As you can see from the table above, the cost of a new car in Japan ranges from ¥1,500,000 ($13,545) to ¥2,400,000 ($21,645). New cars are generally more expensive than used cars, but they come with the latest features and technology.

In 2023, the average purchase value for a used automobile in Japan was around 1.72 million Japanese yen, increasing from 1.57 million Japanese yen in 2022. The most commonly purchased price range for used cars was usually between 500 thousand and one million Japanese yen.

The underlying reason is the large economy of scale (Japan is the third largest economy in the world) which allows the manufacturers to sell their cars at a much lower price in the local market. Moreover, the Japanese are used to buy newer models whenever they arrive in the market.