Want to hear experience from people who own car.
Was it a good or bad decision for you?
by Life_Conn4361
How owning a car changed your life in good or bad way.
Want to hear experience from people who own car.
Was it a good or bad decision for you?
by Life_Conn4361
47 comments
I ended up having to buy one since I live in the middle of nowhere. Kinda hard to imagine life without it.
If you live outside big cities or somewhere with sparse train/bus network a car (or some sort of personal vehicle) is pretty much a must to live comfortably. Pretty simple. I live a bit further out within Saitama and my commute takes 20 mins by motorcycle or 50 mins by public transport. No brainer.
I bought one as soon as I moved here. I live in rural tohoku so it’s really nice to have one. Life would just be much harder and doing simple task like shopping would take forever.
I live 2 hours away by car from Tokyo (about 3.5 hours by train) getting a car was pretty much a necessity if I wanted to leave my house. One downside though is that driving into Tokyo is a nightmare and trying to find parking is a waste of time and money. Gas is also pretty expensive and the expressway tolls are abysmal. I mostly just try to stay local at this point because everything is becoming so damn expensive.
I had to use a car when I first moved here, as I lived in the middle of nowhere. Then I moved to a city, and I was able to just bike everywhere. A car can be expensive if you don’t use it here.
Eventuall,y I wanted a car again, as it makes life so much easier. Can do big shopping trips, actual vacation trips, etc. You can also just sign up for a car service like Times or something. They are very useful, and I used Times before I got my own car.
Lots of the country is not covered by good public transit, so cars are great for people who live in or visit those areas. You want to see the most beautiful parts of the country that aren’t swarming with tourists? Go where the trains and buses don’t.
Live in suburbs, having a car is great as a family. We visit my in laws way more often since getting a car, as well as other relatives much more easily without worrying about the logistics.
I like winter sports and am getting too old to be stuck on a bus for four hours plus.
Used times car share prior to buying a car but found it unavailable unless booked way in advance. (No surprise).
Gasoline is cheap, parking in suburbs is affordable. Insurance isn’t too bad if you shop around, even fully covered should only be ¥100k very first year. Road tolls do add up and an etc card is an absolute must.
It’s costly, but I won’t have it another way even though we live walking distance from train station. The convenience of going somewhere far without second thoughts is nice.
I live rural. Instead of buying one big car, we have one kei car and one kei truck. My wife uses the kei car for work, and when we all (kid too) need to drive to a bigger city further away.
I daily drive the kei truck to work, but I also use it for my hobby farm, and for carrying firewood. It also happens to be absolutely awesome for camping. I can carry a shit ton of camping gear and wood for the campfire in the kei truck. It has 4WD, so it can drive on the riverbanks without issue, too.
So the afternoon before the camping trip, I head out to the spot, unload, set up the tents, shade, grill, firewood etc and spend the night. Then the next day, my wife, kid and grandparents come in the other car. No hassles!
I lived in central Osaka and we got a car some years after I arrived, but got rid of it as we used it less and less over time.
At the end we used it every two months for a big shopping run, but did everything by bike anyways.
Now we just used rental cars, if necessary.
It’s a necessity if you want to experience more of this country as the transportation is mostly terrible outside the big hubs.
**Replacing a bicycle with a car:**
—————————————————-
*Pros*:
-incredibly time saving
-good in bad weather
-essential if you have kids
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*Cons*:
-expensive (fuel, shaken, tax, etc)
-less exercise 🫃
It increased my capability to travel, by a ton
I could visit rural areas where there are almost no tourists, enjoy incredible scenary of what Japan can offer, and also bring friends a family. If you can afford it definitely do get one.
Cars are money pits.
I can go where I want, when I want with air conditioning and my own music and carry heaps of shopping.
If you live anywhere central with lots of transport options, it’s a debatable purchase. If you live anywhere out of a major city centre, not having a car is a huge hassle. In that situation, people who say they can do whatever they want without a car are fooling themselves. They have just adjusted their lifestyle down to fit with not having the options available.
Drove to work first few years, was great! Gained weight but was comfortable.
Changed jobs so I use trains now, still gaining weight, but uncomfortable, and witness to never-ending weirdos.
absolutely changed my life in a good way.
when I lived in Niigata I only had a old AF 50cc scooter with summer tires. so in winter I had to walk 10km back and forth to my part time job. and walk 4km round trip to school. it was awful.
buying a car made things easier.
and now I live in hokkaido, there’s no public transportation available to available to my workplace since it’s outside the city, near the sea.
I’ll be dammed if I had to walk 4-5km in the snow everyday again.
and I love to drive, road trips, within 3 years of ownership I’ve driven more than 43000km.
hauling something somewhere is easy ( it’s a SUV so I can do it without having much problem),
even something simple as going to groceries became simple.
and public transportation in Hokkaido always get affected by snow in the winter, I’m really glad I don’t have to deal with that too.
I’m about two hours out from downtown Tokyo, and nearest train station is about 30mins (walking) away.
Generally doable, but I have a family, and frequently shop in a city that isn’t connected to any trains – so having a vehicle is essential for us. I only use it locally though; train is much easier and comfortable.
Yes changed my life for the better now I can go to work. No ruined my life because now I have to go to work.
Having a car opens up so many options for your weekends.
Have 3 cars in downtown Tokyo, honestly no need. I take them out once in a week or two. Public transport is good enough takes me to most places. However trips out of Tokyo are super easy to coordinate. Can leave whenever I want to and can go wherever I want. Life has changed for the good but it’s costly (insurance, gas, tolls, shaken, parking and so on). If you have public transport around you then no need at all but it’s one of those perks that always makes life easier especially if you have a family.
We live a 10-15 minute bus ride from the main station but more on the top of a large hill in our town so car helps. We also have a kid and usually just do 1 maybe 2 grocery trips a week.
I miss living closer to the station walking around and doing small shopping by myself all the time but when you have a kid and can’t do shopping at just 1 store I think going around by mamacharri would get old. We also like to travel a lot and can sleep in our van if we want to. I love having a car here, opens up your world and possibilities a lot.
Times car rental seems like a good option for some people as well.
Its my hobby, i can’t live without it.
I like public transport, but the freedom of wanting to go wherever, whenever is also just too good to pass up on imo
Needed it because we got a dog that needed running space.
Forced me to finally get my license here.
Also, allows us to explore way more of Japan that is not easily accessible via Train or Bus.
Parking being very costly is pretty much the only downside.
Living in Yokohama, but bought one for weekend trips. I’m pretty outdoorsy so I got a van with a bedkit. I can leave work on a Friday night, sleep at a rest stop or at the trailhead, and be ready to start a hike first thing in the morning.
In the winter I’m out snowboarding almost every weekend, and usually am taking along a few friends. Splitting gas and ETC makes it way cheaper and convenient for all of us compared to tickets for 5 on the train and lugging all our gear around.
Monthly parking is much cheaper in Yokohama than Tokyo so I don’t think of it as a significant expense. Maintenance, gas, and shaken do add up, but since buying this I’ve been able to travel even more at my own pace. I save a ton on lodging when traveling solo since I can just sleep in my van at almost any rest stop.
Had a car living in the inaka and it was necessary to go anywhere. Sold it for a motorbike in Tokyo.
Buying one was the best decision I’ve ever made as I now have the freedom to come and go as I please.
It’s completely changed my life. I went 5 years without one and now I’m at 3 years with one. Of course like a lot of people I thought public transportation would be fine and for a long time it was, but now having a car though extremely inconvenient to purchase and maintain has been great . Just makes doing small things so much easier and makes going to random locations non hassle. Of course this comes with caveats. Tolls, JCI, other maintenance but for me it’s been well worth it . Just a small example when before going to the gym took me another 2 hours total to leave and be back home now takes about an hour . I live in the Tokyo area for reference.
When I moved to Tokyo, I didn’t plan to own a car. But after settling in, I discovered that I much prefer to spend my weekends out and about in the countryside exploring, so a rental car quickly became a hassle.
So it’s been a good decision for us. It’s an unnecessary luxury for sure, but it adds value to our lives.
It allows me going to places even when it’s raining
I absolutely don’t need a car in central Tokyo, even after having a baby. Being a car enthusiast though made it a necessity. It gave me a new hobby and opportunities to meet new people in the car scene.
I live in an area without much public transport. I used to cycle or walk everywhere, and if the weather was bad, I could take the bus half way at least. Then I got Long COVID and walking or cycling an hour every day became difficult. Then the bus that left after I finished work was cancelled due to lack of passengers.
So I finally gave up and bought a second hand car.
It’s a Kei car and it’s been great. Really useful and amazing when the weather is bad. No regrets at all.
I live in Tokyo and it sucks for parking and cost but it’s a luxury to be able to drive places and go to Costco without rental hassles.
Much cheaper to just rent even every weekend
To start with it entirely depends on whether you *want* or *need* a car. Then whether you’re willing to pay for a car you want, or whether you can afford a car you need.
What other people do with their cars doesn’t really come into it, unless their situation happens to be similar to yours.
When I lived in Ibaraki and later Yamanashi it was absolutely required. I can’t even imagine how I would have functioned in daily life without one. When I lived in Tochigi it was nice to have, but probably not required. It certainly made life a LOT easier though. When I moved to the Tokyo side of Chiba I actually got rid of my car because I would have been paying so much a month just for parking it wasn’t worth it, and anything that wasn’t walkable from my apartment was a less than 10 minute bus ride away. Now I live in Tokyo in Chuo ward, and I can’t even imagine trying to keep a car here, nor the necessity of it.
Would be nice for the occasional Costco run I guess?
It’s going to depend on everyone’s personal situation. Either it’s required, helpful but not required or a waste.
Had a Honda Freed (sliding rear doors) when the kids were young (great for getting them in and out of child seats without risking any head or back injuries), which then was changed to a regular car (loved driving it) as they got older. Once they were gone, I eventually got rid of the car and take the train or cycle everywhere, or rent a car for the day when needed. My wallet has gotten noticeably fatter and my waistline noticeably thinner, and getting around my suburban town takes about the same time, as I can skip the traffic. Feel much better (and morally/environmentally smugger!) and really only miss it on really bad weather days.
I live in a village with not quite a bus an hour. There are a couple of times in the day when there’s a longer gap and going in and shopping and coming home was always awkward planning. It was very inconvenient. Trying to do very much was quite difficult. I managed.
But then I got a Kei car (and learned to drive) and now I can drive all over the island. I can do all sorts of things I would never have done before. I can take the dog and walk somewhere that is safe from venomous snakes and also where she can be off the lead and not run over. I can go shopping; go to a gym; pay bills in the konbini and so on.
But where I live is fairly rural by Japanese standards.
I moved to Shikoku from Tokyo two years ago. We don’t have public transport here so we didn’t have a choice but to buy a car. It’s costly but I don’t want to cycle for an hour just to go to daiso.
In the inaka, getting a car is the best decision you can make!!
It was a fantastic decision.
Public transport in my city (~800k people) is mostly by bus, and is roughly in a spoke pattern around the JR train station. That means that going west or east invariable involves going 5km south to the station on one bus, then ~5km north from the station on another bus, just to get to somewhere that takes 15 minutes by car.
Because I’m often going to places with my wife, it usually saves money vs using the shinkansen. For example, we drove to Tokyo last Monday for an event near Tokyo station. Considering fuel, tolls, and parking, we saved ~11,260 yen vs going by train. The trade of, of course, is that it takes longer, but we got to stop off at places on the way as well, so it was worth it. Plus we’ve done things like taking the overnight car ferry from Kyushu to Kobe during a Golden Week road trip, which was fun too.
I enjoy hiding in my car during my lunch break
Live in a big city, but with having our first daughter having a car was just so much better.
Great. We can just drive anywhere we want whenever we want. No need to roll the dice hoping the local car rental place has something available.
These days there are really affordable options out there for most family budgets, which is nice.
Very good.
25 mins walk uphill, bus that’s usually late, then ride 10 minutes, never matching up to the train schedule so sometimes waiting 20 minutes, then 10 minutes of train.
Or drive 25 minutes to the next city and parking that’s cheaper than a bus and train ride.
I can go anywhere I want at any time, which is great because I get to see a lot of places with few tourists, but having a car is so expensive 🥲 I wish i didnt have to have one, but I wouldnt be able to buy groceries where I live lol
I live in Tokyo and our car was pretty much a money sink. We only used it to take the dog to a dog run; we got rid of it when she died. We use the parking area to raise vegetable and fruit now and keep fish there. We don’t miss the car at all: we kept telling ourselves we could rent a car whenever we wished, but in ten years we haven’t wished yet.
I live in Kanagawa. Don’t need a car, but we have young kids, so having one significantly opens up the weekend activities you can do without worrying about amount of luggage you carry around and hurrying the kids to make a certain train the stay on schedule, etc.
Also, while I did not mind walking or biking to the supermarket before we got the car, going to the supermarket now is fun and easy. Get to drive my car just a bit, and also don’t need to worry about rain, and saves time.
We have solar panels and a full EV car, so this has all happened without me ever having to wait in long lines for gas, so that may matter to some, as it certainly does to me.
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