Second-hand Car Market: Myth And Manipulation????

[samanp]

These days at least the loan rates are bit low. if they also go up during the coming months then buying a car is going to be mission impossible......

[rangerover]

I heard that smart cabs can now be registered as Dual purpose by having to pay a semi luxury registration fee of 10,000. Would this mean that the duty structure would change for these as well?

[Sylvi]

I heard that smart cabs can now be registered as Dual purpose by having to pay a semi luxury registration fee of 10,000. Would this mean that the duty structure would change for these as well?

Sir,

I have the circular issued by the Commissioner General Registrar of Motor Vehicles in Sinhala.

that Circular clearly says semi luxury Cabs Diesel 2200 cc Vehicles.

Duel Purpose Petrol 1800cc Vehicles.

Have to pay Rupees 10000.00 on first Registration.

Thereafter every year Rupees 1000.00 less for seven years after that no luxury tax after 8th year.

I am not sure of the duty structure but VAT at from 12% will go up to 20%.There will be additional 8%.

Wijesinghe.

[Thanushka]

Hi Guys,

Talking abt abnormal car prices, have a look at the following vehicle.

http://autolanka.com/ad.asp?ID=25972

Sorry mods, if this violates the terms, bt I couldn't stop my self when saw it. I wonder what these guy is thinking....

[Edward]

Hi Guys,

Talking abt abnormal car prices, have a look at the following vehicle.

http://autolanka.com/ad.asp?ID=25972

Sorry mods, if this violates the terms, bt I couldn't stop my self when saw it. I wonder what these guy is thinking....

Hi Guys,

I think it is a mistake.

[Bugatti]

Hi Guys,

Talking abt abnormal car prices, have a look at the following vehicle.

http://autolanka.com/ad.asp?ID=25972

Sorry mods, if this violates the terms, bt I couldn't stop my self when saw it. I wonder what these guy is thinking....

God's must be crazy..... this must be one of the 130 BHP Marutis..

[Supra_Natural]

Hi Guys,

Talking abt abnormal car prices, have a look at the following vehicle.

http://autolanka.com/ad.asp?ID=25972

Sorry mods, if this violates the terms, bt I couldn't stop my self when saw it. I wonder what these guy is thinking....

Lol I Sincerely hope that there has been a mistake with that ad, otherwise this dude redefines the meaning of "Optimism"

[LashNeo]

Lol I Sincerely hope that there has been a mistake with that ad, otherwise this dude redefines the meaning of "Optimism"

Yep.. Something wrong with the ad. I just gave a call and he is just expecting 9.5 lakhs for it. Still the price seems to be a bit high i guess..

[rameez]

to me it seems reasonable.........I mean last year my pal bought a blue KB-0xxx maruti for 950000 with 12000 km done.I mena what do you expect for a maruti surely it cannot be below 750000 ...right

[Devinda_Z]

Lol I Sincerely hope that there has been a mistake with that ad, otherwise this dude redefines the meaning of "Optimism"

isn't this more optimistic?

http://autolanka.com/ad.asp?ID=26246

[milindu]

Lol I Sincerely hope that there has been a mistake with that ad, otherwise this dude redefines the meaning of "Optimism"

Slightly optimistic...may be. Saw the car sale guys buying up the cars at crazy prices at the auction last week.

A KA regd. Maruti in so so condition went for 8.25. The shocker was a (registered) 2004 box model Swift going at 19.50.

The Maruti might sell around 9 at least.

[kaushama]

To the wise gentleman who said this is a good time to sell, what are you planning on doing after selling your car? Catch public transport hoping for the market to settle down? You try that and let me know how that worked out for you./quote]

This is the exact time to sell wrecks and go for good car even it is a bit difficult to find. There won't be a better time to get rid of a poorly kept car for a unthinkable price tag.

[shanX]

isn't this more optimistic?

http://autolanka.com/ad.asp?ID=26246

lol am not a fan, but I'd rather buy one of those Audis instead

[kaushama]

Just seen a good example of manipulation today! A car bought for 2.2 mil just going for 2.8 mil with some basic patch work and oil change. I should have become a sale man or middle man than wasting all those time to become an honest professional! Milking 5 lakhs for couple of horrendous lies to two honest people is a very easy way of making money. That is within the space of two days!!

Ordinary people like us finding it very difficult to find cars now as these guys snatch good ones as soon as they smell their prey. So we are forced to buy at new premium set up by sale guys. I am telling this after spending so much time to find a good car. You have to be better and one step above them to buy a good car. Learned few tricks as well in the process. The contradictory stories they tell to people (Both buyers and sellers) who are unaware of the car market is just pathetic and disgusting!

Edited May 30, 2010 by kaushama

[SeanD]

Is there any way we can buy cars directly at an auction?

[Watchman]

i'm quite new to this concept of an auction (in Sri Lanka).. all this time i thought that when someone wants to buy/sell a car they just go to place a classified advert and thats it... who exactly conducts these auctions?

[kaushama]

I heard there are such places and want to find them.

I should tell this story for the benefit of the members I think. I will not mention details or particulars of identity of the persons concerned apart from my identity. I went to see a vehicle advertised recently. It was a Honda and apparently the first owner, who was a certain professional was selling it. As I am in the same trade and a professional in the same rank, I trusted and went ahead to see the vehicle. A third person, who is a very nice polite gentleman, soft spoken showed me the vehicle and he seemed a very honest guy. He said that he is one of the best friends of the professional and selling it on behalf of him. He was very reasonable and showed some minor flaws of the vehicle. As I have done my homework regarding the particular 7th generation Honda sedan, I wanted to check CVT gear problems and steering rack problems. He also guided me to run the tests and everything was seems to be smooth except for few problems. As I am paranoid about CVT issues I wanted to check Staford records and he nicely evaded the topic. Car was in a very good shape and condition.

We agreed on a price tag of 2.725 mil. He did not want to reduce the price to 2.7 mil as the current bloated value by sale owners for this vehicle swings around that value. He never mentioned a tranny issue when we closed the deal. Just mentioned that he has changed the oil.

I gave him an advance but was clever enough to call my fellow professional although I have never spoken to him before. The professional have sold the car for mere 2.2 mil 2 days ago. The gentleman was told that the car has a CVT problems and the current market for that car is 2.2-2.3 mil. In fact the car was having some vibration, when it runs from idle position and Stafford has told the gent that it need a replacement of the CVT, when it dies soon. They have done the oil change several times and just after the change it runs smoothly only 1 or 2K before getting the issue again.

So I contacted the seller. I confronted him bluntly and very directly and asked him whether he replaced the gearbox after buying the car. He was stunned and couldn't lie in that tight situation. He said no. He has only done a oil change. I said I would check Stafford before buying and he said OK.

The car was well known to Stafford and it had CVT issues.

The pathetic part was he got the car through one of the good friends of the professional. He trusted them fully and feared the imminent doom to the CVT. So he told the whole truth about the tranny to them. Later he was told that they replaced the CVT for 400000 and then will sell the car for 2.7 mil. Later again he was told they have done change of a valve inside the tranny. What a lie! he had done only an oil change. He is selling it for 2.7+ mil using the good name of the professional and milking money, while the honest professional has already sold it for lesser price considering the CVT issue.I have asked for a refund of the advance . He gave it without any hesitancy and was very polite. I am sure he will sell it either to a poor person who trust his conduct or another sale owner out of the few, who were lurking around when I was checking the car.

Myself and other colleague checked the market price for that Honda (2003) from various sources. I checked with few sale owners, I met before, through phone, who quoted 2.7-2.8 mil for similar car (not a penny less). I acted as if I wanted sell my Honda. Surprise surprise! Market value was 2.3-2.2 mil. They pointed out the difficulties of selling vehicles in current market. Imminent price drop! And yet wanted to see the car.

Another car sale owner has a white Honda 2003 sedan around kohuwala junction. 2.85 mil He said he can not reduce the price even a penny as he bought it for almost 2.7 plus few days ago. I know it was overpriced but set it as the benchmark price for this week. When asked the price again on Sunday suddenly the price was 3.0 mil. So who make that price hike? The seller himself!

Well the moral of the story! Decide yourselves!

We are honest people, who earns our money honestly. not by fraudulent manners. I think it is high time to come out with similar stories. And it is high time for us to have auction or garage sale type of places to sell secondhand vehicles. I do not mind paying money for a good car. I can even go for a 10 mil car with a cash deal any day. But as a sensible person I wanted to buy a mid priced car just to go from A to B. For that I do not want to feed these filthy sharks some money for nothing but for their lies and dishonesty.

I am seriously thinking to go back to the country, I came from to serve this country as a patriot after the conclusion of the war. People there were not Buddhists or spirituals. But at least they were honest beyond imagination when you consider the status of our lovely home land currently fallen into.

Edited June 2, 2010 by kaushama

[rangerover]

I wish there was a good vehicle inspection certificate taken frequently that we could rely on. For example the MOT in the UK. It doesnt even harm getting one before buying a potential car, or even getting the market to adjust to have one when selling a vehicle. The green certificate is no where close as good as what we want, except for checking if the mileage is reasonably genuine, assuming it was not changed and then tested

[kaushama]

I wish there was a good vehicle inspection certificate taken frequently that we could rely on. For example the MOT in the UK. It doesnt even harm getting one before buying a potential car, or even getting the market to adjust to have one when selling a vehicle. The green certificate is no where close as good as what we want, except for checking if the mileage is reasonably genuine, assuming it was not changed and then tested

That is a good idea. But the way country is heading; surely will create another set of crooks, who will issue false reports for money. Even in UK there are lowly people mostly with an origin from this region, who issues false MOTs for higher price. I have seen that several times. But something is better than nothing

Edited May 31, 2010 by kaushama

[SeanD]

i'm quite new to this concept of an auction (in Sri Lanka).. all this time i thought that when someone wants to buy/sell a car they just go to place a classified advert and thats it... who exactly conducts these auctions?

Possibly auctioneers on behalf of leasing companies and banks where the cars were put up as collateral on loans that were not paid back?

In some countries you can trade in your old vehicle to get a certain amount off for a new vehicle at the dealers. The dealer will most likely sell it at a vehicle auction, unless its exceptionally good and can be resold on their lot. They're then snapped up by car sales guys at ultra low prices and resold with a thumping price. I am not sure if hte dealer trade-in system exists in SL, but I don't think so.

Any case, buying a car from an auction has its risks. Unless you're a mechanic, you can't find out immediately if something is wrong with the car, and even so, you're compelled to pay full price that you bid for even if the car has been wrecked previously. And since the owner didn't have cash to pay his loans back, I highly doubt he put care into maintaining the vehicle well.

Kaushama, the same problems are there everywhere. You shouldn't think that everyone in SL is a crook due to just this incident. It's all about finding the right people, and not rushing in to things when trying to buy a car. Best thing is to ask to have the car taken to the dealership (at the current owners cost) and have a full checkup done. Unless there is something wrong with the car, the owner should not have a problem doing this, compared to the ridiculous prices they're quoting nowadays.

[milindu]

i'm quite new to this concept of an auction (in Sri Lanka).. all this time i thought that when someone wants to buy/sell a car they just go to place a classified advert and thats it... who exactly conducts these auctions?

Most of the vehicle auctions are on behalf of leasing companies and banks looking to dispose of seized vehicles (due to default), for companies and organisations looking to sell off fleets or collective auctions where they have a few owned by individuals etc.

Shockman & Samarawickrama and Dunstan & Kellart are the leading auction houses that conducts the auctions at their own yards or at yards owned by each of the companies.

They advertise auctions with lists of vehicles in the papers usually.

Things have become quite competitive in the recent months with people buying at crazy prices.

There is a massive risk when buying from an Auction as you don't know whats brewing beneath.

[kaushama]

Kaushama, the same problems are there everywhere. You shouldn't think that everyone in SL is a crook due to just this incident. It's all about finding the right people, and not rushing in to things when trying to buy a car. Best thing is to ask to have the car taken to the dealership (at the current owners cost) and have a full checkup done. Unless there is something wrong with the car, the owner should not have a problem doing this, compared to the ridiculous prices they're quoting nowadays.

I know everyone is not a crook in this country. I love this country and that is why I returned back, when I still have chances to be a highly paid professional and citizen in UK. But it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the right person. Mostly because of the broker networks. There were number of other people, who was tapping our friendly crook for a quick sale, while I was working out the deal. Would you believe that they have contacts working in the Sunday papers to get the numbers of the people selling cars around Friday? So now you have to find good cars from the advertisement section of the papers before papers come out.

I can tell you another story. When my sister was selling her FB15 some time back, about 20 people came one after other and depreciated the value of the car significantly, demoralizing her. A good four or five lakhs below the real value. And suddenly a gentleman came and gave a bid 2 lakhs more. She was so depressed by that time and concluded the deal. They were very quick in closing the deal early Sunday morning. The gentleman crook came to conclude the deal with few people, who depreciated the car. My sis was furious and she said she is not selling the car. They almost threatened her but she stood her grounds and sold the car for a good price later.

We are not brought up in an environment to suspect everyone around and usually trust people. But it is difficult to fool us too. I will never buy or sell my car to a sale person or a broker as a principle. I have a nice back-up car, which I will sell to one of my friends when I find a good car.

Edited June 1, 2010 by kaushama

[lasi]

God's must be crazy..... this must be one of the 130 BHP Marutis..

Good news to buyers................ Bad news for car sale owners................. Hoo Hoo Hoo..........

Your price manipulation will no longer exist...............

Government has reduced tax on imports and slashed import duty on vehicles

Huray.......

[Killer-B]

Good news to buyers................ Bad news for car sale owners................. Hoo Hoo Hoo..........

Your price manipulation will no longer exist...............

Government has reduced tax on imports and slashed import duty on vehicles

Huray.......

http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/fullsto...894475420....... check it out....

[MkX]

What is the current rate for FB-15. There was sudden increase of the price during last few weeks. I think car sellers knew the tax reduction in advance