The Central Malaysian Flood: Impact on the Used Car Market

The Central Malaysian Floods of 2021 were devastating. The flooding displaced tens of thousands, and damage is severe. How did the flood impact the used car market?

Floods damaged numerous cars and homes across the Peninsula and those affected will have to rebuild. As such, the budgets of the affected people have to tighten as they pick up the pieces. New furniture, food, and vehicles may need to be purchased to replaced those lost in the flood. As much as RM20 billion worth of goods, household appliances, private property were effected by the flood.

Despite all this, there is a pressing need for transportation options. Public transport is still not a popular option as fears of the Omicron variant is detected in the country. This is on top of a chip shortage that slows down the production of new cars. Although used cars have begun to meet that demand, some roadblocks still remain.

Obstacles

Fear of flooded used cars

Used cars do not have the best reputation in Malaysia. Some used car dealers have swindled some unwary buyers, resulting in a general distrust for used cars. Now with the possibility of hastily repaired used cars inundated by the flood entering the market, buyers may be extra wary.

Budget

Another issue is the limited budget of survivors. With many citizens reeling from the impact of the flood, not many are able to obtain insurance compensation for their vehicles. This is not considering the damages that may have occurred to their homes and businesses.

myTukar

myTukar is Malaysia’s fastest growing digital used car platform, that provides good service that is transparent and reliable. So when myTukar held the myTukar Autofair 2022 from 7th to 9th January, 443 cars were booked. This goes to show that used cars are a product Malaysians wish to buy, provided the service is reliable, efficient, and trustworthy.

On top of that, myTukar is now providing free flood insurance provided it is bought within a certain period. Assurances and promotions like these may reduce the impact on the automotive sector caused by the flooding, and may even encourage the sale of used cars.

All in all, used cars don’t seem to be going away and may be encouraged by the flood’s impact. The shortage of chips and the used car industry’s promotions to keep used car sales growing may even turn around the reputation of used cars as affordable and reliable.