I looked up the cost and frequency of Japanese mandatory car inspections
("shaken" in Japanese). Here is a Q&A page in Japanese from the Min. of
Land, Infrastructure and Transport:http://www.mlit.go.jp/jidosha/kensatoroku/question/index.htm The first question is: "Is is true that in America they don't have car inspections?" Answer: No. 48 states mandate inspections. Apparently this is a sore point. The first graph on this page shows data from the U.S. GAO showing the accident rates after 10 years for states that have inspections (blue line) versus states that don't (red line). Anyway, the first inspection is 3 years after purchase, and then every 2 years after that. The base cost is 49,370 Yen ($500). Other sources say that after several years when parts such as brake pads have to be replaced, the total cost typically reaches $1000 to $1500, seldom more than that. There is a long list of tests in the Min. website, so this cost is for complete maintenance. In other words, comprehensive maintenance is required and it costs about $500 to $700 a year, which seems reasonable to me. As I mentioned, I have ridden in many beat-up jalopies in Japan, but come to think of it, the brakes and lights work, and the tires are not bald. Except on the island of Ukashima where the police come once a year, everyone knows they are coming (by boat -- you can't miss 'em), and the residents hide most of the cars up in the hills. (No kidding.) There is a Japanese Wikipedia page on car inspectiosn, and a partial translation into English here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor-vehicle_inspection_(Japan) The inspection includes things that are not covered in U.S. inspections, such as torn seats, but I happen to know for a fact that you can pass the inspection by duct-taping a torn plastic seat. They don't want people driving around with the stuffing coming out of the seat. In my opinion, this is a sound policy. Little things like torn seats can be more dangerous than you might think. I have read a lot about aircraft accidents because they are meticulously investigated and documented. You would be surprised at how many were caused by half-assed repairs and things like torn seat covers. In one memorable case in the 1950s, someone used a wire to hold the pilot's seat in place, instead of the properly designated lock & ratchet mechanism. I mean the thing that holds the seat from moving forward and back, like what you have in a car. The plane took off, headed up at a steep angle, and the weight of the pilot on the back of the seat broke the wire. The pilot slid fell back while holding the controls, the airplane went straight up, stalled, and crashed, killing everyone. If you have ever driven a car with the seat not properly locked in position you will have a sense of this. If you fix it with a wire you may kill yourself to avoid paying $50 for a genuine part. Aircraft mechanics refer to an airplane as "a flock of spare parts flying in formation." - Jed
