Daihatsu Copen

I never really took a close look at the Toyota showroom in Odaiba. I had a chance to spend some time there last Sunday and got the chance to sit in a Copen. It's the first time I had the chance to take a really close look at in and sat in one. The Copen is much nicer in real life. It's much bigger than I thought and felt very solid. The interior is slightly narrower than the Roadster but still felt fairly roomy. Some of the plastic interior looked a bit cheap though. Not as simple and elegant like the Roadster's interior. Also, the Copen doesn't seems as manly as a Roadster. Still, would be kind a neat to have a Copen for a few days to play with. I might have given this car serious consideration if I had the chance to actually check one out before I commit to the SG.

Daihatsu Copen with Red Interior

They had a sky blue MR-S as well. Finally had the chance to sit in one. I would have bought this car if it weren't for the fact that there is zero trunk space. Too bad. It's a cool car. The back end sticks up much higher than the Roadster giving it an aggressive race car butt. However, you can hardly check blind spots. Looking over your shoulder you see the back of the cabin. The dash is square and the cockpit is really deep. Even though it was more roomy than the Roadster, I felt like I was sitting in a box. I liked the Spyder more than I thought I would but there was something not right about it...Guess I'm happy with my choice.

Toyota MR-S

Mazda Roadster

Never go into a car dealorship unless you have decided to buy a car. Otherwise you will end up buying a car. Yesterday, I just signed up for driving lessons and was feeling good about making some progress toward my goal of getting a car. This afternoon, on my way to the gym, on the spur of the moment I decided to get off the bus and visit the Mazda Dealer on Nakaharakaido. I heard that they had a very nice shiny silver Roadster in the window and I thought I would take a look. It wasn't a silver one after all but, the SG Limited Edition. Celion silver with blue seats. I've seen the SG limited on the web and in the brochure and wasn't too impressed with the colors, too bright. But fell in love with it when I saw it up close in real life. Celion silver definitely appeared more sophiscated than the other standard Roadster colors. I was planning on getting a silver roadster, but after seeing the SG, standard silver just seemed as boring as a Toyota Corolla.

So anyway, I walked into the showroom and soon enough, some sales guy was handing me his meishi and showing me to a table where fresh coffee was waiting. After explaining my situation of not having a license, the salesman, ( A-san ) assured me that I did not have to have a license to either buy a car or get a parking space or automobile insurance. I said that I was planning to wait until June to get a car. But since it was March and the end of the financial year, A-san said that he could get me a really good deal. car dealers generally need to make their quotas before the end of march and so they are willing to give bigger discounts.

A-san had these shifty eyes and wasn't the most friendly guy, but he seemed fairly frank about what he was telling me. After chatting for about 30 minutes and checking out the showroom car for half of that. I decided to get an estimate ( Oh no!! ). A-san knew he had me.

Firstly, I had to decide which model I wanted. Hmm... difficult, I really wanted a silver 1.8L VS combination A with black leather seats but that would be a bit expensive. The SG model was a customized version of the racing NR-A model with better suspension/dampers and extra large brakes ( options I wouldn't normally have chosen and probably don't really need ) plus BOSE speakers/sound system, leather shift knob, chrome paneling, keyless entry and nice navy blue cloth seats. The SG had all the essentials and more and was a limited edition so it would probably have a higher resale value ( remember only 400 in Japan ). SG was it. I went for the 1.6L engine even though I would have preferred the 1.8L because it had better looking 16 inch wheels.

Next, what other options did I want? Well, got all the standard dealer options (roadster logo floor matts, trunk matts, soft top cover, body coating), also needed the aeroboard which is the thing that blocks the wind when the top is down. Added a CD player, didn't need any other audio since I would be using my iPOD mostly. Although expensive, I wanted the fog lamps. Otherwise those tacky black plastic plugs would be default in the fog lamp holes, ugly!!!

A-san made some calcuations and simulated loan payment scenarios. Besides the price of the car and options, there was also consumption tax, a special car tax (5%) of the price of the car, a car weight tax, mandatory car insurance tax, a bunch of other administrative fees like registering the car, parking space etc. On top of that there was the interest from the loan, ouch! The total was disheartening.

Now, since it was march he could give me a deal. I asked for some more options. Mirror cover, titanium pedal set, silver scuff plates. And also to not pay any interest on the loan. He took the final amount to his boss saying he would "do his best" to get me the best deal. Yeah, right. He disappeared for about 15 minutes apparently trying to make it appear like he was negotiating with his manager, but probably going for a smoke instead.

Anyway, he came back saying I had a deal. Damn! Should have asked for more options like a front grill and body cover. Oh well, too late. A-san handed me a nice application with all the figures printed out. He handed me a pen and waited for me to sign. I picked up the pen. There was no going back if I signed. Being the biggest purchase of my life I knew I should spend some more time to think about it....After about 5 minutes. I signed. Yippee! New car! I was now Roadster owner. Geez, buying a car in Japan is really easy.

I will be getting the car around the end of April and will post pictures at that time. Stay tuned!

Koyama Driving School

After weeks of trying to find ways of getting a valid japanese drivers license without having to go to a driving school. I came to the conclusion that there is absolutely no way around it , I have to join a school. It's not so much the time that bothers me, and I could use the refresher course since I haven't driven in more than 10 years, but the COST! It costs thousands of dollars to go to driving school in Japan.

Koyama Driving school seems to be the best choice even though it ain't the cheapest. They are the only school in Japan which offers courses in English. I could take the courses in Japanese, but don't want to bother this time. Another deciding factor for choosing this school was the receptionist when I visited to get some brochures. She was soooo cute. I knew I had to go back. The school is located between Futakotamagawaen and SeijoGakuenmae. They have free shuttle buses to and from both stations. Good to know if you want free transport from the Odakyu line to the Denentoshi line. The school is very clean and there is a lounge area and TV screens playing MTV to watch while you are waiting for a class. When I signed up and paid my fees, they gave me a nice package with colorful textbooks all in English, and a membership card. All this and pictures of the staff/instructors on the walls reminded me of my old Eikaiwa school. Maybe this is the standard system for pseudo educational facilities in Japan?

At any rate, I told them I was planning to take time off work in April to take classes and wanted to get my license ASAP. They made up a fairly compact schedule for me which took about 30 minutes. So long as I don't fail any test, I should have my license by the end of April.

In Japan, driving schools have the authority to give learner's permits and final in car driving tests to their students. There are two steps involved.

The first step requires the learner to take 10 hours of class lessons and 15 hours of in car practice on the driving course. Students learn basic car control, shifting gears, making a turn, maneuver through narrow spaces etc. After that there is a in car test and a true/false written test. If the student passes this test, he/she gets a learner's permit and moves onto step two.

Step two requires more class lessons, 21 hours and 19 in the car. Almost all in car practice is on public roads, expressways. More difficult maneuvers like parrallel parking, reverse, emergency braking and also first aid. At the end, there is a driving test only. Once the student passes, they get a graduation certificate and wakaba mark ( oh boy! ). The student takes the diploma to the official testing center, and takes the eye test and 100 question written test. You have to get 90 correct answers or more to pass. After that you get your license and can legally drive in Japanese traffic jams.

If you have a license from another country and want to save time and money, you might want to check out this site http://www.japandriverslicense.com