Selling & Buying Accident Cars in Japanese used car auction(2)

Hello. This is JPC’s News Letter #12.

I am going to continue to talk about cars that are involved in an accident in this issue. But this time, it is about damaged cars being sold on an “as is where is” basis.

Damaged cars are sometimes sold as they are without being repaired. So as you can guess, they can be in various forms & shapes. Some are so badly damaged that you cannot imagine what they were like before the accident, some have big dents in the rear panel from a rear end collision, some have their airbags fully open, etc. When you reach this section, it looks like a graveyard for cars… However, there is a market for cars you cannot believe anyone can fix and there are dealers who specialise in dealing with damaged cars.

So what sort of dealers sell damaged cars at the auction? First of all, 1) dealers who deal with those cars: They buy damaged cars straight from their owners and bring them to auction. The owners are usually in shock after an accident, so the dealers go & see them as soon as they hear about an accident; and buy the cars for cash. They have to do so before the owners calm down to get a big bargain.

Secondly, 2) insurance companies: when people have an accident, they first contact the police, then their insurance companies if the cars are insured. The insurance companies, then decide what to do after talking to their clients and if they think it is not worthwhile having them fixed, they take the cars to the dealers like 1) or take them to auction.

Then what sort of dealers buy damaged cars? 3) dealers who are specialised in dealing with damaged cars as they are, usually called “Fixers”, 4) panel beaters, 5) recyclers and 6) car exporters. “Fixers” in 3) are people who only buy damaged cars at auction, fix them and sell them again. So they only deal with these sort of cars. 4) Panel beaters: they usually fix dents and scratches on car bodies but when they run out of work, they buy damaged cars at auction, fix them themselves and sell them again at auction. In this case, they can sell cars with the fixing cost on top of it; so they can recover all the repair cost. 5) Recyclers: they are the people who sell used car parts. They demolish damaged cars and collect the re-usable parts, then sell the parts. They get rid of the useless parts and de-register the cars. 6) Car exporters: they export these cars as they are for customers overseas or after being fixed in Japan.

Fixers (3) and panel beaters (4) aim to sell them again after some repair, they only bid on popular models which are relatively easy to win at auction & sell again. Recyclers (5) target cheap cars because they only sell the parts. Car exporters (6) mainly export SUVs such as Land Cruisers and sport cars depending on what their overseas clients want, but cars going to the Middle East and Pakistan, they tend to pack as many damaged cars as possible to send them as second hand parts. You have to know what you are doing to do this sort of business.

We do buy damaged cars like these case by case. If you are interested, please do not hesitate to ask us.

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★ Japanese used car stock : http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html
★ JPCTRADE Home page : http://jpctrade.com/
★ JPCTRADE Blog : http://jpctrade.blogspot.com/

(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
Kato building 4F, 1-1-2 Furuishiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
FAX : +81-3-3643-4955

Selling & Buying Accident Cars in Japanese used car auction

Hi everyone. This is JPC’s News Letter #11.

As you might already know, cars with a score of “R” at auction means that they were involved in an accident and have a history of some repairs. (Some auction places use “A” or “0” for these.) Today, I am going to tell you how inspectors at auction mark them as “R”.

At each auction, experienced inspectors check all the listed cars as an objective third party. They consider cars with damage to the frame as “R” cars. Cars with minor scratches in the bumper or fender will not be rated as that. So when the only rule for this is whether the damage reaches to the frame or not, the judgement greatly relies on the inspectors’ visual observation. It is quite a subjective assessment. Different inspectors might have different views sometimes.

Panel beating skills in Japan are at a high level and professional panel beaters with experience can fix damaged cars incredibly well even after a car is involved in a huge accident. There are numbers of cars with an accident history but most of them are perfectly fixed so that average person cannot detect the repair. Inspectors at auction places decide if a car was involved in an accident by checking small details such as if there is any trace of bolts being re-tightened, if the panel still has the original paint or if there has been any retouching.

Inspectors’ judgement affect the car value greatly. Some sellers who had bought their cars from the previous owners believing it has never been in an accident cannot recover the cost once their cars are ranked with “R”, which is like a life-or-death matter for them. (Especially for expensive imports like Mercedes Benz and Audi, the price drops dramatically if they are “R”. Could be a business opportunity for someone?) Inspectors have to be responsible in their jobs because sometimes the sellers complain about their judgement and they will have to explain the reason to the sellers. They have to be absolutely positive about their decision.

Thinking about this, I think the level of the inspectors is getting higher every year. When we go to auctions, we are quite often surprised to see how small an area of the damage they picked. Auction organizers want to reduce the numbers of the complaints from the buyers afterward and to trade the cars smoothly; so high standards are required. Some used to feel obliged to lower their standard because of the pressure from the sellers, but now they realise that they can also lose the trust from their customers with such an attitude; so these days, all the auction places do the inspection strictly and sometimes use individual inspector on contract from outside to be fair.

Early this year, a Japanese customer visited our office and asked if we can sell his Estima he had bought from a Toyota used car dealer about a year before. According to him, the dealer explained that previous owner grazed the left fender and replaced the panel but it did not reach to the frame and will not affect its performance. But it was rated with “R” at auction. The damage was thought to be bad enough. In this case, the Toyota staff might have told him a lie to sell it but I think the staff did not genuinely think it was that bad but the inspector thought the other way.

So depending the inspector or seller’s stance, you might get two different answers. The Toyota dealer was thinking about having a buyer who is very interested in buying it right in front of him, he could not say anything negative which might make the buyer have second thoughts. Especially when the damage was so small that it was not going to affect performance, dealers will not judge it as “R” to lower the value of a car unnecessarily.

On the other hand, the auction places, as I mentioned before, judge cars on the basis that they can trade cars smoothly by using harsh standards. If they are in doubt, they mark it as “R”.

This is how people’s opinions get divided. When they have to make a difficult decision, it is natural you get different results depending which sides they are on; but if you understand this when you purchase used cars, it might widen your business opportunities. The quality of inspection at car auctions in Japan is extremely high, maybe one of the highest in the world; so you can trust them and safely buy cars from them. Some of JPC’s customers overseas mainly buy cars with an accident history but in good condition. They are doing business by lowering the purchase cost. They must know what they are doing.

There is much more to talk about on “R” cars, and this may be in the next issue. To be continued…

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★ Japanese used car stock : http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html
★ JPCTRADE Home page : http://jpctrade.com/
★ JPCTRADE Blog : http://jpctrade.blogspot.com/

(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
Kato building 4F, 1-1-2 Furuishiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
FAX : +81-3-3643-4955

USS Yokohama Auction

Hi there. This is JPC’s Mail Magazine #10.

Every Tuesday, USS Yokohama is a used car auction place, where we buy often after USS Tokyo. This auction place is situated right next to our Yokohama shipping yard, so if we buy cars there it means we can provide you with the cheap transport cost. The numbers of the cars listed was around 5,000, which is about 1/3 of the USS Tokyo, but this must be the second largest amongst all the other auction places. Because Yokohama is a port city and a lot of car lovers are there, they seem to have many imported cars in good condition. Although the numbers of the cars are limited, there are not so many dealers who you have to beat in bidding; there is sometimes a good chance you might get a bargain.

This place was recently built and cars are displayed in a multilevel car parking tower. So the pro is that you can check cars without getting wet even if it is pouring with rain outside, but the con is that if cars are in a dark corner of the building, you cannot see them very well without direct sunlight. We take a torch even if it is daytime for this purpose.

Yesterday, we won a Porche ordered from a Japanese customer from Italy, a Mark Ⅱ for a Russian businessman, a Mercedes Benz for a customer from Korea and a Harrier for a customer in Japan. The customer who wanted this Harrier asked me to test drive it after the auction, so I took it for a drive on the Highway along the bay. It was great weather although we are still in the rainy season and after all the rain, the air seemed clean and the sea water was clear. (I could not take any photos because I was on my own.) As I mentioned before, the first thing you can see when you leave the auction place is our shipping yard. I saw staff loading some used cars onto a Roll-on/Roll-off (Ro-Ro) ship. This ship was like a whole multilevel car park in a shopping centre turned into a ship, so many cars were gobbled up by it. It might be the one heading to Australia & New Zealand which also carries cars from JPC. I hoped all of them get to the new owners without trouble.

By the way, speaking about Harrier, it is known as the SUV (Sport-Utility vehicle) model of the Lexus lines in America. It has a platform for easy entry and the total height is kept lower than 170cm. Of course as a SUV, it has high roof but because the body’s stiffness has been improved from the last model, you do not feel as if it is too high while driving. You can drive it like a large size sedan or a station wagon. I tried to increase the speed on the Highway and its 3.5L V6Engine showed quick acceleration but with the feeling of the wheels firmly & heavily on the ground. The interior is designed carefully including the instrument panel. You would agree to call it a high class station wagon of quality. No wonder it is the most popular SUV in Japan. Next time if I had a chance, I would like to try it off-road.

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★ Japanese used car stock : http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html
★ JPCTRADE Home page : http://jpctrade.com/
★ JPCTRADE Blog : http://jpctrade.blogspot.com/

(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
Kato building 4F, 1-1-2 Furuishiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
FAX : +81-3-3643-4955

Negotiation in used car auction

Hi there. Here is JPC’s Mail Magazine #9

This morning, a client from the UK requested us to conduct a negotiation with the owner of the Mitsubishi Delica wagon he had not been able to get the day before. This client placed bids for 3 of the same models the other day but did not win, so he tried again the day before yesterday. Not reaching the reserve price, the car did not make sale; but he did not want to give it up and asked us to negotiate with the seller. You know, we have a time difference between the two countries. Morning in Japan is evening in the UK. He could not get to sleep after losing at the auction, so he decided to call us in the middle of the night.

We do negotiations like this: the buyer’s representative who wants to buy a particular car has to contact the auction organiser with an offer, then the staff will contact the seller to see if they want to accept it. When both sides agree, the deal is completed. Sometimes the seller says “Yes” straight away, but sometimes the auction staff have to work in between a few more times to bring about an agreement. So following our usual process, we asked the client how much he was prepared to pay, waited for the seller’s reply, then made another offer and the seller accepted it. In the end, the seller agreed with the price \50,000 lower than the original reserve price; we felt lucky. As you know, each negotiation goes differently and of course we cannot always win; but we are professional. We check the auction database, ask some auction organisers about the seller, what he/she is like; then make an offer considering his/her feeling. We often reach good deals for both sides.

So when it was morning in the UK, I rang this client and told him about our successful result: we succeeded in buying the car \50,000 less than the original reserve price! He was screaming for joy and his wife thanked us too. It was a great news to hear first thing in the morning. They asked if they were still dreaming.

If you use this system, you can sometimes wisely buy the car you want. This time the buyer added a bit more to his previous bidding price and the seller gave him a discount. This sort of the thing happens quite often.

We sometimes take cars to negotiation strategically when they are very expensive ones such as latest Mercedes Benz, BMW or Audi. One of the main reasons for the sellers not making sales, in most cases is a lack of the numbers of bidders (not many dealers sell expensive cars like these anyway.) Another reason could be because there are not many of these cars in the database. Of course the sellers want to sell their cars for a high price. So they usually set the reserve price reasonably high for the auction. On the other hand, the buyers are looking for a bargain when they buy cars at auction. In a case like this, when there is not much data on a similar car, neither the seller nor the buyer have anything they can use as reference; there can be a big gap in their price expectations. So we usually wait till the bidding ends at the auction by not bidding right up to the budget. We keep our bidding low. If the cars do not make sale, we apply for a negotiation and wait for the seller’s reply. This could be the way to go. Even if we do not make the deal, we can use this experience to go to the auction again next week.

To buy cars for our clients for the price they want to pay, we sometimes go through a few unsuccessful negotiations until the seller gives in. However we will lose if someone else comes up with a higher offer, so a successful negotiation is not always possible. There is no guarantee of cutting a deal. As for standard Japanese cars, because there are so many cars of the same model available, the sellers are not as aggressive as the sellers of the expensive imported cars; you can usually get a good bargain at the actual auction rather than taking it to a negotiation.

As you can now see, we use different strategies when we go to used car auction depending on the types of the cars you are after. So if you cannot make up your mind on what sort of a car you want, please ask us for some professional advice. We will do our best to help you get a car as cheap as possible.

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★ Japanese used car stock : http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html
★ JPCTRADE Home page : http://jpctrade.com/
★ JPCTRADE Blog : http://jpctrade.blogspot.com/

(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
Kato building 4F, 1-1-2 Furuishiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
FAX : +81-3-3643-4955

Child Car Seats

Hello. This is JPC’s Mail Magazine #8.

The other weekend, I went shopping at a department store. A friend of mine just had a baby and we were looking for a present. I have 2 children 13 & 14 years old, so we have not been to a baby section for more than 10 years. We were looking around on 7th floor, when I saw some push chairs and car seats I had never seen before.

As for push chairs, all of them now have air tyres and fancy add-ons . There are some expensive brands such as Maclaren. Children do not really care as long as they do the job. I guess they are made to attract mothers as a part of a trend or fashion.

We checked child car seats too. Some spin around, and some were well designed. The ones which caught my eyes were Recaro’s. Recaro seats, developed for sport cars, are well-known and Recaro child car seats are designed similarly to wrap baby’s body gently. You will instantly know it is a Recaro car seat if you see one. Reading the manual, Recaro seats are used in many different situations such as in airplanes, Bullet trains, as the bench seats for the famous Real Madrid soccer team, for people with back pain, etc, etc. The first seats for new born babies are called “Recaro Start”. When I was driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X at high speed on a highway, the Recaro seat was very comfortable and felt safe as it fits more snugly around my body as I am pushed back into the seat as the speed went up. I am sure even a baby can feel this while he/she is on a Recaro car seat with its stability.

Looking at child car seats made by other Japanese car manufacturers, the mainstream is a small bucket design. With a good waist & shoulder support, they are designed so that babies will not jump out of the seats with an impact. Some with a 4 or 5 point harness were the same structure as racing car full bucket seats & full harness. So when you think about the safety of a person who rides on it, they must all end up with the same design. Having these things in my mind, I was playing with them by turning them upside down and pulling bits & pieces. (Sorry to the shopkeeper but I did not buy one after all!)

Child car seats became compulsory for children under 6 years old in 2002 in Japan. The safety standard is higher using European standard not Japan’s one. This explains why they look heaps stauncher than those of 10 years ago.

You know you can reduce infant death rates by 75% and injury rates by 57% if you use child car seats properly. So if you have a child, protect him/her with a good car seat. This is all drivers’ responsibility!

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★ Japanese used car stock : http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html
★ JPCTRADE Home page : http://jpctrade.com/
★ JPCTRADE Blog : http://jpctrade.blogspot.com/

(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
Kato building 4F, 1-1-2 Furuishiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
FAX : +81-3-3643-4955

Summer Time & Hybrid Cars

Hi everyone. This is JPC’s Mail Magazine #7.

Lately the days are getting longer in Japan. It is 7pm but the sun is still there. According to an internet site, the longest day for this year is 21st of June; so no wonder I felt like this today. But for people in the Southern Hemisphere such as Australia and New Zealand, this must be the shortest day. And of course in the countries further up North than Japan such as Ireland, the UK and Moscow, the day must be much longer than ours. We do not feel this when we are contacting each other via email and telephone, but thinking about the sun and the time differences, I can feel the vastness of the world.

The other day, there was a news that we might have “Summer Time” or “Daylight Saving” here in Japan too by forwarding the clock 1 hour only in summer when we have long daylight. They say that you can save night time usage of electricity when you start moving earlier which eventually leads to an Eco-friendly environment and more time spent with your family. This brought on active debate on its pros and cons from politicians to industry leaders, now it does not look likely to happen. I, personally, am not so sure.

A long time ago after World War Ⅱ, we had “Summer Time” only for three years but could not establish it as an annual event. The reason was that because it ended up with people having to work an extra hour, starting at the same time as the day before, instead of cutting their working hours by one hour. I guess it is not easy for companies as well as for their employees to change our attitude towards overtime. I can easily imagine that it would only increase my time in the office if they bring “Summer Time” to Japan. I am a hard working man, ain’t I? It is sad, really.

However, we do have to seriously do something about CO2 as a strategy towards reducing global warming. Especially for people like myself who make living by dealing in cars, we cannot ignore the level of CO2 emission. We have to think how we can keep our business at the same time as thinking about the environment globally. Every year Japanese car manufacturers have been developing new types of cars which cut the level of CO2 emission dramatically. For example, Toyota now has hybrid models, not only the Prius, but Estima, Alphard, Harrier and Crown. Honda announced that they are planning to install hybrid engines to Fit and they will be on the market by 2009. (As I mentioned the other day, the present model of Fit with gasoline engines are very economical, so if they make a hybrid model, you may not realise that you need fuel to run the car. I am looking forward to its arrival.)

This month, as a related topic to the high oil price, there are some news items in the newspaper on each car manufacturer’s effort for electric cars. Car manufacturers cannot avoid the issue of the global environment if they want to survive.

So, JPC, as a used car dealer, would like to promote hybrid cars as we receive lots of inquiries from customers but they are still quite expensive, aren’t they? When you compare the difference in the price of a gasoline car and a hybrid one with the cost you can actually save in the fuel, the price of hybrid cars is not low enough to cover this. Considering the high price of new hybrid cars, it is inevitable but I would like the manufacturers to do their best to produce them with lower prices.

If you have driven a hybrid car, you cannot forget the experience. They are quiet; you cannot hear an engine, you cannot even feel the vibration. They are also extremely economical to the extent that you would think there is something wrong with your fuel indicator. Many clients who had bought the first model Prius bought new ones or are asking for another hybrid car. They must have become captivated by their comfortableness & economy even if they are still expensive.

Writing on hybrid cars, now I feel like one. Would you like one, too?

For their auction prices, check here:
http://jpctrade.com/auction/japaneseusedcarauctiondealdatabase.html

Also, the list of hybrid cars we have been selling to our clients from
overseas is as follows:

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★ Japanese used car stock : http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html
★ JPCTRADE Home page : http://jpctrade.com/
★ JPCTRADE Blog : http://jpctrade.blogspot.com/

(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
Kato building 4F, 1-1-2 Furuishiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
FAX : +81-3-3643-4955

USS Tokyo Auction

Hi everyone. Here is JPC’s Mail Magazine #6.

Thursday is the day when USS Tokyo, the largest used car auction in Japan is on. This Thursday they had approximately 15,000 cars listed. You know, they sell the whole lot within a day! They have 10 lanes from A to J in 5 different categories. (In each category, they auction 2 cars at the same time, one is in the even numbered lanes and the other one is in the odd numbered lanes.) It starts at 9:30am and goes on all day without a break. The last auction finishes around 10:00pm.

Our staff leave the office at 7:30 in the morning to get there at 9:00 and start checking all the cars. This Thursday, we started with a BMW320i for a client in Japan. It has headlights called “Squid Rings” because of the shape, and the Xenon lights help your visibility in the dark. The rings make the car look cool & very special. The condition of the car was excellent. It has only been 3 years since it was first registered. We told the client about the condition and set the maximum bid. We got the car JPY100,000 lower than that. I think we were just lucky because the seller had not set the reserve price too high, and because it was so early in the morning, there were not so many bidders around. That was lucky and was a great start.

Next one was a Fit. It was the request from a client in Russia. It was manufactured in 2005 and they are called “JAZZ” and very popular in Europe for low-fuel consumption and user friendliness. There is nothing is particularly special about them but they do not have any faults either. It is a great car to drive. It is ideal for a housewife who just wants something small to do her daily chores. Yes, we won this one too.

We kept bidding for a Toyota Supra for a client from the UK, Estima for another one from Malaysia, Skyline, Silvia, Grand Cherokee, MR-S, Mercedes Benz, etc, etc… We won more than 10 auctions. We bid for around 30 cars, so the success rate was around 30%.

Moving from car to car, we had mixed result, some successful and some unsuccessful. Compared to last year, we seem to be buying cars around their market prices. Especially imported cars, they have been getting less popular from around last month because of their high fuel consumption. (We lost in a lot of auctions last year when we bid for imported vehicles.) This might be a reflection of the high oil cost. So if you want any used Mercedes Benz, BMW or American import, now is the chance. However, more buyers go for left-hand drive models, so if you do not mind right-hand drive ones, please give it a go. You might be surprised!

Why don’t you have a look at our auction database at http://jpctrade.com/auction/japaneseusedcarauctiondealdatabase.html

Spending all day at USS Tokyo, our staff looked exhausted. I decided to go home earlier today. Bye for now.


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★ Japanese used car stock : http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html
★ JPCTRADE Home page : http://jpctrade.com/
★ JPCTRADE Blog : http://jpctrade.blogspot.com/

(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
Kato building 4F, 1-1-2 Furuishiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
FAX : +81-3-3643-4955

Tips for buying CAR STOCK in JPCTRADE.COM

19, June, 2008 vol.5

Hi there. This is JPC’s Mail Magazine #5.

We just had a large scale earthquake in the Tohoku Region in Japan and all the news on TV was about rescuing the survivors. This happened when I just got to the office and I was on my own. I felt an unusual wobble; feeling unsafe, I went outside through the emergency exit to have a look outside. There was a bigger earthquake in Sichuan, China, not so long ago. Some scientists say that we have now entered a period of brisk seismic activity globally. They might be right. As you know, we have lots of earthquakes in Japan but it seems big ones are occurring too often lately. It is scary to think that one day we might have a huge one here in Tokyo. Tokyo is the centre of almost everything in this country, politically & economically. Newer buildings are earthquake-proof but I can see it would be an unimaginable disaster if it happens. I do not want to think about it. How about in your country?

We started the “Car Stock” last week and we have been receiving a lot of inquiries from all over the world. Thank you very much for your interest. However, as I told you before, you have to be quick. All the newly listed cars tend to go quickly and sometimes they might have gone by the time you get around to contacting us. So if you find cars you are interested in, please tell us straight away. We check the data every day, so if you also check it every day, you will one day find a good bargain.

Some customers asked me to show the prices in Euro (€) & US $, so we changed this bit. But we buy cars here in Japan in Japanese Yen and the exchange rates change every day, so please use the prices in currencies other than Japanese Yen as reference. If you have any other requests, please do not hesitate to ask us.

The prices in Car Stock are FOB prices. To ship them, you need to pay for the Cost, Insurance & Freight; which is called CIF price. You have to add other costs incurring in your country to this CIF price to get the total cost. In some countries like New Zealand and Africa, cars have to go through pre-checks according to their own rules. Please ask us for help.

The freight is getting more expensive lately because of the high oil price. It is a headache not only for us exporters but for our customers. We hope the price goes down soon.

Please check our Car Stock page: http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html

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★ Japanese used car stock : http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html
★ JPCTRADE Home page : http://jpctrade.com/
★ JPCTRADE Blog : http://jpctrade.blogspot.com/

(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
Kato building 4F, 1-1-2 Furuishiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
FAX : +81-3-3643-4955

Yahoo Auction

Hi everyone. This is JPC’s mail magazine #4.

Do you remember my story about used cars in stock in the last issue?

Well, I am not going to talk about used cars in stock any more but about Yahoo Auction. The world biggest auction website would easily be “Ebay” (http://ebay.com) but, as you know, they had to pull out of Japan after they unsuccessfully tried to set up their website here. And the reason for that was “Yahoo Auction”, the internet auction website run by Yahoo Japan whose boss is Yahoo USA.

Exactly the same as Ebay, Yahoo Auction is a Consumer to Consumer (C2C) trade. When a person has something he/she wants to sell, with a small fee, he/she can list it on the marketplace called Yahoo Auction; then people who want it place their bids. There are of course some dealers, not only individuals who use this as their main trading place.

Not only buying used cars from used car website and shipping them on our customers’ behalf, we are sometimes asked to place a bid at Yahoo Auction for them. Customers think that they might be able to get cars cheaper from there because it is a C2C trade, but as for the car trade, 90% of the sellers are used car dealers. Although I have not checked this properly, if we check their trading history and the list of the items they are selling, you can tell that their main trade is cars. It means that there exists average prices at Yahoo Auction, which are usually about 5-10% lower than other internet used car dealers’ auctions. (See our website for the average prices for used cars at dealers’ auctions: http://jpctrade.com/auction/japaneseusedcarauctiondealdatabase.htm)

The reason for the cheaper prices at Yahoo Auction could be because, there are no trading rules as it is C2C trade, there are always risks of the cars not being exactly the same as what you see on the website, or the cars are not the one they promised to you, or the cars may not be delivered to you at all even after the payment. This sort of thing never happens at dealers’ auctions. So when we receive an inquiry about Yahoo Auction, we have to be very careful when we pay and make sure cars get delivered to us.

The other day, we won a sightseeing bus at Yahoo Auction for a customer from Australia. In Australia, there is a restriction on sightseeing bus imports; they have to be manufactured in 1989 and before. So we had to look for something 20 years old. As you can guess, there were not many in good condition although we checked dealers’ auctions every day.

Fortunately, the customer contacted us and said that he had found a good one at Yahoo Auction himself. Checking the seller’s information, we rang him and found out that it had been used as a courtesy bus for a city council. It had regular annual maintenance and we asked for some photos of the bus via email. Looking at them, we thought it was in reasonable condition; we told the customer about this and he wanted us to place a bid on his behalf as soon as possible. So we joined the bidding, and won the auction within his budget.

But it was not the end of it.

The seller was a used car dealership owned by a Sri Lankan man. They did not have a website. All I had was his email address and phone number. How am I supposed to check on him and his business? We had to pay as quickly as possible and actually get the bus after having spent so much time. When I rang him to ask him where the bus was, we found out that it was only 1 hour away by train from our office; one of us went there to have a look at the bus and decided to pay in cash. So we gave it to our transport company the next day to take it to the port for shipping to Australia.

Yahoo Auction is a free market: you have to trade at your own risk. But if you can control the risk tactfully, you sometimes can get a good bargain. Please contact me if you see any cars you like at Yahoo Auction.

(Yahoo Auction)
★English:
http://www.excite.co.jp/world/english/web/?wb_url=http%3A%2F%2Flist1.auctions.yahoo.co.jp %2Fjp%2F26360%2Dcategory.html%3Falocale%3D0jp&wb_lp=JAEN&wb_dis=2
　
★Japanese:
http://list1.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/26360-category.html

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★ Japanese used car stock : http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html
★ JPCTRADE Home page : http://jpctrade.com/
★ JPCTRADE Blog : http://jpctrade.blogspot.com/

(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
Kato building 4F, 1-1-2 Furuishiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
FAX : +81-3-3643-4955

CAR STOCK Service in JPCTRADE.COM

17, June, 2008 vol.3

Hi everyone! This is JPC’s 3rd Mail magazine.

As you might have already realised, we add Stock Data to our website. You can check this from the “Announcement” tab at the top of the page, otherwise click here http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html

We are going to upload new data at 6am Japan time every day, so please do not miss this. As soon as the good cars are loaded on, people rush to get them: you have to be quick! Some cars are only on the list for 3-4 days, so it is important you check this every day.

The condition of the car has already been checked by the sellers and will be shown on the Condition Check Sheets. Each score shows the condition of each car: S(almost new) >6>5>4.5>4>3.5>3>1 and R means they have been repaired (might mean that they have been involved in an accident but have been fixed since). Generally, cars with a score of 3.5 and over are the standard used cars. Please use these as well as photos as a guide.

We get inquiries about shipping cars to order from all over the world. Not only from car auctions, we sometimes buy cars through one of the largest used car stock websites called GOO (http://www.goo-net.com/english) where the customers find the car and we buy it on their behalf. This is called “Gyoohan”, but there are not many places in Japan who provide this service.

Before buying a car, customers usually compare the car prices on the internet, and they do not buy it if the price is too high there. Dealers have to check the average price for similar cars before setting the price first; then they make a quote by adding all the other costs such as maintenance, change of ownerships, cost of delivery, etc before the actual sale. So many dealers tend to set the car price low on the website but make a profit from the additional costs. Some lower value cars are priced close to cost price because dealers need to attract customers.

So if you ask used car dealers to do “Gyoohan”, they’re most likely to say no because there is no profit for them when they cannot make money from other costs. Sometimes, they might do it if you are prepared to pay extra (usually JPY30,000-50,000 for cars up to JPY1,000,000.)

To improve turnover, sometimes dealers will sell cars that have been in stock for too long. Ideally most cars should only be in stock for 1-2 months, it’s not always easy to sell them within 2 months. In most cases, it takes 3 months or longer; some dealers change their displays of cars to make customers think they are making a lot of sales, they make some “fresh” arrangements with the customers, or give them big discounts. If they still cannot sell them, they will take them to auction for a quick cash sale; then buy new stock.

It was reported last week in a newspaper that in Japan, the number of registered used cars for the last 26 months to May was less than the numbers registered in the 12 months prior to that.

The national used car market does not look promising. If the situation does not improve quickly, there might be some dealers who want to sell cars to a used car export company like us as a part of their business. For people overseas this might be an opportunity to choose the car you want from wider range. Please contact us if you see any nice car in Goo-net or other places. We look forward to your enquiries.


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★ Japanese used car stock : http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html
★ JPCTRADE Home page : http://jpctrade.com/
★ JPCTRADE Blog : http://jpctrade.blogspot.com/

(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
Kato building 4F, 1-1-2 Furuishiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
FAX : +81-3-3643-4955

Almost New Cars in Japan

Hello, Fujiwara from JPC trade again.

Before I start with our second flow of events I want to thank you all for having interest and registrations on our website. We really hope to continue update you with recent happenings in Japan and our company events. By the way, we have started our corporate blog viewable on our website which is going to have the materials issued in these mail magazine series. There on the blog you can view the various pictures too.

This week also is cloudy which gave us a clear point to expect the usual rainy season to come early this year. Usually rainy season is not a favorite season for car dealers as the auction houses are to be under rain which make the mechanical inspection a bit difficult. So if you feel the rainy pictures of your cars please be informed that we are having a rainy days here. Do you have rainy days in your country too?

This morning I went to the closest Honda dealer shop to pick up one of our domestic client’s almost new car (Honda Fit). We has bought the car on Auction according to a Japanese client and he wanted to get an original check-up and original maintenance package by Honda-dealer for the car.

Sooner we found out that this car was sold by another Honda Dealer shop in Nagoya area (Nagoya is the third largest city in Japan). The dealer seemingly have sold this almost new (under just 10km) to get rid of their stock and improve their financials and that is why the car was in a 100% condition.

As a rule in Japan new cars cannot be sold on auction according to the Japanese regulations and that’s why dealers register the car first and thus obtain the status of “old” car to be able to sell on auction because auctions are the places where the buyers are.

Buying and selling cars from auction houses is more profitable compared to doing so with dealers. So that is why Japanese people shifting more to auction houses and use the brokers like us as they don’t have a membership, expertise and time. Auction houses also provide a best choice for grades, specifications, and various buyer tastes.

We get various inquiries from our clients to buy brand new Japanese cars. But as per Japanese law it is impossible to export unregistered cars from Japan. At least the new car should be registered with police first and have either private or company owner. After that one can export them outside of Japan.

However in some cases it is possible to negotiate with the dealers and have it registered first and then export. So in such cases some extra costs like taxes, fees to register may be applicable. But if such cars (which were registered) appear on auction houses it is very easy to buy them without negotiations.

Our customers who have their deposit with us can currently see such almost new cars also and can purchase such new cars without any doubts about their quality. So, if you are interested in almost new cars with no “real” owner then simply search on our database. Their condition score is usually marked as “6” or “S”.

If you are interested in any other topics to be highlighted on our mail magazine please let us know. We will continue to provide you with useful information on importing　Japanese cars.

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★ Japanese used car stock : http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html
★ JPCTRADE Home page : http://jpctrade.com/
★ JPCTRADE Blog : http://jpctrade.blogspot.com/

(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
Kato building 4F, 1-1-2 Furuishiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
FAX : +81-3-3643-4955

Seat belt problems in Japan

Hello,

My name is Fujiwara from JPCTRADE.Today I am going to tell you about activities in our company and about the latest hot　topics about the car industry in Japan. We will try to provide you such hot topics as　regularly as possible so that you can read them when you have a free time.

June has started. A new law obligating the seatbelts for rear seats also started in Japan. Now, passengers on the rear seat risk falling in trouble with police if they fail to fasten　the belts and might get fined. The front seat fastening is complied by almost 100% of the drivers and it has resulted in accident death drop. This new law now aimed to decrease the death toll caused by rear passenger failure to fasten.　According to the police, the first year since enactment the violators are going to be warned without imposing any penalties. The strongest negative impact will be on the part of taxi drivers as they will have to ask every client to fasten the belts. Taxi drivers might get even penalized, if the customer fails to fasten. The situation is worse if the customer is mad or aggressive as taxi drivers in Japan cannot simply force them to fasten. All they can do is to loose such clients.　If taxi drivers are caught with unfastened client they will have to pay a big bite of their revenue.

This problem may create another problem to the cab drivers and taxi driver businesses. Every country has its own specific rules of seat belt fastening. In some countries seat belts are not mandatory at all. In New Zealand, for example, seatbelts are different from those in Japan and usually fasten from shoulders to abdomen. What is the seatbelt law in your country?　Does it impact any social class negatively?

Today is Tuesday, almost beginning of the week. We have received a lot of requests from different countries over the last weekend and now answering them all.　Among of these clients there was one from New Zealand who liked the functionality of our website. I called him to find out the car he is interested in.　After I called him he cleared all doubts about us he made a deposit via PayPal soon after, and have bid for Audi A6 which he was very close to get.　But, there was a competitor who overbid us.　Never mind there are plenty other auction houses and similar cars where we can get that car.　Meanwhile I will continue to look for a new A6 Audi for him.

If you are interested in any other topics to be highlighted on our mail magazine please let us know. We will continue to provide you with useful information on importing　Japanese cars.

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★ Japanese used car stock : http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html
★ JPCTRADE Home page : http://jpctrade.com/
★ JPCTRADE Blog : http://jpctrade.blogspot.com/

(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
Kato building 4F, 1-1-2 Furuishiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
FAX : +81-3-3643-4955