I’ve done this before, but here is the break-down
Road Tax
Paid every May, based on engine size
0-660cc – 8,000 yen
661-999cc – 15,000 yen
1000 -1499 – 20,000 yen
Every 500cc is 5,000 yen
Evo/WRX at 2.0L would be 30,000 just for tax
Inspection
Three years inspection is put on a new car, and after that it’s every 2 years. There was a law that cars over 10 years had to be inspected every year, but is no longer in effect.
You can pay someone to inspect the car, or you can do it yourself. If you do it yourself, and if there is no problem with the car, a kei(less than 660cc car) will run about 28xxx yen. (Just did it last week). Regular car is I’m told is 70,000. Paying someone to do it will easily double the cost, because things get replaced (needed or not, just like the USA). Friend paid 150,000 to get her kei inspected, and my first car was looking at 200,000, which was more than I paid for the second car, so I gave it away. Most of the cost of my inspection was jibaiseki, or mandatory insurance, paid with inspection. It was I think about half or more of what i paid.
People here just don`t know how to take care of their cars. You will hear 3 year old cars making noises. My wife didn’t know to change her oil, so it went for 1.5 years without an oil change (search my user name for more info.) They are throw away things. Like Quest mentioned, it gets easier to change cars than repair. As you can tell from the first post, a brake caliper is $250 here, and what, $50 in the US? Oil change was 5,000 yen, and doing it yourself is 800 yen filter(CHEAP!), 1,400-6,000 yen oil, and 400 yen to recycle it at the store. There are no “parts” stores, and I don’t even know if the word core charge is in the Japanese language. The auto store across the street from my apartment looks part motorcycle shop, and part pepboys.
