Chinese automobiles in DR - Run away or good alternative?

[chico bill]

There is a carbon tax of sorts in DR - it's in the form of the EDEs shutting off power everyday as punishment for illegal connections to power.
It's like a tax on all who pay their electric bill.
Like locking up the entire country for theft.
Just think of all the generators that start when the power is cut for 3 hours and burn diesel in neighborhoods. .
And the DR government proposes chip manufacturers look at DR?
I don't even think Vanderlay Industries wants to hassle with needing generators everyday.
Reminds me of a line in Seinfeld : "And you want to be my latex salesman"
In this case picture the DR as George Costanza lying on the floor with his pants around his ankles.

 

[chico bill]

If they are of the same quality as their other articles, for the sake of security on the road, I would steer clear of those aisles...

What seems to fail most in Chinese products is poor grade plastics, thread and fabrics and most glued or soldered products (ask any woman whose bought Chinese shoes about glue failure )
Cars have a lot of these products in the interior but also plastic is everywhere in modern cars.
And glues and solder are important also in electrical connectors.
So that's what to monitor for early failures in Chinese cars?
I wonder how many words are misspelled or unintelligible sentences are in the owner's manual.

 

[windeguy]

There is a carbon tax of sorts in DR - it's in the form of the EDEs shutting off power everyday as punishment for illegal connections to power.
It's like a tax on all who pay their electric bill.
Like locking up the entire country for theft.
Just think of all the generators that start when the power is cut for 3 hours and burn diesel in neighborhoods. .
And the DR government proposes chip manufacturers look at DR?
I don't even think Vanderlay Industries wants to hassle with needing generators everyday.
Reminds me of a line in Seinfeld : "And you want to be my latex salesman"
In this case picture the DR as George Costanza lying on the floor with his pants around his ankles.

It is ridiculous. When I arrived here low level circuits were on less than 12 hours a day because we were on a Class D lowest priority highest theft circuit.

So what people did was get inverters and batteries. The thieves actually ended up using more "free" power to charge and discharge those batteries because energy is lost in those processes at about 30% or so depending upon battery condition and the inverter charger used.

This cost the payers even more because they had to have the additional inverter/battery systems for backup and they used more electricity than they would if power were on all of the time. Those going over 700 kWh were paying outrages amounts. The people stealing power still didn't end up paying anything for the electricity, but they would need battery inverter systems and just kept stealing power.

Then they tried to set up a government organization to stop the theft and they would be run out of the barios.

Eventually they forced most people to get meters installed and pay "something". Obviously even that silliness did not work and
now they are going back to punishing areas with blackouts where theft is at certain percentages.

What needs to be done is get rid of the EDE's and have companies that will cut off customers for theft.
Don't pay for what you use? You lose connection.

The people running the power distribution system are morons.

 

[VroomDO]

As my father says, the best car is a new one. However, from my own experience, I’ve also realized that the best car is the one that is well taken care of and loved.

For some reason, I intuitively lean towards Kia cars the most, and in our company, most of the cars are of this brand, except for one Chevrolet Spark. The same dealer where we bought our Kias also sells quite a few Chinese cars, like Geely, and I’ve been eyeing them for several months now. But for some reason, my prejudices are holding me back from buying one, even though I objectively see that many of my friends and colleagues use them without any issues. Plus, I know they come with a warranty, and even if something happens, the dealer will fix it for free under the warranty.

In any case, my biggest fear is that it will be difficult to resell this car later, or that I’d have to offer a much bigger discount compared to, for example, a Kia Picanto, which always sells quickly and easily since it has a solid reputation.

 

[JD Jones]

As my father says, the best car is a new one. However, from my own experience, I’ve also realized that the best car is the one that is well taken care of and loved.

For some reason, I intuitively lean towards Kia cars the most, and in our company, most of the cars are of this brand, except for one Chevrolet Spark. The same dealer where we bought our Kias also sells quite a few Chinese cars, like Geely, and I’ve been eyeing them for several months now. But for some reason, my prejudices are holding me back from buying one, even though I objectively see that many of my friends and colleagues use them without any issues. Plus, I know they come with a warranty, and even if something happens, the dealer will fix it for free under the warranty.

In any case, my biggest fear is that it will be difficult to resell this car later, or that I’d have to offer a much bigger discount compared to, for example, a Kia Picanto, which always sells quickly and easily since it has a solid reputation.

I think for local car rentals your best bet will be the Suzuki Jimny. Have you priced them?

 

[Ecoman1949]

As my father says, the best car is a new one. However, from my own experience, I’ve also realized that the best car is the one that is well taken care of and loved.

For some reason, I intuitively lean towards Kia cars the most, and in our company, most of the cars are of this brand, except for one Chevrolet Spark. The same dealer where we bought our Kias also sells quite a few Chinese cars, like Geely, and I’ve been eyeing them for several months now. But for some reason, my prejudices are holding me back from buying one, even though I objectively see that many of my friends and colleagues use them without any issues. Plus, I know they come with a warranty, and even if something happens, the dealer will fix it for free under the warranty.

In any case, my biggest fear is that it will be difficult to resell this car later, or that I’d have to offer a much bigger discount compared to, for example, a Kia Picanto, which always sells quickly and easily since it has a solid reputation.

Totally agree with your assessment of the Kia Picanto. I rented them for years and drove them on the worst roads to explore remote North Coast beaches. My only complaint is their small engines. Good on gas mileage but not much power. I would never buy one from a rental agency. It might be one I rented.

You don’t get noticed in the DR driving a Picanto and that’s a good thing. I think some locals assumed I was poor driving around in them.

 

[Manuel01]

"Good Alternative" ? Definitely Not Anymore !
In 2023 when this was posted, my answer would have been; "maybe, all depend on the resale value".
But at this time the price difference between a Chinese car and a Kia or Hyundai was huuuugeeee (30-40%). These times are over.
If you take for example a new Kia Sportage for 37,000 US$ (the reg. model), his Chinese counterpart gonna cost you between 32-34,000$.
No way i'm going to take the a risk for this.

 

[VroomDO]

I think for local car rentals your best bet will be the Suzuki Jimny. Have you priced them?

I believe that the Suzuki Jimny is one of the best options for the Dominican Republic and for car rentals in particular, as they are practically indestructible and have been among the top 5 most reliable cars for many years. However, to be honest, I’m hesitant to get 4x4 vehicles because people who rent them are clearly planning to go somewhere where they might actually need it. Plus, I think the price of the Jimny here is significantly overpriced—a new one costs around $30,000, while for roughly the same amount, I could get two Kia Picantos, which would generate more profit.

 

[JD Jones]

I believe that the Suzuki Jimny is one of the best options for the Dominican Republic and for car rentals in particular, as they are practically indestructible and have been among the top 5 most reliable cars for many years. However, to be honest, I’m hesitant to get 4x4 vehicles because people who rent them are clearly planning to go somewhere where they might actually need it. Plus, I think the price of the Jimny here is significantly overpriced—a new one costs around $30,000, while for roughly the same amount, I could get two Kia Picantos, which would generate more profit.

That is an excellent point. And people can get in trouble with a 4 x 4 pretty quick.

 

[SKY]

BYD is coming for Tesla's lunch.....................

While American automakers struggle, BYD is aggressively expanding beyond China with superior technology and impressive sales growth. The Chinese automaker has developed a breakthrough “Super e-Platform” that enables adding 250 miles of range in just five minutes of charging, roughly four times faster than Tesla’s capabilities.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/byd-coming-teslas-lunch-090000943.html

 

[cavok]

I'm old enough to remember when "Made In Japan" implied that it was cheaply made - just an American knock-off. People need to wake up.

 

[cavok]

China vs NYC:

https://x.com/i/status/1916622658126434482

 

[tee]

A friend sent me this link the other day. Take a look at these vehicles, far more advanced than European and North American brands. Japan used to be one of the main contenders in vehicle technology but the Chinese have wiped the floor. This does not necessarily mean they are safer, but their quality are getting better and better and to attract the international market, safety needs to be their priority. Some of these cars are incredible.

 

[Manuel01]

I believe that the Suzuki Jimny is one of the best options for the Dominican Republic and for car rentals in particular, as they are practically indestructible and have been among the top 5 most reliable cars for many years. However, to be honest, I’m hesitant to get 4x4 vehicles because people who rent them are clearly planning to go somewhere where they might actually need it. Plus, I think the price of the Jimny here is significantly overpriced—a new one costs around $30,000, while for roughly the same amount, I could get two Kia Picantos, which would generate more profit.

Exactly ! You could rent a lot of small 4x4's in and around majorca and other canary islands. Almost all of the providers stopped offering them for the very same reason. People go off road and often over estimate the car or/and them self. In the end this cars were more in the garage than on the road and they could not find any company injuring them.