[Banana!]

Shaken -- The Mandatory Vehicle Inspection

Many people come to Japan and are very surprised that all the cars are clean, well-maintained, and always running well. The sensitive Japan "experts" will tell you that it's because Japanese take such pride in their work, have such dignity to drive cars that only look like new, etc. All of which are true. But the real reason is different -- and you'll pay dearly for it. Cars more than 3 years old have to have a mandatory maintenance check (shaken) every other year, broken or not. The costs again vary according to the size of the car and area, but you may be paying 120,000-160,000 yen or so for a smaller car, and more for a larger one or if there is anything the grease-monkeys can possibly fix. Also, when the car is very old, it has an official value of ZERO and you may actually have to PAY someone to take it off your hands! After that it'll be either scrapped or sold to dealers in Asia.

thats another reason