[wings_of_fire]

Hi,

I am planning to buy a used mid segment car. I ended up on couple of websites that had Skoda Octavia`s for sale and that to in the range of 2.3 to 3 lacs. I called up the seller and fixed up a meating for today.Then late night researching, I landed on the Skoda Horror stories thing and it really scared the hell out of me. I immediately cancelled the decision to buy the Skoda and cancelled today's meeting.

Some how in my mind I am stuck to the feeling of owning a Skoda or a good mid segment car. I landed up on ebay international website and had a look at what is available there.Surprisingly there are some throw away deals in cars too but again the import thing comes into play as everyone says.

Check this
skoda octavia | eBay

Now checking out the prices these cars are offered at they are too tempting. I have herd that the import duty on used imported cars is 130 % and that of new cars is 105 % . Does the government charge import duty on Book value of car or Bought out price of car ?

Note: The top list Skodas are priced at under Rs40000 @ 80=1 UK pound.
The weight of the car itself if around 1000 kg and if the car is scrapped at Rs 20 per Kg, it will fetch the owner Rs 20000/- . If parts of the car are sold separately it will fetch even more than the price they are willing to sell it for.

Are these fake listings ? Or is the developed country market too saturated and cars are as good as dump there ?

[GTO]

You won't be able to.

I had compiled a list of import regulations 2 years back (posted elsewhere on the forum), and I'm pretty sure the rules haven't had any major changes. Open to correction though:

• The Indian Government has entirely banned individuals importing cars whose engine capacity ranges from 1000 - 2500 cc. Thus, your used Octavia is out.

• Used cars can be imported from the Mumbai port only. Also, the used car cannot be older than three years (from the date of manufacture).

On who can import

• Any individual can import a car whose value is more than USD 40000. There are no restrictions on the imports of these cars. So as most of the exotics are above that value, they can be imported freely and not necessarily on T.R.

• Foreign nationals (including persons of Indian origin), Branch/Offices of foreign firms, Companies and institutions established in India, Companies incorporated in India having foreign/NRI equity, Accredited Journalists/Correspondents of foreign news agencies, Indian firms executing contracts abroad, Charitable and Missionary Institutions, Physically handicapped persons and Honorary Consuls of Foreign Governments.

[ilangop]

Hi,
Went through the ebay listings. In addition to the price, do go through the odo readings they have mentioned. I dont see any car that has done 40K or less. There are some which have done 1.5L kms or miles on the odo. More over, considering the hassles involved in the import, I would'nt go for it. Would you be going there or is there a person who would inspect the current condition of the car. A drivable car doesnt mean that you are free from spending anything on the car at least in the immediate future. I would rather wait more and keep looking around for a deal tha suits to my requirements & budget. As it is, our Indian market is also filled in with thousands of used cars.
Most of the car makers have some list of components specific for every market. In case you land up with a vehicle that needs an immediate replacement of a critical part, & such a part is not in the BOM for the Indian variant you will again have to go through the same steps as you imported the car itself.
My advice would be to search around seriously and I bet you will find one in a week's time inside Pune or Mumbai.

[wings_of_fire]

Originally Posted by GTO

You won't be able to.

I had compiled a list of import regulations 2 years back (posted elsewhere on the forum), and I'm pretty sure the rules haven't had any major changes. Open to correction though:

• The Indian Government has entirely banned individuals importing cars whose engine capacity ranges from 1000 - 2500 cc. Thus, your used Octavia is out.

• Used cars can be imported from the Mumbai port only. Also, the used car cannot be older than three years (from the date of manufacture).

On who can import

• Any individual can import a car whose value is more than USD 40000. There are no restrictions on the imports of these cars. So as most of the exotics are above that value, they can be imported freely and not necessarily on T.R.

• Foreign nationals (including persons of Indian origin), Branch/Offices of foreign firms, Companies and institutions established in India, Companies incorporated in India having foreign/NRI equity, Accredited Journalists/Correspondents of foreign news agencies, Indian firms executing contracts abroad, Charitable and Missionary Institutions, Physically handicapped persons and Honorary Consuls of Foreign Governments.

Do the first two points also apply to the Ones who can import people ? if not then I see a loophole

I know it is possible to import a car I mean scrap into India (all disassembled). This job might need lot of worthless string pulling.
What If a car has been crashed in accident and its worthless repairing, then it is worth importing this car in the form of scrap and use those parts that have numbering eg:- Chasis and engine number etc in the imported car and say its an Indian car.

Apart from all the above, what I feel is that India has huge number of engineers, then why do foreign companies come and sell their products here? They take 50 % of the money back to their countries making us poorer. They sell 1000 Kg metal at a price of above 10 lacs !! Countries as small as small as a state in India take away crore of rupees out of here.
Has anyone realized if a handful of quality engineers come together (of course fully funded) then they can design better cars than Skodas etc !

[wings_of_fire]

Originally Posted by ilangop

Hi,
Would you be going there or is there a person who would inspect the current condition of the car. A drivable car doesnt mean that you are free from spending anything on the car at least in the immediate future.

My advice would be to search around seriously and I bet you will find one in a week's time inside Pune or Mumbai.

I have a friend of mine in UK and he could have checked it for me, but as GTO explained it is not going to happen anyway thanks to Indian customs regulation

I did see the odo readings and number of owners and its obvious that those cars will have major work to do,but that price is way to tempting ..lol
If it was possible to import such cars than I would have never bought a bike, instead I would have bough that cheap skoda for thrashing and honing my drifting skills if I could.I would have put that car into Grave

There is one Skoda Elegance 2.0 petrol that is selling for 2 lacs. Should I buy it or will it be an axe on my foot ? I asked this same question to a garage owner and he said " Sahab! Phukat me bhi mile to maat lena "

[SunChaser]

The skoda 2.0 is a guzzler! Also its known for engine faults and expensive replacement parts. Would suggest you try and look up a vRs if you really want a petrol skoda. Its fun to drive and much more fuel efficient then the 2.0. Also a 3/4 L budget is now good for a decent diesel skoda too. Try looking up one directly from the owner!

[bensonfernandes]

Hello guys I need your help. I am interested in buying a mk 2 Mazda Mx-5 and exporting it to India. I have contacts that can ship it to India, however they do not deal with the customs duty and other formalities after it reaches the port. I would like to know if anyone here knows about any company in India that can help me import the car to my door step.