Why Irish used car buyers are turning to Japan once again

Published on 6 February, 2022

Overview

They call it Shaken. The Japanese national car test. Feared by drivers. Spoken in whispers in garages across the land of the rising sun. Think you are hard done by when you failed the NCT because of a bald tyre? In the Shaken they can fail you for stickers on your windscreen or if your seats are torn.

Then there is the Japanese new car market. Toyota had a hard time introducing cars in America because it was a picnic compared to the cut-throat, dog-eat-dog world of the Japanese domestic market. In Japan the consumer is king and, as a result, getting rid of your not-very-old car for a nice new model isn’t terribly difficult. This means rather than endure another traumatic Shaken experience, many Japanese drivers trade in their spotless used cars for a new car. The condition of their used metal is a combination of typical Japanese contentiousness with servicing, salt-free roads and the aforementioned car test that makes the Leaving Cert sound like an afternoon nap.

This leaves the Japanese car dealer with a problem. Too many used cars, not enough buyers. The solution is simple: do what they do with the new cars and stick them on a boat. Those of us old enough to remember Jo Maxi and Five Star may recall the sight of Japanese imports first emerging on Irish roads in the late eighties. Extinct Toyotas and Datsuns were suddenly reappearing in as-new condition on driveways around the country. What’s more, they had nice specification too. Many were automatic, some had buttons and toys like electric windows, and the majority had air conditioning. They ruled the roads for a bit and then, as economic conditions seemed to improve, they gave way to used UK imports that were easier to get parts for and didn’t have names like Bongo, Cefiro or Cedric.

Japanese imports didn’t go away though. New Zealand, another high-tax new car market, have lapped up used Japanese cars for years, while places like Kenya, Malta and Hong Kong are big markets for cars the Japanese no longer need.

Then Brexit happened and now the used Japanese import is set to make a comeback. We Irish like our cars pre-loved, and three in every four cars bought in Ireland is second-hand.

Today, around a third of used imports are coming from Japan. In 2020 the number of imported used cars from Japan doubled. And it isn’t like the eighties either, where you could spot a Japanese import from a mile away because they all seemed to be white and had door mirrors mounted on the wings. A large proportion of the used Japanese cars being imported are actually European in origin. The Volkswagen Golf has traditionally been the most popular imported new car in Japan and now it is one of the most popular used exports out of Japan. Indeed, since we last welcomed used Japanese cars in big numbers, the tastes of Japanese drivers have changed. Now the successful Japanese middle-class family is as likely to be tucked up with a Volvo or a BMW. In the first six months of 2021 Mercedes-Benz was 12th in the Japanese market, with BMW right behind.

Trouble finding a nice used Jeep? Stay cool. They sell about 15,000 a year in Japan and the brand usually hovers in the Japanese top 20. If you like Peugeots, you are in luck — so do the Japanese, who buy around 14,000 a year.

What really helps the case for used Japanese imports is that Japanese drivers generally don’t buy diesel cars. For years Honda point-blank refused to make diesel engines until the overwhelming sales figures forced them to put out what turned out to be a very fine oil burner. Now that everyone has changed their minds and diesel has gone from being environmentally safer to the fuel of Beelzebub, once again the Japanese cars are back in vogue because they are now usually petrol powered and attract less tax thanks to lower CO2 emissions.

That said, the Japanese still overwhelmingly buy Japanese cars, so you should be able to take your pick of used Toyotas and Hondas. And the JDM versions are usually much more similar to their European equivalents now than they were back when a Toyota Starlet from Japan could be had with a turbo, alloy wheels and a ton of buttons, whereas Irish domestic market Starlets were lucky to have FM and five gears.

However, if you do fondly remember the first wave of Japanese used imports in late eighties, you can still have your Japanese used car with a silly name, weird looks and a ton of toys. The Toyota Roomy does what it says on the tin even if the styling makes it look like it is about to fall over even when it is not moving. The Toyota Alphard is kind of cool and one of Japan’s best sellers thanks to a bizarre local trend towards luxury vans. It might look like a Toyota HiAce that won the lottery, but it has electric curtains, multiple sunroofs and a column-mounted shifter for the obligatory automatic gearbox. Tread carefully though — the Daihatsu Thor sounds like something thunderous that eats AMGs for breakfast, but is actually a small box-shaped city car thing that is about as fearsome as a dead hamster.

Then, of course, there are the revered JDM performance cars. Nissan’s GT-R might be an N-plate driver’s wet dream, but don’t discount the very fine Skyline saloon or the excellent Toyota Crown Athlete. And then there are the oddities. In Japan, luxury cars are often left-hand drive but some manufacturers rolled out right-hand-drive models specifically for Japan. Fancy a 4.0-litre Ford Explorer? They often crop up in Japanese auctions with the steering on the right side.

However, there are still two things to consider. Firstly, there is nothing wrong with a used car that comes from your local dealer. The NCT, better roads, better cars and a better economy means a used Irish car is no longer the lottery it was back in 1989. Secondly, used Japanese cars are still used, so the normal checks still apply — no matter how shiny and Shaken it is.