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As consumers tighten their belts, used car dealers are feeling the squeeze.

Sales manager at El Cheapo Cars in Petone, Brendon Coughlan, said March had been one of the worst months in memory for the company.

Until two months ago sales had been mainly of cars in the $10,000 price bracket, he said. “Now it’s down to $5000 to $6000 and that’s down to affordability because people are now spending more a week to live.”

He said potential buyers in recent months were telling him interest rates, food inflation and rising petrol prices were holding them back from buying.

Coughlan expects a tough six to eight months for car dealers, with some of the more marginal operations likely to close.

Turners Auction is also seeing the impacts of rising costs on consumers. The company’s general manager for marketing, Todd Hunter, said Turners saw a 100 per cent rise in the number of repossessed vehicles going to auction in the year to March 2008. For the March year, 700 repossessed vehicles went under the hammer.READ MORE…

Vladivostok businessmen who import and trade used Japanese cars staged a protest on Tuesday against local customs officials who since April 1 have been issuing documentation for the imported vehicles with huge delays resulting in financial losses for the car dealers.

Having decorated their vehicles with orange ribbons and the slogan “Car dealers against bureaucracy”, the traders proceeded to the building of the Far Eastern Customs Department to show their dissatisfaction with the officials’ work.

Since April 1, two customs posts – Vladivostok Auto Transport and Vladivostok Central – were liquidated and a new customs post in Vladivostok Commercial Port was opened. The Far Eastern Customs officials intended to improve the work of the customs but the result turned out to be the opposite. Currently more than 9,000 vehicles imported from Japan are awaiting customs clearance in the port’s warehouse while the territory of the port is designed for only 6,500 vehicles.

“The customs workers are unable to cope with the amount of documentation and the computer programs in the new post give out errors,” head of trade union for Vladivostok car dealers Dmitry Penyaz said.READ MORE…

The Government is considering introducing vehicle emission restrictions which could effectively put an age limit on imported used cars.

Associate Transport Minister Judith Tizard says draft rules will be put out for public consultation next year and might be ready for implementation in 2008.

The Government is considering using Japanese emission standards as about 95 per cent of imported used cars come from Japan.

Ms Tizard said yesterday there would be a set of steadily increasing standards, and cars would be tested at the border to make sure they met those standards.READ MORE…

THE Automotive Dealers Association (ADA) has come out in support of Budget statements which indicate Government’s intention to reduce the number of foreign-used cars being brought into the country.

During Wednesday’s budget presentation, Prime Minister Patrick Manning said, “Government will be instituting measures to curtail importation of foreign-used vehicles.” However he did not say exactly what those measures were.

However, in a direct response, officials within the foreign-used car industry say the only reason new car dealers are backing the Government, is purely for profit.

The ADA president Philip Knaggs, said the glut of foreign-used vehicles has had a negative impact on the environment. He added that short warranties were due to the fact that these cars are dumped in developing nations such as Trinidad, after their useful life has expired.

“These vehicles, as they age, become a burden on Japan. The Japanese Government recognises this and discourages their consumers from owning these vehicles as they age,” said Knaggs.

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Tokyo - Japanese automobile giant Toyota Motor said on Tuesday it will recall 187 131 of its vehicles in Japan due to a faulty power transmission drive which may prevent the cars from running.

Toyota will recall its passenger vehicles after it received 157 complaints for six of its domestic brand cars: Vitz, Platz, bB, Fancargo, ist, and WiLLCYPHA, built from mid-2002 to mid-2003, Toyota said.

“The cars have the possibility of not running because car parts would break when driving the steering wheel in a wide motion, since very watery lubricant was used on the car part connecting the axle with the front tire,” said Toyota spokesperson Ai Ishitoya.

Despite this recall, Toyota set a goal of selling 9.8 million vehicles worldwide in 2008, a 20% jump from last year, as it hones in on ailing General Motors’ crown as the world’s top automaker.

The Toyama prefectural government has instructed two businesses targeting foreign residents to improve their business practices after discovering they had disregarded the city planning law, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

The prefectural government intends to issue similar instructions for seven other businesses in the near future. If the conditions of the instructions are not met, the businesses will be ordered to cease operations. If the orders are again ignored, the prefectural government will file criminal complaints against them.

The Construction and Transport Ministry is demanding the prefecture also investigate the about 170 such businesses in the area that are believed to be on the edge of the law as part of a clampdown on businesses encroaching on the countryside.

The businesses, often run by foreign residents, including Pakistanis, are largely made up of used-car dealerships, of which there are hundreds in the prefecture, largely in the area around Fushiki Toyama Port.

The nine businesses for which the guidance has been issued or scheduled comprise five used-car dealerships, a mosque, a real estate office targeting foreigners, a money exchange business and a used-appliance store. The operators of the locations include Japanese, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis, among others.

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There is nothing as useful to a North American as a car. It is the modern technological marvel that makes the fast-paced and stressful life - rife with toxic racism and discrimination in housing, employment and social life - manageable, especially to new immigrants who have to make do with menial jobs and dilapidated housing.

One of the significant changes Kenyans who emigrate to North America undergo is to rely on the car just as much as their Caucasian, Latino, Chinese, African-American or native of the region. Almost invariably, they shop, go to restaurants or cinema in cars.

When a Kenyan who has lived in North America decides to return home, the first thing he thinks about is how he would cope with commuting in the hustle and bustle of Nairobi.

For those who have bought or plan to acquire property in leafy suburbs such as Karen, Runda or contemplate commuting from Kiambu, importing a second-hand mechanical workhorse from North America comes to work.

The problem is: All vehicles in North America are left-hand drive. Moreover, Kenyans returning from North America cannot import a right-hand drive vehicle from the UK, Japan or Australia because they must have owned it for a minimum of 12 months. In addition, all vehicle imports must be less than eight years old from the date of manufacture.

It is not possible for an ordinary person who has spent the past 12 years breaking his back at McDonald’s to travel to Europe, buy a brand new vehicle, own it for a year, export it to North America and stay with it for the same length of time before shipping it to Kenya.

Essentially, what this means is that people who have just completed their studies or been doing menial jobs at MacDonald’s cannot return to Kenya with vehicles. Their option is to, therefore, use their meagre savings to buy exorbitantly priced vehicles in Kenya. Their prices are two to four times more than their fair market value in Europe or North America.

Theoretically, the prohibitive rules were introduced to “protect Kenyans and their environment” from sub-standard, dangerous, poisonous and impractical goods, chemicals or equipment.

The dumping of dangerous goods in our market is not just economically and environmentally catastrophic, but it has also killed creativity, innovation and scientific invention of our people.

The fact that Kenya has not been able to produce even a rudimentary vehicular engine locally is very sad.

The rules were also intended to protect the Kenyan market and car dealers from “flooding", unfair competition as well as to encourage and protect domestic entrepreneurs.

On the surface, the requirements appear sound and uncontroversial. However, they are punitive. They mean that Kenyans in North America cannot buy a used Japanese vehicle - one manufactured in 2003 - and import it to Kenya duty free because there are no used right hand drive vehicles in Japan.

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EDDAH, 3 September 2006 — Businessmen in the secondhand car market estimate that the business will grow 32 percent (SR600 million) by the end of this year. It is expected that more than 30,000 used cars will hit the used car market and that Japanese cars are said to take the largest share of the market.

Secondhand car dealers say that there are many factors behind the growth. One of the reasons is the general condition of used cars that can be bought at cheap prices and which attract a lot of young Saudis. Another reason quoted is that there are nearly six million non-Saudis living in the kingdom and they, along with limited-income people, prefer used cars to new ones. Secondhand car dealers have ruled out the possibility of used cars from the gulf market hitting the local markets as in previous years. Local used cars tend to be cheaper than imported ones. (more…)

DUBAI — The UAE car market, one of the fastest growing sectors in the country’s economy, is forecast to grow by 28 per cent in 2006 with sales of 185,600 new cars during the year, compared to the sales of 145,000 units in 2005, according to senior industry analysts.

The growth in car sales is attributed to rapid economic development, increase in population and easy access to car loans. Re-exports constitute a significant sector of the market. (more…)

PAPUA New Guinea is losing millions of kina in tax and import duty fees as vehicles are being smuggled into the country bypassing tax regulatory measures set in place by the Government.
Internal Revenue Commissioner General David Sode has admitted that the scam involves some of the IRC’s customs officials.
“We are aware of such scams in IRC, especially the customs branch and have seized large numbers of vehicles that had been smuggled in this way,” Mr Sode said.

It is alleged that custom officials at the IRC were collaborating with customs agents to bring vehicles in large quantities into the country, especially second hand vehicles.

These vehicle dealers deal directly with customs agents in order to bypass the tax regulatory measures set in place by the government.
The customs agents then collaborate with the IRC Customs officials who tamper invoices to write lower tax cuts for the vehicles, it is alleged.

Some of the vehicle dealers travel overseas to purchase vehicles and upon return produce receipts that show the date of the purchase dating back to more than six months. Items that are brought into the country that had been used overseas for more than six months are classified as personal items, therefore higher tax rates are exempted, it was alleged.

An official from the Department of Transport attached with the road transport industries division that overseers licensing of the vehicles in the country, said that most dealers import their vehicles from Japan and Singapore.

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The so-called “Used car” export business continues to grow every year in Japan due to a large demand among many overseas buyers. “Used cars” are older cars with higher mileage than the average used car. A few years ago, they would have been disposed of as scrap cars. However, nowadays, there is an expanding market for these “Used cars” where they are being repaired and auctioned off. Currently, the number of “Used cars” sold at used car auctions held throughout Japan are increasing and is said to reach 8 hundred thousand this year.

The benefits of the “Used car” business are that the parts are easy to find and the cars are easy to repair. What also attracts buyers to this business is the amount of money that can be made. The price of a car at an auction can start as low as 3000 yen (30 US dollars). Most cars are said to last for another 3 hundred thousand kilometers (around 187 miles) if repaired and some can be sold for well above the purchase price in countries in such places as South America and Africa.

Breakdown insurer Warranty Direct compiled the report on its 55,000 car database based on figures over the past decade of how much time each kind of car has spent off the road.

The shocking truth is that the whole of the top 10 are Japanese makes, and 16 of the top 20. The Honda Accord sits proudly at number 1, followed by Subaru’s Forester and the Mazda MX-5. Mitsubishi, Toyota and Nissan fill in the remaining places.

The first non-Asian car is the British Jag X-Type at 12th most reliable, while famed Germanic solidity is notable by its absence until Mercedes’ SLK at no.25, only one place ahead of the Citroen Xsara.

Although these may not be the iest cars on the road (excepting the MX-5) it does back up the old chestnut about truly reliable cars all coming from Japan.

To see a complete breakdown of car list, visit www.reliabilityindex.co.uk

Japanese manufacturers have ted a poll of the Top 100 most reliable used cars over the past decade.

The list, compiled by independent mechanical breakdown insurer, Warranty Direct, found that every car in the Top 10, and 16 out of the Top 20, were Japanese s. The Honda Accord was at number one, with Honda also taking the 6th place with the the Civic and 8th with the CR-V.

Perhaps the most surprising rankings are the Toyota Corolla at number 91 (Toyota has four s in the top 20) and the Mazda MX-6 at 97 (the MX-5 is third, with two other Mazda s in the top 20).

Models were ranked according to the frequency of failure and based on a database of over 55,000 vehicles. Last year, over 7.5m Britons spent £25bn buying a used car - nearly seven times the number of people who bought a new car privately.

The highest placed non-Japanese was the British built Jaguar X-Type in 13th; however, the S-Type appears near the bottom of the list, at 98.

The German automotive industry first appear at number 25 with the Mercedes-Benz SLK: the S-Class fares less well, at number 90. The list is propped up by the Porsche Boxster at 100.

Volvo’s S/V40 was the highest placed Swedish manufacturer in 15th. Ford, the nation’s most popular manufacturer, delivers its best-ranked , the Ka, in 22nd. The Citroen Xsara was the best-placed French at number 26.

The full Top 100 Most Reliable Cars Of The past 10 years can be viewed by visiting www.reliabilityindex.co.uk, but the top 10 s are:

1 Honda Accord
2 Subaru Forester
3 Mazda MX-5
4 Mitsubishi Carisma
5 Toyota Yaris
6 Honda Civic
7 Nissan Almera
8 Honda CR-V
9 Toyota RAV4
10 Nissan Micra

Perturbed by facilitation extended to overseas Pakistanis in import of cars through gift and baggage schemes, the automobile industry has asked the government to prepare a long term policy for the sector, which must be unalterable, at least, for three years, an official of one of the leading car manufacturing firms told Daily Times.

The car manufacturers informed the government that it would disturb the plan of further investment of the automobile industry, if the government continued to change policy regarding import of vehicles every year.

In recent meetings held in the ministry of industries and the Engineering Development Board (EDB) following the government’s decision to facilitate the overseas Pakistanis in importing old and used cars, the representatives of the auto industry have been pressing for a three-year policy.

Under the policy, the government would not allow import of cars and other vehicles under the budget and the trade policy, the official said and added that the government would not also raise or curtail taxes and duties levied on the automobile industry.

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If you are looking for a new version of the rear drive mechanical simplicity and cheap, do-it-yourself maintenance of Japanese cars of 25 years ago, don’t despair. Underneath the latest commercial van bodies, Joe Kenwright finds cheap and reliable transport to cover a wide spectrum of applications…

BACKGROUND
Until the recent arrival of more complex front drive European vans, the whole commercial van segment was like the Tardis time machine. Compact on the outside and huge on the inside, the Japanese van can take you back decades in terms of mechanical simplicity and reliability.

They can also take you back 20 years in refinement levels, roadholding, braking and safety but then a billycart could handle most Australian speed limits so this is not the big issue it first seems. The bluff aerodynamics are also less of a deficit at speeds below 100 km/h.

Ever since an ex-baker’s VW Kombi van served as home at the original Sunbury Pop Festival, I have valued the flexibility of a small forward control van. I have since owned a Toyota HiAce and still own a Mitsubishi Express. Both have delivered levels of owner satisfaction and driver involvement that shamed far more exotic purchases. Even as an everyday vehicle for a young driver, these vans can offer real advantages but only if the driver is prepared to adjust to the lower roadholding and braking levels.

There is a healthy trend amongst rural teenagers to roll out their swags in the paddock or in their utes after a solid night of partying instead of drink-driving. A van can provide an all-weather escape route for a young city driver instead of driving home tired or affected by alcohol. Over 30 years later, it is not unusual for people in my friendship circle to sleep off an out of town party in our vans before driving home in the early morning without disturbing our hosts.

Even for older drivers, choosing a van as a second vehicle can offer amazing flexibility in terms of camping, renovating, light towing, recreational sports including cycling, dirt bikes, orienteering and bush walking. For younger owners, the long roof and separate gutters are perfect for windsurfing and kayaking while providing a lock-up facility for surfboards, bicycles and other expensive sports equipment. For athletes and surfers, they can provide a mobile changeroom or haven to sit out bad weather.

For students, they can also help generate income as a van will swallow garden or cleaning equipment and other tools. For a young apprentice, they can help a fledgling business get on its feet.

Before buying a used van, it is worth examining whether you have the mindset to adjust your driving and expectations to fit the limitations. Expect a responsive sports car and a van will drive you mad but go with the traffic flow, enjoy the panoramic view of the road and anticipate the stupidity of other drivers and you could enjoy it.

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Its going to be really hard to avoid excessively using the adjective sassy in describing this concept from Mazda, so Ill just get it out of the way: sassy, sassy, sassy…

Well, actually, its called Sassou (pronounced sa-so), which is apparently a Japanese term that means having a positive state of mind, of looking ahead with optimism to the future, which is exactly how I would feel if someone from Mazda called me right now and told me that they will build a production version of the Sassou and bring it to the U.S.

Okay… It looks like nobodys calling. Im still grinning, though, because it is such a cute car, yet somehow still bad-ass looking. Im guessing that the Sassou is one color choice away from swinging drastically to either end of the spectrum. Bubble-gum pink and matte black being the polar extremes on my color scale. I mean, can you just imagine how badass it would look in pink, with maybe some baby blue trim… B-A-D-A-S-S.

If you havent guessed that this is a small car concept yet, then this is me filling you in. It is mostly a design exercise testing the waters for certain features and general styling direction for the redesign of the Mazda2 (Demio in Japan). It will debut on September 13th at the Frankfurt Motor Show. A straightforward description might call it “a small, lightweight, three-door hatchback,” and I really hope they are not kidding when they say lightweight, because it is powered by a three-cylinder gasoline engine with 1 litre of displacement. I think about the only thing we get with less displacement here in North America is the smart fortwo (lower case intended), dirt bikes and riding mowers, although I could be mistaken about the riding mowers.

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The Government’s announcement that sales targets are to be set for biofuels (ethanol and biodiesel) comes with a warning from the Motor Industry Association, which believes that the makeup of the New Zealand vehicle fleet needs to be a critical factor in any biofuel decision.

“It’s pleasing that after years of discussion the Government is taking a positive step on biofuel, but we caution the oil companies in their implementation of this initiative that they need to consider the local vehicle fleet,” said Perry Kerr, CEO of the Motor Industry Association. “The New Zealand vehicle fleet very much reflects the Japanese domestic fleet of ten years ago, and it wasn’t until June 2003 that the Japanese Government permitted an ethanol mix in local fuel, and then only to a maximum of 3%.”

The reason the Japanese Government took the stance it did was because there was no assurance that the fuel systems on older-model Japanese cars were compatible with an ethanol blend. “Those older-model cars, plus even older ones, are now here, so we need to be doubly cautious,” said Mr. Kerr.

Given the commitments which are now in place by new vehicle franchise holders to protect the owners of cars imported and sold by third parties, and bearing in mind the foregoing, the new vehicle industry would not be supportive of any ethanol / petrol mix higher than 3%.

In terms of biodiesel, like with ethanol, the Japanese domestic vehicle market has had no experience with this type of blended fuel in general use. “We have only recently sent to the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association a copy of the New Zealand biodiesel standard. We may therefore get a similar response to that for ethanol, that is that the Japanese vehicle manufacturers do not recommend that a biodiesel blend is used in used Japanese imports in New Zealand” Mr Kerr added.

In conclusion, Mr Kerr underlined the aging of our vehicle fleet. “Biofuels will have a small influence, but if the Government was really serious about reducing emissions they could make a lot more progress much more quickly by preventing old, worn out, obsolete-technology vehicles from crossing our wharves”.

Ojai, California Kosaku Yamada has been picking Camry nits for ten years now. As chief engineer of America’s most popular car, he is bedeviled by more than just the obvious things that give Japanese engineers sleepless nights.

The obvious: “All the nuts-and-bolts considerations so neatly arranged on the left side of the brain were obvious,” he said of this fifth-generation Camry. “The Camry would need to be bigger, quieter, cleaner, and more powerful, with better handling, steering, and fuel economy and an even higher level of crashworthiness. Logic,” he added, “dictated an all-new chassis.”

Automotive journalists have grown used to this sort of obsessiveness from the Japanese, who already build cars with the fewest defects, the highest levels of consumer satisfaction, and the best resale values. It’s why we’ve called the Camry the best car built in America. It’s why Honda sells more Accords than Ford does Tauruses and Chevy does Impalas. It’s what makes Nissan’s new high-performance Altima a car to watch closely. It’s why Toyota grabbed the number three car-sales spot from Chrysler, racking up some of its best sales months in history while the domestics crashed and burned.

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With the average price of a new vehicle topping $28,000 and used ones averaging $14,000, car shopping is second only to buying a home in financial importance.

Don’t let the ads seduce you. Because the decision to buy new can involve almost half the income a typical family makes in a year, it needs to come more from logic than emotion.

“I don’t watch too much TV or listen to the radio too much,” says Randy Davis of Henrietta, N.Y. “When I go out to look, I go, ‘Is this something I can afford or can’t I?’ “
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Before you walk out on a car lot - or even rev up your computer - look at your budget. Don’t focus on how much you can pay each month. Instead, look at total cost. Then make a short list of what you must have in a vehicle.

After that, it’s time to research, both the cars and the cost of financing or leasing, because most people who need a vehicle end up making some sort of car payment. And many will make loan payments for five years or more.

New or used?

If cost were the only consideration, more people would choose used simply because of depreciation.

“A new car loses most of its value when you drive it off of the lot and for the first two years,” says Rob Gentile, director of auto price services at Consumer Reports. Depreciation varies by car, and domestics generally depreciate faster than European and Japanese cars.

“In general, cars depreciate anywhere from 15 to 20 percent in the first year,” he says.

Ariana Percy of Greece, N.Y., knows her 1995 Geo Prism isn’t the prettiest, but that doesn’t matter to her.

“I don’t need to look good, I just need to get from place to place,” she says. When she bought her teal green Prism for $1,500, the odometer showed 92,000 miles. But she expects to drive the compact for three to five more years.

“It has a long-standing engine, and it’s in perfect condition,” Percy says. “It needed no work, and it passed inspection with flying colors.”

If you just love that new-car smell, consider buying new and keeping it long after you finishing paying for it. A typical U.S. household pays almost $7,400 a year to own an average of two vehicles, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. More than half of those costs come from car payments.

One advantage to buying a new car is that all include a manufacturer’s warranty, some for as long as 10 years and 100,000 miles. Some dealers inspect and certify used cars, giving additional protection on warranties that already have expired. But many used cars, some sold at dealers and most sold by individuals are on the market as is, without guarantees.

“New vehicles have the features and benefits that the public wants, and they’re willing to pay for it,” says Rick Dorschel, president of Dorschel Automotive Group in Rochester, N.Y.

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