We Found 1,099 LA400 Copens in Japan—Which One Would You Choose?
Come with us as we narrow an entire Japanese retail market into one Copen that feels like yours.
Let’s go shopping for a Copen in Japan.
No need to book a flight. We can begin with Goo-net, one of Japan’s largest used-car marketplaces, and the 1,099 LA400 Copens we found there on 30 August 2026.
Important: We do not recommend searching Goo-net on the English site, as it may show less information. We searched on the original Japanese site to get the most out of it.
At first, 1,099 feels like an almost impossible amount of choice.
There are Robes, Ceros, XPLAYs and GR Sports. There are cheerful colours and quiet colours, manual and CVT cars, standard examples, S models, special editions, very low-mileage cars and others that have already travelled a long way.
We do not need to understand all 1,099 at once.
We only need to make one decision at a time.
So, where shall we begin?
A Market Built Over Twelve Years
The second-generation LA400 Copen was launched in Japan in 2014.
By July 2024, 45,844 had been sold through Daihatsu and a further 7,412 GR Sports through Toyota—a combined total of 53,256 cars.
Orders for new cars effectively closed at the end of 2025. Production then continued until August 2026 to fulfil the remaining orders.
That distinction matters.
For more than a decade, a customer in Japan could configure and order a new Copen. Now, every LA400 available to a future owner already exists somewhere: in a private garage, at a dealership, in an auction hall or waiting to become part of the used-car market.
Our 1,099 Goo-net cars are therefore more than a collection of used-car advertisements.
They are a snapshot of what remains available to choose from as the LA400 moves from a current model into its next life as an enthusiast car.
First, Choose the Face You Like
Most people do not begin by choosing a registration year or setting a mileage limit.
They see a face.
The LA400 gives us four very different ones, even though the cars share the same basic mechanical foundation.
From our 1,099-car snapshot, we identified:
Robe: 380
Cero family: 316
XPLAY: 71
GR Sport: 325
Seven listings could not be assigned confidently to one body style.
The Robe was the most numerous body style, while the Cero family and GR Sport were close behind. Only 72 XPLAYs appeared in the same market snapshot.
The Robe looks sharp and modern. The Cero is rounder and more classical. The XPLAY is the adventurous one. The GR Sport is lower and more purposeful.
You do not need to decide which is objectively best. Let us simply put the four faces beside one another.
Which one would make you look back after parking it?
Keep that one in mind. We will take it with us to the next part of the market.
Now, Choose the Colours
Once the face is chosen, colour begins to change the car again.
A British Green Cero can feel like a traditional roadster. Jaune Yellow makes the same shape more playful. Off Beat Khaki strengthens the XPLAY’s outdoor character. Pearl White can make a GR Sport look crisp and technical, while Matador Red Pearl gives it an entirely different presence.
Goo-net’s colour filters gave us the following combined matches across Daihatsu LA400 and Toyota GR Sport listings:
White: 350
Black: 171
Silver: 135
Green: 129
Yellow: 124
Red: 86
Blue: 68
Orange: 48
Other: 12
These are filter matches rather than mutually exclusive market shares. A two-tone car can appear in more than one colour family.
Even so, the chart gives us another useful question.
Would you choose from the colours that give you the greatest number of cars—or wait for the colour you really want?
There is no need to answer quickly. A popular colour may shorten the search. A rare one may be the very reason the finished car feels personal.
Open the Door
Now let us look inside.
Robe, Cero, Xplay buyers may encounter beige, black or red interior packages. The S models bring their own Recaro combinations. The same exterior colour can therefore lead to very different cabins.
Beige, black and red interiors can give the same exterior colour three very different personalities.
When you open the door, would you rather find beige, black or red?
Perhaps your Copen is beginning to appear: a white GR Sport with a black cabin, or a yellow Cero with red inside.
Let us add the first condition that may be non-negotiable.
Choose the Gearbox—This May Be an Absolute Condition
Across all 1,099 listings, we found:
5MT: 299
CVT: 800
But the balance changes when we look at each face separately.
Robe: 87 5MT / 293 CVT
Cero: 74 5MT / 242 CVT
XPLAY: 17 5MT / 54 CVT
GR Sport: 119 5MT / 206 CVT
Perhaps either gearbox would suit the way you plan to use the car. If so, keeping both in the search gives us more freedom later.
Or perhaps a manual gearbox is the point of the car for you. In that case, we should not pretend it is a condition you will happily abandon when an attractive CVT appears.
Is the gearbox part of your preference—or an absolute condition?
Once that is decided, we can finally look at money.
What Will Your Copen Cost?
Of the 1,099 cars, 1,096 showed an advertised vehicle price. Unless stated otherwise, the prices in this article are the advertised vehicle prices in Japan, before the additional costs involved in bringing a car to Britain.
Under ¥1 million: 92
¥1–1.499 million: 291
¥1.5–1.999 million: 367
¥2–2.499 million: 245
¥2.5–2.999 million: 93
¥3 million or more: 8
Price on application: 3
This is the point at which the Copen in your head meets the Japanese retail market.
Do not change it yet. First, find the price area in which you expected it to appear.
Now let us see what registration year does to that picture.
What Does Registration Year Change?
The upper half of the next chart shows how many cars we found from each registration year. The lower half follows the highest, median and lowest advertised vehicle price within each year.
The three lines are not valuations. Highest and lowest each represent one actual advertisement from that year, while the median sits in the middle of all priced listings from the same year.
Take a moment with the gaps between them.
Would you pay more to move your search into a later registration year? Would an older car still interest you if its face, colours, gearbox and condition were right? Or would a younger year simply make you feel more comfortable?
Keep your answer. We will soon use it in a real search.
What Can We Adjust to Meet the Budget?
By now, the important parts of your Copen may be taking shape.
Perhaps the face, exterior colour and gearbox must remain. The budget, however, may ask us to move something else.
Let us walk through the conditions that can change the shortlist.
Mileage
The 1,099 listings were distributed as follows:
Under 10,000 km: 267
10,000–29,999 km: 291
30,000–49,999 km: 207
50,000–79,999 km: 189
80,000–99,999 km: 71
100,000 km or more: 74
Before deciding what to move, let us place registration year and mileage beside the same advertised prices.
Across the 1,096 priced listings, the correlation between registration year and price was 0.846. The correlation between mileage and price was −0.798. Both relationships were strong in this market snapshot, with registration year showing the slightly closer relationship.
Would you use the next part of the budget to move towards a later registration year—or towards a lower odometer reading?
Would you give up your preferred colour—or accept more kilometres instead?
There is no universal answer. Some buyers want the lowest possible odometer figure. Others would rather keep the model, colour and gearbox they love, then assess the condition of a higher-mileage car carefully.
Standard, S or GR Sport?
Among the listings with an identified body style and grade group, we found:
Standard: 597
S series: 170
GR Sport: 325
The S total comprises 86 Robe S, 67 Cero S and 17 XPLAY S listings.
A standard car may leave more room in the budget. An S model may already have the Recaro seats, MOMO steering wheel and Bilstein suspension you want. A GR Sport may protect a larger part of your desired factory specification—but ask for more money elsewhere.
Would you begin with a standard car, wait for an S, or accept a different mileage to bring a GR Sport into reach?
What About Factory Cars and Cars with Added Options?
You may now be wondering whether a factory-standard car is usually cheaper than one already carrying option parts or aftermarket modifications.
You are right. But it depends.
Please note that the Copens younger than 10-years-old will be required to pass the UK IVA test which basically require a factory standard car. Otherwise, you cannot register your Copen here in the UK.
The Special Ones
We also found two Cero Coupes and 29 examples of the 20th Anniversary Edition.
Two of the rarest factory-built LA400s: the fixed-roof Cero Coupe and the 20th Anniversary Edition.
Is the special edition essential—or would a carefully chosen regular-production car leave you more freedom elsewhere?
Your Copen—and Your Compromise—Are Taking Shape
We have now chosen in the same order that many people naturally choose a car:
the face;
the exterior and interior colours;
the gearbox;
the price area;
the conditions we may—or may not—adjust.
You may now have two short lists in your head:
the Copen you would order if every condition could be satisfied; and
the conditions you might move if the market or budget asked you to.
Shall we try this with four real searches?
Search One: A White GR Sport 5MT
GR Sport
Pearl White
5MT
black interior
TRD option aero
mileage unrestricted
price unrestricted
The strongest match we found was a 2019 GR Sport 5MT in Pearl White with 25,000 km, advertised at ¥2,289,000 with no declared repair history.
It had the GR full aero we were looking for. It also went further than the original request, with a COPEN × HKS sports exhaust, slotted brake rotors, Power Drive and a trunk bar, alongside the dedicated Recaro seats and BBS wheels.
Now place that one car back into the whole 1,099-car market.
The red markers show its ¥2,289,000 vehicle price and 25,000 km mileage. The remaining bars belong to the market we have just walked through.
Where would you place this car in your own shortlist?
Search Two: A Yellow Cero CVT with a Red Interior
Cero
Jaune Yellow
CVT
red interior
under 30,000 km
We found a 2016 Cero CVT in yellow with a red interior and 12,000 km, advertised at ¥1,490,000 with no declared repair history.
That is a close answer. But shall we see whether there is another one?
This time, let us retain the Cero face, yellow paint, CVT and red interior—but allow the mileage to rise above 30,000 km. Perhaps we will find a later registration year as well. Perhaps the price will move.
Search again.
We found a 2015 yellow Cero CVT with a red interior and 107,000 km, advertised at ¥1,180,000 with no declared repair history.
Keep both results open:
2016 / 12,000 km / ¥1,490,000
2015 / 107,000 km / ¥1,180,000
Which tab are you looking at now?
Search Three: A Modified XPLAY 5MT
XPLAY
any colour
5MT
aftermarket exhaust or similar modifications
under 70,000 km
We found a direct match: a 2015 blue XPLAY 5MT with 40,000 km, advertised at ¥1,499,000 with no declared repair history.
It already had an aftermarket exhaust, air intake and blow-off valve, together with a dash camera.
What happens if we remove the requirements, then retain only these limits?
XPLAY
5MT
no more than 70,000 km
no more than ¥1,500,000
The newest registration year we found was 2016. Two cars shared that year, so let us open the one without declared repair history.
It was a 2016 Off Beat Khaki XPLAY 5MT with 49,000 km, advertised at ¥1,373,000, or ¥1,448,000 total in Japan. No aftermarket parts.
Keep these two open as well:
2015 / blue / 40,000 km / modified / ¥1,499,000
2016 / khaki / 49,000 km / stock / ¥1,373,000
Which part of the original request are you protecting now?
Search Four: A Blue Robe S 5MT
Robe S
blue
5MT
black interior
factory specification
under 70,000 km
We found a 2019 blue Robe S 5MT with 53,000 km, advertised at ¥1,712,000 with no declared repair history.
It retained the factory Recaro seats, MOMO steering wheel, Bilstein suspension, LED lighting and heated seats. The specialist dealer described it as serviced and displayed indoors.
Let us return this car to the market chart too.
The red markers show its ¥1,712,000 vehicle price and 53,000 km mileage.
Would this one remain on your list?
Tell Us What Your Copen Looks Like
Did one of those four searches resemble the Copen forming in your mind—or has yours taken a completely different shape?
You may know every condition already. You may only know that it must be a manual, or that it must be yellow. You may still be deciding whether mileage, registration year or factory specification is the condition you are willing to move.
That is enough to begin a useful conversation.
Tell TR imports UK what you would like us to find.
We can compare your preferred specification with the current Japanese market, show you where the search becomes narrow and agree which conditions should remain protected before money is committed.
But before we leave the Japanese market, there is one more place we should visit.
But We Have Only Looked at Retail Stock
Everything we have opened so far was advertised by a Japanese retail dealer.
Now take the Copen brief we have built together and bring it with us to the Japanese auctions.
The conditions do not change. A white GR Sport 5MT with the right aero remains the same desired car. So does a yellow Cero CVT with a red interior, or a blue Robe S 5MT.
What changes is how often we may see one.
From our experience of monitoring Japanese auctions, a broadly specified Copen may give us a relevant car at around one per week. As the combination becomes rarer—particular model, gearbox, exterior colour, interior and mileage together—the interval may stretch towards one suitable car in four weeks.
These are working expectations from experience, not a guaranteed timetable. The relative frequency tends to follow what we have already seen in the retail market: common combinations appear more often; narrow combinations ask us to wait.
And when the right car finally appears, another bidder may have been waiting for it too.
Patience—and a Little Luck
We began with 1,099 cars and one simple question: which one would you choose?
Now the number itself matters less.
You may have chosen a face, two colours and a gearbox. You may know which price area feels comfortable. You may have discovered that you would accept more mileage but not a different body style—or that you would spend more rather than give up the exact factory specification you want.
The more precisely we define your Copen, the fewer suitable cars will appear.
That does not mean we should compromise immediately.
It means we should begin the search earlier.
Starting early gives us time to watch both retail stock and auctions, understand what appears regularly, recognise what is genuinely unusual and be ready when the right car arrives.
Patience will be part of the search. A little luck may be needed too.
But we do not have to wait until a perfect advertisement appears before beginning the project.
Would You Like to Know the Other Costs?
Today, we have been walking through the advertised retail prices in Japan.
Now you may want to know the other costs of bringing your Copen into the UK.
This article may help you understand how much more you will have to pay.