Cheap luxury cars may be clones, warns transport department

Temptations and desire to own an imported luxury car may force a consumer to be ignorant of the fact that they may be buying cloned cars cheaply. Despite being aware that these are cloned cars, some are willing to take the risk and buy them when the syndicates offer them at low prices. State Road Transport Department (RTD) director Abdul Rahman Emang Anyie said not only will these vehicles be impounded, the owners will also be fined between RM5,000 to RM20,000 for each offence, once charged in court. He said during the first two months of this year, 22 cloned cars worth more than RM1 million had been detected in Terengganu, with Kuala Terengganu, Kemaman, and Dungun districts registering the most cases. "For instance, a Honda Odyssey with a market value of more than RM100,000 is sold by the syndicate for as cheap as RM10,000 to RM12,000 a unit. "Because of this, many people are attracted to such offers while the syndicates are also aggressively promoting them, contacting their targets by phone or through the social media," he said when met at his office in Kuala Terengganu today. He added that the cloned cars usually do not have road tax or valid registration plates, but the syndicates would come up with false registration numbers to convince the buyers. Abdul Rahman also said the RTD was working with other agencies to increase enforcement efforts to detect cloned cars in the state. He said in the last two to three years, there was an increase in the number of luxury cars. "They will suffer the consequences when they are stopped by the authorities or involved in an accident because they may not have insurance coverage and valid registration numbers," he said. – Bernama, February 28, 2016.]]>