Some things are just better in Japan, and buying a used car is one of them. It was a bit daunting at first because there is a warranty called the “shaken” that can be costly. Typically, the older the car, the more expensive the shaken. I was really relieved when the dealership was able to extend it for two years. So now we don’t have to worry about that until 2021. I was also a bit thrown off that we could not test drive the car. That was culturally very weird to me. When we got to the lot, though, I completely understood why. The cars were packed in there. They were so packed that we joked that was the reason there was a two-week waiting period for delivery. Culturally, waiting for the car to be delivered was strange and a bit frustrating. I mean, who doesn’t want to drive the car as soon as they buy it, right? Although there were a few things that made it culturally weird, there were more things that the cultural difference improved than made weird.
The biggest positive was that when we told them our budget, they did not try to upsell us. Because it is our son’s first car, in the U.S., they would have tried to shame us into buying him a nicer car and getting financing. It was nice to not be treated like we are bad parents for having a budget. It was also really nice to come in under the budget. It was very shocking that they did not try to bleed us dry. In the U.S., they would have tried to “load” the car with added features to bring up the price and make sure they got all the money they could possibly get out of us. The process was super fast. All told, it only took about 2 hours to buy the car and get insurance. In the US, even when paying cash for a car, it takes all day long. There is a lot of paperwork to do and it all takes time to process. One thing that was kind of cool and kind of weird is that we had to show proof of parking space for the car. Not everyone has a parking space, but we are lucky enough to have one at our house and one at my office. All in all, it was really straight forward. Most people buy from a GooNet, a huge dealer, but we bought the car from a dealer called Action One in Anjo city. We went into the dealer with cash and all of our paperwork and in a few hours walked out with a car. Well, the delivery date for a car.
The whole family is enjoying our son having a car and it feels really good to live out this life goal. It may seem silly, but I always wanted to buy my son his first car or give him mine. I have so many good memories of my first car and am excited to see him create some of the same memories with his first car. It was a really proud mom moment.