How to Find the Japan Model Names For Cars
Let’s say you live in the UK and you are thinking about importing a Honda Jazz from Japan. Well, you will find that there is no such car as a Honda Jazz in Japan. That’s strange, you think.
But then you spot an amazing resemblance between the Honda Jazz on your local roads, and the Honda Fits you are seeing in the online Japanese car auctions. That is because the same car is simply badged differently in Japan and in the UK. It’s OK though – it is still the same vehicle underneath.
The ease and transparency of the entire process while maintaining integrity, especially for first-timers is a big plus. I was very pleased with my purchase and will continue to purchase more vehicles from this team.
- Gitonga Muriithi (Kenya)
In the same way, when you are looking through the cars at auction, you might notice a car like the Toyota Vitz that you have never heard of before. On closer inspection, you quickly realize that the car you are looking at is sold by the local Toyota dealership as the Yaris.
Wikipedia can be a great help in this regard. The introductory paragraph to most car model pages on Wikipedia will often tell you what other names the car was sold under in international markets.
So, if we take the Vitz as an example, you would first do a quick Google search for “Toyota Vitz”. When you do a search like this, you will often find that the Wikipedia page for that car often comes up near the top of the search results.
When you get to the page you will see right there in the first paragraph that most international markets received “the same vehicle under the Toyota Yaris name, or formerly as the Toyota Echo in some markets." Check it out below:
You can do this for all kinds of car model names. Google and Wikipedia can make a powerful combination. Of course, if you are still not sure about how to find the car you want in Japan’s car auctions, don’t hesitate to send us an email and we will be happy to help.
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