Japan considers 'cash for clunkers' stimulus

Oh, this is for cars. I thought the "clunkers" referred to the politicians.

I can think of other countries where this would have more impact... mmm Japanese to me seem to be not so keen to have old or 2nd hand cars(relatively speaking). Also reminds me of the comments of japanese abroad who are suprised at the number of broken down cars on motorways/highways in the europe (might besomthing to do with all the second hand cars or poor servicing of new?)

...actualy i should have said suprised to ANY broken down cars...maybe explains the lack of hard shoulders on Japanese highways.

Do they have to buy a new car, or just a more fuel efficient one? I could probably pick up a more fuel efficient car for 10,000 yen - I would be 240,000 yen in profit.

Do they have to buy a new car, or just a more fuel efficient one? I could probably pick up a more fuel efficient car for 10,000 yen - I would be 240,000 yen in profit.

You can buy a more fuel-efficient car for only 10,000 yen? That's less than Aso spends on one meal.

I thought Japan had a policy for getting people to buy new cars called "shaken". People usually buy a new car instead of paying the outrageous fees.

well, even with new cars you have to get shaken & pay new car tax .a new car's shaken is for 3 years. then every 2 years. it used to be every year for cars over 13 years old i believe, but they changed that. i wouldn't think there are that many cars around over 13 years. looks like i'm wrong though. reducing the yearly car tax on a new car would be helpful as well.

What bad timing, Japan has finally decided to start buying US cars.

Germany is already doing a similar program. Has kept their new vehicle market from tanking like most countries.

This program sounds like if Pelosi and Feinstein have a vested interest in starting a program in Japan... lol. It's in California, at least, and it doesn't work in many ways.

xu04jp has hit the nail on the head. The Shaken pretty much precludes most cars from reaching 13 years. Further tax breaks or cashback on sales of new fuel efficient cars would likely have a bigger impact but would cost.

A new twist on the rediculous shaken system that encourages people to dump old cars. For the record cars in Japan rarely wear out before they're scrapped. My 2004 Saab has 30,000 km on it and my wifes 12 year old Roadster has 65,000km on it. Oh yeah, and I'm not buying a new car as neither of ours are clunkers.

Japan has cars 13 years old??

I'm bummed - my old clunker is 12 years old - and it always seems like it's the oldest car on the road! Of course, the fact that it is covered with dents and scratches doesn't help.

This and the "shaken" system are rorts to keep the Japanese consuming cars. A fuel efficiency measure of the stimulus package? Give us a break. Keep your car maintained and roadworthy and you should get a lifetime of service out of it, a much better use of resources than chucking it out with 50,000km on the clock.

250,000 yen is not even enough to really convince Japanese (and us gaijins who have cars here in japan) to even think about messing around with buying a new car in this crappy economy. if they changed it to say 2,500,000 yen then i think most would go out and look for a hybrid etc..but only 250,000 nah! take that money and shove up where the sun don't shine mr.aso and co.!