Japanese Car Auction Diary
Mondays:
In Japan Mondays are a gentle start to the week and you won’t find too many units going to the block
All of the Honda dealer Auctions take place on a Monday. They can be okay but are predominantly stocked with Hondas
Honda Fukuoka , Honda Hokkaido, Honda Kansai, Honda Nagoya, Honda Sendai and Honda Tokyo. Each of these auctions are held in clean modern facilities, they will each have around 700-900 units on sale , Tokyo can have up to 1200. JU Tokyo has between 600-1000 cars. ONAA(Osaka Nissan) is a small auction in Osaka which usually has 300-500 cars Check the auction sheet as it can be hit and miss, but as its not online and is the only non automated auction left in Japan(you bid by hand not button) it can be somewhere to pick up a bargain.
There are internet only auctions that take place on a Monday. GAO and Aucnet both have a few thousand cars and your agent can bid by computer if you want. Personally I have struggled to buy cars from them.
USS-R Takes place in Nagoya and has about 2500 units regularly. Unfortunately “R” stands for Reusable and not racing. USS-R auctions sell old high mileage cars and really is only any use for parts donors.
Tuesdays full list with average entries:
AAAI(ARAi) Sendai: 1000
CAA Tohoku: 1000
CAA Gifu : 2000
CAA Tokyo : 3000
USS Kobe : 3000
USS Yokohama : 3500
TAA Kinki :2500
TAA Kyushu :3000
TAA Hiroshima :1500
TAA Hokkaido : 500
JU Saitama : 3000
JU Mie: 300
JU Shizuoka : 700
JU Nagano : 500
JU Yamaguchi : 500
SAA Sapporo : 500
Zip Tokyo : 2500 units Export auction for European and US cars only
This will be a recurring theme but you should really try and get to the auction with the most units if you want to give yourself a chance. All auction lists are available the day before an auction so you should have a check through the night before you make your travel plans. The auctions are updating their stock lists all the time, and particularly the bigger auctions might add an extra 1000 cars to the list as the day goes on, So if undecided keep checking till you go to bed. If you are in Around Tokyo you have a choice of JU Saitama, CAA Tokyo or USS Yokohama. Personally I like Saitama but go where the stock is for you.
Around Kansai there is USS Kobe,TAA Kinki or a bit further Out CAA Gifu. I like The TAA Auctions (Toyota). Some would disagree but I think they have the highest standard of car inspection and usually a car that gets graded medium at TAA would be high grade at other auctions. I was at the opening of USS Kobe a few years back, Originally opened as a Sunday auction much to all the buyers disagreement it has now slotted into Tuesday and is a decent auction. It was however opened in an area that didn’t need another auction in the first place, As a result I find that stock here gets recycled into other USS auctions as the week goes on. The same for CAA Gifu, it’s a good auction but a lot of cars find their way into the Main CAA Nagoya sale the next day. If you are down south or have an agent that covers the area, TAA Kyushu is a good Auction although it is mostly Toyota stock.
Wednesdays full list with Average entries:
USS Tohoku : 1500
USS Sapporo : 2000
USS Niigata : 1500
USS Fukuoka : 1500
CAA Chubu(Nagoya) 5500
JAA Tokyo : 3000
JU Ishikawa : 600
KCAA Ebino : 2000
LAA Shikoka : 2000
Bay-Auc Osaka : 3500
BCN Saitama : 2000
HERO Saitama : 700
JAA is the big auction on a Wednesday in Tokyo. CAA have their main Auction of the week in Nagoya, it usually has about 5000 units and is laid out in yards all around the place so make sure you stick the map in your back pocket before you start walking cars. Despite its size if you get here early enough its handy enough to inspect all the cars as the yards are laid out in good order and the auction is usually broken up with KC sections. This gives you a chance to grab a coffee in between checking and set some prices. This one runs late so be prepared to stay into the night if you want to bid on a Euro car. If you are further south in Osaka then go to Bay Auc. This Auction used to be thick with heavy smoke however apart from stopping that, it hasn’t changed much over the years. Bay Auc Usually runs about 3000 cars The yards are spread out but are close enough to the auction hall to be handy to navigate. Some stock here needs to be checked twice but it’s a good selling auction and is located close to the centre of Osaka so you can get in and out at a decent hour.
For Bikers BDS Motorbike Auction runs in Tokyo usually with 2000-3000 bikes on sale.
Thursdays full list with Average entries:
USS Tokyo : 14,000
JU Fukushima : 2000
JU Kanagawa : 500
JU Gunma : 1000
JU Toyoma : 500
JU Aichi : 2000
JU Hiroshima : 2000
JU Sapporo : 1500
TAA Nagoya : 2500
TAA Kanto : 3000
TAA Tohoku : 2500
LAA Kansai(Osaka) : 2500
KCAA Fukuoka : 2500
HAA(Hanaten)Osaka : 2500
NAA Osaka : 800
NAA Nagoya : 500
The Big one for the week is USS Tokyo, to do it correctly you need to bring a team of inspectors as its laid out over fields that are miles apart (buses bring you about) And you will need at least 2 men bidding. It was hard enough when it was six lanes but now that 10 cars pop up at the same time you need guys with eyes like hawks and super Mario gameboy fingers. I’ve tried to do this auction with just me checking and another man on the button and they’ve had to carry us out for a week’s recovery. The stock is good here and if you want cars you will find them, but there’s no bargains in nice stock here. Because of the Scale of USS Tokyo no other Auctions around Tokyo bother running against it on a Thursday. In Osaka LAA(Light Auto Auction) is another clean modern Auction that has only been running a few years in the port area towards Kobe. It’s all laid out over 2 big yards and is an easy auction to skip around, usually good for a few units. HAA Auction in Osaka hasn’t changed in 20 years and used to be the main auction in Osaka before HAA opened the bigger site in Kobe, as a result a lot of stock from here ends up in Kobe on a Saturday. JU in Hiroshima is a good auction if you are down that way.
Fridays full list with Average entries:
USS Nagoya : 8000
USS Osaka : 2500
USS Hokuriku : 1200
USS Nishi(Tokyo) : 1500
JU Tochigi : 1000
JU Miyagi : 1500
JU Okayama : 2000
JU Chiba : 1000
JU Fukuoka : 2000
JU Niigata : 1000
Arai Bayside (Tokyo Bay) : 3000
JAA Tsukuba : 1500
LAA Okayama : 1200
Fridays big event is USS Nagoya. Despite its size the site is kept compact with the use of huge multi storey carparks (the usual Iconic photo of Japanese Auctions) and yards onsite. Unlike Tokyo if you get here at 6.00am and are full of running you have a good chance of checking most of the cars. Possibly the best auction of the week as a lot of buyers come down from Tokyo for the day. In Tokyo Arai runs the bayside auction which can have up to 5000 units but has struggled to get near that in the last year. If you are down in Kyushu, JU Fukuoka has always been one of my favourites.
Saturdays full list with Average entries:
HAA Kobe : 8000
USS Shizuoka : 2000
USS Okayama : 1700
USS Ryutsu : 3500
USS Kyushu : 4000
USS Gunma : 2000
JU Gifu : 2500
JU Nara : 1200
TAA Yokohama : 2500
NAA Osaka : 300
NAA Nagoya : 500
NAA Tokyo : 1000
HAA Kobe is the place to be on a Saturday. Despite being located in one big square at Kobe port its a job for a crew. The layout of the cars is infuriating with cars from the same section placed in different parts of the yard. All auctions in Japan have some theft problems and the occasional car with a mega stereo/tv combo may be locked up, In Kobe it seems like 1 in every 3 cars is locked, particularly in the sports cars. You will pull your hair out but you will get some cars. It goes on Late usually till midnight but the auction itself has good facilities and good restaurants downstairs. Some of the USS auctions can be worth a look on a Saturday if you want to avoid Kobe. USS Okayama is a laid back auction where you will always pick up a few winners. If you are down in Kyushu USS Gold is the biggest event of the week and a decent auction.