Our new ride

We just purchased a 2001 Toyota Altezza...otherwise known as a Lexus IS300 back in the states.

It has about 57,000 kilometers on it which is about 35,400 miles; clean title, the interior was in great shape, & only a few minor scratches. So here's how it all happened....I registered my bicycle on base (yes, crazy to think you have to register your bike but rules are rules) and then decided to ride to the used car lot here to see what was for sale because the inventory changes quite frequently with military members leaving all the time. I ran into a gentleman who was trying to sell his car and told him what I was looking for. He mentioned that he had a friend named Matt Stephens who buys cars at the Yokohama auction for a living and gave me his number. There are auctions every Tuesday and Friday so I called Matt and he wanted to meet with me right away so I could check out the inventory. The cars were graded in a system where the exterior was given a number 1-5 (5 being like new) and the interior given a letter grade A-D (A being the best). The Altezza was given a 4A. There was also information regarding the condition of the tires and if the car still had JCI (Japanese car insurance) remaining. I picked out a few cars I wanted him to bid on, wrote up a contract, and had to hand him over the cash. To be honest, I was a little hesitant at first because I never met this guy before in my life and here I am handing him over a lot of cash. But thankfully, got a call from him the following day and he told me we won the car. There is still a good amount of administrative tape I still have to go through (base inspection, road tax, weight tax, getting "Y" plates which signifies I'm a foreigner) but overall, pretty excited that we get to drive around town in this beauty.... Just have to get used to the fact that I'm on the right hand side of the car driving on the left hand side of the road!