Shades of grey: what are the disadvantages of buying an "alternative" car

Russians still buy Toyota Camry and BMW X5. Last year, more than 180,000 new cars were imported into Russia through alternative channels. More than half of this amount is accounted for by the products of companies that stopped official deliveries to Russia in 2022. Izvestia found out what the pros and cons of buying such cars are.

"Monjaro" or "Camry"

Sergey Tselikov, CEO of the analytical center, estimated the volume of alternative deliveries of new cars in 2024 at 181.2 thousand units. They can be roughly divided into two groups, Tselikov noted in his Telegram channel. The first is Chinese models, and some of them are officially supplied to the Russian Federation, but importation to an individual is cheaper. The leaders here are Geely Monjaro and Coolray. Lixiang L7 and L9, Zeekr 001 are also among the most popular, and Chinese models accounted for 46.5% of imports in 2024.

The second group, which accounts for 53.5%, are models of European, American, Japanese, and South Korean brands that stopped official deliveries of cars to Russia in 2022. The Toyota Camry sedan became the most popular in this group, accounting for 6.1%. The Toyota RAV4 crossover is in second place (5.5%), and the BMW X5 is in third (3.1%). The top 10 also includes Hyundai Elantra (3.0%), Kia Seltos (2.4%), BMW X7 (2.2%), Lexus RX (2.0%) Toyota Land Cruiser 300 (2.0%), Mazda CX-5 (2.0%) and Mitsubishi Outlander (1.8%).

— The rating of "alternative models" turned out to be very dense and in the second ten (with a market share of 1.4%-1.8%) there are very worthy competitors: RAM 1500, Chevrolet Monza, Mercedes G-class, BMW X3, Range Rover, BMW X6, Toyota Corolla, Skoda Kodiaq, KIA Sportage and Mercedes GLS-class, — said Sergey Tselikov.

They come out cheaper

And the interest in Chinese cars supplied by alternative routes is due to the affordability and expansion of the range, Irina Frank, CEO of Frank Auto, told Izvestia.

— Chinese brands are actively filling the niche left after the departure of Western brands, offering modern design, technological equipment and at the same time maintaining low cost, — says Irina Frank.

The popularity of the Geely Monjaro is primarily due to a kind of inertia, Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem, told Izvestia.

— Previously, the difference in the price of the official and alternative models reached 1.5 million rubles. Now it is significantly lower, however, there is still a demand for them. Other "Chinese", like Zeekr or Lixiang, are not officially represented at all, therefore they are supplied through alternative channels.

The choice of conservatives

The choice of models of "traditional" brands is associated with the conservatism of car owners, says Igor Morzharetto, partner of Autostat.

— A person drives a Mercedes to the last, and then also buys a Mercedes because he does not find an alternative to it, — he believes.

He also noted that Chinese cars have not been able to replace legacy models in some segments. So, despite the appearance of many Chinese sedans on the Russian market, they have not been able to match the popularity of the Toyota Camry, which was previously consistently included in the bestseller list of the market. And sedan owners are probably the most conservative part of buyers, Morgiaretto noted.;

Appreciated for quality

Brand loyalty and a shortage of new cars of familiar quality play an important role, Irina Frank notes.

— Models like the Toyota Camry or BMW X5 have been associated with reliability, status and comfort for decades. Buyers are willing to overpay for their import through third countries in order to maintain access to proven solutions. Toyota Camry is in the lead — a pattern. Her reputation for being "unkillable" outweighs even the import difficulties," she said.

Irina Frank also drew attention to the fact that many of the listed brands (Lexus RX, Mercedes) have a well-developed service infrastructure in Russia, which reduces the risks of ownership.

— Even the "garage" craftsmen are able to repair popular models of well-known brands. In addition, their high liquidity in the secondary market makes the purchase attractive for investment," she noted.

Without guarantees

At the same time, the alternative import market requires caution from the buyer. Chinese cars are attracted by the price, and global brands are attracted by the familiar quality. However, in both cases, the key risk is the lack of guarantees, Irina Frank notes.

Among the disadvantages of "gray" cars, she also mentions repair problems, difficulties with spare parts — the original ones have to wait for months.
There are also legal risks.: Not all imported cars comply with the EAEU technical regulations, which can lead to problems during registration.

Surcharges and fines

The buyer of an "alternative" car has a risk of running into an unscrupulous seller who imported the car according to various "gray" schemes, said vice-president of the National Automobile Union Jan Heitser. In this case, the buyer may be subject to claims related to the need for additional payment of scrap and customs duties.

— When buying a car delivered through alternative channels, it must be remembered that payment for it must be made only by wire transfer, through a bank. Payment in cash, including when transferring funds to a card (in any currency), if the seller is not a resident of the Russian Federation, will be a violation of currency legislation. This threatens the buyer with a large fine — up to 40% of the transfer amount," said Haitser.

The expert also recalled that alternative models may not have certain functions in our country, and there are difficulties with the Russification of multimedia.