The "shaken" and "haircuts"

[danfromvan]

I think the whole thread should just be deleted, except for maybe Mark's (brave auto) post which has some useful info in it.

Enough already!!

[jessef]

I need a haircut.

No really. I do.

[39Ronin]

Well, there you have it. Mark "braveauto" took more time and detail to say what I was saying the whole time. Buying from Japan blind and at least not considering shaken coupled with service records and verified physical condition to reduce your risk is foolish. I would pay the extra for a well documented, shaken vehicle anyday over one that has no known history. To suggest Shaken not being relevant is foolish.

[delicabits]

probably my main point in the thread and the other 3 is that there is a fair bit of information being put forward about japan that is not entirely accurate and far from the truth, in regards to hair cuts, shaken and how japanese people drive. it takes longer to do the paperwork for a shaken check at a govt shaken centre than it does to have the actual 5-10 minute vehicle check. a shaken check at a dealers or work shop is generally more thorough than the government check. the dealers or work shops make money by changing many items that aren't really necessary to change. the reason parts get change is just in case something may break before the next 2 year check. on the other hand you have the paper shaken test where they do very similar to the govt centre but take no responsibility if anything does break down. the average japanese person doesnt like hassles and it is easier for them to give their car to a dealer etc rather than go through the process themselves. recently more japanese have become aware of the fact they can do user shaken at govt centres and are starting to do this mainly as away to save money on unnecessary costs. a vehicle with shaken may have past a few simple tests so don't get fooled by so called very strict safety checks. i'm sure mark can easily verify any of the above as he has probably used the system himself or know others that regularly do. buying a vehicle with shaken or without shaken doesn't have a lot of bearing on the safety of the vehicle. as mark said if the vehicle doesnt have the relative information on the deregistration certificate then probably better to steer clear. one problem with deregistration certificates is they may only show the last distance as when the car was checked for shaken and not when it is actually deregistered. this is a good way to shave the last 2 years off the odometer. there is a huge industry built around the exporting of cars and quite a few different scams for the unexpected buyer. an example of a good scam is when the exporter/agent prepares the car to be exported and charges the custom clearance fee which can be up to $250. what they don't tell you is that they normally get charge the one price whether they cleared 1 car or 50 cars at the same time. there is nothing wrong with an agent charging $1000 extra for the fob but it is wrong when they justify it with false figures. one major difference about buying a vehicle with shaken for the agent or importer is they can claim the recycle fee and what ever is left over from prefectural tax on the shaken and get money back. 1 yr of shaken can easily put $100-150 recycle fee plus $300-500 of prefectural tax in the agents pocket. these figures are based on delicas but may vary from prefecture to prefecture

if your friend isn't driving in kyushu then he is missing out on a lot and probably explains why he hasn't seen people drive the same way. on any given day you can watch car after car go through red lights or travel at speeds easily 20-30 kmh over the speed limit. japan has speed limits of 30, 40, 50 kph unless you are on the toll road and then its 80 but guess what. you would find just as many cars driving over the speed limit than under the speed limit. once you move away from cities like fukuoka or kita kyushu public transport is sparse so people in these other areas do drive and drive a lot. car clubs are abundant in japan and kyushu has its fair share of touring clubs. this coupled with numerous onsens and places like nagasaki, miyazaki and oita makes kyushu one of the driving meccas of japan. quite a few places dont require parking certificates to park your car at home as required in fukuoka and kitakyushu so less hassle owning a car.

a lot of foreigners go to japan and spend a few years living in the cities, never drive cars and waste their time just hanging out in bars. they never get to experience the rest of japan outside the little world they have wrapped themselves up in. japan has changed a lot over the last 20 years and japanese people are more and more discovering the joys of driving in japan and visiting places. many major roads that were single lane roads are now dual carriageways or have bypasses to avoid traffic congestion. traffic congestion does still happen as can be seen by the many traffic jams on expressways but mainly during holiday seasons and peak hour.