The Smart Way to Buy a COASTER and CIVILIAN. Understanding How They Are Used in Japan

You may be considering importing microbuses from Japan such as the COASTER, ROSA, and or CIVILIAN.

When making a purchase, if you understand what kinds of microbuses there are and how they are used, you can then better estimate the condition of the vehicle that you wish to purchase.

Here, we would like to give you some useful hints that will be useful when making a purchase.

Understanding the maker of the bus, the model, and style

Model types of the major bus manufacturers are as follows:

TOYOTA COASTER

MITSUBISHI ROSA (MITSUBISHI FURO)

NISSAN CIVILIAN

HINO LIESSE (LIESSE2)

ISUZU JOURNEY

These basically are the types of microbuses being exported overseas from Japan.

Check OEM vehicles and purchase wisely

Vehicles basically differ in shape according to the year and model.
However, while the maker and the name of the vehicle are different, in many cases they appear to be similar vehicle as a result of OEM production.

For example, looking at the photos for the TOYOTA COASTER, HINO LIESSE, NISSAN CIVILIAN, and ISUZU JOURNEY, they appear to be nearly identical.

The only difference between the LIESSE model and the COASTER model is the ‘M’ added to the model number for the LIESSE.
The same is true for the CIVILIAN and JOURNEY.

The JOURNEY model number begins with an S.

While the names of OEM vehicles are different, the styles are almost identical.
In this case, a good technique for wisely buying the least expensive bus is to check the costs of similar models such as those mentioned above.

3 reasons why the vehicle conditions of Japanese microbuses are good

Japanese microbuses, when compared to those of other countries, are for the better part in good condition.

The reasons for that are:

Every year they must undergo a strict inspection in order to be certified

When vehicles are used for commercial purposes in Japan they must undergo a strict vehicle inspection(Shaken) every year that is required by law.

In order to pass the inspection, worn parts must be replaced and the vehicle serviced so for that reason the condition of the microbuses operated in Japan are never in an extremely bad condition.

They are not used as scheduled buses so they do not have excessive mileage on them

Another unique feature of microbuses used in Japan is that they are not driven for long distances. For that reason, Japanese microbuses have useful applications.

The main applications for which microbuses are used are as follows.

Excluding rental usage, as you can see from the above, they are mostly used for transporting people from location A to location B at a set time.

Much larger buses are used for scheduled bus serviced in Japan. So for this reason, microbuses do not have the heavy mileage on them that scheduled buses have.

They have been operated only by professionals

In order to operate a microbus in Japan, the operator must have a special medium-sized driver's license that is different from the standard driver’s license.

Because the operators of microbuses are professionals, the condition of the vehicles remains good as they are not operated roughly, as might be the case if operated by general users.

For these three reasons the vehicle condition of Japanese microbuses is good in comparison to other countries.

However, there are cases of rust or corrosion due to the environment in which the microbuses were used, such as being used near the ocean or in the mountains, so one should make a careful examination of these factors before making a purchase.

How to determine how a bus has been used

There is a way to know how a bus has been used in Japan; we will reveal the secrets to this in the following section.

In order to check how a bus has been used, you must check the logo and Japanese language written on the bus.

For example, as can be seen in the photos above, if there is a yellow ▲ logo on the body, it is a bus used for transporting kindergarten children.

The same is true for other buses; the Japanese written on them gives you an idea of how they were used.

For example

In this way, if you understand Japanese, you can guess how the bus was used by the previous owner and thus be able to make a safe purchase.

By all means please ask the CardealPage staff to explain the meaning of the Japanese written on the body of the bus!

CardealPage always has a listing of more than 150 microbuses, has the largest number of listings in Japan, and is the site with the most sales.

For anyone considering the purchase of a bus, we strongly recommend checking out CardealPage!

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