Are you referring to an exoneration that allows a one time tax break?
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
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- Start date
Do you have any experience buying a new car in the DR?
Are you referring to an exoneration that allows a one time tax break?
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
No. Persons who buy cars and import them one at a time (or 2) pay taxes and resell
Those are some seriously high margins. Most registered dealers who import used vehicles for a living only average $2,500.00 a car.......and they do get a tax break.......and are buying at dealer wholesale auctions.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
thus is the only country that I have heard of were cars sit unsold for a year?...In some of the dealers in the USA ...used cars have a 90 day rule, after 90 days they go to the auto auction and are sold...new cars never sit long as you can trade them to another dealer for a different car..when I was general manager if cars sat to long unsold we got a different manager...If a new car in the DR sits for a year unsold, that means the dealership paid interest $$ on that car every month for 12 months...now that car is a year older and the dealership ownes it for way to much money... once again Dominican business logic?...........
So to be clear about a dealership, I was thinking ahead to the day the check engine light comes on or some other repair work that might take diagnostics. My local mechanic recently met an impasse on the Nissan I own. He could read only so much and said the car makers are sharing less and less info. They want that car back in their shop. Most mechanics don't want to shell out thousands for the software of each make and model. For that reason I figured to drive something that could potentially need a dealership. Up to that point I'll find a shade tree mechanic for the little stuff.
the last place you want to buy a used car, is at a dealer ( and the prices are not wholsale} auction... the new car dealers in the USA sell their garbage used cars there and most of the time for to much... the new cars dealers get their good used cars as a trade in... if someone is buying used cars at the auction then repairing them and then importing them to the DR...well good luck to them...cant imagine any seriously high margins. and if they are making about 2.5 k per car thats more than the people I know importing........
I see some wrecks arriving - wrecked
They repair them here and sell them......
Imagine what little they paid in the US for a wreck
They repair them here and sell them......
Imagine what little they paid in the US for a wreck
You have touched upon the very reason that independent mechanic shops numbers will rapidly decline in the not to distant future.
The answer lies in the sophisticated software/electronics in the newer vehicles and the manufacturers making it prohibitively expensive for all but the larger mechanic repair operations to survive.
By way of example, full diagnostic software for each make can run thousands of dollars per year. Add in that the software becomes obsolete and requires an upgrade subscription annually and the handwriting is on the wall. Smaller independents will be priced out of the market AND even if they could afford it, they will require computer skills to not only diagnose the problem, but to reprogram the software to fix the problem. Gone are the days when a cursory knowledge of mechanical components was enough to inspect/work on these new sophisticated automobiles.
To be sure there will always be a need for those who can do brakes/change tires/change fluids etc...........but this where it will end. The need for a dealer or at least the tools the dealer has to both diagnose and fix a problem are fast approaching.
The rapid changes in the automobile industry have accelerated beginning with the 2016/2017 model years, such that the average car starting in 2016/2017 had more computer chips controlling the vehicle than an F35 fighter plane.
Those buying or bringing into the DR any car manufactured from 2016/2017 and newer will need the services of the dealer or a large well equipped independent for all but the simplest of tasks..........and you are 100% correct in your assessment of things.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
We will agree to disagree on that point.
The bulk of used cars being sold today originate at dealer auctions.
Since vehicles cannot be imported into the DR more than 5 years old, and since the average person keeps their car 6 years and then trades it in, where/what is the source for most vehicles coming into the DR?
The answer is from leasing returns. Those returns are sent to auction and bought by both new/used car dealers for their inventory. Gone are the days when dealers had enough supply from trade-ins. One of my clients represents Element Financial, formerly PHH, when they bring inventory to market in the Northeast. Element is now the worlds largest fleet manager. They provide more cars coming off leases of 1,2,3 years then anyone else in the world. And those cars are run through the major wholesale auction companies, many with the residual factory warranty in place.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
And that is the exact reason I will never buy another Mercedes. My ML broke when I drove it through a puddle. Yeah, an SUV that broke in a puddle! Water got inside the transmission ECU that is bolted on the transmission case itself. When it broke down, I couldn't even move the car. It was stuck in P and all four wheels locked. We had to squirt oil under the tyres to drag it onto the recovery truck.
I recovered it home, where I have a comprehensive workshop and equipment. I plugged in my Mercedes Star diagnostic laptop and it told me that the transmission ECU had a fault. I went on eBay to search for one. They were going for around $600. I was just about to buy one, when I discovered that you couldn't just buy a second hand one, bolt it on and drive it away. It needed to be coded. No problem, I thought. I have a workshop level diagnosis computer and software. Then I found out that the level of coding for this ECU was only released by Mercedes and you had to connect to an authorised Mercedes server and download a key to code it to the car. Why? I never understood that.
I took the ECU apart. Even that was designed not be to taken apart. It had one special screw that needed a special shaped key to undo it. I drilled it out. When I opened it, I discovered that it had a hole at the top open to atmosphere and no drain hole at the bottom. It was deliberately DESIGNED to fail if water got into it. I drained out the water. Treated it with a healthy dose of WD40, bolted it back on and it worked.
I called Autozama, the Mercedes dealership in Santiago. They quoted me $2,500 to replace and code the transmission ECU.
I sold the car the next day...........
And bought a Toyota!
I do not own late model vehicles 2016/2017+ here in 🇩🇴 .
But I thank all for the heads up on the dangers of doing so.
I have a mechanic that works in a large independent shop.
For the basics, he makes sure I get treated right.
When I am not being treated right we hit the road.
Literally‼️
On his off time he shops or finds a repair shop to handle the problem for me.
I met him some where or he comes to where I am and we roll.
I do not intend to tell anyone else how to handle all of their problems.
Just to show that there are options.
Options presented to me by 🇩🇴s who did not want me to get 🔥
If companies who manufacture vehicles are going to hold you hostage when they break down there will be a consumer revolt.
And the revolution will not be televised...
But I thank all for the heads up on the dangers of doing so.
I have a mechanic that works in a large independent shop.
For the basics, he makes sure I get treated right.
When I am not being treated right we hit the road.
Literally‼️
On his off time he shops or finds a repair shop to handle the problem for me.
I met him some where or he comes to where I am and we roll.
I do not intend to tell anyone else how to handle all of their problems.
Just to show that there are options.
Options presented to me by 🇩🇴s who did not want me to get 🔥
If companies who manufacture vehicles are going to hold you hostage when they break down there will be a consumer revolt.
And the revolution will not be televised...
If the title is stamped " SALVAGE" in most states in the USA, it cant be fixed and resoid in a dealership, and must private buyers will not purchase... Its the kiss of death to the wrecked car...sooo why not bring the car here wrecked, have the title washed by getting new DR papers that wont have the word salvage on it....repair the car and triple your money by selling on the intrnet....old game, in a new country.........
You must agree the worst place to buy a used car is at a auto auction the average person in the USA keeps thier new car about 2.5 to 3 years... the big reason for this is the cheapest way to buy a new car is on a 3 year lease...If you want to buy say a few camrys you mostly have to buy them from Toyota motor credit, and then you have to be a toyota dealer...even if you get some lease returns and try to advance them in thr DR you would have to pay to much for them to make much profit......A better way to get high quality used cars a few years old is what I did when I was used car manager....First thing every morning I would watch the used car for sale on the internet and then make some calls and have the people bring the car to the dealership and ask for me....most days I could buy 1 or 2 cars from private owners...now if you did that today say in Miami your profit would be at least double what you will make on a lease return that you resell in the DR... and yes I got paid extra for every used car I purchased...............
According to a Dominican I know that brings in cars from Florida he says the Dominican government will not allow that. The cars can't be write offs. They have to be driveable to import and yes the rest of the repairs and painting can be done here.
Bob yes I know what the law here says....but people overlook the law here for $$.........
The wrecks I talking about aren't 100% wrecked........
But a lot of body/fender work needed.......
not the Tiger Woods type of wreck
But a lot of body/fender work needed.......
not the Tiger Woods type of wreck
To clarify some information here.
Every state in the US has so-called "salvage" title laws and every state allows "salvage" vehicles to be repaired and sold by dealers and individuals with few exceptions. Some of that "salvage" however can get a further branded title FPO (For Parts Only). And some of the vehicles branded "salvage" are truly beyond repair.................but many are not. When it is just not economically feasible for the insurance company to pay for those repairs, or the vehicle has been missing for a certain period of time, they declare a total insurance loss and cut the check. That does not mean the car is not repairable.
Once repaired, those vehicles are re-inspected, re-branded, and can return back into the stream of commerce without a "salvage" title.
Fast forwarding to the DR..................salvage title vehicles by law are not allowed into the country. That having been said, the DR being the DR, there likely are "salvage" vehicles coming in on a very limited basis.
What is allowed in are repaired "salvage" vehicles carrying a re-branded title. Those vehicles are allowed in after being repaired, re-branded, and registered for at least one year outside the country prior to entry.
Examples of re-branded title vehicle categories that can enter the DR include, but are not limited to, Prior collision, Prior theft, Prior fire, Prior water (salt or fresh) Prior wind, Prior hail. Not all "salvage" is what the word conjures up.
Without getting into a lengthy discussion, would you consider 35 new Lexus' with hail damage to their roof panels "salvage." The insurance company did, and they received "salvage" titles and were sold to a buyer and after repair and re-inspection were given branded titles as prior hail damage and then re-sold.
Or 400 new Toyotas sitting in a desert staging area in California that were literally opaque on one side after having been sandblasted by the desert sand during an event precipitated by the Santa Ana winds.
Or a new Volvo stolen from Palm Beach County Volvo of Florida with the keys and driven to a parking garage in Hartford, Connecticut and abandoned for several months and then found. The insured was then paid off, the insurance company then declared the vehicle a total loss, gave it a "salvage" designation, sent it to a salvage auction, where it was purchased, inspected and re-branded as a Prior Theft.
Those are but three of the many examples of "salvage" I have been involved in for some of my clients over the years.
Worth noting however, is that none of my Dominican auto dealer clients will bring in a re-branded vehicle unless personally requested to and paid for by one of their clients.
One final point, the DR does not carry the out of country re-branded title over to the DR. If allowed to enter it receives a regular matricula without designation.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
We will again agree to disagree.
Most car dealers from the humblest to the largest buy at auto auctions. There is no other way for a dealer to secure enough product in a timely and convenient manner or to get the make, model and type they are seeking other than through auction.
The average person keeps their car about 6 years, not 2.5-3. This incidentally tends to coincide with the length of the average car loan. And the average age of cars registered and on the road to day is over 11 years;
Just to clarify, a lease is not a buy, but merely a long term rental........otherwise referred to as a Lease.
And no you do not have to be a Toyota dealer to buy at auction from Toyota Motor Credit. TMC runs OPEN auctions (open to any licensed dealer) every week at every major auction house nationwide.....as do all the major manufacturers. Two of my current vehicles, one residing in the DR, are TMC purchased. Closed sales are all but a relic of a bygone era.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2