Vehicle Import Restrictions to be Lifted!

[Dee Jay]

  On 3/30/2025 at 2:09 PM, sathyajithj99 said:

Funny thing this generation Vezel is offered as a 4 seater as there is only 2 seats at the back with seat belts for 2.

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That's only for the Aussie market as far as I know, since due to the Australian regulations they do not approve roof mounted seat belts. Even in the previous generation the Vezel had one roof mounted seat belt.

[iRage]

  On 3/30/2025 at 2:09 PM, sathyajithj99 said:

Funny thing this generation Vezel is offered as a 4 seater as there is only 2 seats at the back with seat belts for 2

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No..they are classified as 5 passenger vehicles. There is a rood mounted seatbelt for the rear center passenger. Granted, the rear middle seat seems rather uncomfortable with the slightly raised/shaped hump.

[sathyajithj99]

  On 3/30/2025 at 4:27 PM, Dee Jay said:

That's only for the Aussie market as far as I know, since due to the Australian regulations they do not approve roof mounted seat belts. Even in the previous generation the Vezel had one roof mounted seat belt.

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  On 3/31/2025 at 2:29 AM, iRage said:

No..they are classified as 5 passenger vehicles. There is a rood mounted seatbelt for the rear center passenger. Granted, the rear middle seat seems rather uncomfortable with the slightly raised/shaped hump.

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Is that so? The reviews I went through were Aussie ones hence the confusion 

[Skyline R33]

  On 3/30/2025 at 3:12 AM, iRage said:

I don't think it will be a problem; it is just that it is not the normal avenue, so there needs to be some extra legwork done from your side.
As for the FOREX thing...that really wasn't a restrictive requirement even in the past, it was just a criteria for certain types of permits and as a check to ensure everything is legit; and then during the ban it was needed to file for an excemption for the ban.

You need to understand Sri Lankans to figure out why these are put in place. Lankans go crazy and become the most devious specimens on the face of the planet when it comes to cars.

If the checks were not there our people would be getting our neighbor's aunty's colleague's son-in-law living in Kenya to their long lost uncle who lived in London before passing away 15 years ago to their house-keeper's daughter now working in the middle east sending in cars. They would happily pay the expat Lankan's local relatives in Rs. thus impacting a huge part of the country's forex inflows. This also means there will be a bunch of people who would be shifting money back and forth in dubious ways (which by the way does borderline and sometimes is money laundering). Also, in the past this was also a part of motivating Lankan expats to save their USDs, GBP, JPY, etc in Lanka (there was a time where you would automatically get a permit for 20% of the forex remittances one makes, then at another time permits for government bonds purchased, etc...)

So as long as it is a legit case, it should be given due consideration; it is just that you will have to go knock on a few doors. Even the customs department is likely to say no at first because they don't want to open a new can of worms with a whole bunch of migrated Lankans wanting to send in cars bought from their foreign held money. 

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Yes, completely understand the monetary control part. However they could come up with something like, if you are a dual Citizen, and have immediate family in SL, you can send a vehicle every five years which cannot be sold for those five years. People will sell on open papers etc. This would also help boost the economy by saving FOREX and possibly brining down the second hand prices. My gut says they will probably stop the imports in the near future.

[Dee Jay]

  On 3/31/2025 at 11:41 AM, sathyajithj99 said:

Is that so? The reviews I went through were Aussie ones hence the confusion 

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Yes, the Aussie and the JDM ones also carry certain spec differences as I observed. The UK highest spec is more closely matched with the JDM variant it seems..

[iRage]

  On 3/31/2025 at 12:17 PM, Skyline R33 said:

Yes, completely understand the monetary control part. However they could come up with something like, if you are a dual Citizen, and have immediate family in SL, you can send a vehicle every five years which cannot be sold for those five years.

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Yes...that is a good idea. Here is the issue: In the past, there were similar mechanisms that allowed such imports. Sri Lanka was quite liberal when it came to car imports, and for the most part, there was a reasonable balance. Remember, we had blue permits, pink permits, and before that, even imports on passports (import permission and duty credit through duty-free allowance accumulated by Lankan expats). But guess what? WE, our own people, led by our selflessly acting human rights-protecting car importers who fight to make Lankan's dreams of owning a car come true, completely and utterly abused every single mechanism that was there. Cars imported under blue/pink and other permits were on showroom floors/yards in no time. Even cars bought in through CARNET were sold off. CARNET used to be 2 years...then it became one year..then 6 months...and now it is 3 months unless you can show reasonable evidence for it to be extended. So there were cars older than the age limit, etc...

So, can the government open up such schemes? Yes...will they? Probably not because they do not have the resources (including the know-how) on how to properly govern it (including their own internal corruption).

  On 3/31/2025 at 12:17 PM, Skyline R33 said:

My gut says they will probably stop the imports in the near future.

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Considering the amount of luxury vehicles coming in this can very well be a reality. Not sure if they will completely block it but perhaps introduce a quota system (like in Singapore). Right now the government seems to be okay because they are desperately trying to earn taxes (hopefully, they have a tipping point established for how much forex can be sent out). But then, on the other hand, the frenzy might slow down as well, which is what it is right now: a buying frenzy by people who seem to have been dying of vehicular starvation.

[Skyline R33]

  On 4/1/2025 at 4:15 AM, iRage said:

Yes...that is a good idea. Here is the issue: In the past, there were similar mechanisms that allowed such imports. Sri Lanka was quite liberal when it came to car imports, and for the most part, there was a reasonable balance. Remember, we had blue permits, pink permits, and before that, even imports on passports (import permission and duty credit through duty-free allowance accumulated by Lankan expats). But guess what? WE, our own people, led by our selflessly acting human rights-protecting car importers who fight to make Lankan's dreams of owning a car come true, completely and utterly abused every single mechanism that was there. Cars imported under blue/pink and other permits were on showroom floors/yards in no time. Even cars bought in through CARNET were sold off. CARNET used to be 2 years...then it became one year..then 6 months...and now it is 3 months unless you can show reasonable evidence for it to be extended. So there were cars older than the age limit, etc...

So, can the government open up such schemes? Yes...will they? Probably not because they do not have the resources (including the know-how) on how to properly govern it (including their own internal corruption).

Considering the amount of luxury vehicles coming in this can very well be a reality. Not sure if they will completely block it but perhaps introduce a quota system (like in Singapore). Right now the government seems to be okay because they are desperately trying to earn taxes (hopefully, they have a tipping point established for how much forex can be sent out). But then, on the other hand, the frenzy might slow down as well, which is what it is right now: a buying frenzy by people who seem to have been dying of vehicular starvation.

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Agreed. Our people abused the system. I remember when I came to Aus in 2006 for studies and wanted to buy our first family vehicle, in 2009 I had similar thoughts of sending a car. It was the days of all these permits etc and I could not get a proper answer from anyone so we ended up buying the 1997 GY series CR51 for 2.3million. It has 197k on the clock and dad has added an extra 100k to it. Engine, gear box and many other items have been rebuilt or repaired. It is slow but a solid vehicle. 

As time changes and the middle class grows, the need for vehicles has increased. This added to the five year ban has further added to the buying frenzy. 

I will keep you guys posted on how things go.