A car buying agent in Japan, or someone who only looks? What each one does

If you've searched for a buying agent or a proxy service in Japan, you may be after two jobs at once: someone to buy the car and get it out of Japan, and someone to tell you what the car is actually like. Some companies do the first. A few do both. We only do the second. Photos show less than you think, so it helps to know which job you're paying for before you send the first email.

"Buying agent" and "proxy" are used for many kinds of service, from parcels to cars. This page is about cars.

What a buying agent usually does

Every agent works differently, so read this as a list of things to ask about, not a description of any one company.

• Finds a car for you, at auction, at a dealer or through their own contacts.
• Buys it and pays the seller.
• Handles the export paperwork. A registered car can't simply leave Japan: under the Road Transport Vehicle Act (Article 15-2), its registration has to be temporarily cancelled for export, with a certificate issued, before it goes. Ask who applies for it.
• Arranges shipping, or works with a company that does.
• Gets paid through a fee, a commission, a margin on the car, or a mix of these. Ask which, and whether anyone else pays them as well.

What we do instead

We go and look at a car that's for sale at a dealer, or phone the dealer in Japanese, and report what we saw and what we were told. That's the whole service.

• We don't buy, sell or ship cars, and we don't negotiate the price.
• We don't take commissions from dealers or exporters. The only person who pays us is the person who books us.
• We don't go to auction houses. For an auction car, ask your agent about a pre-bid check at the auction.
• We don't tell you whether to buy.

Every report keeps three things apart: what we saw ourselves (Observed), what the dealer told us (Reported), and what we couldn't check (Not verified). You can see the layout in our sample report.

Side by side

	A buying agent (ask each one)	Ninja Desk Japan
Finds the car	Usually	No. You find it, and we look at it
Buys it and pays the seller	Usually	No
Export paperwork and shipping	Usually, or through a partner	No
Auction cars	Ask	No
Sees a dealer's car in person	Ask: some do, some work from the dealer's photos	Yes, by appointment, mainly in the Tokai region (Aichi, Gifu and Mie)
Who pays them	Ask: fee, commission or margin	Only you

When you might want both

If an agent is buying a car from a dealer for you and nobody on their side will see it before it's paid for, a viewing fills that gap. The agent still buys and ships the car. We look at it first, and the report comes to you.

Four questions to ask an agent about the car itself:

1. Has anyone on your side seen this car in person, or are the photos the dealer's?
2. Were these photos taken this week, for me, or are they from the listing?
3. Can you get photos of places I name? The places worth naming are in what dealer photos of a Japanese car miss.
4. How are you paid on this car, and does the seller pay you anything?

For questions about money and what happens if the car isn't as described, see choosing a Japanese car exporter. The same questions work for an agent.

Which dealers let someone come and look

Whether you use an agent or not, the dealer decides whether anyone can see the car. Our founder's view:

• Larger dealers will usually let you see a car.
• Small shops that are run more like a hobby are the ones most likely to say no. They aren't in a hurry to sell, and someone turning up to look the car over for a buyer who isn't there may not be welcome. In our founder's view, those shops are often the ones you can trust most, but that tends to pay off when the buyer goes in person, not through someone else.
• Some dealers won't show the maintenance record book, or even the car's inspection certificate (shaken certificate). It depends on the shop.

None of this is a rule. It's why we ask the dealer before we go, and why a dealer saying no is an answer too. If you're buying straight from a dealer without an agent, buying from a Japanese dealer without seeing it covers what changes.

What this can't tell you

• Which agent to use. We don't rank, recommend or review agents, and we don't name them here.
• Whether a particular car is worth buying. That decision stays with you.
• What an agent will do if something goes wrong. That's in their own terms. Ask for them before you pay.

Agent or no agent, a car at a dealer can be seen before the money moves, if the dealer agrees. Send us the link and tell us which spots matter most to you.

Send us the listing link

Not sure which of our two services you need

With a Remote Check, we phone the dealer in Japanese, ask your questions, ask for the photos you're missing and translate the paperwork they send. With an On-Site Vehicle Viewing, we visit the dealer by appointment and record what we can see and hear on the day. Remote Check or a viewing? sets out how to choose.

Written by Yoshiaki Sagara, a paintless dent repair and detailing technician in Japan. He looks at cars for overseas buyers through Ninja Desk Japan. About us

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