BATAM: A Proton Perdana V6 or Waja 1.6A for half the price? Believe it, if you are in this Indonesian island where smuggled cars are so easy to get that second-hand dealers even offer discounts due to stiff competition.
Just walk into any dealer and chances are that you could drive away in a Perdana V6 for S$13,500 (RM31,500) or a Waja 1.6A for S$12,000 (RM27,000).
You can also rent the cars for RM100 to RM120 per day with discounts of 20% for monthly rentals or one month free for six-month rentals.
But the recent oil price increase has made Proton cars less attractive with the smuggling syndicates, as these cars are considered “too expensive to maintain.”
Syndicates are now targeting Japanese cars, brought in from Singapore and Malaysia in containers and sand barges.
Arifin, 34, a fisherman who is familiar with the activities of the syndicates, said the barges would “drop off” foreign cars in Kampung Nelayan, about 20km from the city, between midnight and 4am.
“You will know that a shipment is coming that night as there will suddenly be a lot of people on the beach,” he said, adding that within minutes after arriving, the cars would be driven away.
Local mechanic Attan, 30, said many of the cars in Batam were smuggled ones.
“I do not have many customers with Proton cars, which tend to break down easily, especially on our roads which are full of potholes,” he said.
A check by The Star found that the island of about 700,000 people, mostly involved in manufacturing, construction and tourism, had quite a number of Toyota Camrys, Harriers, Unsers and Altises; Honda CRVs; Mitsubishi Storms and Mercedes-Benz C200s.
A saleswoman at Batam Centre said Toyota and Honda models from Malaysia were popular with the locals.
Asked whether documentation was a problem, she said all the cars had been refurbished and came with a complete set of Indonesian documents.
However, increased enforcement after cars worth some RM20mil were found in a warehouse here last year has reduced the number of foreign cars coming here.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Musa Hassan had led a team to Batam island last year to meet their Indonesian counterparts to negotiate for the return of stolen vehicles.
Just walk into any dealer and chances are that you could drive away in a Perdana V6 for S$13,500 (RM31,500) or a Waja 1.6A for S$12,000 (RM27,000).
You can also rent the cars for RM100 to RM120 per day with discounts of 20% for monthly rentals or one month free for six-month rentals.
But the recent oil price increase has made Proton cars less attractive with the smuggling syndicates, as these cars are considered “too expensive to maintain.”
Syndicates are now targeting Japanese cars, brought in from Singapore and Malaysia in containers and sand barges.
Arifin, 34, a fisherman who is familiar with the activities of the syndicates, said the barges would “drop off” foreign cars in Kampung Nelayan, about 20km from the city, between midnight and 4am.
“You will know that a shipment is coming that night as there will suddenly be a lot of people on the beach,” he said, adding that within minutes after arriving, the cars would be driven away.
Local mechanic Attan, 30, said many of the cars in Batam were smuggled ones.
“I do not have many customers with Proton cars, which tend to break down easily, especially on our roads which are full of potholes,” he said.
A check by The Star found that the island of about 700,000 people, mostly involved in manufacturing, construction and tourism, had quite a number of Toyota Camrys, Harriers, Unsers and Altises; Honda CRVs; Mitsubishi Storms and Mercedes-Benz C200s.
A saleswoman at Batam Centre said Toyota and Honda models from Malaysia were popular with the locals.
Asked whether documentation was a problem, she said all the cars had been refurbished and came with a complete set of Indonesian documents.
However, increased enforcement after cars worth some RM20mil were found in a warehouse here last year has reduced the number of foreign cars coming here.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Musa Hassan had led a team to Batam island last year to meet their Indonesian counterparts to negotiate for the return of stolen vehicles.
