Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Never Buy Cars From Sri Lankan Sales

***** I'm writing this post only thinking about the people who are not professionals in "buying vehicles" and share my knowledge and avoid innocent people loosing their money.******************

I did a little research about car sales in Sri Lanka. Do you believe if I say "They are earning more than five lacks from Each vehicle they sell". The key fact to this issue is people are not aware about the vehicle they are going to buy. Let's assume that you are going to buy a Toyota Belta Car.

.......How do you measure the quality of the Car you are looking at..............

99.9% of unregistered Japanese cars in Sri Lanka are bought by auctions in Japan. People in Japan hand over their vehicle to a auction to get them sell. In every auction in Japan their are one or more examiners who works independently. When a Japanese hand over his car to the auction, the examiner examine the car and he issue a document called "Auction Sheet". For a day thousands of cars are auction in each auction online. Before two days they publish photos of the cars to be auction and their above mentioned "Auction Sheet". So every person who by a car from Japanese auction receive the auction paper with his car. That means 99.9% of Sri Lankan Japanese car dealers should bear the auction sheet for each car.
THIS AUCTION SHEET MEASURE THE QUALITY OF YOUR VEHICLE!!!!!!!


...........How to use a auction sheet to measure the quality................................





here I have added a sample auction sheet. Unfortunately auction sheets are in Japanese language but fortunately there is a standard sign system.
The most important factors are Auction Grade and the Mileage of the car.Now if you are going to buy a Japanese car from anywhere first ask for the auction sheet. If the car is in good condition seller will surely give it, otherwise he will act like a baby as never herd of such a thing.

In my sample sheet look at cage 1. cage 1 is overall quality of the car. This car is 4.5 and 4.5 is a good condition.If you are buying a car buy a car which has a auction grade 4 or higher. I have mention useful Auction Grades and their meanings below.

Auction Grade - Quality

3.5 - many damages(not recommend)
4 - good quality
4.5 - very good quality, usually low mileage
5 - top condition. very low mileage
6 - more likely to the brand new condition.
7 or 8 or 9 or S - these are brand new condition grades.
R - this car has replaced parts
A,RA - this car has met with an accident and parts have been replaced



Auction R is not recommended.If you saw a auction sheet with auction grade R, then look at the picture of the car in the lower of right hand side of the auction sheet. The examiner marks the replaced parts using "XX". So you can decide what has happen.

Cage 2: this is the interior auction grade of the car. Every auction sheet follow the same template, but in some auction sheets you may see there are two cages instead of single cage2. That is because some examiners give a exterior grade also. So if there are two cages one is for interior grade, other one is for exterior grade. This Toyota Belta has a interior grade of "B". It is better if you can buy a car with interior grade B or A.

Interior/Exterior Grade Meaning

A - Above the average condition considering with the mileage of the car
B - Average condition considering with the mileage of the car
C - Below the average condition considering with the mileage of the car

When it is a interior grade "C" car, we can find some cigarette burns in sheets or/and some scratches in the dashboard...etc


Cage3: Mileage of the Car in thousands. This Toyota Belta has a 27.285 in cage3 and that means it bears a 27285km mileage. Actually that is a very good mileage.


Cage4: Car owners comment.This field is always in Japanese language and usually contents the boasting of the car owner.Ex; reverse camera,TV,Navigation system,Alloy wheels ...


Cage5: Examiners comment.In most of the auction sheets this field is empty because examiner points everything using symbols and he has nothing to write further. But sometime he write some important facts about the car that he can't express using the symbols.If you can translate and read this field it's better.

We know when we use a car it get scratched, little dents..etc. Auction sheet reveals everything. In our Toyota Belta's auction sheet there are some places pointed as A1. Those are little scratches, and they are visible if we get a very very close observation.

If this car was an Auction Grade "R", then there should be pointed "XX" parts(those are the replaced parts).

A-very very very little sratch
A4- long scratch than a A3.
Now you got the idea. Other signs used for various reasons are listed below.


A1 Small Scratch
A2 Scratch
A3 Big Scratch
E1 Few Dimples
E2 Several Dimples
E3 Many Dimples
U1 Small Dent
U2 Dent
U3 Big Dent
W1 Repair Mark/Wave (hardly detectable)
W2 Repair Mark/Wave
W3 Obvious Repair Mark/Wave (needs to be repainted)
S1 Rust
S2 Heavy Rust
C1 Corrosion
C2 Heavy Corrosion X Need to be replaced
XX Replaced
B1 Distortion on (radiator) core support or back panel (approximately size of a thumb)
B2 Big Distortion on (radiator) core support or back panel
Y1 Small Hole or Crack
Y2 Hole or Crack
Y3 Big Hole or Crack
X1 Small Crack on Windshield (approximately 1cm)
R Repaired Crack on Windshield
RX Repaired Crack on Windshield (needs to be replaced)
X Crack on Windshield (needs to be replaced)



************ Don't depend on price in Sri Lanka****************************
If you are not buying the car through a leasing, but using cash, or using a bank loan ,then individually import your vehicle by your own. It'll save you more than 4 lacks. But if you are not interested in those kind of things, buy it from Sri Lanka, but buy the best car. Don't be a fool in-front of cunning car sellers.

If you are going to buy it from Sri Lanka, then you have to buy that car for the value in Sri Lankan market(4-10 lacks more than actual cost). So at least try to get the best vehicle.

I have real life examples myself:

I was looking for a car, I didn't go for car sales, instead I go for people who personally imported vehicles, because their cars are 2 or 3 lacks cheaper than the cars in the sales. Now you know why they are cheaper.(some people don't need earn 4-10 lacks from a single car, instead they earn 2 or 3 lacks. that's the reason)

Oh! I forgot to mention that their are two car market prices in Sri Lanka. Prices in car sales and prices in individual importers.As I mentioned there is a huge gap between these prices also. Personally imported vehicles are not vat claimed and if some one is going to buy a personally imported vehicle through a leasing facility then he/she should pay vat claim(about 1-2 lacks).

I went to a car owner and asked for the auction sheet, but he said he didn't have it and he gave me a bank document. For his bad luck in a side of that document was only a car sketch which is very similar to the sketches in the auction sheets. In that sketch trunk was pointed as "XX" and I said him that trunk of this car has replaced and he was stuck and he said this is an unregistered vehicle and how could that happen. I go to the back of the car and had a close look and found both back doors and trunk are not shining as front doors. YES Repainted. So that car is auction GRADE "R" and in Japan auctions, auction Grade "R" vehicles are normally 1-2 lack JPY cheaper than others. When it comes to Sri Lanka it is cheaper than 2.5-5 (because of VAT)lacks. Did you see that.... People are not innocent as they seems to be.

If a person who knows nothing about these things go and visit that car, he will surely buy it. We can go with a mechanist and examine the vehicle but auction sheets reveal everything and even the things that the mechanist doesn't imagine that could be happen.
Anyway check your engine by a mechanist.

DON'T BE A FOOL IN-FRONT OF CAR SELLERS. BE A PERSON WHO KNOWS MORE THAN THEM.
THIS ARTICLE IS SPECIALLY FOR INNOCENT CAR BUYERS IN SRI LANKA.
____________________________end______________________________________________________________

35 comments:

  1. ado pattai machn thank you for your information...!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amare, thanks a lot for bringing up the info into one place. Also like to add something. You can change the original mileage of the car in 4 minutes. Almost all the cars in car sales are high mileage cars and they change it to a 'low mileage car' while it is in CMB harbor. This becomes a huge issue when it comes to hybrid vehicles as the quality of the vehicle solely depend on the age of the HV battery unit. These "sellers" will not provide you the genuine inspection certificates which indicate the original mileage of the vehicle at the time it was exported from japan. Also they make fake JAAI certificates in SL.
    [Happy to satisfy few customers by providing them the best vehicles as a direct importer. Customer satisfaction is the best profit.]

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank u very much for the information machooo... Keep sharing your knowledge. It was a really good article...! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. excellent man...go ahead.

    ReplyDelete
  5. thank you giving this valuable information....

    i would be very thankful if u can explain how to differentiate the fake auction sheet from a real one?

    ReplyDelete
  6. ado kohenda meka copy kara gaththe
    any way machan blog ekak hadapu eka hondai
    eth ithin hadala nikan thiyanna epa hamadama monawa hari dapan danna monawathma nathnam mata kiyapan mama monawa hari ewannam
    mama anoy

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is great effort machan.

    Amda

    ReplyDelete
  8. thanks all.
    Anyway I create this blog to share my knowledge in practical life. I only want to share something useful. I use this as place where to share, but not as a blog. Anyway I appreciate your feed back.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ok I'll post the way to check for your real documents. But It will be not doable for all the vehicles but many of them are can find.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I only copy paste the "signs and their meaning".
    If you search you can find points in this article here and there. As Udara said I get them into a one article by my own.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dear Asanka,
    our article is very much appreciated. I bought a car for myself last October (personal import), and got into business. So far I have imported 20 odd cars, all of very high quality. 3Following points should be noted;
    1. Most of the reconditioned cars are bought from auctions but definitely not 99.9%. There are one price sales (reliable vehicles). Those cars don't come with an auction sheet.
    2. Certain vehicles with R grade are in pretty good shape, if the accident is not serious and repaired by the right people.
    3. Even though claiming VAT is not possible, it is still cheaper to import personally.

    Like Asanka, I am also an Engineering Undergrad at the university of Moratuwa. Importing vehicles is my part time business. Please reach me on jaydeeauto@gmail.com if you need a high quality vehicle at a low price.

    -Jay-

    ReplyDelete
  12. @ jay:
    hi hi Jayamin,, my old friend(A/L 2006 :P).... Yes machan there are one price sales also..... Here are my points:::

    1) I mentioned every where this article is for people who doesn't know much about vehicle. Then as an example there are two cars. One is from a auction which is having a auction sheet, another is from a one price sale which is not having an auction sheet. Never trust the seller... go for the car which having the auction sheet.... It's something like birth certificate to a car.

    2) As I mentioned I'm not talking about certain R grade vehicles..... I know there are R grade vehicles which have only replaced front buffer. Why we are getting a risk while we having a clean path.

    3)Yeah personally importing is the best option... I mentioned it in my article...

    I also imported a Toyota Vitz in January of this year machan. My point is if someone want to personally imported a vehicle let it be a personal deal... No need of extra hands on it. More extra hands mean more money.......

    "This article is still for innocent public who are new to this subject"

    ---Amare------

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your article is very useful and may I know how to import personally?
      Welcomecolombo@gmail.com

      Delete
  13. ස්තුතියි ... ගොඩක් වටින ලිපියක්

    ReplyDelete
  14. never knew these stuff.thanks

    ReplyDelete
  15. $13,000 විතර ජපානේ ඔක්ෂන් එකක තියන වාහනයක් ලංකාවට ගෙන්නද්දී කිඉයක් විතර යයිද? please contact me from karumakkaaraya@gmail.com
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thank you VERY MUCH BRO.........
    Great job against Vehicle MAFIA......

    ReplyDelete
  17. thank you very much machn for your information...

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thanks for the valuable information.
    "Yeah personally importing is the best option".How we can personally import vehicles? How much tax are we have to pay? Also shipping charges?
    Please advice

    ReplyDelete
  19. thank u for share these with us

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thanks , I have recently been searching for info about this topic for ages and yours is the greatest I have discovered till now.
    But, what about the bottom line? Are you certain
    about the source?

    My web blog ... Darrin Arvan

    ReplyDelete
  21. Excellent post. I recently went to around 50 car sales in Sri Lanka. I know this is post is true. They are trying to cheat you. They are not doing fair business. Beware now they have altered auction sheet too. Please check them online when ever possible before buying. Another thing, Company scans can not catch most of the modifications like replacing body parts.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Nice work bro. pls explain how to calculate final value of the car which we are importing from Japan with an example

    ReplyDelete
  23. Can this auction sheet be forged in Sri lanka by car sellers?

    ReplyDelete
  24. වැදගත් ලිපියක්. අදයි දැක්කේ..

    ReplyDelete
  25. Excellent post. This is something that needs to happen more in Sri Lanaka, Which is educating the public by the public.

    ReplyDelete
  26. This is normal...but this is the system, because it is damn difficult to find a used car which is only 2 years or less old for cheap price, unless it has a damage....So they buy it repair and export. A new car will get 3years road driving license ( Shaken), so it is very unlikely for the owner to sell the car within 2years. and the tax is crazy in Sri Lanka......

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hi folks,,, Thanks for all your comments and feed backs.... I'm really sorry about leaving some questions unanswered because i'm not a car importer and I don't know exact charges involve at harbor. Anyway I'll try to do a research on that too...

    ReplyDelete

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