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Prices of Vehicles


DerpyDante

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9 hours ago, DerpyDante said:

The prices of vehicles are absurd, do I wait until import is allowed and hope for the market values to drop? Or is that highly unlikely? 

Need advices

1. We do not know when vehicle imports will open up again

2. Even if it does open up we do not know what the exchange rates would be and what taxes will be enforced...so opening imports does not automatically translate to drop in prices.

Having said that...do you already have a car ? What is the condition like ? What is wrong with it ? Like Quiet mentioned...I would just keep the current car. If it needs work..do a good job fixing up all the issues. If you feel it is a bit of a bore for you...try upgrading things like wheels, suspension, audio system, etc to give it a bit of a freshness.

If you do not have a car...well..there are some (used) cars here the price increment is not that bad (key being not that bad)...then maybe you shoud consider one of those ?

 

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1 minute ago, iRage said:

1. We do not know when vehicle imports will open up again

2. Even if it does open up we do not know what the exchange rates would be and what taxes will be enforced...so opening imports does not automatically translate to drop in prices.

Having said that...do you already have a car ? What is the condition like ? What is wrong with it ? Like Quiet mentioned...I would just keep the current car. If it needs work..do a good job fixing up all the issues. If you feel it is a bit of a bore for you...try upgrading things like wheels, suspension, audio system, etc to give it a bit of a freshness.

If you do not have a car...well..there are some (used) cars here the price increment is not that bad (key being not that bad)...then maybe you shoud consider one of those ?

 

Don’t have a car, yet to buy a used one for under 2mill. Does exchange rates/tax effect used cars as well?

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9 minutes ago, DerpyDante said:

Don’t have a car, yet to buy a used one for under 2mill. Does exchange rates/tax effect used cars as well?

Oh..okay...wasn't sure...well yes but no....the thing is the notion that prices will drop when imports open is a false statement. If the exchagne rates are high..the cost of these new cars will remain high....thus there will be more demand for used cars as not everyone can afford a new one...higher demand means increased price. Also...you ahve to factor in the state of the ruppee and the inflation which draws everything up like crazy.

If you do not have a car...then look for the less common cars (i.e. anything and everything that doesn't have a Toyota badge on it..or even a name like Sunny). Also, if you negotiate hard enough you can get the prices down to a reasonable level (just because people ask for high numbers does not mean people are actually buying them considering the current state of the economy).

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16 minutes ago, iRage said:

Oh..okay...wasn't sure...well yes but no....the thing is the notion that prices will drop when imports open is a false statement. If the exchagne rates are high..the cost of these new cars will remain high....thus there will be more demand for used cars as not everyone can afford a new one...higher demand means increased price. Also...you ahve to factor in the state of the ruppee and the inflation which draws everything up like crazy.

If you do not have a car...then look for the less common cars (i.e. anything and everything that doesn't have a Toyota badge on it..or even a name like Sunny). Also, if you negotiate hard enough you can get the prices down to a reasonable level (just because people ask for high numbers does not mean people are actually buying them considering the current state of the economy).

That makes a lot of sense. Thing is I’m looking for a vehicle with second market too. So I’m kind of in a tussle here. My hope was to wait for imports to be allowed. *sigh*

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On 4/29/2021 at 7:00 PM, DerpyDante said:

Thing is I’m looking for a vehicle with second market too.

Don't blindly fall in to these stories about "second hand market". These are myths created by car sales people and people who have no idea about cars. 

1. Based on these myths....the cars you will be focussing on are Corolla, Sunny, Starlet, etc...the common cars you see. These are durable cars....however these were also bought buy people who care only about second hand market with zero to barely nothing maintenance. As a result 99% of them are in really poor shape but made to look shiny for a quick sale with meters, changed, etc...These cars get horded up by brokers like crazy. These are also the cars that have the largest price hike.

2. On the other hand cars like Familias, Lancers, Demios were bought by people who were a little bit more concerned about second hand market value. So you are more likely to find a car that is more honest than the Corollas and the Sunnies. Now the brokers and the Simon aiyas and Lathas will tell you that buying these cars are stupid and waste of your money (but the brokers will selflessly buy them offof you to save you).

3. Any car, let it be a Mitsubishi, Toyota or a Subaru...all do get sold as long as they are reasonably priced and are honest (i.e. properly taken care of with proper records, looks clean and tidy). There are many ases were Mazdas and Mitsubishis get sold far quicker than the Allions and the Corollas.

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28 minutes ago, iRage said:

Don't blindly fall in to these stories about "second hand market". These are myths created by ar sales people and people who has no idea about cars. 

1. Based on these myths....the cars you will be focussing on are Corolla, Sunny, Starlet, etc...the common cars you see. These are durable cars....however these were also bought buy people who care only about second hand market with zero to barely nothing maintenance. As a result 99% of them are in really poor shape but made to look shiny for a quick sale with meters, changed, etc...These cars get horded up by brokers like crazy. These are also the cars that have the largest price hike.

2. On the other hand cars like Familias, Lancers, Demios were bought by people who were a little bit more concerned about second hand market value. So you are more likely to find a car that is more honest than the Corollas and the Sunnies. Now the brokers and the Simon aiyas and Lathas will tell you that buying these cars are stupid and waste of your money (but the brokers will selflessly buy them offof you to save you).

3. Any car, let it be a Mitsubishi, Toyota or a Subaru...all do get sold as long as they are reasonably priced and are honest (i.e. properly taken care of with proper records, looks clean and tidy). There are many ases were Mazdas and Mitsubishis get sold far quicker than the Allions and the Corollas.

I was actually considering a Mazda Demio, 2000 ish model before. It’s listed as 1.8m odd in websites 

 

and yes, most of these “demand” cars do look shiny and whatnot on the website. Do you have any suggestions for under 2m? With comfort, reliability and fuel efficiency being key factors? By reliability I mean vehicles that are less prone to ledas

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34 minutes ago, DerpyDante said:

By reliability I mean vehicles that are less prone to ledas

You are looking at 20 year old cars....it doesn't matter if it is the world's most robust car..it will only be as reliable as how well the previous owners maintained it.

Most of the cars you would be looking at have simple tech behind them. Almost all of them have inherent issues (bushes wearing out prematurely, steering racks going bad, etc...) and that is to be expected (with age) and some of these things would have been sorted out (sometimes well..sometimes poorly). Just make sure you get a car with a good service history. Get a comprehensive inspection. Save some money to sort out the issues the way you want it sorted out.

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19 minutes ago, iRage said:

You are looking at 20 year old cars....it doesn't matter if it is the world's most robust car..it will only be as reliable as how well the previous owners maintained it.

Most of the cars you would be looking at have simple tech behind them. Almost all of them have inherent issues (bushes wearing out prematurely, steering racks going bad, etc...) and that is to be expected (with age) and some of these things would have been sorted out (sometimes well..sometimes poorly). Just make sure you get a car with a good service history. Get a comprehensive inspection. Save some money to sort out the issues the way you want it sorted out.

Can you clarify simple tech, please? Like technology tech? Or different sophisticated engineering mechanics? etc. 

So, in short it doesn’t matter what car I get, it can still be sold if it’s reasonably priced and in good condition?

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1 hour ago, DerpyDante said:

Can you clarify simple tech

Old fashioned hydraulic steering..old fashoined brakes (hopefully with ABS)....normal internal combustion engine with a normal run of the mill fuel injection system..no integrated this and that...

As you can see..modern cars have hybrid systems or adaptive elecronic power steering with adaptive ssuspension and all thee sensors to keep emission low, etc...

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13 hours ago, DerpyDante said:

The prices of vehicles are absurd, do I wait until import is allowed and hope for the market values to drop? Or is that highly unlikely? 

Need advices

it's been a roller coaster year and a half and really no one can predict what's gonna happen - It seems you're hesitant to buy a car for an inflated price, if the price comes down when imports are allowed you're going to lose out? If that is the case and you really want a car best choice is to get a car that is not price inflated. Local people are s#it scared of gas guzzlers get a good old 90's barge for a good price. Their price is not inflated. 

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5 minutes ago, matroska said:

It seems you're hesitant to buy a car for an inflated price, if the price comes down when imports are allowed you're going to lose out?

Yes, that is my concern

Quote

Local people are s#it scared of gas guzzlers


Isn't everyone (unless you're really wealthy)?

 

Also, advice considered, thanks

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17 minutes ago, iRage said:

Old fashioned hydraulic steering..old fashoined brakes (hopefully with ABS)....normal internal combustion engine with a normal run of the mill fuel injection system..no integrated this and that...

As you can see..modern cars have hybrid systems or adaptive elecronic power steering with adaptive ssuspension and all thee sensors to keep emission low, etc...

I see

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12 hours ago, DerpyDante said:

Isn't everyone (unless you're really wealthy

To be honest some of these cars with big engines are not really that much of gas guzzlers as well as long as you change your driving style a bit.

For example my Starlet with a 1.3 engine did mostly 8.5kml (mixed driving, inner colombo and cruising at about 60 from Colombo to Malabe, Thalawathugoda areas) because if I wanted to get up to speed I always had to floor it absolutely.

The Camry with a 2.4 engine has appalling fuel milage inner colombo (traffic lights every 50 meters, traffic etc) and gets about 6kmpl but Colombo to Malabe to Thalawathugoda areas where I'm usually cruising at 60/80 gets close to 9/10 (possibly because of the OD Gearbox) which means my mixed driving fuel consumption is close to what my Starlet did. 

Many people claim 15kml/20kml for their Japanese Autos (you can see this in the Starlet group as well) but they're mostly just acting so to protect their purchase, this obviously depends on your driving style but even 'gas guzzlers' sometimes are not that much off in terms of fuel economy (unless you're constantly stuck in traffic) to smaller engine japs of the same era. Capacity isn't everything.

12 hours ago, matroska said:

Local people are s#it scared of gas guzzlers get a good old 90's barge for a good price. Their price is not inflated. 

But I don't think this works anymore because even these cars have hiked in prices 😕 Camry XV30 2.0s used to be close to 2.2 million and recently I've seen some sell close to 3.8/4.1 million as well 

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17 minutes ago, Quiet said:

Why not rent a ALTO or a older car temporarily. Would be the most cost effective option. No maintenance, Fuel cost only. Im also thinking of doing the same.

Haven’t considered it. But I’m just going to patiently continue my search although I have little to no hope. I do hope the imports are allowed soon, so I can observe what happens to the market and decide from there

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5 hours ago, DerpyDante said:

Right now, it just feels like a gamble

Buying a car in Sri Lanka has been a messed up game of Russian Roulette for a good 10-20 years.

As for big engined cars....like MaleCortana said...as long as you are gentle and sensible with your driving..it is not that bad...and all these figures you here about Allions/Axios/Premios are not as good as they say it is (its either inflated or confussed between trip averages and tank averages or all of these).

How badly do you need a car ? The sad reality is...and this is based on past patterns as well...do not expect the prices to go back to what it was before. Everytime the prices hiked up and crashed again, it has never stabilized at the pre-hike price. Even after crashing, the prices have stabilized closer towards the hiked up price. 

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Members,

My next door friend bought a used Suzuki Hybrid 2017 Model registered in SL Certified by (A*W) Agents for all total 3.5M transferred with 6 Months warranty for the Engine and the Battery. The Car does about 8 to 10 Kilometers’ in Colombo. According to agents Kilo meter reading is correct and the meter was reading 54000 Kilometers.

He is very satisfied about the vehicle.

I will write next part of this post to Automobile history of Sri Lanka by me. Allowed to me by the Moderators.

Sylvester Wijesinghe

Sylvi.

 

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