A new set of wheels for a new season at the SoraHouse, our cheap country home.

Ever since we purchased a house in the Japanese countryside for the incredibly low price of 1 million yen (US$9,100 yen at the time), it’s been providing us with endless amounts of joy…even when we have to clean out all the poop.

There’s something so satisfying about completing tasks to help turn our run-down country house into a home, and this week’s latest task was a particularly joyous moment, as it involved buying a cheap mini van to go with our cheap home.

While our company Minica — which we purchased for 980 yen — has been doing a good job ferrying some of our team members to and from the house, it’s too compact for the renovation work we want to do, so after searching online for a mini van that would cost less than 300,000 yen (US$2,084.53), Yoshio and our reporter Go Hatori headed out to the dealership to pick up our new baby…

▼ …the Nissan Clipper Van!!!!

Yoshio was over the moon with this purchase, as the vehicle comes with the following perks:

・It’s a 2010 model in near-new condition!
・The mileage is 82,000 kilometres (50952.438 miles), which is good!
・No vehicle inspection is needed until until June 2024!
・Double airbags for the driver and front passenger!
・Comes with air conditioning, an audio system and a vehicle-mounted ETC device! [ETC is the system for wirelessly paying tolls on Japanese highways]
・Includes power steering and a collision-safe body!
・Includes side window deflectors and tinting on rear windows!

So, how much did we pay for a Japanese mini van with all those benefits?

▼ 149,000 yen (US$1,035.80)!!!!!

Compared to our 980-yen Minica, this van was like an ultra-luxury vehicle, as it was around 152 times more expensive. But in the grand scheme of things, it was incredibly good value, even when you add on the other additional expenses that we had to pay, like insurance, which brought the total to…

▼ …295,000 yen ($2,048.66)!!!!!

That means the entire purchase was within budget, and after driving it out to the SoraHouse, both Yoshio and Go branded it one of the company’s best buys ever.

▼ For starters, the body of the car is beautiful…

▼ …and it has a boxy shape that gives it a tough look while providing maximum space inside.

▼ The back of the car can be used to transport people…

▼…or, when you pack the seat away, it can transport all sorts of renovation-related junk and materials, which is ideal for our project.

▼ And it comes in handy for anyone needing a break or a nap between renovating jobs!

▼ Moreover, it’s easy to drive…

▼ …and it gets up to a good speed!

▼ Check out the Clipper’s running power in the clip below!

▼ As Yoshio and Go drove the new car to the SoraHouse, they couldn’t wipe the smiles off their faces.

And when they hopped out of the van, they looked at the body of the car again and gave each other a knowing look.

▼ A blank canvas like this is just waiting to be customised, in the same way we customised the Minica with giant stickers of Mr Sato back in the day.

▼ Although we eventually de-customised the vehicle with black marker pens for its current look.

So who knows what the Nissan Clipper will eventually look like? Perhaps one day it’ll have all our smiling faces on the sides with “SoraHouse” emblazoned over the front and rear, to spread joy to all who view it.

For now, though, it’s back to work on the house renovations, which will be a lot easier now, thanks to our new set of wheels.

Related: Muratomi Ebina Car Dealers
Photos ©SoraNews24
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