Importing classic and used cars to Sri Lanka

iRage · August 4, 2021

When looking at pre-owned cars the prices change because of :

- Custom/hard to source/much sought afer and desired after market parts. Things like rear wings, side skirts, etc..

- Availability of shaken...depending on whether the car can be made road legal or not. If the car has a current shaken (i.e. road worthy) then that includes a certain amount of tax that has been paid which will be refunded when de-registered. But if the car has no shaken or has issues that the shaken will not pass (mostly modifications)..then the price goes down

- The biggest price changer is the presence of an accident repair history or unverifiable mileage or engine. Accident Repair history : If the car has had any repairs to its frame (including roof , A/B/C pillars, etc...) then the car gets tagged as a Repair history (on the other hand you can replace outter panels, doors, etc..or even paint the entire car there will be no accident repair history). This record is not the same as the Accident Repair (R grade) you see in the auction sheets. This is the government record of accident cars. There is also a restoration history record but no one cares about that. Unverifiable mileag usually happens when there is a issue with the mileage reading...because the meter stopped working and had to be fixed or even when the meter was changed (so yes..taking that factory fitted speedo-moter out and dropping in that TRD/NISMO speedo meter gives your car a balck point). Unverifiable engine usually happens when an engine has been swapped or the engine number, etc...does not match the registration records.

- Actually..this is the BIGGEST of the BIGGEST price influencer. Cars like the NSX, GTR, Supra, RX7 are..well...its a sellers market. They are highly sought after cult classics. So depending on the condition the market value for a car is whatever the seller wants it to be depending on the investment the seller has made to maintain it and customize it and the eventual condition of the car. This is where prices stop making sense (eg. a GTR with 16km that recently sold for 500,000USD and a similarly spec'd bay side blue GTR with 60,000km going for 400,000USD...and then a beautifully spec'd out GT-T going for 110,000USD and a bone stock GTR that might go for 98,000)...makes no sense.

- Then there is obviously the spec....special/limited/high performance models will be higher than others...this includes Manual transmission variants (for the NSX there is a difference in attractiveness depending on whether it is a LHD manual or a RHD manual as well)

- Then there is milage as well...when maintaining at the dealer they urge the owner to follow the recommended service program...as the mileage goes higher there is a certain level of components that are urged to be replaced...so that affects the price...also, for older and high mileage cars the annual inspection and the shaken inspection tends to be a bit more rigorous than for a low mileage/newer car.

So if you look at the websites that sell cars in the japanese market..you will see these special cars go from 5mil all the way to 50mil depending on the model.

kamalcars · August 22, 2021

Buying a car from a trusted dealer is the main thing, I guess. *******, they can give you proper guideline and they can work for you to import a car you want from live auction.

Edited August 22, 2021 by iRage

Boseth Minidu · March 27, 2023

Really appreciate all the helps guys,I specially thank @iRage for the help.

My favorite variant was the first gen NSX Type-R , was my literal childhood dream car but when I looked into the taxes and realized it’s going to cost as much or more than a brand new Bentley to bring one down with the taxes I thought it wasn’t worth the trouble.Then I looked into buying a stock condition Base Grade NSX with less than 150K Kms (Auto or Manual) with a Neutron White Pearl finish since it’s the best looking color in my opinion.

Was apparently waiting since late 2020 for the import ban to lift but no signs of it being lifted for another 3-5 years at least.And the fact that the USD is sky high at the moment,the NSX which I could’ve brought down for 50-62 million initially costs 90-100 million now.So I gave up the plan till the import ban is lifted and till the exchange rates go back to normal.Still I haven’t given up,you guys might here about an NSX after another few years maybe.

Thanks again everyone!

Edited March 27, 2023 by Boseth Minidu