A German currently in Japan

[Hama86]

Guddn'abend.

My name is Mehmet and I greet you from Kanagawa. I came to Japan for a 12 month internship, I have served 6 months already and I bought an AE86. Yes, my plan is to take one home as an "Übersiedlungsgut" to save import costs. Also, I still have to decide if I want to stay here longer which may be possible. Nevertheless my hometown in Germany is Dortmund.

Funny story - in fact sad, not funny at all - I bought mine in August, but the dealer will get the car ready beginning of November. Luckily I could ask him to register the car on my name prior the 6 months to be eligible as import free item. It's ridiculous really, because I thought buying a used car would be like in Germany: pay&drive. Now I pay rent for an empty parking lot near the city center of Yokohama.

I don't have much experience with mechanics but I am a student of Automotive Engineering. I guess this will be a good car to learn all this. I went the safe route and bought a restored, rust-free 3-door kouki panda Trueno.

UPDATE:
The first photos. I haven't done proper photos yet, just a temporary (not so legal but free) parking at Nitori (Japanese IKEA).
   
   

Nice to meet you, よろしくお願いします
Mehmet

[Bean]

Welcome and enjoy your time over there. There are many things in Japan that are very different to Europe some good and some not so much

[Hama86]

(10-13-2017 08:07 PM)Bean Wrote:  Welcome and enjoy your time over there. There are many things in Japan that are very different to Europe some good and some not so much

Tell me about it

Good is of course the cars. Bad however is owning and driving them. A 5 hour drive to Kyoto costs from 7k to 10k tolls (53-76€). Avoiding the toll roads raises the drive to 10h. Almost no free parking.

Uh, my little salary will be gone. Do we have anyone from here who is in Japan at the moment?

[banpei]

Welcome!
I think we chatted in the comments on Youtube earlier.
I don't recall we currently have an active member in Japan, but you never know.
About registering your car in Germany: you probably have to pass Tuv. So make sure your car is as original as possible, but I believe they are about as strict as the Dutch RDW wiht a few exceptions here and there. They aren't as strict as Belgium, where you would need to have every part on your car approved.

[Hama86]

Thank you very much.

My car is lightly tuned from the dealer. Initially I wanted to buy a car for a low budget, but my awesome family was ready to support me if the car would be in good shape. After visiting a few dealers from Goo-Net, I opted for Carland. I have acquaintances who work for GTÜ as inspectors, so I intend to replace everything problematic while I am here.

[pack]

おはよ　ごさいます、
わたしわ　PACK　です、
げんきですか？
Hope my newly learned japanese lesson could be usefull to give you a warm welcome!

Being in japan living and owning an 86 it-s like a dream! Hope it could be the machine you want it to be...

Cheers!
よろしく

[Hama86]

Oh, your Japanese is really good.

We will see. I will call my dealer and try to talk to him (he can't speak English). He wanted to think about a solution for my delivery situation. (My company organizes a Gymkhana event for employees in November). Never thought fluid changing takes so much time.

Once I have the car I can freely visit all the Parking Areas I always read about on SpeedHunters.

[mad.matt]

(10-15-2017 06:02 AM)Hama86 Wrote:  Oh, your Japanese is really good.

We will see. I will call my dealer and try to talk to him (he can't speak English). He wanted to think about a solution for my delivery situation. (My company organizes a Gymkhana event for employees in November). Never thought fluid changing takes so much time.

Once I have the car I can freely visit all the Parking Areas I always read about on SpeedHunters.

If your English is better than your Japanese, try getting in touch with Jesse Streeter. He handles international exports but I'm sure he'd be available to help you with an internal order

[Hama86]

Oh, I will need a contact for exporting for sure. Especially as I have more than a car that I intend to ship. My question would be how big a sealed container is and if other items like boxes or a bicycle can be transported and such, so I will definitely get in touch with Jesse.

BTW I talked with Tokuchi-san with the help of a Japanese friend. Currently another car is on his pipeline, and mine will be afterwards. The full maintenance he does on cars takes around 2 weeks, so I may not be able to attend my companies closed Gymkhana event (no racing license required). An option would be to get into Gymkhana locally but I may need to do the Japanese License B to do that (License B is Rallye, Gymkhana, Time Trial). Shouganai!

[banpei]

What kind of company are you working for that they organize internal Gymkhana events?
That must be an awesome company to work for!