Car Importing To Sl From Uk (Help!)

ravindu996 · September 2, 2011

hi guys

i live in london and me and my parents are planing to move to sri lanka next year. basically i wanted to start my own car business. used cars in the uk are very cheap for example: a used 2009 ford mustang is around £15,000 which is around 30 laks in ruppees.. also a used 2010 dodge charger is around £13,000 which is around 26 laks in ruppees.. so i know these vehicles are not in the current market for vehicles in sri lanka. so lets say a used 2009 toyota landcruiser in damn good condition is around £9,000 = 18 laks or a used 2010 Mazda RX-8 with lots of custom hardware is 11,000 pounds = 22 laks .. and it sells in sri lanka for around 126 laks do there is huge profit to be made... now what i want to know is how do you import the vehicle what is the tax and duty like?? just tell me about all the basics about car importing to sri lanka (i will really appreciate it).. also i heard about something called a LC.. what is a LC and what is it used for?

please explain the basics of car importing to me

THANKS

MrCat · September 2, 2011

Err.. You should not start a business which requires a significant capital investment with advice just from random people in an online forum. :blink:

You would need to do heaps more research. I would say start by searching this forum, there`s plenty of info on importing cars.

I believe Import and Export control department has got some info as well: http://www.imexport.gov.lk/services.htm

g-unit · September 2, 2011

hi guys

i live in london and me and my parents are planing to move to sri lanka next year. basically i wanted to start my own car business. used cars in the uk are very cheap for example: a used 2009 ford mustang is around £15,000 which is around 30 laks in ruppees.. also a used 2010 dodge charger is around £13,000 which is around 26 laks in ruppees.. so i know these vehicles are not in the current market for vehicles in sri lanka. so lets say a used 2009 toyota landcruiser in damn good condition is around £9,000 = 18 laks or a used 2010 Mazda RX-8 with lots of custom hardware is 11,000 pounds = 22 laks .. and it sells in sri lanka for around 126 laks do there is huge profit to be made... now what i want to know is how do you import the vehicle what is the tax and duty like?? just tell me about all the basics about car importing to sri lanka (i will really appreciate it).. also i heard about something called a LC.. what is a LC and what is it used for?

please explain the basics of car importing to me

THANKS

Mate you're just quoting prices of cars without even insurance or freight. On top of that there will be costs incurred when transporting the cars to the yards and veritas charges and then the charges incurred over here when clearing. We all know how much these used cars go at over there. The problem is the tax. No matter how cheap you buy the car the agents always value it higher, hence you'll be spending a lot on taxes. By the way I'd love it if you'd show me where to buy a 09 landcruiser 'in super condition' for 9000 pounds. Are you sure it ain't a cat D? You''ll be lucky to get a decent Hilux for that price mate.

Whatever you think mate, let me tell you that the profit margins to be made in this industry ain't that great anymore. There are too many car importers and too many cars as well. Also be prepared to block your money for a long long time.

ravindu996 · September 2, 2011

Mate you're just quoting prices of cars without even insurance or freight. On top of that there will be costs incurred when transporting the cars to the yards and veritas charges and then the charges incurred over here when clearing. We all know how much these used cars go at over there. The problem is the tax. No matter how cheap you buy the car the agents always value it higher, hence you'll be spending a lot on taxes. By the way I'd love it if you'd show me where to buy a 09 landcruiser 'in super condition' for 9000 pounds. Are you sure it ain't a cat D? You''ll be lucky to get a decent Hilux for that price mate.

Whatever you think mate, let me tell you that the profit margins to be made in this industry ain't that great anymore. There are too many car importers and too many cars as well. Also be prepared to block your money for a long long time.

thanks ur info and advice was helpful.. i will certainly take your advice on board.. u can get a 09 landcruiser for 9000 pounds on autotrader.co.uk. check it out

ravindu996 · September 2, 2011

Err.. You should not start a business which requires a significant capital investment with advice just from random people in an online forum.

You would need to do heaps more research. I would say start by searching this forum, there`s plenty of info on importing cars.

I believe Import and Export control department has got some info as well: http://www.imexport.gov.lk/services.htm

thanks man the website was very helpful

g-unit · September 2, 2011

thanks ur info and advice was helpful.. i will certainly take your advice on board.. u can get a 09 landcruiser for 9000 pounds on autotrader.co.uk. check it out

No you certainly cannot mate. You can buy a 03 LC Colorado (Prado) With around 100k miles on it but def not a 09. Please prove me wrong by attaching the particular link on your post. Don't mislead people.

kush · September 2, 2011

No you certainly cannot mate. You can buy a 03 LC Colorado (Prado) With around 100k miles on it but def not a 09. Please prove me wrong by attaching the particular link on your post. Don't mislead people.

Yep the best I could find from auto trader for a Land Cruiser which could be imported to SL was GBP 24,000/-, even if you deduct the VAT it will be around GBP 20,400/- (Rs. 3.7 Mn.) Insurance and Freight will be another GBP 1,500/- or so.

This is not a business that anyone could just get in to several of my friends found this the hard way to see that they would have been better off buying the car from a dealer here.

thusithasam · September 2, 2011

Yep the best I could find from auto trader for a Land Cruiser which could be imported to SL was GBP 24,000/-, even if you deduct the VAT it will be around GBP 20,400/- (Rs. 3.7 Mn.) Insurance and Freight will be another GBP 1,500/- or so.

This is not a business that anyone could just get in to several of my friends found this the hard way to see that they would have been better off buying the car from a dealer here.

Do you know any good guy for import a honda civc car from UK?

Sylvi · September 4, 2011

hi guys

i live in london and me and my parents are planing to move to sri lanka next year. basically i wanted to start my own car business. used cars in the uk are very cheap for example: a used 2009 ford mustang is around £15,000 which is around 30 laks in ruppees.. also a used 2010 dodge charger is around £13,000 which is around 26 laks in ruppees.. so i know these vehicles are not in the current market for vehicles in sri lanka. so lets say a used 2009 toyota landcruiser in damn good condition is around £9,000 = 18 laks or a used 2010 Mazda RX-8 with lots of custom hardware is 11,000 pounds = 22 laks .. and it sells in sri lanka for around 126 laks do there is huge profit to be made... now what i want to know is how do you import the vehicle what is the tax and duty like?? just tell me about all the basics about car importing to sri lanka (i will really appreciate it).. also i heard about something called a LC.. what is a LC and what is it used for?

please explain the basics of car importing to me

THANKS

'ravindu996',

When I read your post I find you have no idea of motor vehicles import or any imports. you are tiring to get into a business with lot of competition.

If you and your parents want to come back to Srilanka that is very good, if you like to do some business related to automobiles.Instead of vehicle import if you start small scale a good service station for new Automobiles.I think that will be a good investment. As there are lot of trained staff in Srilanka in Automobile industry.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

ravindu996 · September 7, 2011

'ravindu996',

When I read your post I find you have no idea of motor vehicles import or any imports. you are tiring to get into a business with lot of competition.

If you and your parents want to come back to Srilanka that is very good, if you like to do some business related to automobiles.Instead of vehicle import if you start small scale a good service station for new Automobiles.I think that will be a good investment. As there are lot of trained staff in Srilanka in Automobile industry.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

thanks for your advise