robert@hp-pcd.UUCP (robert) (12/10/83)
#N:hp-cvd:2700005:000:490 hp-cvd!robert Dec 7 13:56:00 1983 Thanks for all the help on my earlier Porsche questions. Here's another one of interest: If I'm going to buy a 944. Is it cheaper to go to Europe and buy one than it is to buy one in the states? How does one go about this? I assume that to be able to bring it back into the US it must be an american import model. Is this true? What might the hidden costs be? I'm sure this information would be valuable to anyone buying a european import. Thanks for all the help, robert
faiman@uiuccsb.UUCP (12/12/83)
#R:hp-cvd:2700005:uiuccsb:5800005:000:1613
uiuccsb!faiman Dec 11 21:44:00 1983
I have bought cars in Europe twice and the experience has been relatively
painless. First of all, your local dealer should be able to give you the
information you need, including base price, cost of options, delivery and
make-ready charges and any of the other nice little things that Europeans
feel Americans ought to pay for. Some dealers are not too enthusiastic
about this because their profit margin is much smaller than on a regular
sale. In that case you might get in touch with any of the organizations
that specialize in European delivery. They usually advertise in the travelsection of the New York Sunday Times. One such is "Europe by Car", but there are
others, and a little comparison shopping probably won't hurt. They will
also give you information about the cost of shipping the car back here --
reasonably priced from Channel ports such as Bremerhaven and Antwerp, but
quite expensive from out-of-the way places. What they can only estimate,
however, is how much import duty you will have to pay when the car arrives.
That's between you and the customs official and depends, in part, on how
long the car was used in Europe. I have found that if you only use the car
there for about a month or less, you probably won't have saved much by the
time you are through. But if you are able and prepared to brave those
fantastic European drivers for a whole summer (assuming you and vehicle
survive), better yet a year or more, you will bring back such a bargain
that you can bore your friends with the telling for many a long year.
Good luck!
>From the formerly European fingers of Mike Faimanrs55611@ihuxk.UUCP (12/13/83)
The rough rule of thumb is that buying a German car in Europe saves roughly enough for the cost of the vacation trip there. (Assuming getting a ~$20,000 car.) The tremendous bargain prices that are often seen in magazine ads often refer to European models. If you purchase a Euro. model that has not been certified for US use, you have to put up a bond equal to the price of the car with customs, and then you have 90 days to make the car US legal, both in emissions and safety items. On a Mercedes, this certification can reach $10k! Thus, make absolutely sure that the price you are quoted is for a US model. Also, some Euro. models are missing features/options that are standard on the US versions. A case in point: The new Mercedes 190 models run about $24k here in the US. Dealers have been advertising 190's to be purchased in Europe at prices around $12-13k!. These are European models, however. In addition to the pollution controls, US headlights, US bumpers, etc. etc., there are significant differences in the two cars' standard features list. In Europe, the base 190 is kind of a quality commuter car, often used by Taxi companies, and comes stripped, minus the standard US features such as AC, power sun-roof, power seats, windows, locks, etc. By the time one of these is optioned and/or modified to US trim, you might have saved ~$2k. In short, you can save money, but don't expect a steal! Bob Schleicher ihuxk!rs55611 Bell Labs, Naperville, Ill.