I am a former mechanic. Even so, when I looked at the bill for the shaken, the vehicle inspection that Japan requires by law, the total was higher than I expected.
The car is a 1000cc model from the Toyota group, first registered in October 2018.
The last time, in September 2023, it came to 46,000 yen. This time, in October 2025, it was 114,950 yen. The gap was close to 70,000 yen.
Here is how it broke down. Brake work, 26,000 yen. The battery, 14,000 yen. The tax went up by about 10,000 yen from the last time, because the period of the eco-car tax reduction had ended and the weight tax went back to the normal rate. The eco-car tax reduction lowers the tax on a car with good fuel economy for a set period, and once that period passes the amount returns to what it was. If you stay silent, no one will tell you. On top of that, small replacement parts and labor came to about 20,000 yen. Added up, that is indeed the total. I had to pay more than twice as much as two years ago, all at once. That is a fact, but I did not think it was expensive. Every item came due at the time it was supposed to.
How I drove it for seven years
I am a former mechanic. My work was mostly light maintenance, but I have confidence in my feel for whether a car is in good shape or not. So I have not simply been driving this car around. I have kept an eye on it in my own way over the years.
The car is a 1000cc model from the Toyota group, made in 2018. I have always had the oil changed every 5,000 km or every six months. Engine oil is the lubricant that keeps metal parts from wearing against each other. If it is left to degrade, the wear inside the engine gets worse. Changing it often, by itself, makes a large difference to how long an engine lasts. I turned the idling stop function off from the very beginning. I did not like how often it made the starter motor run, and I could hardly feel any difference in fuel economy either. Even when a function is installed on the car, if I decide not to use it, I do not use it. That is one of the things I learned as a mechanic.
In year five, I said no to a new battery
At the shaken in year five, the person in charge told me it was about time to replace the battery. I said no.
Back then I was commuting 40 km round trip every day. The distance was more than enough, and the engine never struggled to start, not even once. From my experience as a mechanic, I judged with my own eyes and my own feel that it still had life in it. The person in charge said, “I see,” and did not push.
In the end, the battery lasted seven years. The person in charge told me that this was on the long side. The long commute, and keeping the idling stop off, are the two things I believe made the difference.
After I retired, the way I drove changed
I think the battery and the brakes needed work this time partly because the way I drove changed after I retired. Once I left work, most of my driving was for shopping close to home. A battery is charged while the car is running, by the alternator, the generator that the engine turns. On short trips the battery does not get fully charged, and it is drained again every time the engine starts. That piles up and shortens the life of the battery. Fuel economy also dropped from 18 km per liter in my commuting years to just over 12 km per liter.
Brakes are the same. Pads wear down through friction, so town driving, where I press the brake pedal more often, wears them faster than driving on a highway or a country road. The brakes that were fine at the last shaken were replaced this time, and that too is the result of a change in the way I drive. Same car, and yet over seven years the whole way I used it had changed.
After they replaced all the brake parts, the way the car ran was clearly different. It ran smoothly and felt completely different from before. I asked the young mechanic at the shop about it, but he did not explain it well, and I did not really understand. Thinking about it later, when pads wear down, the brakes often do not release smoothly. The car feels lighter with new pads only because it has gone back to the normal state it should be in. Even as a former mechanic, when it is my own car, I do not notice.
Even so, at this shaken, nothing was done to the engine itself or to the transmission. I have driven 54,000 km with no big trouble. I think that is the result of replacing the consumable parts properly, each time they were due.
If I want it cheaper, I may be able to make it as cheap as I like
If I want it cheaper, I may be able to lower the cost as much as I want. Anyone is free to negotiate for a discount.
But, and this comes out harsh, making it cheaper does not come with a two-year guarantee. If I am told a consumable part should be replaced and I hold back on the repair money, I am increasing the risk of trouble myself. If the worst happens and the engine stalls in the middle of a long drive, the towing and the repair will cost more in the end.
Negotiate the price down, and after that it is your own responsibility. That is all it is.
Even a person who is not a mechanic can go through the estimate and ask, one item at a time, what this cost is for. What is truly unnecessary can be refused. It is the same as when I refused a new battery in year five. There is no need to stay quiet and pay for all of it just because you are not an expert, and no need to hold back on what is actually needed.
I leave it to a shop I trust
The place I take the car for shaken is a repair shop in my neighborhood. A relative of a relative runs it, and the shop works around the clock. I have never once thought of taking the car anywhere else. Leave it to a person you can trust. As a mechanic, that is the thing I understand best.
Seen with the eyes of a former mechanic, what matters is not putting off replacing consumable parts, and having a shop you can trust. That alone lets a car last a long time. Even when an expensive shaken comes, it is also proof that you have kept driving the car. If you do not know anyone at a repair shop, getting estimates from several shops and comparing them is the surest way.
When a part goes bad, I have it replaced. That is my way of driving.
In these seven years, the car has never stalled on me. I think that is the whole answer.
Related stories on this blog: The Same McDonalds Coffee: 190 Yen in Japan, 490 Yen in America / Earthquake Insurance in Japan: I Know I Should Cancel, but I Cannot
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