Demand and price of used cars go up

Most used car dealers in Johor Baru are enjoying good business now. — THOMAS YONG/The Star

DEMAND for used cars is on the rise since Malaysia began transitioning to the endemic phase of Covid-19 on April 1 this year.

It saw all restrictions on business operating hours removed, allowing Malaysians to return to a near-normal life after almost two years of battling the pandemic.

Best Vision Motor Sdn Bhd salesman Faizal Zahari said the move also brought a positive impact to used car dealers as the price of such vehicles went up.

“On average, the price has increased between 20% and 30% since April,” he said when met at the outlet.

The 38-year-old said most used car dealers in Johor Baru enjoyed good business as more people were buying used cars.

He said the two years of the Covid-19 pandemic affected the production of new cars as the automotive industry worldwide faced a shortage of microchips for new vehicles.

“This resulted in a long wait for buyers to get their new car, between six and 12 months,” he added.

Faizal said this prompted customers, especially first-time car buyers, to go for used cars as they could get these fast provided their loan applications to financial institutions were approved.

He also said that existing car owners traded their cars for bigger models, adding that this group made up 50% of the company’s customer base.

PP Beast Motor sales executive Daniel Choong said 2020 and 2021 saw many car owners selling their cars due to the pandemic’s negative impact.

He said vehicle owners either decided to downgrade from a bigger car to a medium or smaller model during that period, or sold their other cars and retained just one.

“The market is slowly improving and now the price of used cars has increased between 10% and 15%,’’ said Choong, 28.

He said Honda and Toyota remained the top two choices of Malaysians buying used cars, while BMW and Volkswagen were sought-after models in the luxury segment.

“Cars registered from 2015 onwards and clocked an average mileage of 10,000km or below yearly are selling well.”

He said the opening of the country’s international borders this year also had a positive impact on used car dealers in Johor Baru.

“Most of the locals working in Singapore, who were stuck in the republic when the borders between the two countries were closed, are back in Johor Baru.

“We have seen more locals working in Singapore buying cars from us in recent months due to the stronger Singapore dollar,” said Choong.

He noted that more customers from Batu Pahat, Kota Tinggi and Muar were buying used cars from dealers in Johor Baru as there was a wider range of choice compared with the ones in the three districts.