing, free parts, and free labor for anything that is within a normal range - ie. not because you got into an accident, put in the wrong type of something, or the like. Most people will take this option as it is rarely a waste of money. However, servicing your car on your own can invalidate the warranty if you use parts other than those specified (ie. cheaper generics, "performance" parts, etc).

I know this is old information but still very useful, thanks!

[JohnBraden]

I know it's not entirely related, but, is JCI still attached to a car and not to a person?

I remember buying a car there in 1987. It was a '79 Galant and it still had a year of JCI on it. After the year, I sold it to a newbie for the same price I bought it for ($600) and bought an '82 Corona coupe....

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by JohnBraden

I know it's not entirely related, but, is JCI still attached to a car and not to a person?

It wouldn`t make any sense for it to be attached to a person, as it is an inspection of the vehicle... An inspection is an inspection, no matter who owns the car.

[JohnBraden]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

It wouldn`t make any sense for it to be attached to a person, as it is an inspection of the vehicle... An inspection is an inspection, no matter who owns the car.

I must be mistaken. I thought JCI stood for Japan Compulsory Insurance.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by JohnBraden

I must be mistaken. I thought JCI stood for Japan Compulsory Insurance.

Hahaha. My mistake on this one. There are so many numerous abbreviations used for the different things in Japan that aren`t used in Japan. As the thread was about the shaken, I kind of assumed that this was just a new abbreviation for it that I wasn`t aware of.

Anyway though - it is still included in the whole shaken package, attached to the vehicle not the person. Or rather, I believe that these days it is attached to the license plate number. When we sold our car, we just handed over documents of insurance linked to the plate number.