It’s been a couple years since we last perused the “Lemon Lot” here at the US military installation on the outskirts of Tokyo where I used to work. For new readers, Lemon Lot is GI-speak for the Resale Area where outgoing personnel can sell their car, and incoming folks can pick one up. This is the off-season as most US military folks “PCS” (Permanent Change of Station) in the summer, but there were about 14 cars during my last trip by – let’s look at a few…
Vans are always popular here, just like any suburb back in the States – here we have a 2003 JDM Toyota Voxy – a mid-sized van that comes with a 2.0L 1AZ-FSE four. It has a sister model with a slightly different grille called the Noah. This one has 122K kilometers, but looks well cared for – and being a Toyota, that’s means it’s hardly broken in. Yours for $2800.
2006 Teana
2002 Laurel
Next up is a 2006 Nissan Teana – the Teana is built on the same platform as the Maxima and Altima, and comes with similar engines; a 2.0L four and two versions of Nissan’s VQ V6 – 2.3L and 3.5L. This car replaced the Laurel and Cefiro – two cars I thought were much more attractive than the Teana. The Teana always looked too generic and somewhat “droopy” to me. Oh well, this one has 93K and can be yours for $2000.
Another van – this one a 2003 Nissan Presage. The Presage is Nissan’s equivalent to Toyota’s Estima (Previa), and is a touch bigger than the Voxy – and comes with a 2.5L four or 3.5L V6. This one has 92K, one year left on its two-year Japan Compulsory Insurance – and is priced at $1200, but with the added “or best offer” – the owner must have a plane to catch soon…
Here we have a 2006 kei-sized Subaru Stella – the Stella is Subaru’s “tall-boy” kei wagon similar to the Suzuki Wagon R. But this is a Custom model with the supercharged 658cc EN07X four, putting out the government-limited max 64 hp for this class. It has 65K and the owner says it has all maintenance records, a new Alpine stereo, recent oil/filter change, and new brake pads – $3000.
Next we have a 2004 Honda Edix. This is an interesting model – it’s a six-seater, configured 3X3, similar to the Fiat Multipla. The 3X3 seating means it’s wider than other models in its class, so they tend to stand out here in Japan. Engines are both gas and diesel in the 1.7L to 2.2L range. This one has 99K and the owner wants $2000.
Lastly here is a Gen 1 2006 Toyota Ractis. In Toyota-ese, that’s an acronym for Run, Active, Space. The Ractis is the follow-on to the Fun Cargo, and is a competitor to Honda’s Fit. Both have below-floor rear seat storage giving a surprisingly large rear cargo area. Our son has one similar to this and he loves it. No mileage stated but the owner looks motivated – asking $1750 but “no reasonable offer refused.”
As you are aware from his posts, our current Leader Jim Klein visited Japan this month to attend the Tokyo Motor Show. This past weekend he, our in-country JDM expert Tatra87, and I had our own small “CC Far East Meet-Up” in Shinjuku. It was a very enjoyable night out that did not involve copious wine, women, or song – just tasty tempura, a few draft lagers, and a very spirited discussion of all things automotive. Cheers Gentlemen – thank you for making the trek to Tokyo.
At those prices, I am surprised that JK did not try to bring one home as a souvenir.
I am a sucker for those small van-type vehicles. The sedans don’t do it for me.
Thanks for the picture of the meet-up. And what – no sake? 🙂
I wanted to bring them all back, in fact. Along with everything else I saw, Japan is hardly the “only new cars running around” place that it’s so often depicted as. The difference is the old cars are very rarely (never?) beaters, making it all the more interesting. And the sheer variety of models is mind-boggling.
As far as the sake goes, we drained the supply the night prior. 😀
And to Jim B., thank you very much for organizing our evening out, it was wonderful to meet you and T87 on this trip and really helped to reconfirm Tokyo (and Japan) as one of my favorite places on this big rock.
Good to see you all, thanks for the informative and insightful writing.
Comforting to know that Japanese car names are slightly more ridiculous than the ones here.
Just one small correction, “The Presage is Nissan’s equivalent to Toyota’s Estima (Previa), and is a touch bigger than the Voxy – and comes with a 2.5L four or 3.0L V6.”
That Presage is a U31 model, and they came with a 2.5 QR25DE (as described) or a VQ35DE 3.5 V6. It’s quite closely related to the Teana and the Murano.
The U30 had the options of 2.5 I4 or 3.0 V6.
Thanks – I did a double check and you’re correct. Jim.
Used to be that service members PCS-ing back to the states could arrange to have their vehicles shipped at little or no cost. Of course, maybe these guys weren’t coming back to the states. And it looks like all of them are JDM, which would probably be tough to get cleared to legally register and drive on US roads, not to mention trying to get them serviced.
Still be cool to see them, though. Just a month ago I actually saw a Nissan Figaro being driven on the street.
Wonder if this is something that’s more prevalent in Japan, due to it being left-side driving/right-hand drive, and generally low values for used vehicles.
Not sure if this is still the case, but a number of people I knew who were stationed in Europe (almost all officers, and mostly In Germany) in the ‘80s and early ‘90s drove US-spec vehicles. The US “Big Three” had a program to deliver their products to service members stationed in certain countries, at little or no additional cost. Then, when the service member shipped back to the US, the military handled shipping of the vehicle back to the US.
One buddy I remember in particular ordered a heavily-optioned Ford Tempo to be delivered to him in Germany. It stuck in my mind because I always thought that the Tempo/Topaz somewhat resembled European Fords of the era, but definitely didn’t perform similarly. It was probably a rarely seen curiosity to many Germans, while they were part of the everyday automotive landscape in the US.
I like those little vans, and I can absolutely see how US servicemen would choose them when stationed overseas. The Mazda 5 was the closest we had here in the US, and I’ve often lamented how there weren’t more vehicles like the 5 available… though I suppose the 5’s eventual demise indicates that the market is isn’t there to support it.
Glad to see you all were able to get together for a while too!
They’re actually quite roomy inside, thanks to its tallness, despite its small exterior footprint (suitable for the narrow streets and lanes in Japan). I was in Japan several months ago and rode in a couple of these types.
The little Honda van’s staggered 6 seater arrangement is interesting and probably works well. By getting the passengers’ shoulders out of alignment with each other, it would reduce some of the trouble with the narrow width of the car. Real disparity here, too. The Subaru Kei wagon and Nissan Teana are the same year, but the Kei is $1000 more?
I think the Subaru owner is being a little too optimistic with his asking price, even though the supercharged engine makes it somewhat of a rarity. Would bet if I went by next week it will be marked down…Jim.
I’m taken by the Honda too, called an FR-V overseas. It’s barely skinnier than a Camry, so quite a lot wider than something like a Jazz of that size. A bit AMC Pacer-ish in dimensions, then. Not a great success it seems, more’s the pity. Most (alleged) 7-seaters that aren’t the size Idaho have rather awful rear-most seats and no meaningful luggage space: this solves both those issues.
“The little Honda van’s staggered 6 seater arrangement is interesting and probably works well.”
Yeah, but I wonder how the middle seat would work given the width of the typical adult Westerner, and in particular, us Americans.
The second para I contemplated was to the effect that with the HR-V or Edix, Honda created an unwantedly wide and small car, which seated four in somewhat-too-skinny-seated comfort, and six in agony, thereby uniquely achieving the outcomes of being both too big and too small and useful at neither.
You’re missing the point. In most European market vehicles it is hard to fit three baby seats in the rear. With the late-lamented FRV you put two baby seats in the back, and sit mother-in-law between them. Third baby seat fits in the front middle, and you slide the seat back to keep them clear of the windscreen.
My son needed to but one of these recently, due to the arrival of child #3, and sourcing a decent one is getting difficult as they dropped them in 2009.
Now look here, what you choose to do with your mother-in-law is something for your own conscience, and I doubt very much that the wedging of the matriarch in the middle second seat between yowling sub-offspring was much featured in the Honda brochure as a feature, but that said, mother-in-law-half-in-the-boot does have its attractions.
Well, I’m not a mother-in-law but I’ve often sat between my twin nephews in their child seats in the back of my brother’s Volvo XC90. Bit cramped, but entertaining.
When gas is nearly $8/gallon, a fuel sipper commands a higher price.
BTW, I believe that the insurance and registration is lower on a Kei-type vehicle, so it may actually be a wash of you don’t plan to drive long distances.
None of those are unusual in NZ thats what our automotive street scape consists of and plenty of others from all over the planet. You can get em cheaper if you shop around.
I know that the Japanese do fancy a good silly English word, and will apply one assiduously on many panels with what seems to be great seriousness.
But on occasion, solemnity in response remains impossible – the Nissan Warning Sign (presage) and Toyota It’s-Too-Close-Not-Think-It Fixed Grimace (rictus) are startling enough, but I can’t ever imagine why I’d ever want to be seen in public in my Honda E-dicks (and I don’t even know what they might be).
Interpol were most grateful upon receiving the screenshot of the last photo of the e-friends.
I’m curious why the Subaru Stella doesn’t have the usual Y-for-Yankee license plate, are they not issued in kei yellow?
Yes, SOFA-sponsored members do use a “Y” plate for larger vehicles – “A” is used for kei class cars. This has a hiragana character so the seller must be non-SOFA – perhaps an MWR non-appropriated fund employee or a contractor. Jim.
Having been in the military with 3 temporary tours of Japan, here’s the deal:
Depending on the length of your deployment and whether you are going to have your family with you…you MAY be allowed to ship a vehicle overseas for your personal use. But why would you? It makes more sense to buy local. Until the laws changed in the 70s, you could buy pretty much anything overseas and import it to the US. Now it MUST be at least 25 years old.
Again, the type of orders you are under determines whether you can buy a car overseas and have the military pay shipping. Again, why buy a vehicle like those pictured here if servicing it will be a major headache?
BTW, these prices quoted are all (obviously) low because the sellers are desperate NOT to take a bath.
In the mid 80s a co-worker bought a run-of-the-mill Skyline hardtop that was about 10 years old, he wanted $750 for it. He wound up just leaving it in another friend’s care…unsold.
The one that leaps out to me is the Suzuki Samurai high roof next to the Teana. I’ve a seen a few for sale in the US since they are eligible under the 25 year rule.
Regarding the issues of bringing a car with you to Japan, there was a multipart feature on either CC or TTAC several years ago about the author getting a DOdge Caravan registered in Japan and what was required to get through Shaken etc. for someone fluent in Japanese. Based on this any US service members assigned to Japan are better off buying a cheap car in Japan and selling it on before leaving. As for taking one home, it needs to be over 25 years old when you ship it out which means a bit of leg work due to the Shaken test pushing a lot of older cars off the road before the magic age, and competition with specialist grey importers
No mention of the two Yaris Versos at the top of the article. I thought these were supremely ugly when they first appeared, but eventually realised how clever they were. Regular Yaris models in Europe were built in France, but if you bought the Verso you got a proper Japanese car.
I wondered the same, and in their time, thought the same (via the mags, we didn’t get them in Oz). But in truth, it’s a Berlingo that’s always going to work, and it’s taken time to see that it looks – at best – 10% less stylish, not including chevrons. So you couldn’t get it with skinny steel wheels and a huge sunroof of canvas (could you?) better to relieve those Gauloise fumes or fit the mega croissant, who ever really needed the Package de Affectation anyway?
The photo at the top is at another US military installation here in Tokyo that I found on the net, so I didn’t have any info on these two. They are both Fun Cargo models and are very popular with military folks here – they come with 1.3 or 1.5L fours. The Fun Cargo was the predecessor to the Ractis.
Was stationed at the same base 2009-2011; bought a JDM 1st-gen Odyssey and a JDM Integra, which was more like a luxed-up Civic than the Integra we got in the US. Aside from cost of maintenance and updating the inspection (JCI), I got all my investment back two years later.