Vehicle Import Taxes Reduced To 25% What Will This Do To The Market?

[Buddhika M H]

It is advisable to wait and see till some guinea pigs (gini pigs) use the hybrids in Sri lanka

The only new (full) hybrid in SL i know is always parked at t*y*t* lanka never to be seen on the roads

The battery is about 1 mill which is almost the price of a car needs replacement every 5yrs according to one of my friends who uses one in usa (decreased life from dust and heat)

No panchikawaththa only company.

More censors than nissan (air floow censor )

I'd personaly prefer an axio to go from A to B than a prius if it is unreliable

So if there are such guinea pigs in AL pls help the forum.

By the way is the tax reduction only for those who transport tourists

So will we have to drive a prius with a (goda suddha) in the passenger seat

anyway i think i saw a red color Prius in one of the private car sales at Dehiwala, some time back (about few months ago). Im not 100% sure it was a Prius but as far as i saw it was and not many cars looks like Prius ne.

So there maybe few other ones in the island.

[Clark's son]

u'r correct i also remember it in the h*t *dd

the red one

the one in the company is a silver one

[seeker]

I would not recommend buying a hybrid because,

1. Battery life depends on the climate, battery life will reduce in hot climates

2. Battery replacement cost is close to 800k (every 160k / 10 years lifetime in US), implying no secondhand value

3. Sluggish pickup

4. No spare part availability for the engine

5. Difficult to do regular service

If i remember correctly Toyota Prius was offered by toyota lanka some time back, but they stopped it for unknown reasons.

Well.. they probably had negative comments when motor vehicle was introduced in place of horse drawn carriages, isn't it?

we are talking about a transition of technology here... and the panchikawatte supply and the familiarity and equipment in garages will gradually bulidup with increased demand..

With the current tax structure for the Hybrids, people have the option of going for a fairly new car for much less than the Axios and what not..

I doubt, a brand new Prius, which may be purchased about a Million bucks cheaper than a three year old unregistered Sedan will start giving a load of problems in the initial couple of years... leaving enough time for the supporting maintanance structure to take place in the country..

[Sifaan]

So there maybe few other ones in the island.

there's a light blue one that I used to see on madinnagoda road (last year, when I lived there)

and about 2 months back saw a new black one (didn't even have license plates) near slave island (going past burgers king!)

[Electric Dreamer]

Immediate excise tax hike shocks motor franchisees

http://www.thebottomline.lk/2010/11/28/page4.html

Does this mean that VAT revision from 20% to 12% are not effective yet (event though Excise duty has been revised upwards effective from 23td November) ?

[rangerover]

Wasn't there a hybrid lexus RX300 for sale sometime back? Wonder how much such a thing would cost. If the prius battery is gonna cost 1 million every 5 years, a lexus would cost quite a bit more

[Clark's son]

I asked t*y*t* L*nka today they said that the prius brand new would be 5 mill lkr next year (2011)

I can' understand if it's true

Is there been a reduction at all

Or the guy in the company was lieiing

[heavyD]

Wasn't there a hybrid lexus RX300 for sale sometime back? Wonder how much such a thing would cost. If the prius battery is gonna cost 1 million every 5 years, a lexus would cost quite a bit more

A car that's gonna cost a million bucks every five years? That's ridiculous! I'll stick with my gas guzzler thank you very much.

[gpmac]

Not sure abt the Lexus but the Prius has a 8 year hybrid battery pack warranty, in places like in California this extends to 10 years, very little data exists on how long this battery can last as even ppl with a 1st gen Prius are still on their original battery and a new battery will cost around $3000.00, it’s a very easy car to drive and own, build quality is never a issue, its a Toyota

[hyacc]

Saw an unregistered 2008 Honda civic hybrid for 5 mil. advertised in HitAd this week in Kandy.

Also noticed prices have come down after budget eg. Axios for 3.9mil, brand new allions for 6.3 mil.

Edited November 29, 2010 by hyacc

[isurujosh]

I asked t*y*t* L*nka today they said that the prius brand new would be 5 mill lkr next year (2011)

I can' understand if it's true

Is there been a reduction at all

Or the guy in the company was lieiing

isn't that still more than 1 million cheaper than current b/new corolla price? prius is more car than corolla. so even for 5 million b/new prius is definitely a good buy. i think parts and expertise will settle in nicely.

[isurujosh]

Well.. they probably had negative comments when motor vehicle was introduced in place of horse drawn carriages, isn't it?

we are talking about a transition of technology here... and the panchikawatte supply and the familiarity and equipment in garages will gradually bulidup with increased demand..

With the current tax structure for the Hybrids, people have the option of going for a fairly new car for much less than the Axios and what not..

I doubt, a brand new Prius, which may be purchased about a Million bucks cheaper than a three year old unregistered Sedan will start giving a load of problems in the initial couple of years... leaving enough time for the supporting maintanance structure to take place in the country..

how much do you reckon a prius will be after all effective taxes?

[isurujosh]

according to many sources the overall tax amount paid for importing cars is due to go down once this new tax regime fully comes into effect, next year. hopefully car prices will go down at least slightly or at least stabalise. and if the government sticks to it's guns on a stable tax regime from now on then i have no reason to rule out voting for this government that i hated so much once.

[slcamel]

this would mean a 2007 axio G would be 3.7 Mil

Allion 4M

But what if the YEN goes up again? Graph View

[Clark's son]

Yep the yen will increase so as the price of 3yr old cars in japan

The japs will increase the prices till the 60% depreciation is useless like before

And the yen will increase in about 20cents and prices will come back to previous in about 2 months

So I think this is the time to buy something unfortunately my wallet is currently empty

[BLu3HaZe]

Seems it's a big problem as we're nearly completely dependent on Japan to import cars here, and Yen is increasing not only with our rupee but with all currencies. So yes the tax reduction eventually may be of no use for people buying Japanese cars, but doesn't it give some benefit for Euro cars?

Edit - What I don't understand is why such a sharp difference between 29th and 1st. JPY in LKR

Large scale view suggests that prices should be low now

Edited December 2, 2010 by BLu3HaZe

[isurujosh]

2010 1.6L (super-charged) Merc C Class (falling to lower tax bracket than 1.8L one being imported by agents) with about 5000 miles on clock can be bought for around 7 million. I find that option the best deal out there. Better in lot of ways than allion/premio. I am surprised why not many exercise that option. haven't seen too many C Class's around .

for lower price bracket i think there are many good 1.4L turbo cars out there, with new tax they should sound tempting to bring down too.

[xXx]

according to many sources the overall tax amount paid for importing cars is due to go down once this new tax regime fully comes into effect, next year. hopefully car prices will go down at least slightly or at least stabalise. and if the government sticks to it's guns on a stable tax regime from now on then i have no reason to rule out voting for this government that i hated so much once.

I really hope you are pulling our leg with that comment. I would hate to associate someone as educated as you with the local masses who tend to fall into this type of "gundu's".

The very next day after the most important piece of article regarding countries future economic and financial planing is tabled in the legislature a department that directly falls under his preview legalizing a whole new set of amendments to the existing tax structure shows the amount of respect this regime have in regards to transparency.

[isurujosh]

I really hope you are pulling our leg with that comment. I would hate to associate someone as educated as you with the local masses who tend to fall into this type of "gundu's".

The very next day after the most important piece of article regarding countries future economic and financial planing is tabled in the legislature a department that directly falls under his preview legalizing a whole new set of amendments to the existing tax structure shows the amount of respect this regime have in regards to transparency.

i am not a fan yet. in fact what i was seeing since i posted this comment hasn't impressed me much.

[isurujosh]

I really hope you are pulling our leg with that comment. I would hate to associate someone as educated as you with the local masses who tend to fall into this type of "gundu's".

The very next day after the most important piece of article regarding countries future economic and financial planing is tabled in the legislature a department that directly falls under his preview legalizing a whole new set of amendments to the existing tax structure shows the amount of respect this regime have in regards to transparency.

i am not a fan yet. in fact what i was seeing since i posted this comment hasn't impressed me much.