I am not sure what this job classification comes under but probably “other work”.

Provide Cars, we provide you with the largest selection of vehicles available from 115 car auctions in Japan each week

This 2.5 liter V6 will be matched with Lexus’s Super ECT-i close ratio six speed automatic transmission, having the manual override function.  This in theory should allow faster shifts, improve acceleration from low speeds and deliver a throttle blip on downchanges that any middle aged rally dreamer would love.

Interior Luxury

Compared with the current GS, this Lexus will have a more spacious interior with improved legroom and headroom for rear passengers.  And to help take the concentration away from driving, Lexus will provide the driver the latest touchscreen media interface on the market.  This should guarantee a few crashes!!

Improved driving dynamics

Thanks to a much stiffer (14%) bodyshell and adjusted suspension, Lexus is promising significant improvements in driving dynamics and a more responsive chassis compared to the present (and outgoing) GS.  What this means to the Japanese public (before on-selling into the used car auctions) is that before loosing their licence driving at 142 MPH, they can enjoy a nice clean turn around the last turn before the policeman’s speed camera ends their rally driving fantasy.

Anyway, all things work for good of those who buy cars from the auctions.  More lost Japanese licences means more cars available in the Japanese used car auctions.

Lexus GS 250

Lexus GS 250

Provide Cars, we provide you with the largest selection of vehicles available from 115 car auctions in Japan each week

Starting from the largest numbers of exports to the least.  Used cars, vans and trucks.

Russia 2008 563,369, 2009 53,180, 2010 105,478, 2011 110,791

Dubai  2008 98,204, 2009 89,966, 2010 86,625, 2011 80,712

Chili 2008 123,944, 2009 51,066, 2010 86,625, 2011 69,473

New Zealand 2008 59,090, 2009 57,427, 2010 68,952, 2011 68,091

South Africa 2008 47,797, 2009 55,304, 2010 66,575, 2011 67,458

Kenya 2008 40,546, 2009 44,699, 2010 50,749, 2011 39,248

Without giving the figures the next countries in order were

Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Malaysia, Uganda, Peru ….

Provide Cars, we provide you with the largest selection of vehicles available from 115 car auctions in Japan each week japanese used car auctions, Japanese used car export data

Mondays:  we have AUCNET, Honda Fukuoka, Honda Hokkaido, Honda Kansai, Honda Nagoya, Honda Sendai, Honda Tokyo, JU Tokyo, USSR Aichi Nagoya.  That is 9 Japanese used car auctions on a Monday.

Tuesdays:  we have AAA, Arai Sendai, CAA Gifu, CAA Tokyo, CAA Tohoku, GE Nyusatsu Tokyo, JU Mie, JU Nagano, JU Saitama, JU Shizuoka, JU Yamaguchi, NAA Fukuoka, NPS Fukuoka Nyusatsu, NPS Osaka Nyusatsu, NPS Sendai Nyusatsu, NPS Tokyo Nyusatsu, Orix Fukuoka Nyusatsu,  ORIX Kobe Nyuusatsu, ORIX Sendai Nyuusatsu, SAA Sapporo, SAA Kyushu, SLC Tokyo, smap Fukuoka Nyusatsu, TAA Hiroshima, TAA Kinki, TAA Kyushu, TAA Minami Kyushu, TAA Shikoku, USS Yokohama. That is 29 Japanese used car auctions on a Tuesday.

Wednesdays:  we have Bay Auc, BCN, CAA Chubu, GE Nyusatsu Fukuoka, Hero, IAA, Isuzu Makuhari (truck auction), JAA, JU Ibaraki, JU Ishikawa, KAA Kyoto, KCAA Ebino, LAA Shikoku, ORIX Atsugi Nyusatsu, smap Sapporo Nyusatsu, smap Tokyo Nyusatsu, USS Fukuoka, USS Kobe, USS Niigata, USS Sapporo, USS Tohoku. That is 21 Japanese used car auctions on a Wednesday.

Thursdays:  we have Arai Oyama, GE Nyusatsu Kobe, HAA Osaka, Isuzu Kyushu (truck auction), JU Aichi, JU Fukushima, JU Gunma, JU Hiroshima, JU Kanagawa, JU Toyoama, KCAA Fukuoka, LAA Kansai, NAA Nagoya, NAA Osaka, Orix Nagoya Nyusatsu, SAA Hamamatsu, SLC Kobe, smap Kobe Nyusatsu, smap Nagoya Nyusatsu, TAA Chubu, TAA Hokkaido, TAA Kanto, TAA Tohoku, USS Tokyo, Zip Osaka.  That is 26 Japanese used car auctions on a Thursday.

Friday:  we have Arai Bayside, Isuzu Kobe, JAA Tsukuba, JU Chiba, JU Fukuoka, JU Miyagi, JU Niigata, JU Okayama LAA, JU Okinawa, JU Sapporo, JU Tochigi, KCAA Yamaguchi, NAA Tokyo, USS Hokuriku, USS Nagoya, USS Osaka, USS Saitama.  That is 17 Japanese used car auctions on a Friday.

Saturday:  we have Arai VT, HAA Kobe, JU Gifu, JU Nara, NAA Nagoya Nyusatsu, NAA Osaka Nyusatsu, NAA Tokyo Nyusatsu, TAA Yokohama, USS Gunma, USS Kyushu, USS Okayama, USS Ryutsu, USS Shizuoka.  That is 13 Japanese used car auctions on a Saturday.

That makes a total of 115 auctions, not 150.  Perhaps the programmers first language wasn’t English and he thought 115 was 150 (you know how fifteen and fifty can sound similar)!.

So there are 115 car and truck auctions a week in Japan and we show them.  Don’t settle for anything less or you will be missing some serious stock to choose from. car and truck auctions in Japan, japanese used car auctions

Inside a large Japanese used car auction

Sometimes, usually at least once a month at Provide Cars Ltd, we have a customer who would like to re-auction his purchase for whatever reason.  Re-auctioning vehicles in the Japanese used car auctions should be avoided if at all possible.  Let me explain why.

First the sellers fees in most auctions are a lot more expensive than the buyers fees.  Also you must pay every time you auction your car, even if you do not sell it.

But when you sell a car back into the Used Car Auctions you must pay every time the car goes through the auction, even when it doesn’t sell.  You can not expect your car to sell the first time it goes through the auction, often it needs to go through 2 or 3 times before potential buyers actually purchase.   But why is the selling price nearly always lower than the buying price?

Think of the purchase process.  You log into the online car auctions.  You search for your vehicle of choice.  You bid, a very good price, just above the market average because you don’t just want a 50:50 chance of buying the vehicle, you want a 90% chance.  As the bidding goes, slowly the bargain hunters fall away, leaving the number of companies bidding on this vehicle to 5.  Next the budgets are exceeded by the other companies until there are only 2 companies left, you and another company with a customer just as keen on the vehicle as you are.  For the last 200,000yen of bidding, it is just you and this other company bidding.  Finally the car’s price exceeds the other company’s limits, they give up and you own the vehicle you planned on purchasing.

Now, for whatever reason you have decided to sell your vehicle back into the auction, when it goes back in the 2nd time, guess what major bidder is NOT bidding on it?  YOU.

Now, a week later or whenever, when the vehicle comes back into the auction, the best case scenario is that the number 2 buyer, still hasn’t found another vehicle to replace the one he wanted to buy but lost to you.  Likelihood is that he or she has already found another one from the same auction or perhaps another auction.  But let’s assume for arguments sake that  he or she hasn’t found a different vehicle and decides to bid on yours.  At what price now is this buyer going to be the only buyer bidding on this vehicle?  At the price when just the 2 of you were bidding.  That means, all other factors being equal, that this buyer will be the only bidder 200,000yen lower than the price you bought it for.  Why?  Again because YOU AINT THERE anymore.

I hope you begin to understand some of the factors involved with re-auctioning a vehicle back into the used cars auctions, and why it should be avoided like eating cold Mac Donalds french fries.  It really is not a good experience.

Provide Cars Ltd, the largest range of vehicles online in the Japanese used car auctions today.

In New Zealand in the late 1980’s and 1990’s as the import duties for used cars coming into New Zealand decreased and finally disappeared (replaced by a 15% consumption tax), the number of cheap affordable used Japanese cars came flooding into the country.  However, to go with this public appetite for cheap, affordable cars was a desire for low kms on the odometer.  If you had a choice of a vehicle that had done 50,000kms to one that had done 150,000kms, all other factors being even, of course you would chose the vehicle that had done 50,000kms.

This put pressure on used car dealers in New Zealand to be competitive, without sacrificing profit or doing the hard work of trying to buy low km vehicles cheaply in Japan.   The easiest short cut was to request the exporter to fix the odometers to what was then a popular odometer level.  A friend dealer of mine joked that these vehicles arriving from Japan all had the same odometer readings and they must have been driven in “caravan” formation to get that!  (During those days the workers of the Japanese export companies fixing the odometers were not very creative and fixed them all at the same numbers).

Then the whole happy facade came down due to a documentary done by a NZ undercover team, visiting a now infamous Japanese used car dealer.  This was top TV news for the time when there were few channels to choose from.  The public demanded blood (though still wanted their vehicle with low kms), and the government stepped in.  The science of “odometer clocked” or “not clocked” was soon created and thousands of cars were impounded at New Zealand wharves.  If a vehicle was deemed  “clocked” the importer could re-export it or have it scrapped.

Suddenly, facing these consequences, NZ dealers and exporters turned “honest”, well at least into the NZ markets.  Some exporters would have you sign in under “zone”, so that they could show real odometer readings to their NZ customers and “potential” odometer readings to other countries that haven’t demanded the need for honesty.

So what about now?  Are there still vehicles out there that are being clocked?   Well let’s rephrase the question: “Is it still profitable to clock a car?”.  Yes, it always will be, so if there is away around the checks then these lemons will keep on flowing in.

Barriers to cars being clocked?

1. If a car is sold in an auction, there is an auction sheet coming with it.  Demand to see the auction sheet, that is the best way to buy an untouched vehicle.  Exporters do their odometer corrections after purchase.   Some large companies buy directly from lease and rental companies.  These cars odometers have not been registered in the Japanese Used Car Auction odometer check system and are open to abuse (and are abused).  Only buy a vehicle with an auction sheet.
2. Once you have purchased the vehicle, you can have it checked by one of those scientific companies.
3. Buy from a reputable exporter.  Some of the largest exporters are far from that (reputable).  We at Provide Cars have never adjusted an vehicles kms in our 15 years of existence.  Our long term clients know that.

Lexus LF-LC

Toyota (Lexus) is promising to compete with the BMW 6 series, Jaguar XK and Mercedes SL with its new concept car, the Lexus LF-LC concept car that will debut at the Detroit Motor Show in mid-January.

The 2+2 seater features a host of dramatic details.  A targa style glass roof (remember the Nissan Fairlady Z’s), and then new regular badge Lexus nose, which previewed on the Lexus GS.

The cabin is full of flowing shapes covered in colours of purple, quilted leather and wood veneers.

And of course, with the end of the crude years approaching quickly, a “Hybrid” badge. Probably the car will borrow the GT86’s engine which will feature a 400bhp 3.5 litre V6 hybrid engine.  At least the chassis and powertrain would be shared if this car goes into production.

Don’t expect to see this in the auctions any day soon as it would first be produced for the American market.

Lexus LF-LC

Lexus LF-LC

Entry costs in Japan at 1.69 million yen proves it as an affordable green car for the Japanese market.

With original goals of 12,000 sales a month, pre-orders of 60,000 vehicles have overwhelmed production ability and people will have to wait for their vehicles.  Let’s hope there will not be the recall problems that the Prius had.  Let’s hope to that we will see some soon in the used car auctions.

Toyota Aqua, 5 door hatchback

Toyota Aqua, 5 door hatchback

An example recently with Nissan’s Infiniti line.  Presently only 15% imported parts content for vehicles assembled in Japan, but now the automaker is targeting a new goal of 65% of imported content.

If this works well, expect not only Nissan but other Japanese automakers to continue to increase the content of imported parts and foreign assembled vehicles to bolster profits against a historic strong yen.  Their biggest myth barrier is the “made in Japan” superior label.  However, the reality of “made in Japan” really means imported into Japan from Japanese owned companies in Asia and assembled in Japan.  Perhaps the future “made in Japan” will be “Japanese owned and Japanese managed companies overseas” making and assembling Japanese auto mobiles for the Japanese Domestic Market, then importing them into Japan.

And in our case, exporting them again to the country of origin!

So, made in Japan could maybe mean, made by Japanese companies for the Japanese market and sold “first” in Japan.  Selling second into the Japanese used car auctions for export!

Suzuki Regina, got to love those eyes!

The Suzuki Regina concept car revealled at the Tokyo Motor Show does take the cake for cuteness, and cuteness sells in Japan.  The 75 miles per gallon (32 kms per liter) 1500kg car captured good reviews from the press for style and colour.  It is reported that the car is powered by a 800cc turbo charged gasoline engine, using both start-stop and regenerative braking technology to stretch the fuel economy.   Good concept.  Personally I like those eyes!  Remember it is only a concept car so don’t expect it any the auctions any day soon.

Suzuki Regina

Suzuki Regina