Question About Honda Insight Price?

asankabs · January 7, 2013

I'm going to buy a Honda insight 2011 model car. as i don't have knowledge about importing car, im going to import it through a person who knows about this business(importer). he gave me a quotation and i just want to know if it's a good deal for me.

this is about 2011 LS grade insight with all the features like cruise control, alloys and winker mirrors. he told me that he can import this for 4 million. i thought this is a good price because in most of the ads, price was around 43-44. and i asked from couple of small car sales and got the same answer.

however recently one of my friend said this price is quite high because these days the yen value getting lower. he told me that it may cost around 35-37.

i really don't care if the importer keep some share, it should be but i didn't expect this much difference.

so im asking this question here because i know there are good people in here who knows about these matters and some importers too.

please tel me if you know the amount that would cost to import this vehicle. is that price reasonable?

thanks a lot.

VVTi · January 7, 2013

Do you HAVE to import? Cant you just buy something that is already in SL? Even a registered one? If you look at the Sunday ads you will see plenty of cars bought by wannabes and now selling due to the finances squeezing their balls. Your freind is rught, the prices are around that now and if you look around you might find a good bargain form a bugger desperate to sell his car to avoid dying of starvation, hell with what the neighbors think anymore.

asankabs · January 7, 2013

On 1/7/2013 at 4:03 PM, VVTi said:
Do you HAVE to import? Cant you just buy something that is already in SL? Even a registered one? If you look at the Sunday ads you will see plenty of cars bought by wannabes and now selling due to the finances squeezing their balls. Your freind is rught, the prices are around that now and if you look around you might find a good bargain form a bugger desperate to sell his car to avoid dying of starvation, hell with what the neighbors think anymore.

i think you are correct. but based on my research, still a car can import for a lower price than here. but as you said i might get lucky

Watchman · January 8, 2013

On 1/7/2013 at 4:47 PM, asankabs said:
i think you are correct. but based on my research, still a car can import for a lower price than here. but as you said i might get lucky

Are you aware that you can negotiate price?

And remember with today's roller-coaster government policies, you never know how much you'll be spending in the end. Say you buy it in JP/UK and have it shipped and while the car's on the way the gov decides to increase car taxes (again)... and now instead of saving 1-2 lakhs you might be spending 4-5 lakhs more.. So considering how ~~common~~ popular the insight (even unused/unregistered ones) is in the classified, the safer bet would be to buy locally.

rayman · January 8, 2013

There are cheaper Insights locally! I saw one for 39 lakhs in the H*t-A*. The car market is desperate these days! You can find good bargains if you look hard enough.

dpbatagoda · January 8, 2013

Dear asankabs,

If you directly import you can get a LS grade around 39 Lakhs because the yen rate has dropped to around 1.46 and also the market in Japan has decreased due to low demand from Sri Lanka.

But since you are importing through some other person, you are legally bound to clear the vehicle from port and you have to pay the government taxes to clear the vehicle. What most people do is thy tell this government taxes very low price and LC value the correct amount. Once the car come to port they will tell additional 1-3 lakhs to which they tell initially and they will tell lot of stories for it. (They only tell approximate figures, there is no guarantee that they will pay any extra beyond 4 million) Instead of you paying 4 million you will finally pay around 4.2 million which you can easily find already imported one from local market. Also due to risk factors of government policy changes, it's advisable to buy a one from here.

1. Always look for original JAAI certificate

2. Most car sales don't show you the original JAAI certificate

3. If possible get the auction sheet

Honda Insight LS is a good car

Magnum · January 8, 2013

Like how others have assuggested its better to buy here cuz now most of the car sellers in a hurry to change their stock into cash due to poor so sales, so you will have a better chance of bargaining specially with sellers who still got cars that were brought before the duty increase

rover · January 8, 2013

If I were you I would go for a second hand car.

asankabs · January 8, 2013

On 1/8/2013 at 2:26 PM, rover said:
If I were you I would go for a second hand car.

can you tell me the benefit? im looking for a 2011 model. it's rare to find this as a second hand model of this.

kanchanap · January 8, 2013

A 2011 hybrid car can still be imported at a low price than the current market rates.. ( This is only true for the Hybrid type vehicles after the last tax changes, which was increased only by little margins )
Lowest cost hybrids would be Prius 2nd Gen -NHW20 .. You still can find 2 to 3, 2nd Gen Hybrids per week on Japan Auctions which falls into allowable age limits ( 2 yrs from first registration )

You can import a Honda Insight 2011 well below 40 lacks also...
So get the best CIF value and ADD the Tax value.. (You can get it from a clearing agent...)
find a one which falls into last lap ( 1.5 - 2 yrs old from its first registration )... Look at the auctions sheets also before buying...

dpbatagoda · January 9, 2013

On 1/8/2013 at 8:23 PM, kanchanap said:
A 2011 hybrid car can still be imported at a low price than the current market rates.. ( This is only true for the Hybrid type vehicles after the last tax changes, which was increased only by little margins )
Lowest cost hybrids would be Prius 2nd Gen -NHW20 .. You still can find 2 to 3, 2nd Gen Hybrids per week on Japan Auctions which falls into allowable age limits ( 2 yrs from first registration )

You can import a Honda Insight 2011 well below 40 lacks also...

So get the best CIF value and ADD the Tax value.. (You can get it from a clearing agent...)

find a one which falls into last lap ( 1.5 - 2 yrs old from its first registration )... Look at the auctions sheets also before buying...

Good Advice, But I don't think you can get a LS below 40 Lakhs.

The cif for LS is more than 16 Lakhs JPY. Tax would be roughly 16 Lakhs.

With current exchange rate, it would be around 41 Lakhs.

You might be able to get G grade which is the most common and the lowest grade for around CIF13-14 Lakhs JPY. which means you will be able to get a one around 36-37 Lakhs with all the other clearing expenses.