Dealers Selling 'Pre-Budget' Price Cars Before a Duty Hike — Bargain or Trap?

A new customs duty structure has already added around Rs 250,000 to small cars like the Wagon R, roughly half a million to 1000–1300cc models, and several million to premium cars like the Mercedes C-Class. With Budget 2027 expected to push rates further, big dealers such as United Motors are now advertising showroom stock at 'pre-budget' prices — one ad on the Eclipse Cross and Xpander claims a Rs 1.6 million saving. But reports say both the new and used markets have gone quiet instead of rushing in for the discount. One side says lock in the old rate now, before the budget speech makes the higher duty permanent and these prices disappear for good. The other side says if demand has really dried up this badly, no discount is making people bite — so maybe these are just units dealers got stuck with, not genuine bargains. Would you buy on a 'pre-budget' tag right now, or wait to see what the actual budget does to duty first? අයවැයට කලින් මිල අඩු කරපු වාහන දැන් ගන්න එක හොඳ ගනුදෙනුවක්ද, නැත්නම් වෙළඳුන්ට විකුණගන්න බැරි වාහන අරින එකක්ද?