Another Jover Chew case—this time, it’s not handphones but cars. And it’s not $1,000 but $10,000

Last Updated on 2016-05-30 , 9:36 am

“If it’s too good to be true, then it probably is” is so true in Singapore, when everything is about money, money and money.

Apparently, about fifty buyers paid the deposit for parallel imported cars (they’re new cars; I’ll explain later). According to many, the full price of the car is lower than other dealers. During that time, some people were already skeptical about the low price in online forums, with them saying that there have been delays in the delivery of their cars. However, some netizens dismissed those online heads-ups, thinking that they are merely competitors of the shop.

And recently, buyers’ cars were not delivered and the shop was closed. More than twenty buyers turned up at the shop, but honestly speaking, it could have been another Jover Chew case—run, hide and disappear.

Well, the lesson learned: It’s just too good to be true.

Some Singaporeans already have a stereotypical view of second-hand car dealers: the dealers often force buyers to pay some outrageous admin fee up to $1,000, promise that the condition of the pre-owned car is of tip-top condition and lie about the details of the previous owners.

So, buying from a first-hand dealer should be safe, right?

But this isn’t a second-hand car dealer. It’s a parallel importer.

To put things into context, let me explain what a parallel imported car is. A typical car like Honda Civic is brought in into Singapore by an authorized distributor, so should anything go wrong, one can go back to the distributor. It is usually a large company and prices are usually slightly higher. Think of it as buying Apple iPhone from EpiCentre—everything is transparent and EpiCentre has a reputation to maintain.

For a parallel imported car, it usually is a car model that is not brought by the authorized distributor due to the lack of demand. Buyers looking to buy cars that are not common on the roads will look for parallel imported cars.

In other words, they thought it was safe. Apparently not.

I wonder whether, ten years from now, we would all be buying our stuff direct from retailers that are fully endorsed and authorized by the distributor. Or we would pay more, for nowadays, “cheap” doesn’t mean “low quality” anymore. It means “scam”.