Why do cars cost so much?
Discussion
Just looking at used car prices in Aus and it's staggering compared to the UK. Is the government taxing cars massively over there?
I've got an '02 S2000 in the UK worth about £9k I guess, just found one much the same spec as mine for sale ar $46k!! At 2:1 that's £23,000?!!
Remind me how much it costs to ship a car out again?!!
I've got an '02 S2000 in the UK worth about £9k I guess, just found one much the same spec as mine for sale ar $46k!! At 2:1 that's £23,000?!!
Remind me how much it costs to ship a car out again?!!
I've used this company to do a Personal Import a while back, and found the ready reckoner on this web page to be a pretty good guide. http://www.karmanshipping.co.uk/ausworthwhile.html
Part of it is supply and demand. I would say that 90% of the population just drive white goods meaning that niche cars like an S2000 are never going to be sold in large numbers meaning the cost to buy new is very high.
On brand new cars there are a heap of charges on top of the sticker price....dealer deliver, stamp duty, registration and if your car is of sufficient value luxury car tax will seriously ramp up the price. Unfortunately most people finance these charges so when they come to sell on they always want top dollar.
Cars dont really deteriorate here like they do in the UK. Some suffer with the heat but its not unusual to see 10-15 year old cars still in very good condition. Roads are not particularly harsh on cars.
On brand new cars there are a heap of charges on top of the sticker price....dealer deliver, stamp duty, registration and if your car is of sufficient value luxury car tax will seriously ramp up the price. Unfortunately most people finance these charges so when they come to sell on they always want top dollar.
Cars dont really deteriorate here like they do in the UK. Some suffer with the heat but its not unusual to see 10-15 year old cars still in very good condition. Roads are not particularly harsh on cars.
I agree they are bloody expensive! I owned TVR's, Porsche, Audi's etcc in the UK - no chance of affording one over here - I drive a Mini Cooper now! I saw one guy selling a Tuscan over here for $100,000 - I think it was a 2002, probably worth about £20K in the UK. The jap stuff is comparable due to the distance, you can pick a RX8 up for $22K. Supra's are also pretty cheap. I check for TVR sales every week - there's currently 5 for sale in the whole country, all Chims... approx $50K plus
As mentioned previoulsy, a lot of the cost is due to Stamp Duty and things such as Luxury car tax... however the stamp duty varies by state (WA being the most expensive). The biggest influencer on a new car is dealer delivery, basically Australian car dealers use this as their profit.
European product seens a higher import duty which bumps the price up considerably and hence making the home grown product cheaper as Holden and Ford Australia product arent subjected to this charge.There's also a free trade agreement amongst the Asian countries which is why manufacturers use production plants in Thailand & Malaysia.
Cars are expensive here though but the residual values to remain high.
European product seens a higher import duty which bumps the price up considerably and hence making the home grown product cheaper as Holden and Ford Australia product arent subjected to this charge.There's also a free trade agreement amongst the Asian countries which is why manufacturers use production plants in Thailand & Malaysia.
Cars are expensive here though but the residual values to remain high.
JRM said:
Might be worth me bringing mine out then. What sort of mark-down to UK imported cars attract, presumably they are not as easy to sell as local models?
Are Holdens and home-grown/Asian cars more comparative to UK prices do you think?
Bring it anyway or if you are still more than 12 months off of coming out buy your dream car now! Have a look at www.carsales.com.au for ideas on the prices of nice / interesting cars.Are Holdens and home-grown/Asian cars more comparative to UK prices do you think?
You are going to have to be honest come sale time on your S2000. I dont think anyone would want to pay full market value on a foreign car but I also dont see you losing out much if you compare your sale price to what you would have got for it in the UK.
In all honesty the price on the TVR's on car sales is a bit of a joke but the cars available seem to change so someone must be buying them!
I picked up a cheap Subaru Forester in the UK, a 2001 model, for 2000 pounds, and to be honest it was getting to be on it's last legs. When I was looking around it was amazing how many cars in the UK that were only 5 years old were pretty much screwed.
A combination of the climate, higher mileage, roads etc seems to really ruin cars in the UK, whereas it would be perfectly reasonably to find 15 year old cars in Australia with no rust and still going strong with regular maintenance.
Another big contributor is i still think there is a lot more rampant consumerism and 'keep up with the Jones's' going on in the UK. In Aus nobody really cares what you drive, whereas in middle management in the UK you are expected to be driving a 3 series or Audi etc less than three years old, and you wife shouls be in a Golf, Renault grand Scenic or large 4wd.
A combination of the climate, higher mileage, roads etc seems to really ruin cars in the UK, whereas it would be perfectly reasonably to find 15 year old cars in Australia with no rust and still going strong with regular maintenance.
Another big contributor is i still think there is a lot more rampant consumerism and 'keep up with the Jones's' going on in the UK. In Aus nobody really cares what you drive, whereas in middle management in the UK you are expected to be driving a 3 series or Audi etc less than three years old, and you wife shouls be in a Golf, Renault grand Scenic or large 4wd.
thehawk said:
Another big contributor is i still think there is a lot more rampant consumerism and 'keep up with the Jones's' going on in the UK. In Aus nobody really cares what you drive, whereas in middle management in the UK you are expected to be driving a 3 series or Audi etc less than three years old, and you wife shouls be in a Golf, Renault grand Scenic or large 4wd.
Exactly right, and that is one of the reasons I'm so keen to head out - pleased to hear someone say it though
JRM -- get a UK valuation done BEFORE you ship. Our Caterham SV-VHPD (one of the only 6 with that engine made) in the UK was worth originally about £31K all up with loads of goodies in 2002. If you took that to straight AU$ to GBP£ then the happy tax folks @ import time tried to value my car at $95K, which didn't include the 50% markup. That would have made my car worth more than $135K all up -- which is what NEW Caterhams go for here.
Given it was 4+ years old, UK value = £20K, and I had to get an independent valuer in Sydney who put it right at about the ballpark conversion. Savings = immense. Satisfaction of using the same system as they were and winning by playing by their own rules, immense.
Now we don't intend to sell our car, so the price is what it is, and Shannons is happy insuring for an agreed value that we're both happy with.....!
Cheers and good luck!
Given it was 4+ years old, UK value = £20K, and I had to get an independent valuer in Sydney who put it right at about the ballpark conversion. Savings = immense. Satisfaction of using the same system as they were and winning by playing by their own rules, immense.
Now we don't intend to sell our car, so the price is what it is, and Shannons is happy insuring for an agreed value that we're both happy with.....!
Cheers and good luck!
Australians are being totally shafted by the protectionist policies of the government, maintaining inefficient production / distribution and substandard product, whilst blocking the availability of better product from overseas.
Just travelling back from New Zealand at the moment. All of the typical European premium marques are well represented at prices circa 20-30% lower than Australia and that is with the NZ weak dollar.
The roads are better than WA there too. Didn't see a speed camera in a week.
Anyway back to the Mickey Mouse / Magic Roundabout sh*t / slow driving capital of the Southern hemisphere - Perth. Good job it has other things going for it (like the weather!).
Just travelling back from New Zealand at the moment. All of the typical European premium marques are well represented at prices circa 20-30% lower than Australia and that is with the NZ weak dollar.
The roads are better than WA there too. Didn't see a speed camera in a week.
Anyway back to the Mickey Mouse / Magic Roundabout sh*t / slow driving capital of the Southern hemisphere - Perth. Good job it has other things going for it (like the weather!).
its depressing for genuine petrol heads here. The prices are obscene. But the flip side of it is the residual price when you do sell it. Anything un-australian will command a premium regardless of its age. I really want a 3200GT Maserati, but I'll be buggered if I'm paying Australian prices for one, I'd rather come back to the UK for 12 months, buy one there and ship it back.
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