Imported Cars in Malaysia

We petrol heads are really spoilt for choices compared to let's say a decade ago. During the 90s, owning or let alone considering an imported vehicle was only possible for a handful of people. Today, be it reconditioned or new coupled with flexible loan plans, its basically up to the consumers themselves to make the call.

There are plenty of reasons on why import car are favoured over their CKD (complete knocked down) or local assembled versions. For starters there's the sense of exclusivity. Imagine having bragging rights and envies of people around you when you drive up in a rare car. A friend of mine owns a DB8 Honda Integra. Although it's already close to 15 years old, it never fails to make people have a second look no matter where it is. Even his much modern Jazz doesn't spark this much attention. Never mind if the AP to have it brought in would cost a limb, the flair of driving it can be simply priceless.

Other than that, there's the difference of specifications over local offerings though this may not be 100% correct. While some CBU (complete built up) do contain extra accessories like climate control, sun/moon roof, memory adjustable font seats as standard (eg. Toyota Camry, 5-series BMW), there are some that lack minor items like rear head rests, rev counter whilst the design does stand out from the local crowd (eg, some JDM Toyota Corolla/Altis, Nissan Sunny/Sentra).  My point of favouring imports is their protection features versus the shortage of it in our local versions. Many car manufacturers here claim their products have excellent international safety ratings. Sadly, many do not outline the differences namely the amount of air bags, braking systems, active and passive safety protection systems between the test cars with the ones on sale in the showroom.

Nonetheless, owning some import car Malaysia may not be always a rosy affair. In terms of maintenance, most service centres would rather stay away than earn the extra buck.  This is because they may not have the essential service data and vehicle diagnostic tools for that particular car. The additional cost to specially order and ship from overseas plus the extra mile for repair personnel to learn, repair or replace the faulty parts may not be feasible in terms of economics. Furthermore, there is still the question of post-service warranty. Early selected imported models also had to be ‘customised' to suit local conditions with bigger radiators and thermostats.

Then there's the issue of resale value. While they may have cost more to put on our roads, some will not do well when the time comes for a replacement. For example, there was a handful of Mark 1 Ford Focus specially brought in by Ford. While they are leagues ahead even to some of today's cars, many still collect dust at used car lots even though dealers are willing to make a loss to dispose it.

Generally there are two sides of a coin for imported vehicle owners. Of course while some share parts as the local variants, it all boils down to individuals on where their priorities stand.