Diesel Vehicles
Diesel cars have been dwindling in popularity in Japan as a result of an increasingly restrictive regulation system aimed at reducing particulates in city air. But that does not mean that there are no diesel used cars or vans to bid on.
By Engine Capacity
Often you will find that the capacity of the diesel engines offered with a particular model are different (usually higher) than the CC capacity of the equivalent petrol / gasoline-powered vehicle.
A case in point is the Toyota Hiace: Just do a quick run-down of the Hiace vans available on a particular day, and you will notice that the 3 liter engine models tend to be diesel whereas the lower capacity ones are petrol.
By Chassis Type
Now let’s imagine you are after a Toyota Hilux Surf. You notice that chassis types which include the letters KZN have diesel engines. So, when you search for diesel Hilux Surfs, you make sure that the “Chassis” box has “KZN” entered there when you search, like this:
By Emissions Codes
The Japanese government uses a system of letters to designate which emissions law certain vehicles conform to. This is referred to as the emissions code (or kigo in Japanese).
If the vehicle is modern, then by looking at the emissions code on the car auction sheet, you can tell whether it is a diesel car or not.
Emissions codes beginning with K are generally for diesel cars, as are the following codes:
Older 2-digit codes
HT, HU, HW, KM, KN, KP, LF, LG, LH, TF, TG, TH, UF, UG, UH, XF, XG, XH, YF,YG, YH, ZF, ZG, ZH, HX, HY, KQ, KR, LJ, LK, LL, PA, PB, PC, PD, PE, PF, PG, PH, SA, SB, SC, SD, TJ, TK, TL, UJ, UK, UL, VA, VB, VC, VD, VE, VF, VG, VH, XJ, XK, XL, YJ, YK, YL, ZJ, ZK, ZL, HZ, KS, LM, PJ, PK, PL, PM, PN, PP, PQ, PR, TM, UM, VJ, VK, VL, VM, VN, VP, VQ, VR, XM, YM, ZM
Post-2005 3-digit codes
ADF, ACF, ADG, ACG, CDF, CCF, DDF, DCF, BDG, BCG, NDG, NCGPDG, BCG, AKG, AJG, BKG, BJG, NKG, PKG, PJG, LDG, LCG, LKG, LJG, SDG, SCG, SKG, SJG
By Auction Inspector Notes
In order to be really sure whether the car is diesel or not, the best way is to be able to read the auctions inspector's report ("auction sheet").
Now, of course, we do not expect you to be able to read Japanese, which is why we supply our customers with free professional translation.
Whether the car diesel or not is noted on the auction sheet either with the word keiyu (diesel in Japanese) in Japanese kanji or katakana characters, or with the letter “K” (for keiyu) or “D” (for diesel). Here are five examples of these different ways of designating the car as a diesel model:
Not confident that you can figure out if the car is diesel or not? Don’t worry! We are message away to help.