I am looking to buy used car does anyone know a used car dealers off base where I can find in the price range of $1000 - $3000.

Willie

Willie,

A friend of mine has been selling cars in Japan for over 10 years. He has always purchased cars from the auction and sold them at Yokosuka (onbase) lot, but until recently he has only been able to sell cars off-base.

I recently had a discussion with him, and he is changing the game up for how cars are going to be sold around here..

This is the deal that NO DEALER onbase wants you to know: "Some cars they buy can go as cheap as 2000 yen, when they buy them from the auction"

Yes you read that correctly 2000 yen!!! Its sick I know.

So Mr. Auto (my friend) he is actually going to take people directly to the auction and PAY exactly the price for the car that is being sold at the auction. No hidden fees, no extra crap, he is only going to charge you a small fee to take you up to the auction, and then a fee to use his account to buy the car.

For example: (If you buy a car onbase you will pay around $1500-$3000.00 for car.
That same car at the auction is probably if your lucky being sold at the auction for $200-$500

For that same car that is $200-$500 you are buying at the same price those dealers selling on/offbase bought it for.

Soon, Mr. Auto will be an exclusive member part of Japanbases.com.

All I can say, is try him. NO DEALERS, I REPEAT, NO DEALERS want you to go to the auction and see the real deal!
I have been to the auction once, and I am still blown away. Let me just tell you they are making a KILLING onbase!

Well thats all going to come to a halt. There is a new guy in town, and he is going to be the only one willing to take you to the auction, and buy at the auction price.

His fee to go to the auction: 20,000 yen
His fee if you do purchase: 30,000 yen

So for example:

You get a car for $500 (WHICH WILL BE COMPLETELY NICE) TRUST ME!!!
You have to pay additional an additional fee through the auction house which is @ $200-300 for Japan car fees.
You have to pay Mr. Auto his 50,000 yen

So total you just bought the car for less than $1500..

I got my car completely (first time for) $1000.00 The car was $200 from the auction..
Yes you read that right, $200.00

I am planning to get a new car soon. A nice BMW!!! Lets just say it will be under $5000 and above a 2002 model..

I trust Mr. Auto, and he will do everything in his power to help you through the process.

I am not getting a dime for helping him, I promise, I just want to put a stop to all those GUYS making a killing and controlling the market for car sales onbase.

I know they need to make a commission, but $1000-$2000 markup is rediculous.

See the difference with many of these dealers onbase, is they dont have a license to buy from the auction directly, so they have to go through a Japanese rep which also receives a commission.

Mr. Auto is a Japanese business, and he is American (english speaking)..
I am just trying to help him out, and get some more customers for him. I know you guys will be satisfied.

There is also a website he can show you (but its restricted) that has access to what cars will be available for the next upcoming auction. I have looked at the website several times with him, because like I said, I am still waiting to get my BMW.

If I was looking for a car, I would take off of work on a friday and head up to the auction with him. Its a lot better and you can pick exactly what you want. All the cars have inspections done, and have rating pages right on the car when you go there. He will have a clicker to bid on the car you are interested in.

I will be setting up a few pages for him to advertise on this website soon. I dont have his phone number handy, but I will see him next week and post some more info about him.

I will never EVER buy another car onbase. I bought my last one, a van, and its already having problems. I spent $2800 on it. Its time to upgrade.. BMW style.. I may buy 2 for the prices I have seen on the website.. One for me, and one for wifey..

Do I know this MR. AUTO? lol cause I have someone in mind. I need a new van for the fam and all.

Just to add - At first he really didnt want to do this auction thing. I told him last week he should, but he said NO why would I want anyone knowing. I told him, because you need to do something different that no other dealers are willing to do. That is SHOW people the truth. The next day, he saw me, and said, okay your right, I am going to do it. He is suppose to be taking a ton of pictures, and writing down all the Q/A's that people may have when they get a car from the auction. I am going to be building him his own area on the website, and I think its truly going to help him. At first he was worried, because like I said (he was selling about 1-2 cars per month) and making around $1000 per car. I told him, that I think he will have atleast 4 customers per mo, and that is the same amount $2000 is was making, so it should equal out to the same. I just think there is a lot more potential for him, and he will one day have 10-20 customers per month. This is all new, and will be completely new to the way base people purchase a car. I dont think his fee of 50,000 yen is too expensive either. You have to think (he has to make a living somehow) and your still getting a CHEAP CHEAP car. You wont know what I am talking about until you check out the auction. Its right there in Yokohoma Bay Side. Every Friday he goes. He also has a lot of cars off-base, but I think this service he is going to be providing is going to take up a lot of his Friday's.. He will do all your paperwork, thats all included in the fee. That means LTO, JCI, etc..
I think he will even pay for your lunch too when you go to the auction.. He is coming up with this complete plan, so I dont really know all the details yet, but when I do, I will let you know. After a while, his reputation will speak for itself. Car dealers are going to hate this website!!!! Oh well, sorry guys..

Adam, Please when you get his information send it to me Name, Phone & website. I am 6'4" and I am having hard time finding car that I can fit in. I am planning to buy 2 car one for me and for the wifey.

Last Thursday I was looking at the website (day before Friday) to see what cars were available. I only care about BMW's so he had them all pulled up for me to see them. Anyhow there was this immaculate BMW, it was a 2005 model, and we looked up the week before (price to see what a similar 2005) went for and one went for around $4500 for the same exact car. Same model everything, with the BUBBLE lights up front. It was sick. I told him I want one soon. He just told me, whenever I am ready.. Tell me this, how much do you think a 2005 beamer a (5) year old car would be selling that is SPOTLESS clean, with LOW, VERY LOW KM's? Expensive.. Just because you will look at those other cars onbase, which are $2-$3K and this BMW would probably sell for about $12,000..

I just told you, the cars are sold for under $5K which are insane.. Mr. Auto told me everyday they have tens of thousands of cars sold every Friday. Every major car dealer in Japan is there at one of the 4 auctions around here. There is another one in Chiba which is one of the biggest. All those manufacturer dealers, he said they are there picking up used cars too. I said really? He said, "yup, every friday. buying them all up with the same manufacturer name".. Then they sell them for 3x the value on their lots.. It honestly is sick knowing all this now. I never knew they went as low as they did until I went up there and saw it for my own eyes. The website he uses also is sick, because you can look at every single car sold in the past few weeks. You can see how much the car was sold for.

Some cars are sold like 5000 yen, 8000 yen, 2000 yen, 12,000 yen.. Its sick!!!! I am sure you can see I am excite about this topic, but I am also anxious for when I am going to get my BMW. If you honestly were looking at a car for about $10,000 you could buy practically anything. Practically a brand new car, maybe 1 year old.

I am planning to buy 2 car one for me and for the wifey.

In this case, I think you will only have to pay the 20,000 yen fee once. So it would be 20,000 yen + 30,000 yen + 30,000 yen, (then just include all the auction fees)..

You could honestly get 2 cars (depending on what your looking for) for under $2,000 if your lucky..

I will get his info next week. Last friday he went to the auction and told me he would take pictures of the entire process, so I could build a website page for him, and explain every single step for people.

When I get the info, I will post it here.

I will be looking forward next week.

I've been to the auction with "a Mr. Auction" (don't know if it's your Mr. Auction). some cars sell for 2000Y but you wouldn't want to own one. To be honest, I was expecting all cars to be ridiculously cheap, they weren't. For example, I wanted a 2004 Honda Odyssey. On goo-net.com, I knew they were about $20,000, I was thinking I could get one at action for about $10,000. Nope!(Couldn't touch one for less than 1600000Yen) It could have been the time of year I went or the amount of dealers bidding on the cars or another multitude of factors. None the less, I didn't get the car I really wanted. I ended up paying about what the car is selling for on a lot in town, not really getting a huge deal.

Here is a breakdown of the car I bought:
Car 440000Y
Dealer Fee $500
Base inspection $15
LTO inspection $300+/-

keep in mind that if your car doesn't pass inspection, You'll have to fix anything before you can register it on base (this has bit Mr. Auction in the behind before). What I'm saying is, Look at it really good at the auction site..........

The experience was a blast, I had a great time.

Anybody can find a car outside the base for 50,000 yen or less. The problem is that there is usually no shakken left or only a few months. Everybody knows this. The trick is not going to an auction, the trick is doing your own shakken. Ive had people give me cars for free. It wasnt actually for free, I had to get the shakken put on it. There used to be a place in Aikawia where you could do your own shakken.

Give me a few minutes, and I will come back and type up a long post using a word that no one knows about 8 times, and see how many people I can confuse...

WORD ON THE AUCTION.
wi
My boss went there about a year ago, taken by a dealer from on base. He bought a very VERY nice car for $1000.

Only to find out that the red "R" that was on the window sticker stood for "repaired". And what was repaired? The CHASSIS. And because of the repair, it did NOT pass the LTO inspection. The auction house would NOT take back the car and refund him because, and they have a point, they didn't hide it.... he just didn't know what it meant or wasn't clear enough to ask.

Lesson: Good deals abound at the auction house. But don't take anything unless you know what EVERYTHING on the paperwork says and means.

I met with Mr. Auto tonight.

Loki you do have a valid point. things of course happen and no one can predict that you will never get a bad car but the same exact thing happens in the states or anywhere else in the world. It could also happen from someone selling a car onbase at the lemon lot. You buy a car and 2 months after buying it, the car breaks down. That happened to a fried of mine. Anyhow, I think Mr. Auto's experience and 10 years of doing this business he know what to look for and what to avoid. He will flat out tell you, "no don't touch that car"...

Here is his phone number:
090-1704-3538
www.japanbases.com

Hello everyone this is Mr Auto.

For inquries on any vehicles, please contact me through this website private message, or you can call me at 090-1704-3538.

I am available to take anyone up to the auction on Friday's between (7:00am - 5:00pm).

For anyone that doesnt know what to expect, you can contact me, and I will be glad to explain the entire process to you.

Its a fun sight to see, and you can definitely pick up great deals.

Please contact me anytime, if you have any questions.

Respectfully,
Mr. Auto

Word, I'll give you a call in the AM. I may have to wait until next friday to check it out.

Interested, please keep us updated.

I contacted MR AUTO, I want a BMW before I go back to the US that is LHD, hope he can hook me up!

I am going with Mr. Auto tomorrow (Friday) to check out the auction for the first time at Bay Side, Yokohoma. I am only interested in BMW's so I am just going to focus on that small area.

I have already been looking at a few 2005-2008 models, so I will see what I get tomorrow. 

I went to the auction today with Mr. Auto.
It was amazing!  I recommend it to anyone that wants to get a car.
Call him up and schedule the entire Friday to be spent getting your car.
Its more fun just going through the entire process, it really is a fun experience.

He first will take you through the LOT, and you should already have some sort of idea
what type of car, and the # your looking for.  He can explain the entire details
when you talk, but I had a good idea which cars I was interested in, which were BMW's.

When I got there, I saw tons of BMW's and Mercedes.  I actually had picked out 4 favorites
but then I saw how nice this Nissan Skyline was, and how new it was.

So I decided to write it down.  It just happened to be #273.

Well when the auction began, Mr. Auto has a clicker when your sitting down in this big room
(very nice by the way) and tons of people are in there, just bidding on different cars by the clicker.

Well the BMW's were in the #5000 range (which didnt start until 2pm), and the #001 cars start at 10am.
 By 10:40am, they were already at the #200's so I didnt really even have the opportunity to see
what the BMW's went for, but I can tell you just by seeing how cheap the cars went at the auction,
they were a steal!  I am sure of it!

But I am very very very happy with getting this car below.  I got to test drive it, before I bought it,
and I inspected everything before hand.  From the pictures below, you can see how nice it is.

Lets just say, its the same price range that those fools sell those CRAPPY re-used cars
over and over onbase...  Most cars onbase have been turned over 2 to 3 times, through different owners
and I can tell you, NOT MANY PEOPLE are driving around in a new car like you see below.

It had everything already installed!   ETC, Navigation, DVD...

I want to say THANK YOU, to Mr. Auto for explaining and showing me things step by step
at the auction.  He really did a good job.  It was fun just checking all the cars out, and learning
how to pick out the best ones.  He told me (NO DONT TOUCH THAT ONE almost 10 times)..
So I trust his advice, and just moved on checking all the other cars out.

It will be delivered tomorrow.  I can't wait! 

Will I get my BMW also?  Your damn right.. After how cheap I saw the cars,
wifey is getting a BMW.. I will drive it here and there too...  Its just ridiculous not too!

and how much was it? and how much more you will have to invest to be able to drive it on/off base ...

There are lots everywhere really , a lot in the Sahara and Nobi areas I know of. It all comes down to how much you want to pay and what you are looking for. If you do go off base, and not just an off base American lot, I mean really off off base the only difficulty I see would be language.

Nice! How much did you end up paying? 
We will most certainly be using Mr.Auto when we get there. May even purchase 2 cars depending on what the bank account looks like by the time we get there. Thanks a ton for the information.
I had heard about these auctions for years when I was in Atsugi but was never able to attend one. I had a friend that bought a Skyline GTR R34 at one of these auctions for about $8,000 USD. At the time you were lucky if you could find a baseline grocery getter R34 for less than $10,000.

How much did you end up paying?

I posted earlier, but removed how much I paid. The reason why, I dont want anyone thinking everything will be that cheap. The thing people need to realize, they have ALL SORTS of cars.

People onbase tipickyl try to sell cars that are about 10 years old. The reason for that is the JAPANESE society won't drive those cars. If you try to stick with a 10 year old car, you can get cars VERY VERY Cheap.

I saw cars selling for 2000 yen! They werent bad either. I know if you got it, you could probably turn around and sell it onbase for $1500 no problem.

Its all about timing, and finding something you like, which takes time.

Everyone will have a different experience. I just got lucky, and found this car. If no one bids, it will go cheap. There was only about 25 different people in the room bidding. So you take into account hundreds of cars, and only 25 bidders. Some cars will go cheap, because they already bought a ton of cars so they dont need all of them. Those that they arent interested just might be the one you pick up dirt cheap.

I really think the base dealers are getting their cars from reps that attend the auctions, and then selling them onbase for 10x what they bought the car for.

If you happen to get a car for say $400 you have to pay a fee of 15,000 yen to the auction house, 10,000 yen shipping to base, 50,000 yen mr auto fee. Then you have to add the JCI insurances, if it doesnt have them. It will still be cheaper than getting a car onbase. And you get to pick out what you want, and have a wider selection.

If you want those nicer cars, BMW, Mercedes, or something specific they have that too. If you have around $5000-$10000 you can get a very very nice car.

The problem is, people that come over to Japan, only want to spend less than $2,000.. Some people are so cheap they only want to spend $1000.. You get what you pay for.

I would rather get a car from a Japanese person that owned it before, then a base person anyday. Do you think base personnel take car of these cars? I doubt it. They rummage through them, tear them up, no upkeep, and then try to sell the car for the same price they bought it for again 3 years later. Dude, your car is 14 years old. I cannot believe people still try to sell 10-15 year old cars for the $2000 price range. They are mad.

Bottom line, go to the auction. Spend the day, and just go. It will blow your mind how cheap things are. No one will understand until the try it.

I think Mr. Auto took videos and pictures today, because he wanted to upload on this website. He should be posting them, and it shows everything!

I had the opportunity of looking at the Cube, Civic and Torneo Mr. Auto had on the site and they were nice cars, no doubt, and affordable. My wife is in the market for a car so we called Mr. Auto and arranged a time to view the cars. We did, they were nice, made our choice and now we're in the process of purchasing a car from him. The way he does business is great and if I ever get rid of my Surf, I'll definitely hit up Mr. Auto again.

Definitely worth the time. I might actually have to hit up one of those auctions, sounds kinda fun!

Hey Pigeonman5000, Mr. Auto here. Thanks for the kind remarks.

Mr Auto, do you do business for the folks down in Sasebo....? I'm very interested if you do, will be arriving in a few months, thanks !

BTW, nice car Adam, that's one of the cars my wife really wants.

-Gonzo

Gonzo, Yes I like my new car too! Navigation, ETC, and DVD/TV… All works great…

I believe Mr. Auto does ship to Sasebo. He does exporting, so I don’t think he will have a problem shipping to you in Sasebo. I think he told me once before he shipped to people in Okinawa.. If I see him, I will let him know you are asking about it. Good luck with your move.

Thanks, I have a list of cars that I would like him to keep an eye out for.

Mr. Adam and Mr. Auto,

      Im interested in going to one of those auctions, I will be arriving 1 Apr.  Will I be able to set up a date for this event online or is face to face referred?  thanks.

-Sar

 

Question..... Does Mr. Auto happen to deal with motorcycles at all. my family and i will be arriving in early Apr. as well and i would love to set up an appt.

Mr Auto, I'm coming in August.  How do I contact you for your services?

You can send him a PM on JapanBases.

Been a while since I visited or posted anything on the site. Had to post this one though.
On Friday I was witness to the infamous "Auction". I had contacted Mr. Auto and arranged to go to the auction with him on Friday. When we arrived he immediately took me to the cars I was interested in and we went over the cars condition including starting the engines and checking under the hoods. After browsing the selection of vehicles for over an hour(which isn't enough time to get through the whole lot unless you hurry, that's why you need to know what you want) we went inside for the auction.

My vehicle was one of the first ones up. I can't tell you the price I got it for, but I can tell you I was jumping, yelling and dancing in the isles. On the inside. No way could I have touched our vehicle on base for the price I got. A vehicle with navigation, TV and a remote starter. When I told my wife the price we got it for she was happier than I was. As the auction progressed and we waited for Mr. Auto's other clients cars to be up for auction I witnessed good cars going for prices that had my jaw dropping. I watched a decent car that I would have had no problems using as a "get to work and back car" go for 10,000 yen. That's roughly $100.00 U.S.!!!! Of course the prices will vary from auction to auction, but you'd be hard pressed to find a better deal.
 
Overall the whole experience gets a huge thumbs up and very high reccomendation from me. If you are in the market for a car you're doing yourself wrong if you don't contact Mr. Auto. He has great service, he's excellent company, and he made the experience fun. It was so much better than  having someone pressure you to buy something you don't want. Each customer that was with us came away happy that day. I can't say enough about how smooth and fun everything was. I'll post some pics from my phone later. This topic needs more than a sticky....it should be plastered to the front of Japanbases.

AZ,

Great story..
Yes he called me and told me how well it went.

He is a great source of information when your dealing with cars. Thats why I went through him to get mine. I had so much fun at the auction, and I know if I ever needed one, I could just go with him on a Friday and pick up WHATEVER I wanted.

I sort of regret not getting the BMW that I wanted last time. I am sure you know what I mean AZ. There is that isle full of the high end cars, Mercedes, Beamers, etc..

I had 4 cars written down with #'s I was going to watch out for. Only problem is the Skyline I got was the FIRST one.. Sucked. Because you almost want to wait, but if you do, you cant go back and get it. I was so tempted on that day to get 2 cars. Only reason why I didnt, because I called me wife and asked.. She declined..

We only have 1 spot, so we would have to fork out another 20,000 yen a month for another spot. To me it would almost be worth it! But she doesnt drive very often, so she didnt want her own car.

I was going to get her one of those 2 seater Mercedes 2 door cars.. The very nice ones. I think they went for around 4K.. But give me a break.. 4K.. You cannot beat that deal..

Thats why if you read the original posts I made above, the people on the LEMON lots are selling JUNK! Pure JUNK, and if they do happen to get a car from an auction which was a prior Japanese owner, they are pumping the price up 5 times more than they purchased the car for.

You arent lying about the 10,000 yen. I saw one go for 2000 yen! And it wasnt a junker, just no one wanted it.

I am in the process of setting up a DEALER section which will connect with the vehicles section.

All the dealers throughout Japan will be listed, and can have their own page set up. Mr. Auto wants all his auction details, prices, and information posted on his site. He has already sent me everything for it, and since he is the only dealer that I know of to be on JB really, all those other dealers are MISSING OUT!

He sold I believe 7 cars in the past couple months on the VEHICLE classifieds section. And its FREE!

You know what kills me. I was trying to be nice one day, so I walked up to a couple dealers onbase in Yokosuka (lemon lot).. I told them about my site, and told them they could post 2 cars for free at any given time.
Not one has come back (to my knowledge).. They thought I was trying to scam them..
Oh well. There loss.

I will never even buy another car from onbase or someone on that base ever again.

I too am a big Mr. Auto fan. When I got here 2 months ago it was freezing (still is) and taking the bus everywhere with my 18 month old just was not cutting it. We needed a car, and being new to Japan, we did not really know where to find one besides the lemon lot. I stumbled upon this site and started reading Adams post about his experience with Mr. Auto. After looking at the lemon lot and bulletin boards on base and not really finding anything I thought was a good value I decided why not give this Mr. Auto a phone call. I wanted to go to the auction but my wife was working and I could not secure childcare for the day. He asked me what I was looking for and what my price range was. I told him and within a few hours he called and emailed me back pictures of the car I was looking for at the price I was looking to get it for. We met up the next day, checked out the car and it was exactly what I was looking for. Since we were new we had no idea what to do next but he made things so easy for us. He took care of almost everything. Mr. Auto made buying our first car in Japan a very easy and enjoyable process. Our car (Honda Odyssey) was not only cheaper than the ones on the Lemon lot but 2 years newer than the ones we were looking at. We were up and running in no time. My wife and I were really happy...and so was the baby.

I saved up a few more bucks and decided to give Mr. Auto a call last week. This time I wanted to go to the auction for a car for myself. I set everything up and Mr. Auto picked me up right outside the front gate. I am a car guy and entering that auction car lot made my heart jump. Thousands of cars just sitting glistening in the morning sun waiting to go to the highest bidder...it was a sight to see. I felt like a kid in a candy store. Mr. Auto set me loose and there I was going car to car looking at this and checking out that. Mr. Auto let me know which ones were good and which ones to stay away from. I made my list of cars that I knew I could probably afford and just for sh*ts and giggles I made a small list of cars that I knew where out of my price range. I just wanted to know what they would end up going for. After a few hours of looking at the cars (I could have spent all day out there looking...really) we went inside to start the bidding. If you have never been to something like this you just don't know what you've been missing. I would pay Mr. Auto just to go watch this auction again...even if I didn't want to by a car. Some of these cars went so cheap it was crazy. The auction flies too. Before I knew it some of the cars on my list had come and gone. So as a car on my "probably too pricey for me but I just want to see what it would go for list" comes up Mr. Auto asks me if I want to bid on it. "Why not?" I say and I let him know my paltry max bid amount. The screen flickers...wham bam boom!!...Mr. Auto turns to me and says "congrats you have a new car." I was in shock for a moment still trying to figure out what happened. I won the car I thought I could not afford at almost half my max bid amount. I wanted to hug that man right then and there but I restrained myself. Thank you Mr. Auto. To top it off he even bought lunch. If anyone ever needs anything automotive or you just know someone that needs a car and you don't want them to pick up some of the junk that is going around base don't hesitate to give Mr. Auto a call. There are several people on this site and around base that will vouch for him. When I find the loophole for getting around the one vehicle per licensed driver here on base I know who I will be calling. Sorry for the really long post but I just cannot say enough about this guy. Thanks.

Contact me @ 090-1704-3538

My Pleasure, it's what i live for.

Adam, I posted my car ad on the auto section. It was super-easy to do. I hope someone wants it. If not, I'm going to put it in neutral and roll it into Tokyo Bay (I paid 3200 bucks for that car 11 months ago!). I'm glad I have a place to post on here. I know there's the index card glass case outside the Commissary and the lemon lot, but I'm going to see if anyone on here is looking for a big car!

Adam, I posted my car ad on the auto section. It was super-easy to do. I hope someone wants it. If not, I'm going to put it in neutral and roll it into Tokyo Bay

Yes I saw that you posted it. Good luck selling it. Your right, the lemon lot, and commissary board are other ways to find a vehicle, but I think eventually when we start to get more bases posting their vehicles to 1 centralized location, JB vehicles classifieds will become the best place to sell your vehicle. It wont just be a place that more cars will be able to be viewed, it will also mean that those posting a car will sell their cars faster.

If no one ever sold there cars, NO ONE WOULD POST, so I am happy to see that others are selling their cars on here.
I have received emails from those that have sold there cars on here, and its happy to know it works.

Mr. Auto has sold several cars, but thats just because he usually has the best affordable prices. When you get cars as cheap as he does, he can afford to just make a little amount on them, and everyone wins.

Lego, I do hope you dont get stuck with the vehicle. Worst case scenario, you could give someone a special power of attorney to look after it for you, and try to sell, so you dont just rush it.

There is a Japanese company by the name of Premier Auto but there is an American guy who can answer all your questions. A friend of mine told me about them and we just purchased a car from them. I had talked to a few other people around the base who supposedly do the same but the price they want you to pay up front is 20,000 yen to go to the auction and then another 30,000 yen at time of purchase. With Primier they have a temporary deposit...your choice(half of purchase is usually requested so,---$2000 vehicle deposit $1000,they use that toward the purchase of your vehicle so you only owe $1000 at the end. They sent me pictures and kept me updated. Plus the cars are a little newer. I think it is reasonable to ask for a 2003 vehicle as that is what we got. It has navi/cd/dvd. Lots of aother options. Plus the miles were lower. They also showed me the auiction paper with the grade of the vehicle so I knew I wasn't purchasing a wrecked vehicle. Then they go to the auction and purchase the type of vehicle you want for the price.If they don't find something then they refund your money to you.....all of it!!!. They also go to 3 auctions a week. They are easy to deal with and things happen very quickly. They work with all the bases in Japan. They offer you a no hassle purchase. It was a great experience. I have the number as 080-5098-8728 and you can also email  mailto:premierautosalon@yahoo.com    Good luck!!!

Hey Mr. Auto,
I am transferring to Yokosuka in mid September.   Any auctions in late September?   Do I need to make an appointment with you?

Tired of paying high prices for old cars? Tell us exactly what you want and we’ll find it! Let us go to the auction and chose from over 50,000 vehicles every week. We have access to EVERY auction in to include American vehicles in Japan! Any make model and color you want, we can find it. We are the only dealer around that will show the auction sheet for your car so you know everything! Don't get fooled by other dealers with crashed and damaged cars that have been repaired. You pay what the dealers pay and that's it. Alll our cars come with 2yrs JCI! There are no fees for us going to the auction to find you a car...It's our job!!! We will tell you the truth about the auction process and local dealers. Call or e-mail today. Payment plans are available and we also take some trade-in's 080-5098-8728 premierautosalon@yahoo.com Tell us what you want and we'll send you pictures of what the auction has. Refer a friend and receive $200 cash if they buy from us!!!

I read all of the posts about Mr Auto before I PCSd back to Japan and decided to give him a call rather than suffer the LEMON lot like I did last tour. Well I was all excited to go to the auction to find a vehicle, but it turned out that he had a vehicle already that he thought would suit our needs. Kind of a bummer, because I really wanted to experience the auction myself. Well, we took a look at the car and sure enough, it was just what we needed. The vehicle was in great condition and hundreds less than the beaters on the lemon lot. I have to say that we did have some paperwork hiccups (not Mr Auto's fault) but he did everything he could to smooth it out. In the end we got a great car at a great price and I am VERY satisfied. I would definitely recommend Mr Auto to anyone looking for a vehicle.

Posted By Adam Jones on 30 Jan 2010 02:28 AM
There was only about 25 different people in the room bidding. So you take into account hundreds of cars, and only 25 bidders.

Just thought I would respond to the above post as a buddy of mine is also a dealer that buys directly from the car auctions (mostly the main one in Chiba).

I have purchased vehicles through him, and been to the auction in person.
The reason that there may not be many people bidding in person is that they can now bid remotely over the Internet (my buddy buys 90% of his vehicles this way now).
So, don't be misled by the fact there may not be many dealers in the bidding rooms.

HTH

Do they have any Harley's at auctions? If so I might be interested.

I just want to know which of you, Mr Auto or Premiere Auto work with folks stationed at Yokota AB? I went to an auction with a dealer and had to make  my offering price prior to the auction.  They do ensure there is a JCI and have a 60 day garantee but they don't tell you what the car was sold for.

Posted By hotskillet on 28 Aug 2010 12:33 AM
I went to an auction with a dealer and had to make  my offering price prior to the auction. 

So is that how it works? Everyone submits their bid prior to the auction?  Or is it the traditional American-style auction where the bidding goes back & forth until you have a winner?

Posted By ThaiGuy on 28 Aug 2010 07:59 AM

Posted By hotskillet on 28 Aug 2010 12:33 AM
I went to an auction with a dealer and had to make  my offering price prior to the auction. 

So is that how it works? Everyone submits their bid prior to the auction?  Or is it the traditional American-style auction where the bidding goes back & forth until you have a winner?

I think what hotskillet was saying is that he had to tell his car dealer how much he was willing to bid, so he would know when to stop. Actual bidding is done in real-time, by bidders at the auction site, and online via the Internet (members only).
If you are there in person sitting next to the dealer (not always possible if all the bidder seats are full), you can tell him to keep going if you want to exceed your limit, but it comes down to split second timing at the end.

Is Premier Auto and Mr. Auto the same organization? Does anybody have their website?