Which car to buy for a personal import?

[Av8r]

Greetings all...

I'll be moving to Aus from the UK in the next 18 months or so (married to an Aussie) and we're thinking of taking a couple of cars with us.

Fairly fixated on Euro cars, and have read the incredibly helpful thread over on the pomsinoz forum.

Just trying to get peoples thoughts on desirability and resale potential in Aus for the following, so how easy to sell and how much discount from the redbook trade in values because it's a personal import.

Audi S6

BMW M3, M5, Z4M, X5

Bentley Arnage T or Red Line

Porsche 911 Turbo

Any of the Merc AMG's

Or what else would anyone suggest??? Anything desirable that we could ship in, drive for a couple of years, and sell on without a loss. Depreciation free motoring appeals to me.

[williaa68]

If you have the cash to invest I would look at a 997 turbo. If you buy one from an OPC here you will get two years warranty and the prices in Aus are way higher - £70k will get you a reasonable gen 1 model here, in Aus you are looking at over $200k or roughly double. I don't know what hit you take as an import but it won't be that much. 996 turbo prices seem much firmer in Aus too.

[custardtart]

williaa68 said:

If you have the cash to invest I would look at a 997 turbo. If you buy one from an OPC here you will get two years warranty and the prices in Aus are way higher - £70k will get you a reasonable gen 1 model here, in Aus you are looking at over $200k or roughly double. I don't know what hit you take as an import but it won't be that much. 996 turbo prices seem much firmer in Aus too.

Agree on the 997 turbo, seems to have the biggest price difference but take a couple of nice 993 S's as the fetch wice the amount hereso bringing two means youbgetbto keep one for free

[robm3]

As per previous posts: 997TT

Also; Audi R8, Merc E class AMG, Bentley GTC or GT or a BMW M6 (a car that's seconhand value plummented in the UK but is very strong here still).

I would avoid the M5 as for some strange reason they are not so expensive here.

[Brisvegas]

I reckon you can't go past an Aston Martin. Pick up a vantage from 2006 to present and you won't lose out on it. Bit more style and class them some of the euros suggested IMO. If you decide to bring only one I'd be happy to buy the second one for you to bring in. Seriously. Drop me a PM if your interested. Oh, and I'd make it worth your while! Where are you looking at moving to. I'm in Brisbane. Actually in Perth today, 2 weeks to the start of winter and people are in the water at Cottesloe Beach, board shorts and bikinis are prevalent as the sun sets over the Indian ocean with a fiery sky. Your making the right move. Nearly everywhere here is good.
Tony

[Av8r]

Thanks for all the replies so far.

Newer Aston/Porsche a bit out of my league financially. Really looking for cars in the £15K to £35K range here, that sell there for say $40K to $90K. A quick look at redbook shows the earlier listed cars to be in that bracket anyway, but I have no idea how expensive they'll be to get compliance on or how difficult to re-sell when the time comes.

We both drive A4 diesel quattro company cars at the moment (live in snowy Scotland) and put about 35,000 miles a year on them each, so we'll have to fund these as 3rd and 4th cars and garage them for a year. Choosing something "safe" to import is probably important, as we won't get much use of them here beyond the occasional nice weekend outing.

The idea, as it's developing so far, is to have depreciation free motoring for a couple of years once in Aus and/or to be able to sell one on to cover the cost of the other..... Or possibly just even to have a lifetime car that we'd never really be able to afford there, such as a Bentley.

Going to Melbourne when we arrive, if it makes any difference.

Thanks again.

[deviant]

Skyline GTR? Brand new I think they start around $150,000 and seem to hold their value quite well. The cheapest used ones are around $120,000.

What does the latest gen BMW M3 go for in the UK?

[Av8r]

deviant said:

Skyline GTR? Brand new I think they start around $150,000 and seem to hold their value quite well. The cheapest used ones are around $120,000.

2008 Nissan GTR-s are around the £37,500 to £45,000 range with 25,000 miles or less. Pretty much outside my budget.

deviant said:

What does the latest gen BMW M3 go for in the UK?

2008 BMW M3-s around £25,000 but the mileage at that price is usually a tad higher, more like 40,000 miles.

[TVP993]

Av8r said:

2008 BMW M3-s around £25,000 but the mileage at that price is usually a tad higher, more like 40,000 miles.

Same here. If you decide for what ever reason to bring just the one car let me know. I'll buy one for you to bring over and give you a share of any potential profits or an agreed sum for your part. E-mail me if interested.

[Av8r]

robm3 said:

a BMW M6 (a car that's seconhand value plummented in the UK but is very strong here still).

Good choice!!!

Looking at 2005 models....

UK price around £18,000.

Redbook trade in value $83,000, private sale $95,000.

That's top of the list for price differential (in percentage terms) so far.

[rotorheadcase]

Maserati Gransport or Quattroporte, Porsche 996GT3, Aston DB7, Ferrari 355, 360... all will give you back pretty much what you put into them over 2-5 years.

Neil

[vetrof]

Don't forget to figure in all the taxes, especially LCT.


http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page4371.asp


http://www.ato.gov.au/businesses/content.aspx?doc=...


http://www.privatefleet.com.au/links-and-resources...

[Brisvegas]

Morgan are bringing out a new 3 wheeler in a couple of weeks time. One of these would do just fine. Opt for the spitfire green, shark and RAF logo.

Around £35,000 on the road I would think.

http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f...

[robm3]

Av8r said:

robm3 said:

a BMW M6 (a car that's seconhand value plummented in the UK but is very strong here still).

Good choice!!!

Looking at 2005 models....

UK price around £18,000.

Redbook trade in value $83,000, private sale $95,000.

That's top of the list for price differential (in percentage terms) so far.

Be prepared to deducted another $10K off that price as personal imports are shunned here. Things like your speedo in MPH bold and KM Minor is a minor irrantant.
Good news is the DVD Sat Nav can be swapped from UK to Aus and you can change the demoniations in the computer from Imperial to Metric (via Idrive).

Due to cost I would also get full service in UK especially for things such as Brake pads/discs, tyres etc.. as costs here are extreme.

Also the M6, like all the other cars mentioned in this thread, doesn't have the latch points for child seats (isofix is not accepted) so the importer will remove your rear seats and weld one in, then cut your rearseat to allow access. This happened to mine but I have to say the job is extremely well done.

GL with this and it makes sense (moving to Aus and importing a car).

[cafehag2001]

Have you considered a Mercedes CLS?

Plenty available for £10-15k in the UK, especially the bigger petrol engine variants that go for peanuts in the UK but are sought after here. The cheapest one for sale in Australia when I checked last week was $65k.

I brought a 2000 Mercedes C240 with me when I moved over a few years back. Sold it last week for a profit after five years of ownership. My only regret is that I didn't bring something fancier.

Good luck with it all anyway.

[dobly]

Honda NSX manual 3.2l NA2 1997-2005.