Velocity Auto of Iwakuni

20/07/2025

If you find a vehicle via Goonet or one of the other sites and it's close enough that you decide to check the vehicle out, don't try to contact them through the site...just go there. If the dealer asks how you found out about the car, tell them a friend told you, you just saw it or anything besides you saw it on a car buying site. Those sites are essentially middlemen, and the dealer will have you go through them, which makes the process more convoluted, longer and more costly. You'll likely have the pay additional fees and the guy may tell you something like you have to get your own jci instead of whatever is left on the vehicle, or you can't pick up the vehicle and instead have to pay an astronomical amount for their shipper. Just had this happen to a guy recently. The dealer would have just sold the car, but now he's waiting longer and paying more for the car.

23/03/2024

It's already been said, but I'll reiterate it. Because of the yen conversion rate, check Japanese prices before you buy something from someone in dollars. Many people are selling items, especially stuff related to sportscars that are cheaper in Japan. We don't want to call anyone out, but as an example, there are people selling tuner wheels used for the same price as buying the same wheel new from the company or Yahoo Auctions Japan. Used cars are also dropping in price slowly, and can be had for less than base sellers or local dealerships with prices in USD. Educate youselves. Worst case, you'll save hundreds to thousands, and best case, you won't end up paying mint condition prices for a scrapyard condition car with a new coat of paint or wheels. A new, shiny HKS intercooler looks awesome and costs about 1000 bucks, but isn't as cool as a maintained engine, which you can't see. Do you want a perfect condition car that's mostly stock or the nicest car in the parking garage that never moves because it's always broken down. Yeah, the engine's blown and the trans makes noise, but look at that intercooler and Work wheels!

11/04/2023

I think it's time to post a reminder why we are the place to go to for your JCI. People hit us up for a quote, then shop around to the place that's a couple thousand yen cheaper, then end up paying hundreds more, because place X charges 20 bucks less. Here's the original post showing the differences between us and the other guys. If you recommend us to your friends, let them know WHY we are the better choice. 20 bucks for all our services is much better than hundreds later.
https://facebook.com/459856667686552/posts/1576921575980050/

07/04/2023

Now that Covid is over, car prices are starting to go down slowly. The usual suspects (Silvias, Skylines, etc) are still expensive, but the more obscure or newer cars are getting cheaper. While it may seem cool to get a GTR, a GTO is much cheaper as an example. While an early RX-8 is cheap, the later model RX-8'S are much more reliable and are starting to drop in price. Maybe think about getting something different. At this point, you can find GTR's that were already imported to the states for nearly the same price as one in Japan. It sucks to say, but you've missed the boat. Cars that were 4k a few years ago are now 40k. If you want one now, you're gonna pay a premium for it.

24/06/2022

Here's another tip to save some money for you car guys. This involves the current exchange rate. Currently a dollar is worth about 134 yen, and it's projected to hit 140-150 by the end of the year. This means a few things:
First of all, you may wanna stop buying vehicles from base people or dealerships that sell in dollars. One of the dealerships offbase had a small van they were selling for 4,700 bucks. That's currently about 635,300 yen, aka, the price of a very nice BMW from a Japanese dealer. Also, before you buy a sportscar from someone on base, you may wanna check current Japanese prices. People are selling busted Skylines and Silvias with high KM's for 25k USD, and here's a clean Skyline with 87,000km's for 2,500,000yen, which equals 18,500USD right now.
https://www.goo-net-exchange.com/usedcars/NISSAN/SKYLINE/700071001530220206003/index.html
That's just one example. Base cars may not be the best deal right now.

Parts may be best to get offbase now instead of ordering from the states. This includes aftermarket.

Gas is cheaper offbase now. Hi octane offbase gas is a few cents a gallon cheaper than the crappy regular low octane fuel on base.

Food can also be cheaper offbase, and stuff may be more plentiful.

If you are thinking of getting a car to being back to the states, getting a good car to drive during your time here, getting work done on a car before you PCS or want to stockpile parts to take back with you, now might be the best time to do it. You have to get out of the mindset that base stuff is always cheaper. That isn't the case now. American prices for stuff have gone up, but the value of the yen to the dollar has also gone down, so japanese things are cheaper than they have been for years.

Japanese used cars and Japan car exporters. 320,000 used car stocks.Website 'Goo-net Exchange' shall make all of customers satisfied to buy Cars from us.Search for used NISSAN SKYLINE GTS25T TYPE M SPEC II details.

22/03/2022

This post is for people that either own or want a Mazda RX8. If you noticed they are cheap, there's a reason for it. The Renesis 13b engine is the weakest ever made, and had many issues. It's very common to need a full rebuild after 50,000 miles. The early models were worse, as they only had 2 oil injectors, which was deemed not enough, so Mazda added a third for the series 2 engines. Combine that with the fact that rotary engines require more maintenance and inspection, a lack of shops willing to work on them and additional "rules" you need to follow (such as you having to let the engine warm up before you drive due to how rich the engine runs when cold; if you turn off the engine too soon, the spark plugs will flood and you will have to remove and clean them before the car will start again) and you can see why owning one may not be in your best interests. If the engine goes, you have a paperweight you can't sell to get another car.
Also, rotary engines can not take ping or detonation, which happens with low octane fuel, and is what base people usually buy, especially with today's gas prices. If you want something sporty or quick for around the same price, some alternatives are a 2002 and newer Skyline or fairlady Z, a Toyota MR-S or a 1998 or newer Mazda Miata. These cars are far more reliable, durable, fuel efficient, and easier to work on with less factory related issues. The closest comparison in regards to sportiness, speed and handling is the MR-S, besides the lack of a backseat and the engine being behind you.

04/03/2022

Almost everyone in the car game is trying to sell you something, but we are trying to save you from being screwed. Here's a tip for you German car owners. Buy your parts yourself from FCPEuro.com. They offer a LIFETIME WARRANTY for ALL parts they sell for the original buyer. That includes stock replacement parts as well as aftermarket. You can buy consumables like brake pads and fluid and send them back when they need to be replaced for a brand new one, so you only have to pay once. Euro cars can require a lot of maintenance and have issues, but FCPEuro sells both the stock replacements AND sometimes they have a better aftermarket part that doesn't constantly break.

The #1 Online Source for Genuine, OE, & OEM European Replacement Car Parts since 1986. Lifetime Replacement Guarantee, Free Shipping, and Unlimited Returns Call: 1-860-388-9001

06/08/2021

As an example of the amount you save by paying a few thousand yen extra for us, we just got a customer who needed JCI, but their car overheated and a check engine light was on. We went to their house, got the car in shape to make it to the shop, where we found that the radiator cracked terribly and wouldn't hold water. We get our work done through a shop that does their own work, but due to our business contract, they do the labor almost at cost, and the parts are at cost. The invoice they give us, however, includes their price for everything as if they did it at the prices THEY charge. The radiator and labor was 82,000 yen total, but the actual cost of the radiator was 27,000 yen, with 8,000 yen for labor, which comes out to 35,000 yen, so we saved the customer 47,000 yen. Just a reminder that just because the initial quote is cheaper doesn't mean the total will be. When you make your money on parts, that low initial quote is just to get you in the door. Tell your friends.

21/06/2021

Lately, we've been getting people telling us that Yellow Hat or other shops charge 5,000 yen less for JCI, and asking us to do it for less. The 5,000 yen gets you convenience and peace of mind.

These shops will NOT pick your car up from your driveway or any location you want at ANY time you want. They will NOT drop the car off wherever you want when it's done. They most likely will NOT get the car done in a day. They will NOT buy their own bulk fluids so if you are low, they will fill them for free. They will NOT fail your vehicle and pass it once it's fixed a few days later. They will NOT get your replacement parts at cost and charge you the same. They will NOT replace bad tires with used onces that cost only a few thousand yen a piece. Here's what they WILL do:

-They WILL expect you to drop off and pick up the vehicle when it's done, so you'd better have another car handy to pick you up.
-They WILL most likely take longer.
-They WILL charge you between 1200-1500 yen for EACH low fluid that they have to fill, even if you only need a small amount.
-They WILL be extremely strict in their inspection, because they make the majority of their money on parts.
-They ABSOLUTELY WILL get the replacement parts at cost and charge you at least 40% more for them.
- They WILL purchase and replace new parts (like tires) only, which are usually very expensive from them.
- If you fail for something, they WILL usually give you about 24 hours to get a replacement part and for it to be fixed before they charge you 30,000+ yen for another inspection. Some won't, but only if you buy the replacement parts from them.

Recently, we had a customer argue about the price, and we told her this, but she decided she didn't want to pay it. She came back a few days later and asked us to do it because she failed the inspection and had nearly $1,500 in "necessary" repairs. Most of the discrepancies were things that needed to be replaced soon, but were satisfactory at that time. She did need tires, however, and her rear brake shoes needed to be replaced. We got her 2 used tires for 6,800 yen total, and only charged her 1,800 yen for the shoes and nothing for labor, since the rear brakes have to be taken apart for the inspection anyway.
Sometimes the lower initial cost isn't the best choice. That's just how shops get you in the door.

25/03/2021

Although we've been doing this a very long time, we've only had an online page for a few years. We have many likes, but not too many ratings or comments, and because of this, our page is more obscure than many other pages, some of which end up burning their customers who then come to us to fix another shop's errors. If we've ever helped you in any way, we'd appreciate it if you could leave a review and/or comment. Thanks in advance, and thanks again for choosing us!

27/01/2021

We get people asking if we're still doing JCI's and title transfers and other car related stuff. Yes, we are. We use the page for scheduling and dm's mostly, which is why we never really post.

16/09/2019

To all the people with drift cars or cars with undocumented or illegal mods, we will not be able to jci them unless they are compliant. 3 shops have lost their license to do jci inspections in the past week.

If you widebody your car or do an engine swap, it must be documented at the government Land Transport Office. if you have a catback, the exhaust may pass, but old/blown out mufflers or straight pipes won't. Wheels that don't completely fit inside the fender will not pass. You can't add excessive negative camber to get the top to fit;the bottom of the wheel can't stick out either.

On a sidenote, PMO is also cracking down on illegally modded vehicles, so it's a good idea to make your car compliant rather than find a place that may pass it for JCI. if your car is noncompliant and they inspect it, the word from PMO is they are trying to find a way to be able to pull your JCI, causing you to have to make the car compliant and get it reinspected, causing you to pay for JCI twice. If it is determined that the shop passed you while noncompliant, the shop could lose their license. PMO has just started checking random parking areas and parking garages looking for cars that aren't legal, whether it be mods or expired jci/base sticker/etc.