stekas@houxy.UUCP (10/12/83)
Todays N.Y. Times gives the following prices for German
cars:
German U.S.
MODEL price price
========================= ======== ========
Mercedes 190E (Sedan) $10,601 $24,000
300TD (wagon) 13,157 33,850
380SL 23,620 43,822
BMW 318i 8,483 16,430
Audi 4000 6,062 10,205
Audi Coup 8,313 13,105
After thinking about this a little, I've decided that the
American car market splits into the following categories:
German - those who must pay 2x what a car is worth
Japanese - those who must pay 2x less
Amereican - those who think Sears charges too much for metric wrenches.
Italian - those (like myself) who believe their cars will become
classics after the others have rusted to powder.
English - Italian car buyers who are too impatient to wait for rust
to take its toll.
Do any of you know of any other categories I've left out ?
Jim Stekas
BTL Holmdelseifert@ihuxl.UUCP (10/12/83)
RE: price difference between cars in America and those in the fatherland There is always factory delivery, which is what I'm planning on when the 325e comes out. (bank balance willing...ha!) You can save big bucks this way. Rust? what is this 'rust'? After seven winters in the great state of Illinois (got your salt tires mounted yet?) I pulled the door panels off my 320i and could find no trace of rust what-so-ever in the doors. (usually a prime rust area) There are only a couple of very minor rust spots anywhere on the body at all. Very impressive considering the wonderful conditions here. Rust? that is only seen on american cars more than 6 months old. German cars are *less* expensive *in the long run*, providing you can come up with the initial price. Oh yes, Sears charges much too much for SAE wrenches. Dave Seifert BMWCCA, Windy City Chapter ihnp4!ihuxl!seifert -- Dave Seifert ihnp4!ihuxl!seifert
jeff@tesla.UUCP (Jeff Frey) (10/22/83)
Cars in Japan cost a LOT less then they do here; probably about the same ratio as the German prices quoted. I saw a Civic 4dr in Tokyo for about $3000 (new) last year. Motorcycles are another story; they`re more expensive there than here--about 20% I`d say. German cars don`t rust? How about those famous Rabbits. Japanese cars don`t rust? It`s their only flaw, but it`s a big one. American cars rust? Not my Horizon. Your BMW doesn`t rust? You probably keep it outside in the winter and wash it once in a while. If you don`t want rust buy a car with a lot of galvanized panels, plastic fender liners, or body plastic (e.g., Honda CRX); and have it Ziebarted. Washing might help, but only cosmetic, not killer, rust. Jeff
cak@CS-Arthur (Christopher A Kent) (11/15/83)
Road and Track reported similar price differences in their latest issue. They cited two reasons for the large differece: emmision/safety controls, and different standard options. The 190E that arrives here will have an incredible amount of stuff standard that is only available as an option in Europe. Another case of bad statistics reporting; they're comparing apples and oranges. Cheers, chris