Manufacturing issues, incompetence, or a cunning plan?
We have four grandkids in Sendai now (and two abroad) so my wife has decided she wants to get a minivan.
I had to agree, even though they are not my favourite class of car. Recently we took a ski trip to Appi with one(!) grandchild, and we barely fit into our Aqua with all our stuff. Taking a second child would have been impossible.
So we’re looking for a minivan.
And we tend to go with Toyota cars because one of my wife’s friends from school runs a dealer near us, and he really takes good care of us.
But when we asked about buying a minivan, some sucking of teeth ensued.
Turns out Toyota is not selling any of their minivans at the moment. In fact, they are not even taking orders of minivans at the moment.
We were told that they will start taking orders again in May, with delivery to be six months or more after that.
Madness.
How can Toyota… not have any of their most popular cars?
Apparently they are having manufacturing issues, although the cynic in me suspects this might be a deliberate strategy to help them sell their second hand inventory at higher prices.
Indeed, we’re in a hurry so are now considering a second hand car instead of a new one, but prices are really high right now because it is not possible to buy a new car.
Second hand cars used to be quite a lot cheaper than new ones in Japan, but we’re being quoted almost the new price for non-new cars. It is very frustrating.
How about you? Have you bought a car recently? How did you find the process?
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I am still on my Terry Pratchett binge! Bought all of his Discworld books on Kindle and am currently reading Small Gods. I’d forgotten how brutal it is, a bit of a departure for Pratchett (it seems to be drawing inspiration from the Spanish Inquisition).
This week’s links
- Straight out of the Terminator movies: Drones are now launching drones to attack other drones in Ukraine
- Japan’s cheap housing makes more sense: How Climate Change Could Upend the American Dream
- Mine is still 20-30 years: The Long-Term Depends on Your Time Horizon
- This is so true. What does cooking look like for me? Let Brandon Cook
- Kind of snarky for Ben… I like it! Deep Finance Thoughts by Ben Carlson
- Fascinating Reddit thread. The numbers are wild: Statistics of net worth by age in Japan
- For the active investors out there: How do Zoomers behave?
- There is a clear winner for me: 4 Levels of Portfolios: Crafting Your Ideal Early Retirement Strategy
- Now no one will get chocolate, not just me: Japan’s workplace Valentine’s chocolate-giving tradition waning
- Like Derek, I also took it in 2005 but I didn’t pass until 2008… I passed the JLPT Level 1!*
- Seems like we’re not going to see strength anytime soon: The Weak Yen Reflects Weak Japan
- Encouraging stuff: Simple Explanations to Complex Topics
- Martin’s thoughts on the future of crypto (if I had different psychology, I would be feeling bad about only making 250% on my foolish Metaplanet fling, but thankfully je ne regrette rien): Exit liquidity
- Not sure I want to try this: 3-Seater Electric Flying Taxi Service Coming to Kyushu
- Grim stuff, but hopefully more light shone will lead to change: Japan’s Sexual Predator-Friendly System and the Beginning of Shiori Ito’s Fight for Justice
- The UK seems kind of miserable at the moment, although none of it seems unfamiliar: A visit to a non-bank branch of Barclays and Ryanair sneakily turning credit payments into cash
- More Japan optimism: MAGA worries
- Craig Mod has a new popup newsletter coming. Well worth a signup/read: ABOUT A NIGHTINGALE
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I’ve never owned anything other than secondhand kei-cars. First a Daihatsu and then two Suzuki Wagon Rs.
On the rare occasion I needed something bigger, I just rented a Toyota HiAce. If it’s just for a ski trip, maybe you could do the same?
Also, I passed JLPT 2 in 2000, and N2 in 2015, with the same score each time (61%). Now that’s progress! 😀
Such a contrast: #11-weak japan, vs #17-japan optimism.
Funny, isn’t it?
Have never bought a new car here or elsewhere ( although had a couple as company cars back in the 80s / early 90s in the UK ). The nearest I have ever come is a shijosha (ex-demo vehicle). Otherwise at least a year old and often much much older. Why? Two reasons. Well, for me I have always been put off by the instant drop in value of new vehicles. And then for my wife its a case of letting the plastics “gas off” – that new car smell is very much all those chemicals seeping out (or the smell applied to cover them up?) . So saving money and staying healthy. As to type – well, of course foreign cars are a fashion item and can be fun, and I have owned a few here, but from an operating cost perspective, especially parts, a Japanese vehicle is the way to go. Current vehicle is a Noah that is 10 years old, we have owned for 9 years and still gives good mpg with a good operating cost.
It’s really difficult to get a new car from Toyota right now. I think they are having great demand worldwide and they don’t prioritize domestic market as prices are really low compare to the ther countries where they can sell the same car for a higher price. For example, their Alphard or Land Cruiser models they sold out in the second day after start selling so the only option is the second-hand market. For me to be able to buy it new, I had to ask for it one before before the selling start day. In addition, you have resellers buying more than 10 cars and re-selling after for a higher price. For example, Alphard is 6.5M new, and they sell it for at least 10M. So that’s why when I asked for mine in advance, they make you sign a papers saying you wont sell it during the first year, they also try and push on you to not pay in cash, but make a loan with them for at least 5 years so can’t sell it,. That’s the way they have to prevent people to re-sell their cars, and only get real customers who want to buy the car to actually use it.
So, my recommendation would be:
– If you are in a hurry and you want new Toyota, there is no solution. Go to different Toyota dealers and find the one that promises you to get one mini van within the period you want it. But they usually don’t promise you anything so I don’t think its gonna work.
– If no dealer has a mini van to sell, then you have to go for a second-hand one. I recommend buying from Toyota as they incluse long warranty. But if you dont want to pay same price as new, go and check at グーネット and get a 5 or 10 years old minivan with less than 50.000~70.000 km and you should be fine. Those in that range, they sell at “normal” price.
Good luck!
I don’t think this is a ruse or a lie. Supply for parts to make the cars has been throttled for quite a while. This has been the situation for quite a while. Son waited half a year to buy a new Noah van 3 years ago. Other son tried to buy a Land Cruiser, but the wait was going to be well over a year. He gave up and bought a second-hand vehicle.
The internet lets you shop around a lot. My husband is very good at finding cars on the internet and then taking a trip to check out the car in person. He found me a diamond red PHEV Outlander four years ago for a reasonable price.
It is also easy to sell a used car through auction on the internet. We got a much better price than expected on my 9-year-old Lexus – and it only took a week from the inspection of the car through the auction and the pick-up of the car.
To amend my reply – elder son bought a second-hand Volvo 7-seater and put in a reservation for a Land Cruiser. He has been told that it will be a two-year wait. In the meantime, the price of the Volvo isn’t expected to decrease even after a couple of years, so he felt it was good investment (growing family…) Both those cars are way too big for me to drive!
#9 Our workplace has banned staff buying each other Valentines chocolates so that is a thing too. (I mean I’m sure if you’re in a relationship or want to give outside of the workplace it’s fine but it pretty much just stops people feeling they have to give giri-choco). But yeah, I think the price is playing a big part now too, people just don’t have the money to spend on gifts for others, especially as the prices have gone up as well.
#10 When I was in Sendai 2001/02 there was no JLPT in Sendai and the nearest place was Tokyo. It was also early in the morning so you couldn’t make it on the shinkansen. I had to catch an overnight bus and then try to keep myself awake through the test.. wasn’t fun! Also, of course it was only once a year in winter, right about the time everybody started catching colds..
Are you sure about the JLPT? I passed 2 kyuu in 2001… in Sendai 😉
Really? Might have been 2000? All I know is I got the list of venues and Sendai wasn’t on it. Maybe it was full or something. Or maybe I just took an unecessary trip to Tokyo for it!
In ’96, living in Fukushima, I remember having to go down to Tokyo to take N1.
I am, for the first time in my many years in Japan, buying a new car. Like you said, we had to order it and wait, but only 3 months. If we had ordered a Prius, it would have been 6 months.
I was surprised, though, at how cheap the car was. We requested a lot of additional options, but then were given many discounts, so the price we are paying is only 100,000 yen over the sticker price for the car. I was pleasantly shocked.
Before this, I have only bought used cars, most commonly through friends who buy vehicles from the big autions in Tokyo and Yokohama, then had the cars shipped down to Kagoshima. They used to be very cheap. Not so recently, and I was very disappointed with my last purchase. That’s why I opted to buy a new car this time.
The Toyota car delay is a chip issue. Worldwide problem.
My FIL said that it’s due to an ongoing shortage in semiconductors. Companies still have to fill backorders. He says it depends on the model. A friend bought a Nissan X-trail and had to wait 6 months for delivery. Nissan Note is maybe 2-3 months. Land Cruisers are at least a year.
Bought (technically my wife bought) my 4th Honda Fit Hybrid Feb 1st. It should arrive in the beginning of April. I’m 71 so it’s likely my last car purchase. I didn’t want to buy till mid March because my wife’s stock reports earnings the end of Feb. My ‘shaken’ isn’t due till July. We wanted to pay in full as we don’t want any debt. However the dealer pushed my wife to buy right away with a 50% 1st payment and a final payment plus interest 3 years later. I went to the dealer alone a week earlier and told him clearly that we wanted to wait and we weren’t concerned with the coming rise in interest rates because we going to pay in full and wouldn’t need a loan. However, he went around me and kept calling my wife till she gave in. Our condo is paid for and Social Security from the US covers utilities, property taxes, building maintenance, parking, food etc. I think our dealer was under pressure from his boss to make the sale before their fiscal year ends etc. My wife and I are both retired and thankfully never need to work again. I just wanted to be 100% free of any debt. I’ve been here in Japan for 34 years. Two things have been a source of great frustration during that time: 1) no joint accounts for spouses 2) being an American and dealing with financial institutions here.
It was underhanded of the salesman to go against your clearly stated wishes. Having a loan must earn him more commission. I would be tempted to go over his head to the manager.
Thanks. I wasn’t happy with the situation. We’ve had the same dealer since I bought my first Honda. Previously I had Toyotas and a Suzuki. I actually like the salesman and he’s helped us a lot over the years. This time he just irked me.
As for cars, I’ve been looking at new. Although it was earlier last fall, the Toyota Fielder was listed as a two month wait on the board at one dealer. Honda’s Fit and Freed are both similar.
This is the same wait time as for my present car, a Fit, which I bought new ~16 years ago. And I hesitate giving this one up–only 102k km on it, and I’m not sure I want all the “smart” features/driving aids on a new one.
I think the issue is going for Toyota cars, them and Lexus have been under inventory issues since COVID — Lexus not taking orders for their most popular cars.
If you don’t want to pay the premium on the second hand market, you will have to go through foreign second hand which depreciate a lot, or less popular Japanese like Mitsubishi Delica or Nissan Serena. If those are too big, Honda Freed/Toyota Sienta should be pretty much the same car.