How to buy a second-hand car in Japan?

21 Jul 2025 | #car | #japan | #money

So we recently bought a second-hand minivan, and in this post I’ll cover the various options on how one might buy a second-hand car in Japan. (This is based on my limited research, so I could have missed somethings. Feel free to correct me in the comments.)

Auctions

I didn’t look into this in detail, but apparently this is one of the cheapest way to get a second hand car. But you need to know a lot about cars.

Friends, Facebook Marketplaces, Jimoty, Mercari

Finding a car this way is still on the cheaper side, as you are buying it directly from the previous owner. But this also means that you have to check the conditions of the car yourself, and do all the paperwork. But at least you can see the previous owner (unlike the auctions).

Some of these (e.g. Mercari) will charge a fee, and usually provide some service (e.g. conflict resolution). Others (like Facebook Marketplaces) only serve to connect the seller and the buyer, and don’t help with anything else (but they are usually free to use).

It seems that Mercari is going a step further and will inspect cars sold on their platform, and also help with the name change process and delivery. But they charge a service fee of 210,000 yen for this, so the more DIY options will be cheaper.

Used car dealers

There are companies specialized in selling second hand cars. One can easily search all their stock via sites like CarSensor, Nextage, or Goo-Net.

This is likely a good middle ground: a professional has checked the car, and there might be some warranty as well. However I’m personally concerned about the information asymmetry and misaligned interests: they know much more about the cars than I do, and there is very little stopping them from cheating me. The fact that the then-biggest user car dealer, Big Motor had a major scandal in 2023 also only reinforces this (they allegedly damaged cars to then charge for their repairs).

Official dealerships

Most car maker’s official dealerships sell second hand cars too (e.g. Toyota, Suzuki). We decided to go this route for the peace of mind, and because I think this is where the incentives align the best: the other sellers are mainly interested in getting a good deal at a single transaction, but e.g. if an official Toyota dealership would cheat someone, then that person would likely never buy a Toyota again (and also it could turn into a PR disaster for the company).

Moreover official dealers are also the ones that service most new cars (they upsell people on the maintenance packages), so they know the history of the car. The downside of this is that they will also try to upsell the same maintenance pack when you are buying the second hand car. But this business model of getting people to buy their maintenance packs and to do shaken at their shops also means that they are interested in a long-term relationship which requires happy (or at least not pissed off) customers.

This all costs money, likely making this option the most expensive one. However the cost gets you a few things. In our case they did the followings for free:

• oil change
• wiper change
• battery change
• AC cleaning and filter change
• inside and outside cleaning before showing and before handover
• 1 year warranty included (and another 2 year warranty added for 7,590 yen)

I didn’t ask about the details of the warranty, but I assume it is on the condition that we regularly service our car at an official dealership, which likely explains the seemingly low price for it.

Car condition rating

Official dealerships also provide a rating on the internal and external condition of the car, listing all damages (including very minor ones).

Our car got the following ratings:

• Overall score: 3.5 (out of 6) - “There are some scratches and dents, but it is in relatively good condition”
• Exterior: D (from A(best),B,C,D,E(worst)) - “There are some noticeable scratches and dents.” (but nothing that threatens with rust, only cosmetic issues that don’t have to be fixed)
• Interior: B (from A(best),B,C,D,E(worst)) - “There is little wear or dirt, and the overall condition is good.” - we couldn’t see any issues at all, it looked like brand new for us

The evaluation goes even further and outlines the places where they identified damages, e.g. for our car:

After seeing the car in person, I would be hard pressed to find even half of these. Things like “golf-ball size dent” and “touch pen marks of less than 10 cm” is just something I wouldn’t even notice, let alone care about. (Also as a family car, I’m sure we will double the number of these damages in a few years time.)

Clicking on a damage will show the details. (Some listings will only provide a pdf listing all damages, some will have this interactive view.)

The nice thing is that this evaluation is available as part of the listing, so you can check all minor damages before seeing the car in person. Also since this is part of an official certificate that the dealer (or another company? not sure) provides, if later there is another defect discovered, that might be covered under warranty. (So it’s not just the sales person telling you that the car is in top condition, but you get an official paper listing out all known damages.)

Same brand different companies

We learned that most dealerships are independent companies, so e.g. if you buy a second hand car in Honda Tachikawa, then you will have to bring it back to that specific shop for check ups and warranty-related issues. Toyota is different: in Tokyo most shops are under the Toyota Mobility Tokyo (トヨタモビリティ東京) brand (owned by a single company), and you can visit any shop for maintenance and warranty. This also affects second-hand car selection: most shops will only sell the ones available at their location, but Toyota Mobility Tokyo will bring you any car from any other Toyota Mobility Tokyo shop for free, if you are interested. (Other brands might have similar setups, but it is worth checking.)