Parallel Importers: Recommended ones/ones to avoid

[Verzion2]

I would fight the company till the end.

Its unfair clause. Go talk to a lawyer. Sending a letter should be way below 8k.

 

No la last thing I want is to bankrupt the company, people will lose their deposits. Important thing is to provide awareness out there, 

so other buyers learn from my mistake.

Edited May 2, 2019 by Verzion2

[Jae0303]

The way they advertised is misleading too. Price is way too low below market price.

[Verzion2]

The way they advertised is misleading too. Price is way too low below market price.

 

Yea man, I signed for $132K for the A class (non-AMG Line) still asked to top up, imagine that.

Edited May 2, 2019 by Verzion2

[jlote]

Hi.

Glad that u are trying to change the image of PIs here..

Only one request ....

FFS , prease prease do not employ badminton players and stuntmen...

Can get heart attack n schizophrenia dealing with these people

[Freeder]

Good to hear that.. can sense your sincerity in providing good customer svc...

End of the day, pls dun let Greed overcome you in the long term as integrity and reputation are priceless..

Have a Give and Take mentality & you will have a successful business ahead..

All the Best in your future endeavors..

Shalom.

[awhtc]

Haha. Yeah that will not be a problem. One of the things that i am doing right now is letting my customers know of the facts such as how many bid coe/guaranteed or not etc and till what amount i am going to cover their coe and so on. To me, this is really important as it prevents almost all disputes related to the bidding and then having disagreements etc.

 

As for misleading advertisements, all i can say is that certain companies think of that as a way to attract the customer to their showroom and then try to sell them the relevant car at a relevant market price. Might piss a few customers off and it did piss me off when I was a car buyer and walking around to get my car. Actually, I am going to use my own experience as a car buyer and pay attention to the important stuff that i felt was needed and i wanted - even if it means scoring a lesser profit. In the long run though, you need the confidence of your customers and that is what we want to achieve rather than just looking at the monetary figures.

 

Definitely it's a challenging time to be a PI but I have always had a passion for vehicles of all sorts and you gotta try and do what you want to do. So, hopefully i can start off on a good page with the sale of our first car and leave a good impression.

 

I really appreciate your replies and please keep em coming! Cheers everyone

 

Even the ADs are cutting their overhead now in view of smaller quota and intense competition ahead.

 

Starting a PI really needs a low of resourcefulness to keep overhead low and reach out to the potential buyers.

[Othello]

The way they advertised is misleading too. Price is way too low below market price.

 

Misleading ? in what way ? The 2 ** quite prominent mah 

 

It's to attract greedy & naive people ...  who will then post their lousy experiences here 

[AlexTan05]

Yes TYU778 its a sports premium Merc A Class, they quoted OMV has gone up hence need to top up another $8K.

OMV increase might be true as it happened to the batch of Toyota Noah Hybrid that came in after CNY 2019. From $32k omv increase to $35k, including all the customs taxes/port parking charges, the cost of the car increased by about $5k.

 

 

But, all these can be avoided. As a consumer, do not just look at the price of the car you're purchasing.

 

1) 1 Bid Guaranteed Delivery, No top up (Best if it comes with high rebate)

 

2) Request for warehouse viewing where you can

 

- Choose the colour that you want

- Get the PI to unlock the car and inspect the Specs (Eg: 2 power sliding door, Steering control, cruise control etc.)

- Take a photo of the chassis number and get the PI to indicate it inside the sales agreement.

 

3) Request for the LTA approval letter to confirm that the car (Chassis) is Vitas Ready .

 

4) Ask for the exact OMV. If the car is cleared from the customs, the PI will surely have it unless they are pre-selling.

 

5) Ensure that the PI is offering you 1st party warranty + own their workshop

 

If you guys notice, the customers that often have a bad experience are those that buy a car at a cheaper price when the dealer does not have the stock on hand or claim it is arriving/yet to clear from customs.

 

 

Why would you buy a car if you can't see the physical car? (Not the one in the showroom) Will you pay for a Rolex at Mustafa centre but it will only arrive 2 mths later, or go to Vivo and buy a Rolex and get it on the spot.

 

Maybe I'm a little pissed off, but I hope it helps for all potential car buyers.

[jlote]

OMV increase might be true as it happened to the batch of Toyota Noah Hybrid that came in after CNY 2019. From $32k omv increase to $35k, including all the customs taxes/port parking charges, the cost of the car increased by about $5k.

 

 

But, all these can be avoided. As a consumer, do not just look at the price of the car you're purchasing.

 

1) 1 Bid Guaranteed Delivery, No top up (Best if it comes with high rebate)

 

2) Request for warehouse viewing where you can

 

- Choose the colour that you want

- Get the PI to unlock the car and inspect the Specs (Eg: 2 power sliding door, Steering control, cruise control etc.)

- Take a photo of the chassis number and get the PI to indicate it inside the sales agreement.

 

3) Request for the LTA approval letter to confirm that the car (Chassis) is Vitas Ready .

 

4) Ask for the exact OMV. If the car is cleared from the customs, the PI will surely have it unless they are pre-selling.

 

5) Ensure that the PI is offering you 1st party warranty + own their workshop

 

If you guys notice, the customers that often have a bad experience are those that buy a car at a cheaper price when the dealer does not have the stock on hand or claim it is arriving/yet to clear from customs.

 

 

Why would you buy a car if you can't see the physical car? (Not the one in the showroom) Will you pay for a Rolex at Mustafa centre but it will only arrive 2 mths later, or go to Vivo and buy a Rolex and get it on the spot.

 

Maybe I'm a little pissed off, but I hope it helps for all potential car buyers.

Very good post and before I started this, i always wanted to get the above information when I was looking to buy my car but most of the times, the dealers wouldn't agree.

 

Let me share some tips for all of you here, just doing this to shed more light and help buyers out there.

 

1.if omv increase happens, it means that there was no ready stock in the first place and not yet evaluated by customs. So, if you were told ready stock etc, well it wasn't. One exception - ready stock by a dealer's definition can be that the car is in sg but my definition of ready stock is - vitas approved and ready to be registered. For example, before my company's car had gone for vitas, we had a few enquiries but we told them "car is in sg, you can view it but we are waiting for vitas inspection, so it can take x number of weeks" and I really think customers appreciated that honesty. If you really want a car where the omv is not fixed, do a simple write up stating you won't top up if the amount exceeds $x.

 

 

As for coe, they should just put everything in black and white especially till what amount they will cover your coe when there's an increase. Some will tell you 10k increase (had that before) but they won't put it on paper,so be careful.

 

2. Some dealers will not allow you to do that especially taking photos of their chassis number. Can be many reasons but I think it should be ok.

 

3. That's one of the first things we do. To show customers the approval letter but we don't give them a copy.

 

4. Same thing as point 3.

 

5. We give warranty from workshops that are covered by insurance. So if customer is afraid that we shut down or the ws shuts down, they are still covered by the insurance.

 

 

From my point of view - if reputable dealers tell you a car is available but you can't see the physical stock, then you don't have much to worry about. Example vincar - bloody brilliant company from my personal experience as a buyer way before i started this business. They didn't offer any false hope haha and told me facts, something that really impressed me and in fact, i just recommended a friend to get a car from them recently as my company doesn't have that car and it would take us 3 months to get it registered for him but he urgently needed a car. Vincar can be a little more expensive than other pi companies but from my experience a couple of years ago, they are really ethical.

Edited May 16, 2019 by jlote

[Privacy]

Very good post and before I started this, i always wanted to get the above information when I was looking to buy my car but most of the times, the dealers wouldn't agree.

 

Let me share some tips for all of you here, just doing this to shed more light and help buyers out there.

 

1.if omv increase happens, it means that there was no ready stock in the first place and not yet evaluated by customs. So, if you were told ready stock etc, well it wasn't. One exception - ready stock by a dealer's definition can be that the car is in sg but my definition of ready stock is - vitas approved and ready to be registered. For example, before my company's car had gone for vitas, we had a few enquiries but we told them "car is in sg, you can view it but we are waiting for vitas inspection, so it can take x number of weeks" and I really think customers appreciated that honesty. If you really want a car where the omv is not fixed, do a simple write up stating you won't top up if the amount exceeds $x.

 

 

As for coe, they should just put everything in black and white especially till what amount they will cover your coe when there's an increase. Some will tell you 10k increase (had that before) but they won't put it on paper,so be careful.

 

2. Some dealers will not allow you to do that especially taking photos of their chassis number. Can be many reasons but I think it should be ok.

 

3. That's one of the first things we do. To show customers the approval letter but we don't give them a copy.

 

4. Same thing as point 3.

 

5. We give warranty from workshops that are covered by insurance. So if customer is afraid that we shut down or the ws shuts down, they are still covered by the insurance.

 

 

From my point of view - if reputable dealers tell you a car is available but you can't see the physical stock, then you don't have much to worry about. Example vincar - bloody brilliant company from my personal experience as a buyer way before i started this business. They didn't offer any false hope haha and told me facts, something that really impressed me and in fact, i just recommended a friend to get a car from them recently as my company doesn't have that car and it would take us 3 months to get it registered for him but he urgently needed a car. Vincar can be a little more expensive than other pi companies but from my experience a couple of years ago, they are really ethical.

I bought from vincar too. 2 weeks registration.. No nonsense biz.

[Cklasse]

So which sales guy to recommend for Vincar?

[AlexTan05]

So which sales guy to recommend for Vincar?

What car are you looking for?

[jlote]

So which sales guy to recommend for Vincar?

Can't remember who helped me but i didn't buy from them at that point of time. Only been there once and that was in 2017 but they were really good. Couple of friends had good experiences too with them.

[Privacy]

So which sales guy to recommend for Vincar?

Just walk in and see any one of the girls u find chio... Pick her

[Tvios]

i found Vincar price on the high side. So i didnt buy fr them. Actually i almost bought from Jack's car, their price is competitive and they are quite big also

[Ct3833]

i found Vincar price on the high side. So i didnt buy fr them. Actually i almost bought from Jack's car, their price is competitive and they are quite big also

Thanks for sharing your experience, this is the benefit of a forum. I have friends who bought from both Vincar and Jack's car before, both expreience were hassle free. But yes vincar could be more expensive but I also think they are more established, but Jack's has been there for years also.

[Harthen]

Any good sales person from Jack cars?

[shengglee]

Yeah Vincar and Jackcar are really trusted dealers. I have friends who bought from them as well. Also, i have a friend who raved his experience with The Wheelers Auto, highly recommended by him due to friendly and transparent services as well as the flexibility to personalise his own package including rims, and even bodykits. Looks like P.I are upping their game and service level ! Good for consumers