Climatized? Marketing Ploy?

[Dr G]

Often one sees comments on how vehicles imported by the agents are acclimatized, and direct imports are not acclimatized (i.e. Agents imports have bigger radiators, stronger springs, shocks, upholstery, and rubber bushes etc. which are specifically made to suit the climate) Is this a marketing ploy? Does Toyota really make two kinds of radiators, one for warm climates and one for cold climates? Yesteryear, when numbers were small and components (like radiator fans) were not so efficient, I can understand the variations. But in today’s mass marketing, economies of scale would dictate all components being the same. Recently Porsche agent carried expensive half page ads saying that one should buy Porsche only from them. (Not that I am looking to buy a Porsche)

If all the direct imports are not suited, then all cars at “Indra Traders” and all those in Nugegoda and Peliyagoda etc. etc. are selling substandard products.

I think they (agents) are just trying to make a buck over people’s ignorance.

Please would knowledgeable people educate us on this?

[Sifaan]

Often one sees comments on how vehicles imported by the agents are acclimatized, and direct imports are not acclimatized (i.e. Agents imports have bigger radiators, stronger springs, shocks, upholstery, and rubber bushes etc. which are specifically made to suit the climate) Is this a marketing ploy?

let me give a few examples;

Mitsubishi buses for our market come with regular suspension; in Japan they have air suspension - which doesn't work well here

Mitsubishi agent imports do not offer GDI engine because mitsubishi has deemed it unreliable, as well as benefits of GDI technology are not realized with our fuel; with recon imports fuel pump failure is common

someone (Don?) gave an example about rusting bodies as well

Does Toyota really make two kinds of radiators, one for warm climates and one for cold climates? Yesteryear, when numbers were small and components (like radiator fans) were not so efficient, I can understand the variations.

don't know about toyota, but for my car model there are 15 different radiator models. the variations are due to auto/manual, ac/non-AC, etc, and also there's a size difference (32-21 vs 27-21)

and don't even get me started on how many different AC compressors there are

But in today’s mass marketing, economies of scale would dictate all components being the same.

No, economies of scale mean that each component should be used as much as possible; (e.g many of the 15 are used in other models as well.)

if you can make enough (or buy enough) radiators suitable for a 1.8 engine you don't have to use one designed for a 3.0 engine.

If all the direct imports are not suited, then all cars at “Indra Traders” and all those in Nugegoda and Peliyagoda etc. etc. are selling substandard products.

I think they (agents) are just trying to make a buck over people’s ignorance.

Please would knowledgeable people educate us on this?

substandard in terms of the climatisation specifics, yes

however, for things like less ground clearance most of the time means you need to drive more carefully over potholes and bumps, but it's very rare to find a place that you cannot go over (at least by unloading passengers!) and that's a tradeoff many people accept

with other things, it just means more frequent or more expensive repair, and if the cost of that is less than what you save on the purchase, you're still up on the deal.

also JDM/UK imports may have come with options that the brand new version didn't come with (e.g. CVT boxes, more luxurious trims) because there wasn't enough market locally to justify it; or would be unaffordable on the buyers budget

ultimately, it's about "how much car" for "how much money" that matters

[Gummybr]

Often one sees comments on how vehicles imported by the agents are acclimatized, and direct imports are not acclimatized (i.e. Agents imports have bigger radiators, stronger springs, shocks, upholstery, and rubber bushes etc. which are specifically made to suit the climate) Is this a marketing ploy? Does Toyota really make two kinds of radiators, one for warm climates and one for cold climates? Yesteryear, when numbers were small and components (like radiator fans) were not so efficient, I can understand the variations. But in today’s mass marketing, economies of scale would dictate all components being the same. Recently Porsche agent carried expensive half page ads saying that one should buy Porsche only from them. (Not that I am looking to buy a Porsche)

If all the direct imports are not suited, then all cars at “Indra Traders” and all those in Nugegoda and Peliyagoda etc. etc. are selling substandard products.

I think they (agents) are just trying to make a buck over people’s ignorance.

Please would knowledgeable people educate us on this?

Normally any vehicle manufacturer will do their research and then make or tune / modify their products according to countries / regions. This is why in the US you get a lot of petrol / gasoline powered cars and in Europe most vehicles are Diesels. Also if you have been reading the magazines or on the internet you would have seen that manufacturers offer different sort of suspension settings in UK, whereas the Japanese are set up for more comfort like in the US. Countries like Sri Lanka get vehicles with much hardier suspension due to the road conditions and climate.

Also if you take features of the vehicles they differ as some parts of the world have different climates. We Sri Lankans get the tropicalized models like Singapore, Malaysia and etc. Thats why you dont get heated windscreens or heated seats in the vehicle bought down by agents.

It doesn't necessarily mean that local market vehicles are superior and direct imports are inferior its just that models differ in certain areas since they are built for different markets.

[Dr G]

Yes, I understand there are some features, like heated seats that would not be useful in Sri Lanka. But overall running, general use, is there a significant difference? I think "bigger radiators, harder suspension etc." is just a con. For example, take Radiators. In the US, one can go from bitter winters of New York to scorching heat of Texas. And Texas itself, Dallas is cold, compared to Galveston. So BMW makes a different version for New York vs Texas, and Dallas Texas BMW is different to Galveston Texas BMW? Not.

I owned a Domestic Japanese X trail and it was not significantly different to A*W imported X Trail Except my X Trail had factory HID, GPS etc.

[toyota sucks]

I recently went to buy a vw beetle (didn't buy it tough)

What i found out was that those that were imported recondition and had K numbers were in very bad condition and

those that were brought brand new with older numbers (G) were in pretty good condition, this was due to the plastics used did not withstand the heat of sri lanka.

this was due to them been not acclimatized

Recently i went in a newly bought c-class of one of my friends, it had a huge crack in the passenger side door he told it happened due to heat as it was imported from UK,

Even the cefiro also have the non-acclimatized problem in the interior,

This is only regarding the external appearance but all the mechanical stuff also deteriate in the vehicles made for other countries this could lead to expensive repairs in the long run and might cost more than the small price reduction when u direct import it

Edited June 25, 2011 by toyota sucks