Handshake
Words by Allen Brown
With the growing number of car makes and car dealers, there is stiff competition when it comes to car sales across the world. In Singapore, you can have the choice of buying your car from parallel importers or from authorised dealers or distributors. Since buying a car can be a significant investment, you need to choose wisely from which outlet you are buying your car from. To help you with your car purchase decision-making, parallel importers (PIs) and authorised dealers (ADs) will be discussed further below.
What are Parallel Importers and Authorised Dealers?
We will need to first define what these two important terms are to be able to proceed with discussing the benefits and possible drawbacks that they have.
Firstly, parallel importers purchase directly from the countries where the cars are made and then import them to Singapore. If you examine closely, a parallel importer is more like a reseller of cars. Parallel importation of cars is perfectly legal, but you are advised to take caution and buy from licensed and established parallel importers if you go for them.
Authorised dealers on another part, are companies that have exclusive rights to sell a particular car brand. Getting dealerships to need capital, an impressive showroom distribution fees, and other requirements. Examples of authorised dealers are Tan Chong Motors for Nissan cars and Borneo Motors for Toyota cars.
Pricing
When it comes to pricing, parallel importers have cheaper prices than authorised dealers. This is because authorised dealers pay fees for their distribution rights and have high overhead costs. Parallel importers, on the other hand, do not undergo these fees aside from importation costs, and thus offer their car prices at a lower rate than authorised dealers.
Car Model Choices
When it comes to exclusivity, authorised dealers (ADs) can offer different car models and a wide range of options from the same car brand. You can still choose car models from the previous years from Toyota, Nissan, Honda and other brands exclusively distributed by ADs.
Parallel importers (PIs) on the other hand will give you a wide choice of car brand options. They are not bound by any distribution contract, so they can resell different car models. Most trusted and reputed PIs have great showrooms and also have online sites where you can place your orders. You can check out this site for more car models from reputable PIs in Singapore. With PIs, you get the flexibility of options when it comes to car brands and models that you are particularly looking for.
Car Quality
A misconception about parallel importers is that their car models come from countries with lower operation costs, like Malaysia and Thailand. Actually, licensed and established PIs buy and import their vehicles from the car brand’s country of origin. Thus, Japanese brands like Honda, Toyota and Mazda are imported by PIs from Japan. Thus, when it comes to car quality and workmanship, PI cars are at par or even better than those from authorised dealers (ADs).
Warranty, Servicing and Spare Parts
Both PI and AD offer free labor servicing and warranty. The good thing about this is that car owners do not have to pay for the labor cost during servicing, and only need to spend on parts and fluid replacements such as brakes, oil, and filters. When it comes to warranty coverage, PIs and ADs have their coverage aspects that you be free to discuss with their respective representatives.
When it comes to replacement or spare parts, ADs have a comprehensive and larger stock compared to PIs and they are readily available when requested. However, PIs compensates for this by ordering the parts from the country of origin, which still guarantees the quality of the replacement parts.
Whichever option you go for when buying your cars, both authorised dealers and parallel importers can deliver the car type you need. Each outlet has its own advantages and disadvantages, so you need to weigh your options or get expert advice from their representatives. After all, you’ll be driving your new car for quite a while, so be sure to get one that stays with you for a long time and coming from a reliable outlet.