Auction Watch: Excavators and Industrial Equipment

I would like to continue with our series of vehicles you can find at Japanese auto auctions. But I going to take a small detour from the regular cars and get into something bigger (literally). Excavators and other industrial equipment are often sold in Japanese auctions for a number of reasons. Just like private car owners, industrial vehicle owners need/want to change their vehicles according to demands the business has at the time.

Since it is no easy thing to sell such equipment alone, you will find several auto auctions selling industrial equipment on the side. In addition to the general vehicle auctions, there are also specialized auctions that focus just on industrial and construction equipment. Often these auctions use the parade auction format (cars are “paraded” in front of buyers and auctioned individually) due to the size of the vehicles and the money involved.

The quality of these vehicles can vary, but you will see many that are in great condition (for their use). Those who are serious about buying used large equipment should really consider buying from Japan. Many importers (from Canada to East African nations to South-East Asian to South American countries) purchase from Japanese auctions because even after shipping costs and other fees involved, you will find better quality for a cheaper compared to purchasing from a local market.

To give an example, here is a 2001 Kobelco excavator currently available for export on JCarBuys Stock:

Japanese Auto Auction Series Part 7 – ORIX

Company: ORIX
General Website:
Locations: Kobe, Atsugi, Nagoya, Fukuoka
Auctions Held: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

In continuation to our series on different auto auctions in Japan, I would like to present ORIX Rental Service Auctions. ORIX is a major rental company in Japan and Asia. Like most rental companies, cars must constantly be replaced with new, more attractive. So you might wonder where that car you rented a few years went? Well most like for ORIX cars, they were probably auctioned off to smart buyers.

One benefit of buying from a rental company’s auction is that you know all the cars are from the same owner. That means there is a roughly the same owner’s care to all the cars presented. Also, the cars would’ve been reguarly checked and serviced by their mechanics. As a rental company, they will want to recover as much value from the car as possible and most likely wouldn’t neglect the cars condition.

One thing to note is that this auction is “Nyuusatsu”. That means you just place a bid once instead of “battling” your way up. All offers are collected and the person with the highest bid wins. This is different from the typical, but it has some benefits. For example, the agent is not wasting time on the actual bidding process and can spend more time on other things like inspecting.

Buying from rental company auctions, such as ORIX’s, has many benefital aspects. Having your exporting agent able to check their auction would be useful, especially for cars and trucks you would expect in a rental fleet.

Related:
Japanese Auto Auction Series Part 1 – USS
Japanese Auto Auction Series Part 2 – JAA
Japanese Auto Auction Series Part 3 – Zip
Japanese Auto Auction Series Part 4 – AAAi / ARAI
Japanese Auto Auction Series Part 5 – Bay Auc
Japanese Auto Auction Series Part 6 – TAA

Japanese Auto Auction Series Part 6 – TAA

Official Website: taaweb.jp
Established: 1967
Locations: Chubu, Fukushima (Tohoku), Hiroshima, Kanto, Kinki, Kyushyu, South Kyushyu (Kagoshima; Minami Kyushyu), Okinawa, Yokohama
Auctions Held: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays

TAA (Toyota Auto Auction) is another type of auto auction found in Japan. This group of 9 auction house was created for Toyota dealers to sell any unwanted cars, such as older cars customers traded in while buying from the dealer. Not only are there such auctions available for Toyota dealers, but there is HAA (Honda), SAA (Suzuki), SUAA (Subaru), NAA/NTAA (Nissan), MAA (Mitsubishi), and IMA (Isuzu).

One advantage TAA has over most of it competing auto auctions is that they publish higher quality images of vehicles from the inspection. While most auto auctions have 300px by 225px photos of the cars, TAA saves photos at 640px by 480px. So in a real way TAA gives auction bidders a “clearer” picture of what condition the car is before the auction begins.

More information is available on the Japanese website: TAA Web (Japanese)

Related:
Japanese Auto Auction Series Part 1 – USS
Japanese Auto Auction Series Part 2 – JAA
Japanese Auto Auction Series Part 3 – Zip
Japanese Auto Auction Series Part 4 – AAAi / ARAI
Japanese Auto Auction Series Part 5 – Bay Auc

Japanese Auto Auction Series Part 5 – Bay Auc

Official Website: www.bay-auc.com
Founded: 1977; Established: 1982
Location: Osaka; Patners: MAA, SUAA
Auctions Held: Wednesday

Bay Auc is a well known auto auction in Japan. One particular advantage this auto auction has over many other auctions is its location. It is situated in an very good location in Osaka, one of the biggest international shipping ports of Japan. The city itself is second only to Tokyo in economical power. You will find that many Japanese used car exporters are either based in the Osaka area or heavily use the Osaka Port for shipping vehicles.

The car auction promises to exhibit at least 3,500 to 4,000 cars every Wednesday starting at 9 AM. It has two simultaneous auction “lanes” running at 400 images an hour. Auction lanes are where they have more than one car being auctioned at any moment. This makes getting through the thousands of cars possible. Bay Auc is not the biggest auction, but they do a good job and have many cars to go through.

Related:
Japanese Auto Auction Series Part 1 – USS
Japanese Auto Auction Series Part 2 – JAA
Japanese Auto Auction Series Part 3 – Zip
Japanese Auto Auction Series Part 4 – AAAi / ARAI

Japanese Auto Auction Series Part 1 – USS Group

I’ll be trying something new besides the regular news and articles. Each week, hopefully, I’ll be able to post information on one auction establishment in Japan. To start off, we’ll go straight to the top by focusing on the biggest single auction company in Japan, USS Group.

Official Website: www.ussnet.co.jp

Number of Auction Sites: 19 throughout Japan
Auctions held each Month: 60-80
Number of Cars Available in 2007: nearly 3 million
Number of Cars Sold in 2007:nearly 1.7 million (57%)
Overall Market Share: 34%
Membership: On-site:41,000; Internet:17,500; Global Network (Sat):6,000

USS stand for Used-car System Solutions. October, 1980 was the month that what became USS Co., Ltd. formed. In August 1982, the first USS auto auction in Nagoya was conducted with 255 vehicles up for bidding. Two hundred and eighty auctioneers participated in this auction coming from throughout Japan.

Over the past few decades, USS Group’s seen huge amounts of growth as they build, acquire, and expand new auction sites to a current of 19 (including 2 recycle auctions). What gave them an advantage to grow into the top position in the market is their development of computer auction software. Allowing others to copy their software, the became immediate market leaders in the technical area.

Besides coming in just before a time of rapid growth in the car auction world, they were able able to capture that growth and increase their reputation through wise business practices. Now they are among the most respectable auctions in Japan. Almost all exporters will carry a USS members ID because mostly of the volume of cars they auction all around Japan.

Information from USS Group.

Japan Used Car Auctions: Not Only Japanese

When you think of Japanese used car auctions, you immediately think: Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Suzuki, Subaru, etc. But Japanese make cars aren’t the only cars you can get in Japan. Did you know that there are thousands of non-Japanese used cars going through auction in Japan everyday?

Seriously, the big auctions have sold today (this Friday): 1,012 Mercedes-Benz, 777 BMW, 412 VW, even 166 Mini. Over 230 Chrysler, 113 GM, 230 Volvo, 182 Fords, 106 Chevrolet, and hundreds of other foreign made cars.

If you are in a country that doesn’t have direct access to a particular brand, you could buy it at a Japanese auto auction and have the vehicle imported from Japan. For more information on exporting and importing used cars from Japan, you can visit JUCE.info.

Another reason to buy non-Japanese used cars in Japan is because you will be able to get a cheaper car than importing from another country while the condition of the vehicle has been kept very well. For example, there is a classic that you can buy in your country, but it will cost you a ton of money. You might be able to find the same car for a cheaper price and better maintained in Japan. Many exporters will allow you to use their access to search auto auctions for free if you register with them.

Just to point out, there are many auctions that auction foreign cars in Japan. There are also some Auctions that specialize specialize in Import Vehicles (into Japan) that have many foreign vehicle. One example is Zip Toyko and Osaka. For more information on other auto auctions, visit this Auto Auction In Japan List.

What’s special about Japanese cars? (PART B)

Why would somebody be interested in importing a car? What would be its benefit?

In part A, I highlighted that JDM vehicles (those made for Japan) are made with more variety and technology. In this part, I want to focus on the condition of cars and how importers benefit.

The first thing that must be realized is that owning a car in Japan is Expensive! With this fact, the old proverb “Where your treasure is, so is your heart” can be easily applied here also. Your typical car owner, keeps their vehicle much cleaner than most of their American, European, and worldwide counterparts.

Yes, Japanese are found smoking, drinking (non-alcoholic) beverages, and eating just as others, but you will find much less cars with smashed chips ingrained in the carpet, spills spots on the seat fabric, and other “used” marks. If you are buying from auctions, you will have detailed notes if their are any interior flaws.

For most people, interior is important, but the exterior is even more important. For Japanese, when buying used, the want to know any flaws externally and all inspections sheets have a section specifically for noting any damage. Very often, you will find cheap used cars with no external flaws or at most a few small scratches.

Again, when buying, you’ll have professional assessments to consult. Additionally, in Japan roads are not salted during the winter which reduces cases of rust to very low levels.

Mechanical conditions on Japanese have many things preventing get bad apples. Not that every car in Japan is mechanically in excellent condition. Nevertheless, in Japan a vehicle must have a very stringent and expensive car inspection called “Shaken”. This promotes people to keep their cars well maintained.

Additional benefits are that the Japanese have among the smoothest road is the world making shock waring much lower. Japanese people also generate little mileage on their cars. You can find 9 year old cars with less than 90,000km and most cars most used-cars are running less than 100,000km on their odometers.

Stay tuned for more reasons Japanese imports are worth the effort.