When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Glad to see the car's back up & running! Did you have a fun alternative car during this time? Something like that Vehicross would've been perfect. I love the swoopy lines on those;
Your mention of a competent shop reminds me of my experience with the Volvo dealership on Roppongi-dori. I lived just up the hill in Embassy housing and owned a "rare" for Japan 745 wagon with a stick and overdrive. During my four year tour, the 2nd gear synchroses failed and I needed a new gear box. I found one in the US and it was sent via APO (military mail) to Tokyo. The Volvo dealership graciously offered to switch transmission at the ridiculously low price of $200. Their problem was that they had never serviced a stick and asked for help. Well, I had a set of Volvo shop manuals in English, so I volunteered to assist the mechanics.
On the big day, I dressed in old clothes and was offered a blue apron and the typical white work gloves. I noted how methodical the Japanese mechanics performed. For example, before removing the drive shaft, the mechanic marked the mating universal with a punch, so as to reassemble them correctly without causing a vibration. It took the better part of a day, but I returned to the shop with gifts (wine, I think). In any event, it was a great experience working with such dedicated workers. Before leaving the country, I placed an order for a 2001 Volvo V70 turbo wagon, so I suppose their generous pricing to fix my old car was worth it.
In short, I suspect that any work done by a Japanese shop on your Cayman will be excellent.
Glad to see the car's back up & running! Did you have a fun alternative car during this time? Something like that Vehicross would've been perfect. I love the swoopy lines on those;
Only my friend's C4 in the pic above as pick up and delivery.
We did however trade the CR-V on a new CX-5 during the Cayman downtime, so that was more than enough diversion (pics to follow).
Originally Posted by TEF
Your mention of a competent shop reminds me of my experience with the Volvo dealership on Roppongi-dori. I lived just up the hill in Embassy housing and owned a "rare" for Japan 745 wagon with a stick and overdrive. During my four year tour, the 2nd gear synchroses failed and I needed a new gear box. I found one in the US and it was sent via APO (military mail) to Tokyo. The Volvo dealership graciously offered to switch transmission at the ridiculously low price of $200. Their problem was that they had never serviced a stick and asked for help. Well, I had a set of Volvo shop manuals in English, so I volunteered to assist the mechanics.
On the big day, I dressed in old clothes and was offered a blue apron and the typical white work gloves. I noted how methodical the Japanese mechanics performed. For example, before removing the drive shaft, the mechanic marked the mating universal with a punch, so as to reassemble them correctly without causing a vibration. It took the better part of a day, but I returned to the shop with gifts (wine, I think). In any event, it was a great experience working with such dedicated workers. Before leaving the country, I placed an order for a 2001 Volvo V70 turbo wagon, so I suppose their generous pricing to fix my old car was worth it.
In short, I suspect that any work done by a Japanese shop on your Cayman will be excellent.
An excellent summary! I know that dealer (and vacant lot yard at the rear) well too...
Japan is filled with similar stories - we purchased a used CR-V a number of years ago, and although I had asked for the alloy wheel option, it wasn't available, nor paid for. Yet, for our first service they fitted a NOS set of alloys, changing to the original tires for no cost. A number of years later, a CD got stuck in the navi, and they replaced the whole system with the later model for free.
You subsidize such through the shaken process, but still it makes a huge difference...
Curiously, I too have worked at two separate professional shops, suitably attired.
With no concerns for 'insurance' or 'claims' or similar as I would have expected in the litigious Western world. Omiyage goes a long way!
Before the PDK shat the bed, we were invited into Tokyo for our first vaccination.
Warming up...
Stopping for some supplies.
While the GT86 is perhaps a cohesive design, the new BMW Supra is just over-wrought.
Fake vents and needless adornments everywhere.
Very strange.
One thing in its favor though, is that it is a normal-sized car.
The contrast with the Integra Type-R in the same lot was amazing.
Though, Honda's latest effort with the Civic Type-R is just as ridiculous with its over-styled fakeness.
Pity, because both cars are otherwise well engineered.
Open, empty roads.
One for the Skyline fans.
Park like a Yak.
Possibly a night club owner in a yakuza controlled area, leaves his 993 on the street.
Local drug store.
With the sun going down, we got in the Cayman to head back out of town...
Glad to hear the PDK has been sorted, and you're back to posting incredible pictures.
TIL about parking like a yak. Seems like he got his car in the wrong color though.
Yeah, possibly just his weekend ride, and not the cruise the dark streets to scare people ride.
With the Cayman out of action, we still took a few drives under the State of Emergency, not leaving the prefecture.
In selling the S800, before we decided on a Cayman, the NSX was top of the list for a replacement.
A friend has one, and the time swapping seats really made me appreciate how nice they are.
In the end, we decided to go back to Porsche, but the NSX still fascinates...
The colors of summer in Japan.
In the back streets of a nearby city, we came across this slowly decaying Taisho-era house, and imagined bringing it back to its former magnificence.
Maybe early next year, I will again be back to the Tokyo commute, like these pre-Covid shots.
Something I am not really looking forward to, though when the roads are clear the run around the Imperial Palace into Otemachi is good fun...
Back in Tokyo for our second shot, I grabbed the un-used camera from my commuting motorcycle glove box and finished what must be a two-year old film.
Meiji-era shop still in use in a small town in Boso Hanto.
With a picnique lunch, we went off exploring behind this little shrine.
Someone had built a torii (threshold gate) from scaffold poles, and we had to find out what it was protecting.
Note massive track width of CR-V on usual kei-sized path.
We spend a lot of time exploring, and often find the CR-V too large for some trails.
Hidden lake up the path, into the mountains.
We stopped with our lunch, and watched the birds.
A swim was tempting too...
Cleaning the CR-V before we took it to the Mazda dealer as a trade-in on the new CX-5.
After over 100,000 km touring Japan over ten years, it will be sold at auction, and likely exported to end up somewhere in the RHD-drive world.
Our local road, after a few recent typhoons, and why we need the small 4WD with some ground clearance for daily life.
We have three roads out, and each has been blocked on separate occasions.
Out with the old, and in with the new.
For cheaper road tax and a lower profile touring these days, we've ditched the 品川 plates, but kept the 41-22.
The Black Tone trim, CX-5 in Crystal Red is pretty neat...
I just discovered this thread. Wow. I visited Japan once on business in 2018; spent two weeks in Tokyo (Hachioji). It was fantastic. Now that I've retired, a longer return trip is on my bucket list.
Thanks for the pictures and stories, they are fantastic.
I have recently started following your thread and have not yet commented. There is an "out of time" quality to your photos - neither sixties/seventies or today - that draws me to them. Your Cayman is nice, too, of course. :-)
08-03-2021, 12:41 PM
