Using Goo-net, the Japanese site, from abroad: how it differs from Goo-net Exchange
Sources checked 4 October 2026
Goo-net (goo-net.com) is one of Japan's big used car listing sites. It's in Japanese and built for buyers in Japan. Goo-net Exchange is its English sister site for export, and the Japanese site's own "English" link takes you straight there. Search "goo net" from the UK and both come up. They show many of the same cars, but buying through one is a different thing from buying through the other, and on either one photos show less than you think.
We don't rate sellers, and we don't use or work with either site. What follows comes from their own pages and from listings we read on 4 October 2026.
Why we start here
When our founder looks for a car for himself in Japan, it's usually on Carsensor or Goo-net. The exception was his Civics, which he bought from private sellers. So a Goo-net listing is the kind of page we read the way a buyer in Japan does: a dealer, a price, an address. Where one of his searches led is on our R33 page.
Who runs it
Goo-net is run by PROTO CORPORATION, the same group that runs Goo-net Exchange. The company details for Goo-net Exchange, including its licence and its parent, are in our guide to Goo-net Exchange.
What Goo-net is, and what it isn't
From Goo-net's terms of use (in Japanese):
- It's a listing site. Quotes, stock checks, condition checks and visit bookings made through it are answered by the dealer that lists the car, and the terms tell you to take questions about them to that dealer directly.
- It isn't part of the sale. The terms say the site doesn't mediate contracts at all. If you want to buy, you ask the dealer yourself.
- It doesn't vouch for the listings. The operator gives no guarantee that the information on the site is complete, true or accurate.
- A quote isn't a hold. The terms say a quote's validity date isn't a deadline for reserving the car.
The same car, two ways in
Goo-net Exchange takes many of its cars from dealers on Goo-net, sometimes under the same listing number. On 4 October 2026 we found one car on both and read the two pages side by side; the detail is in our Goo-net Exchange guide. In short, the Japanese page said which dealer had the car and where, a total price for registering the car in Japan and a domestic dealer warranty. The English page gave an FOB price a little higher than the Japanese vehicle price, the prefecture only, and no warranty.
| Goo-net (Japanese) | Goo-net Exchange (English) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who you deal with | The dealer, directly, in Japanese | Goo-net Exchange, which buys the car from the dealer once your payment arrives |
| Getting the car abroad | Only if that dealer will sell for export; ask | Goo-net Exchange arranges the export |
| What the page shows | Who the dealer is and where, with a phone number | The prefecture |
| Condition | No guarantee from the site; any warranty is the dealer's, written for Japan | Its FAQ: no guarantee on condition, sales on a no claim, no return basis |
Neither is the better way in general. Which suits you depends on whether the dealer will deal with you at all, and on who you'd rather have between you and the car.
Three lines on a Goo-net page worth knowing
On the listing we read, three things a buyer abroad would want were one click from the price:
- The sales area (hanbai kanō eria), the area a dealer will sell to. On that listing it said to ask the dealer directly. For export, the first question is whether they'll sell abroad at all.
- A button to ask about transport costs (rikusō-hi). In Japan that means moving the car by road, which is also how it would get to a port.
- A button to request the condition report (sharyō jōtai hyōkasho). The listing showed the grades; the full report is with the dealer.
The terms these sit beside, such as total price and record book, are explained in Japanese used car listing terms.
What a Goo-net page can't tell you
- The parts the photos don't show. The underside and the strut tops are the usual gaps (what dealer photos miss).
- Whether the dealer will sell to you. That's the dealer's decision, not the site's.
- Whether a warranty goes with the car. A dealer warranty on a Japanese listing is written for a car that stays in Japan.
- Whether the information is right. The site says plainly that it doesn't guarantee it.
A car on Goo-net sits at a dealer in Japan, which is the kind of car we can help with. If the dealer is in or near Aichi, Gifu or Mie and agrees to an appointment, we can go and look at it. Elsewhere, a Remote Check is a phone call to the dealer in Japanese. Send us the Goo-net link and tell us what you'd want looked at.
Before you commit to a Goo-net car
- Ask the dealer whether they'll sell to a buyer abroad, and how: themselves, through an exporter you arrange, or through Goo-net Exchange if the car is listed there too.
- Look for the same car on Goo-net Exchange. If it's there, compare what the two pages say, and what the export price covers.
- Ask for the condition report, and photos of the record book if the listing says there is one (the service record book).
- Ask for photos of the underside and both strut tops, by name.
- Check the chassis number against the papers (Japanese chassis numbers).
- Work out the cost to your door, using your own country's rules, for example the UK or the USA.
How we can help
We're based in Kuwana, Mie Prefecture, and mainly cover Aichi, Gifu and Mie. For a car at a dealer there, we can make an appointment and look at the car in person. You get photos, video and a plain-English report that keeps apart what we saw, what the dealer told us and what we couldn't check. See how a viewing works.
Whether to buy, and through which site, is your decision.
Sources
- Goo-net, Terms of use (in Japanese, linked from the foot of Goo-net's home page): Article 3 and the terms for its enquiry service, checked 4 October 2026. Goo-net asks other sites to link only to its home page, so we don't link to the terms directly
- Goo-net, home page (in Japanese), with its "English" link to Goo-net Exchange, checked 4 October 2026
- PROTO CORPORATION, Company information (in Japanese), checked 4 October 2026
- Goo-net Exchange, FAQ, checked 2 October 2026
- One car listed on both Goo-net and Goo-net Exchange, read 4 October 2026. We don't name it
If the Goo-net dealer is outside the Tokai region (Aichi, Gifu and Mie), start with a Remote Check: we ask the dealer in Japanese whether they sell abroad, and for the photos and report the listing doesn't show.
Picked a car on Goo-net? Send us the link, and the three places you'd look first.