Long term car rental

Hi everyone,

I am an exchange student in Japan studying in Sendai for half a year and I really want a CAR. I have already gotten my Japanese driving licence after licence translation. I know long term car rental is expensive if using Toyota rent a car or Nippon rent a car. I have already checked this post:

https://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+111964

Although I message the people replied in the post above, there is no reply.

So, do anyone know any JET/ALT community which provide cheap car rental or selling in Miyagi (or Tohoku area)?

Regards

First you should consult your school.
Because some schools will not allow you to use car during study time.
This has to do with their responsibility towards you.

I have already gotten my Japanese driving licence after licence translation.
You mean you have a driving permit or you are in Japan and actually have a proper license.
Also, what is your age - that makes a difference.
Plus, do you need a car every day? Most people don't, and it is much cheaper to rent only when you do need it.

Public Transportation is much cheaper. So you can buy Teikiken For 1,3,6 months For Bus or rail Transport. One more info:I bought a bike For
20000 yen and travel my city.But If I visit far distance,then I depends
On public transportation.

sorry we all seem to only come up with new reasons why NOT to hire a car long term. (or why not to buy one). Probably because Japan, at least in the cities is just so convenient with public transport and bicycle. However this may depend on your actual location. You wrote Sendai, so that might be already more rural.

One further thing you need to consider is that you will need a parking space for your rented car. Do you have one? If not, do you know how much it will cost you per week?

I recommend finding the local JET/ALT facebook groups for your area and asking there. I am in Northern Kanto and not Tohoku, but there is definitely a few people who do monthly long-term rentals for the community here, so I bet there are a few where you are too. I rented a car from one such person for ~8 months or so before I bought one. It was a white plate and was about 16000 per month (or maybe 18000... sorry it's been a long time; I know the kei cars were a bit cheaper). It was great because if you had a problem such as a flat tire, or any kind of accident, the owner would come out to help you, and he spoke English as well. Plus you didn't need to bother with shaken etc. I can't remember either if I had to register the parking space with the police or not though so you'll want to check those policies. Anyway, your local ALT community should know if anything like that is around!

Sendai has a reasonable public transport system, but maybe they are staying a long way from their school (why), or maybe they don't want to ride a bike (like a lot of people). Buying a car can be an option, but more difficult - all those pesky forms.

For my time in Japan I've rented a car once and a van once (to move furniture), and I don't bother even with a bike. Even travelling around the country, and some pretty obscure places, I just don't need it. If I was living in a real, rural community where everything was 5km to anything, that would be different.

If you search by "格安レンタカー" you can find a store at Google like this,
https://goo.gl/maps/aiHrSMQdB4x
but you do not know if the store will lend to international students.
Because it can not be confirmed whether payment of damage caused by accident occurrence is possible.

Also, even if you can borrow luckily, if you do not have a parking space,
it will be "parking violation/駐車違反 (penalty fee/反則金, expensive)", just not be "arrest/逮捕".
And, in winter, must be replaced with a studless tire(winter tire) for iced/snow road.

The same answer is written above, but it should be consulted at school.