Splitting the Dream
Car prices are climbing everywhere, and Japan is feeling the squeeze just like the rest of us. The headlines usually focus on the US, but sticker shock is alive and well in Tokyo and Osaka. Even so, Gen Z drivers aren’t letting that stop them. They’re still finding ways to chase after cars most people would call impossible dreams – think a Ferrari or a Porsche.
Here’s the twist: these young buyers aren’t suddenly earning more, and supercars aren’t getting any cheaper in Japan. Instead, they’re turning to services like Rendez-Vous, which basically lets you and your friends “split the bill” on a dream car.
The idea is straightforward: gather a group – usually five people – and you all share a car for a year. It’s not full-on ownership, but it’s close enough to scratch the itch. The real draw is how this setup suddenly puts cars that used to be out of reach within striking distance. It’s a clever workaround that shows just how far Gen Z is willing to go for a shot at driving something special.
How the Numbers Work
With Rendez-Vous, the company buys a pre-owned car and matches it to a group, Nikkei Asia reports. Each person gets up to 50 days behind the wheel every year – enough to make it feel like your own, but without the headaches that come with full ownership.
The costs are built around how much value the car loses over a year. Say a car is bought for 20 million yen ($126,000) and drops to 17 million yen ($107,000) after twelve months – the group covers that 3 million yen ($18,900) difference. Split five ways, that’s about 600,000 yen ($3,800) per person for the year, before you add in things like parking, insurance, taxes, and maintenance.
Even after you factor in those extras, it’s still a lot more doable than buying a car outright. For example, getting into a Porsche 911 only takes a modest upfront payment and a monthly fee that feels more like a premium subscription than a car loan.
Other options are catching on, too. Peer-to-peer platforms like DriveShare let you rent cars straight from owners, sometimes at prices that are easier to swallow than you’d expect. Want to try a Porsche Panamera? You can rent one for a day and get a taste of the high-end life, no strings attached.
Porsche
A Different Kind of Ownership
There’s a bigger shift at play. Surveys in Japan show more and more young adults just aren’t interested in owning cars, mostly because of the high prices and the hassle of keeping them running. With car prices creeping up year after year, it’s easy to see why they’re thinking twice.
But that doesn’t mean the passion for cars is fading. It’s just showing up in new ways. For a lot of Gen Z, owning a car isn’t the main goal anymore – it’s all about having access when you want it.
Services like Rendez-Vous blur the line between owning and subscribing, while rental apps fill in the gaps for those one-off drives. Put together, they make it possible to drive your dream car without worrying about your bank balance – what matters now is flexibility.
It’s a practical fix, but it says a lot about where things are headed. For Gen Z in Japan, owning a car outright just isn’t as important as it used to be. What really counts is getting the experience – even if it means passing the keys around.
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