kush

I really don't know the value as the shipper had already cleared the goods even without my consent. I was not happy with the entire process as it was not very transparent. FYI value of the goods were over Rs. 100K with the robotized broom costing over Rs. 80K So can complain as what I paid was less than the VAT on actual value. However it was very much less on previous occasions.

I used to get stuff shipped usually sports goods, household equipment, sometimes vehicle parts, electronics etc.. Have been getting away with less than Rs. 5000/- Last shipment had a robotized broom and it was wacked with Rs. 16,000/- not a big amount when you consider the value. However, I guess it would have been much less if this was few months back.

How expensive is this to replace. One could change it every 50K km if this is the only issue in otherwise good car. All modern cars will have at least one issue may be injectors, turbos, DCT etc..

Garage number is needed if you need to drive the car before registration. I have driven few of my imports port to home (two from Hambanthota - Colombo on the highway) with only chassis number printed pasted without any issues. However this was before 2019, things may have changed. Importing a car without being a registered importer is quite cumbersome now even for an individual especially with getting IRD clearance. They request so many documents and virtually harass you. No idea about the process for the company. In any case you will need a importer to help you source the car and ship from where ever they may be able to help and give advice on this.

This is a age old thing I remember when I decided on the CRV in 2013 the story was that it was inferior to the JDM. My cousin's husband got a JDM while I went ahead with the Brand new. When the cars got delivered I compared them side to side and they were identical apart from the gear box / drive train and starter key. My car was higher spec and the price difference is was only 2-3 hundred rupees more for mine.

I would say Suzuki Fronx, Honda City or any 1.0 L Turbo any thing else too expensive.

Only time will tell. At the moment only few cars were cleared and came in to the market. Most of the middle class cannot afford or do not want to buy new cars at these prices. Due to absurd tax structure decent cars used by average middle class has become unaffordable. likes of Corolla, Prius. Only tin cans available sub Rs. 10 Mn. On the other hands there are RR, Ferrari, LR, coming in at over Rs. 100 Mn. which makes me wonder where the economy has heeded due the recent past. Looks like so many people have benefited from the economic crisis. When you take a typical middle class family number of months income that has to be put in to buy a car has gone up by 3-4 times. Eg: Wagon R. @ Rs. 3.0 Mn. on a 300K income 10 Times in 2018 Now @ 8.0 Mn. may be on a 400K 20 times this is not factoring the disposable income due to high cost of essentials. Corolla @ 8.0 Mn in 2018 and Rs. 28 Mn. now works out to 20 vs 70 Middle class migration has not stopped only the middle aged migration has reduced. Majority of middle class children end up migrating and starting their life in better countries. This is not only due to cars but other factors too. In 5-6 or may be 10 years we might not end up having any experienced professionals in this country.

My uncle got the 2018 previous generation. Pretty good in quality typical Toyota no nonsense ride and handling. Not Allion/ Premio/ Corolla but in par with the Vitz or may be little better. For the price cannot complain. New one comes with Toyota Safety Sense

Well the loss will be if you sell the vehicle. Anyone who brought the vehicle to keep it for few years will at least have the use of the vehicle and who knows in SL prices could adjust further due to currency depreciation or taxation changes.

Sub 1.0 L cars can be brought in at less than Rs. 10 Mn. Already Perodua is offed around Rs. 8.0 Mn. Toy#ta L#nka also will bring down their range including the Yaris which is a global vehicle. I was offered a Yaris @ Rs. 9.5 (2004) by a leading importer. There is Honda City, Yaris Active, Suzukis that can be brought down by the agent. If agents come in to the party soon the prices will stabilize as demand could shift from Used to New. So technically Vitz, Raize, Wagon R used prices should come down by at least 30-40% Anything above 1.0L and over Rs. 5.0 Mn. CIF will hold their value unless the owners shift to smaller cars.

This is what I have been predicting. International agencies wanted import restriction lifted, we need to hit IMF revenue targets so be it. In a country where people do not pay their direct taxes what option does a government have but to tax consumption. Victims of this unfortunately is the middle class salaried guy who pays their due to the govt and also end up having to pay exorbitant taxes to buy a vehicle be it new or used. No government did anything to correct this injustice and even if this govt takes steps it will take couple of years hence these duties will go on for at least till next budget in 2026. Secondly country simply cant afford imports at his time as we still have not got our revenues in place. Imports other than vehicles are also increasing. The amount of Double cabs orders from vehicle importers are unbelievable. Sometimes I wonder that we might bust the entire USD 1 Bn. on cabs. Looking at the current duty structure cabs seems to be more tax efficient where the taxes as a % looks like 100-150% (I stand to be corrected on this). If this is the case people will start buying cabs instead of cars which are inefficient and will start clogging our roads due their sheer size. In my view these high taxes should not continue as they will have longer term social repercussions. This was one of the reasons for the brain drain when a young guy start working their first dream is a car and when you have to pay USD 100-200K for a car that can be brought for USD 20-30K in Australia or Canada. A senior private executive could afford a C class Mercedes in 2018 now even the for the CEO this has become a dream. Other issue is when the value of the vehicles go up your insurance premiums go up my insurance cost has been increasing over the last 5-6 years. I'm hope and pray that some kind of adjustment will come in to this madness at least within next couple of years for all our sake.

I remember in 2019 when they released the permits auction prices in Japan for Allion/ Premio, CRV went up. Currently only few vehicles will be tax efficient mosty less than 1000cc and 1.5 hybrids. Only few selected models like Yaris, Aqua, Yaris Cross, Vezel that come in to my mind. Even the Corolla and Corolla Cross will be expensive. Given the low supply prices might moving up in the auctions. This may be the reason for vehicle importers to lobby in to this 7 year thing which will allow them to get Sri Lankan favourites like Vitz, Aqua, Axio and even Premio/ Allion if there are any.

Not even that i have seen few advertisements in FB market place with below market prices. However when inquired i get the feeling that they are not genuine sales. I believe there is a racket to bring the current market prices down by a certain segment. In a country where majority do not pay or underpay their taxes there is no way the government can afford to reduce taxes on spending. This is the only way we can recover taxes. Only victims in this process is very few people who actually pay taxes majority being middle class salaried who end up paying taxes up to 36% on their salary and when they save that get taxed too. If ever there is to be justice they should not allow anyone to bring down a vehicle who has not paid their taxes for the last five years. Better still may be imposed a license system based on taxes paid.

Even if the vehicle market is opened we need to make sure that LC payments should happen gradually not to shock the exchange market. When the bond restructure took place few months back some banks needed to buy dollars from the market and the rates went up by around Rs. 20. I don't have the exact figures but this would have been in millions. Moment this happened exporters kept their dollars expecting further depreciation that pushed the dollars more. CBSL at the moment does not have sufficient reserves to manage these shocks. Just imagine if we open LCs to USD billions and when they come in within a period of few months. Main reason for giving away of the restrictions is to satisfy the IMF and other donor agencies and to bring in taxes. So how the hell you are going to achieve that with lower taxes. Vehicle importers are lobbing for older vehicles to maximize their profits. New cars have gone up in prices and as a result used prices too. Universally people are hanging on to their vehicles for a longer time. In my view better to wait until this whole hulla balu is settled my be a year or so (we have already waited 5 years) until this whole thin is settled. Once we have more stability in the economy there could always be possibilities in tax reductions or some kind of permit systems that would bring down the cost.

That may be the case with the gasoline sedan and touring but the sport has double wishbone set up in the back. I have the GZ with sport seats best seats and suspension setup i have experienced in a Jap at this price. Car is very compliant and planted and my only gripe is low power from the 1.2L and the terrible CVT which takes ages to response. Not a big issue for office commute and highway but not a good setup for a spirited driving. A manual would have been much better but opted to CVT as the main requirement was city commute. It is not as comfortable as a Allion/ Premio and rear seats are not at all spacious, boot is small so Allion/Premio Axio fan boys will not like it. I find that low speed ride on poorly surfaced roads are bit jittery partly may be due to low profile tires.