Shahrir: APs should be abolished!

ShahrirMinister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Datuk Shahrir Samad is of the opinion that the Approved Permits system (which are used to control the import of CBU cars into Malaysia, amongst other things) should be abolished.

In a report in this week’s The Edge Weekly, Datuk Shahrir said despite the government saying Approved Permits are more of a formality rather than a control system, they can be a barrier and be open to abuse. The Approved Permits system has to be abolished to prevent a group of local companies from forming a cartel to keep prices high and hold back supplies.

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Paul Tan

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Comments

  • mytouch (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 3:26 am

    Yes,he is rite,i totally agree with Sharir opinion,for the sake of rakyat & this country future.

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  • adunadun (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 4:10 am

    i am low budget people. bring me RM1000 car….hohoho
    dreaming…. good move….so what we waiting for?? have to wait til 50 years more?

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  • charles27 (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 4:35 am

    haiya… trying to make rakyat happy again…
    there is always part 2 in the story..
    when we cancel AP.. we will later implement other tax. HAHA!!
    ownership tax..bla..bla.. bla..

    yala.. try avoid certain company from profit.
    But doesnt say want help rakyat ma.. by paying less.
    yalaa.. later bring in ferrari or AMG with lower or no AP.. still.. who afford to own those car neh? haiya.. think he is the first one to buy one. :D

    haiya.. as long potong is still in this bolehland… there will be AP and import tax to protect them ‘indirectly’. Another new tax will appear to fill the blank hole.

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  • azrai (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 6:50 am

    I think what Shahrir mean is the other AP than cars such as rice, flour, and sugar for example. When many importers instead of now ‘monopoly’ policy which contribute to the birth of “Raja Gula”, “Raja Tepung” and other “Raja”, they will be more competitive pricing if many importers are allowed to do so. So the government maybe don’t need to subsidy as much as now. beside the car AP is under MITI nort his jurisdiction.

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  • Capt Shopalot (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 7:30 am

    So agree with my hands and kaki up

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  • normaluser (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 8:11 am

    He should brought the issue to the Dewan Rakyat, and get the MPs votes to ammend the existing bills. By only giving opinion to a newspaper won’t do much good.

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  • King Samurai (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 8:20 am

    Agree with u charles27..

    AP go but another tax regime will come… MPs tried to win our heartlah konon…enough la…No AP means no ‘funder’ to the next election campaign..

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  • 4G63T DSM (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 8:29 am

    I will believe it when I see it.

    As of right now, they would say anything or “do” anything to win back popular votes after the embarassment in the last election.

    Even if they abolish APs, cars here are still taxed to death and there are many rules of what other car makers can make or price their cars. These are all artificial barriers to protect Proton…and to make someone very rich.

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  • sxe10r (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 8:29 am

    u wan to free tax ?? dreaming la … all empty talking … P1 is here … at less ppl together donlt buy it … make it bankarp … i think got chance la drive a japan new car with original price … FUSE !! ..

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  • raybrig85 (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 8:39 am

    politician try to win hati rakyat…go to hell..u ban ap..then come other crap tax thing…same oso…

    selagi ade potong…guyz…dun dream to gt a very2 low price for jap or conti cars…

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  • kevin62 (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 8:44 am

    Should be 1 of the NATO group again..

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  • epal10 (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 8:50 am

    APs is business for gov. i don’t think gov will abolish it.If they do that there is another way to make sure all the import cars prices remains unchanged. Furthermore, to AP holders still kaya..

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  • xg9 (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 9:03 am

    u have 50 ministers, 1 minister think ap should be abolished… but the rest dont agree… or, you have 50 ministers, 50 of them think it should be abolished. but their boss says cannot…… anyways, thats just his opinion only… everybody can say that…

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  • hamster (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 9:30 am

    lets wait n c..only gon b a few yrs to c all these ‘new minister’ talkin shit or not..

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  • jolly_idiot (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 9:55 am

    Huh? Is he toking KOK? I wonder what will happen to NAZA or CC if this really happens.

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  • nanashisan (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 9:58 am

    the source is from The Edge. im not sure about this news.
    if it is true, it will not implemented this year. 2 years before next election perhaps.

    i do think by abolishing AP will reduced the price to be competitive with other car dealers. for example, last time i still remember naza brought a batch of honda stream CBU at rm180k and it is sold out after a few days or 1 day. then later honda brought stream CBU at rm140k and come with 3 years warranty.

    perhaps after the abolishment of AP, the price of naza stream will be priced almost similar with official honda stream or maybe the naza stream price is lesser with lesser warranty/no warranty. same pricing applied to naza’s mazda model which paul posted before which is greyed imported against mazda official imported, soon. hehehe

    however, the tax structure will be the same as before.

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  • the stik (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 10:01 am

    yes aku setuju.. err mr paul, yesterday i snap some pics while drivin, maybe the new kembara.. u want?

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  • kjryth (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 10:27 am

    yadda yadda yadda, cakap cakap oni can lah… like most of ppl here, i oni believe the system is gone, when it is GONE…. not trusting any of these sweet talking BN MP lah……

    in my view, those words are meant to appease ppl oni, the GE mood is still no good for BN weak government…

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  • infinity (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 10:53 am

    i have faith in wat shahrir is saying…he’s no normal politician..he has a long history of voicing up against the government, even though he’s member of umno and bn..but whether his idea will be accepted by the cabinet or not, it’s still questionable…as the cabinet need to have a “collective” agreement..

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  • aesthari (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 11:29 am

    While I am seriously hopeful APs will be abolished, I highly doubt it’s gonna happen anytime soon :(

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  • RM (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 11:43 am

    The perenial problem of the vehicle AP policy is the “say one thing do another thing” syndrome. AP’s are not meant to be bartered but they are and practice is continuing and it remains a hidden cost in OTR.

    Reduce the supply of AP’s and OTR goes up. Do the opposite and increase competition, reduce monopolistic power, and then we have volatile car prices. Then second hand car values nosedive, trade-in volumes contract and new car sales contract. Banks risk management practices kick in, then HP freezes and interest rates go up.

    When all of this happens, then MITI will be forced to do u-turn and issue open AP’s all over again (which they did last year). As much as I admire Shahrir, he won’t survive for even a round in the ring with the AP kings.

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  • jaygan (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 12:14 pm

    So when ???? ASAP ??

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  • BanyakMasukWorkshop (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 12:20 pm

    charles27 , you should get your facts right or at least know the background of the AP system. firstly, its has nothing to do with proton, or proton existing. even if proton is gone tommorow, the AP system will still be around and continuing to benefit the same small select group of people who have been abusing it for so long.

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  • MyviKiller (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 12:23 pm

    kevin62 said,
    March 31, 2008 @ 8:44 am

    Should be 1 of the NATO group again..
    —————————————————————-

    NATO = No Action, Talk Only?!

    Now lets see Nutsy-muddin’s strategy if it’s really abolished.

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  • e-nabilll (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 12:59 pm

    actually if u read the whole article in the EDGE ….mostly he talks about price controls of food and building materials which should be based on open market rather than controls which leads to inefficiency and abuse…..only small talk in APs…..

    but we have heard this one before….wen 99% of ordinary ppl are against APs…and it stil exists in the system..that tells u alot….

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  • bmpower (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 1:06 pm

    correct correct correct..

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  • ryan_foong80 (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 1:38 pm

    i will scream loudly AGREE!!!…..

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  • waimak (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 1:48 pm

    It should be interesting to see the many statements made by new MPs this year.

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  • the stik (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 1:48 pm

    dun hope too much aa.. diorang borak2 ayam je kot?

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  • car_craze (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 2:24 pm

    Charles27….you are not thinking like an AP King..if you got APs why would you bring in cheap cars to compete with Proton? It is more profitable to bring in exortic cars like high end Mercs, BeeMeers, Bugattis, Ferarris, Porches, Lambos, Maybachs, etc, etc to maximise your profits from filthy rich here..
    But then, if you got APs you would not be blogging at Paul Tan’s right?

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  • wong (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 2:47 pm

    In a report in this week’s The Edge Weekly, Datuk Shahrir said despite the government saying Approved Permits are more of a formality rather than a control system, they can be a barrier and be open to abuse.
    ==============================================
    Agreed,….Abuse means ‘to use wrongly with harmful results’….just like drugs,alcohol,language,blogs,child,power,..etc,etc…bla,bla,bla….

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  • swong (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 2:57 pm

    So good in talking and lay out plan which never been realized for general public but good for the $$$ colony (The VIPs that always think of themself only)

    Wondering whether he is threatening AP King to include him into $$$$$$$$$$$$ colony. Seems like the $$$ colony is getting bigger and bigger and they are hoping for much bigger CAKE too.

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  • faizfadil (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 3:03 pm

    YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Destroy AP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really REALLY hate it

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  • Roti Naan (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 3:39 pm

    hahahhaa!!!!…what a joke!!! Abolish AP?? yeah, then COW can fly oredi…

    The biggest culprit that caused cars prices soooo sky high is PROTON and the GOVT. Let Proton begone la!!!

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  • lchan (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 4:07 pm

    these type of comments from the government are not productive and constructive. Statements like these can cause a suddenly slow down in the auto industry cause those in business to suffer. If they plan to make statements like these, they need to commit and commit with a date.

    Many will loss money with their current buy, but if it doesn’t start now, it will start tomorrow. I rather it now.

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  • keretakura (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 4:17 pm

    Should make this statement BEFORE election HA HA HA, anyway now is new minister BUT same PM maa …

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  • mukhri88 (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 4:37 pm

    Ah to sleep, perchance to dream…. if only we could see immediate change in policies. Dream on, even if Permudah agency work until they puke blood, still take years or at least very near to next election that we see any action taken to make rakyat happy. I.E. prices go down.

    Until then, tok kok la…

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  • GlowJo (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 4:42 pm

    Roti Naan said,

    March 31, 2008 @ 3:39 pm

    hahahhaa!!!!…what a joke!!! Abolish AP?? yeah, then COW can fly oredi…

    The biggest culprit that caused cars prices soooo sky high is PROTON and the GOVT. Let Proton begone la!!!

    =============================================
    Roti Naan!!,
    U must think wisely la brader… Proton don’t get even a cent from the tax imposed by the gov… but those gov got it lorrr…

    But for me the monopoly of Raja tepung that Makes Roti Naan more expensive year by year!!! PIIIIII RAAAAA MABUKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!

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  • GlowJo (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 4:48 pm

    lchan said,

    March 31, 2008 @ 4:07 pm

    these type of comments from the government are not productive and constructive. Statements like these can cause a suddenly slow down in the auto industry cause those in business to suffer. If they plan to make statements like these, they need to commit and commit with a date.

    Many will loss money with their current buy, but if it doesn’t start now, it will start tomorrow. I rather it now.
    ===========================================

    Off course u’ll hear this statement, no more AP queen lorrrr… NAZA is changing their brand once again to NAZAK!!! No more masyuk for Rafidah Inc…

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  • carsut (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 5:42 pm

    if no AP then car pricees is low is ok… but if just the same, better dont.

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  • bmpower (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 5:56 pm

    what low price?
    only mitsubishi decrease a bit. (japan – malaysia deal)
    toyota keep their high price to suck all the money.

    without AP,
    it wasnt easy for others car manufacturer to reduce their price.
    never! never easy just like that.. you dont believe it? believe it.

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  • oscarsmh (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 6:29 pm

    hey guys,
    there’s no use to agree or support which side so all we have to do just wait but be prepare for the worst(just in case,hehe..) althought i’m tinkin of gettin a new car recently.I’m tinkin of gettin an import re-con S15 but always saw the AP amount(120% Tax,pay to stupid gov) can’t really made up my mind,maybe just pay for a cheap proton gen2 facelift or maybe persona with cps,maybe?World market will collapse this year again like last 1997,that’s wat I heard from most investor,so maybe keep more cash prepare for these rainy days,lastly still hope AP gone without increasin other taxes,LOL,cheers everyone!!!

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  • lchan (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 6:46 pm

    the removal of AP may not reflect the sudden decrease in car prices across the board, but this allows people to bring in their own cars and parellel imports now do not need to hitch of AP holders. This will bring a greater supply of imported vehicles into Malaysia as well as new companies spawning will sooner or later fuel competition and drive the prices down.

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  • kruzer (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 9:03 pm

    so, what’s new? Last time, Pidah also say AP is not legal, and should be abolished in the spirit of AFTA, FTA, etc, etc… But until she got kicked out, AP is still very much alive, and survived much longer than her!! :P

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  • mitlanevo (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 11:01 pm

    AP should never exist……

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  • mystvearn (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 11:10 pm

    I agree, AP should never existed. Open market. When will malaysia be open and people can afford cheaper cars… when…

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  • tokmoh (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 11:12 pm

    I tot the govt announced before they will abolish AP in 2010? I hope they’re true and punctual……

    But anyway, even if APs gone, and even if Proton gulung tikar, it’s kinda naive to believe the car prices will go down…at least as long as BN is the federal govt. If Anwar become PM, then…..see how lah, lol.

    I foresee this post’s gonna get more political…..and Paul will disable comment like that post abt fuel price stays the same….

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  • cwjuan (Member) on Mar 31, 2008 at 11:58 pm

    Yep, i’m agree with sharir.. currently NAZA been monopoly those APs. They are bringing the car at low price but sell it at 400% higher. If Govt dont monitor or take action, these NAZA scoundrels especially their AP King will make more money. Just image they bringing Toyota Wish at 15k and sell it at 148k…how much money they make? then their imported car (so-call imported) not meet the expectation. If you guys buy at NAZA World, is the worst nightmare for all you guys…BAD AFTER SALES SERVICE OFFERED!!

    Hope Muhiyddin and Pak Lah can stop this open APs and let it be transparent. Suggestion, for those who already owned national car for 3 years & above, they’re entitle for 1 AP for their second car. Hope Pak Lah can see this suggestion. It also helps our PROTON to survive. Only things is, they will entitle for 1 AP if they owned PROTON car for more than 3 years. For those car trading companies, they are also acquire APs but in small number and been controlled by Govt. They are also must act likes trading company whereby, trade customers (Malaysians) AP for the next car purchased.

    Who agree with me, please provide more idea on this. Hope NAZA will alert on this and bring a quality cars. Not SUTERA from China! What a worse nightmare we had. Then got feeling to sell the car in Singapore…Hahaaa…what a joker. Is this the AP Govt give to NAZA to bring those Hafei Lobo car (rebatch to NAZA Sutera) for Malaysian people.

    My slogan…… “Lu fikir la sendiri…”

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  • RM (Member) on Apr 01, 2008 at 7:32 am

    PM will neither admit nor acknowledge but the AP fiasco and the corruption fuelling it was instrumental in the BN government’s poor showing at the 12th GE. Keep a blind eye to this things and by 13 GE, the Opposition may just win it. If PM doesnt pull the plug now on all these abuses then he’d better be prepared for post-Opposition takeover. Don’t let me say I told you so. The average M’sian is paying thru their noses for all things basic in this country and way too much for a car.

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  • bmpower (Member) on Apr 01, 2008 at 8:57 am

    im asking all of you here..

    “Do you believe politician?”

    hehehe..

    i wont believe shahrir.. maybe he just to promot himself better than another.. now he glamour what.. ;)

    “silent politician is no politician”..

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  • almattitude_v1 (Member) on Apr 01, 2008 at 10:28 am

    REMOVE AP’s!

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  • lchan (Member) on Apr 01, 2008 at 10:54 am

    at the end of the day, all the government needs to say is…”AP stays, but anyone can apply for it.” because the AP paper really only cost a couple of bucks. It is the fact that only “special” people could get them was what made the AP valuable.

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  • Roti Naan (Member) on Apr 01, 2008 at 1:09 pm

    this subject is like breaking wind. First-first, it caused a lot of whoo-haaa after the sound “puuuuut”, Later when the smell is gone, everything is back to normal……Everything OK.

    Just treat this as entertainment/tabloid lor

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  • heavymetal (Member) on Apr 01, 2008 at 2:49 pm

    Roti Naan said,
    April 1, 2008 @ 1:09 pm

    this subject is like breaking wind. First-first, it caused a lot of whoo-haaa after the sound “puuuuut”, Later when the smell is gone, everything is back to normal……Everything OK.
    =============================================
    haha,macam lawak Nabil je.. ada mulut jaga, ada telinga dengar, ada otak…lu fikirlah sendiri…

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  • n8cky (Member) on Apr 01, 2008 at 8:47 pm

    i booked an Altis, so i’ll rugi in few years time?gimme some advice, pls~
    [email protected]

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  • topgunthang (Member) on Apr 02, 2008 at 12:14 am

    looks like this guy will be getting his fair share of AP’s soon.

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  • king (Member) on Apr 02, 2008 at 3:12 am

    If he is serious about it then raise the matter up in dewan rakyat. not talk to some reporters about his opinion. This only proves that there is no action done and probably he is just barking for his fair share from the AP Kings.

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  • king (Member) on Apr 02, 2008 at 3:14 am

    n8cky said,
    April 1, 2008 @ 8:47 pm

    i booked an Altis, so i’ll rugi in few years time?gimme some advice, pls~

    _____

    if so scared to lose (kiasu) buy a second hand kancil la…surely won’t rugi one.

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  • cwjuan (Member) on Apr 02, 2008 at 7:55 pm

    No AP but please open market!
    lets everybody buy a car what they want..
    we’ve already pay for our income tax….eating also wanna have tax… whereever we go always tax… please dont burden us with taxation anymore…especially for car…. sucks! to AP King…
    sucks! NAZA!!!!!………………………………………..

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