Discussion
So I will be moving to Sydney this year with a bit of luck and so have been thinking about what I'll be driving over there. The Market is very different it seems with European cars costing the earth. I had been looking at 2nd hand Cayman S over here as they are relatively affordable at between 25k-30k gbp. I gather that's not the case in oz!
So my question is what to look at instead? Currently drive an Impreza with 270bhp, so needs to be powerful but looking at a coupe really now. Today I looked at Nissan 370Zs which looked good and I presume are affordable in Oz (?). They are about 20-25k gbp here. I'd like something I could occasionally track like mine here.
What are peoples suggestions though? Whats good out there?
Thanks!
So my question is what to look at instead? Currently drive an Impreza with 270bhp, so needs to be powerful but looking at a coupe really now. Today I looked at Nissan 370Zs which looked good and I presume are affordable in Oz (?). They are about 20-25k gbp here. I'd like something I could occasionally track like mine here.
What are peoples suggestions though? Whats good out there?
Thanks!
Nissan 370Z is anywhere from $55-75k over here. Have a look round http://www.carsales.com.au/?rs_ref=ppc to get an idea of prices.
Golf R is very cheap in Australia compared to the UK – the only car that is. I managed to get one with a few options for about 51k driveaway, but that took a lot of bargaining to get it down to that price – RRP driveaway on that with the options I got is about 60k.
Also in that price range is the new Megane 250 Cup, an 05-ish Boxster S, For about 60-65k you could get a second 135i from 08 or 09, the same for an S3 from a similar year.
Also in that price range is the new Megane 250 Cup, an 05-ish Boxster S, For about 60-65k you could get a second 135i from 08 or 09, the same for an S3 from a similar year.
I would not rule out a Monaro....but I hear thats basically the "Bogans" choice? (How many will I offend with that!) I might be wrong about that!
I am trying to build a little table of cars just to have a look at the price differentials, could be a good reference guide if kept up to date for people looking to import etc? Will need to grow and have people contribute though...so far I have this, it was very quickly mocked up so feel free to correct etc...
Actually A Porsche Boxster S looks good value in Aus right now?
I am trying to build a little table of cars just to have a look at the price differentials, could be a good reference guide if kept up to date for people looking to import etc? Will need to grow and have people contribute though...so far I have this, it was very quickly mocked up so feel free to correct etc...
Actually A Porsche Boxster S looks good value in Aus right now?
| What | AUD (K) | GBP (K) | Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boxster S | 40 | 27.5 | 1.45 |
| 370z | 65 | 27.5 | 2.36 |
| GTR | 140 | 55 | 2.55 |
| Focus RS | 60 | 22.5 | 2.67 |
| R32 | 35 | 12.5 | 2.8 |
| 350z | 30 | 10 | 3 |
| Cayman | 90 | 27.5 | 3.27 |
| M3 2004 | 60 | 15 | 4 |
| Mazzer 3200GT | 55 | 10 | 5.5 |
| Sti (2006/7) | 30 | ||
| Exchange rate | 1.59113 | 1 | 1.59113 |
Good work on the table.....but......
Working out your wage from GBP > AU$ or AU$ > GBP and then doing the same for car prices does not give you much of a real picture of affordability or value. You need to completely forget about the pound and your UK wage and the cost of cars in the UK and just look at your wage, your living costs and the cost of financing a car here.
A number of people have floated the ideas around of trying to run a few personal imports in to the country to sell at a profit especially as you can sell up to 6 cars a year tax free however the gummint has closed a loophole in only allowing 1 personal import in 5 years now and on top of that the sale of niche cars is incredibly slow here. There was a bloke floating around here for a while that was doing a personal import every 18 months and he had an SL55 AMG for sale for a year. All of the TVR's on carsales.com.au have been there for a couple of years in some cases.
Working out your wage from GBP > AU$ or AU$ > GBP and then doing the same for car prices does not give you much of a real picture of affordability or value. You need to completely forget about the pound and your UK wage and the cost of cars in the UK and just look at your wage, your living costs and the cost of financing a car here.
A number of people have floated the ideas around of trying to run a few personal imports in to the country to sell at a profit especially as you can sell up to 6 cars a year tax free however the gummint has closed a loophole in only allowing 1 personal import in 5 years now and on top of that the sale of niche cars is incredibly slow here. There was a bloke floating around here for a while that was doing a personal import every 18 months and he had an SL55 AMG for sale for a year. All of the TVR's on carsales.com.au have been there for a couple of years in some cases.
Yes, I'm aware, as soon as I thought I might be coming over I downloaded all the info I could off the Aus govt website for car importation and decided that basically its a massive ball ache! Its a shame because it basically limits the car market significantly and inflates car prices in Aus, residuals ont he other hand, remain high as you don't get as many grey imports like you do here devaluing domestic cars, thats what I gather, correct me otherwise.
My objective is to figure out where / what cars are affordable / good value in either location as I can tell you roughly what most cars are worth here I don't have a scooby for Aus. I am sure several others are in the same situation.
Basically there is no one cost conversion rule for all cars, whats expensive here may be cheap there and vice versa but there are some surpises. All Euros are not expensive as you can see from the Boxster. The GTR is monstrously (IMO) expensive in Aus, I don't think its as bad here? 60k GBP Vs 140k $???
....so thats the idea anyway. As an exercise I am going to build it out. If its useful to others, great. I know its not about just converting the currency.
My objective is to figure out where / what cars are affordable / good value in either location as I can tell you roughly what most cars are worth here I don't have a scooby for Aus. I am sure several others are in the same situation.
Basically there is no one cost conversion rule for all cars, whats expensive here may be cheap there and vice versa but there are some surpises. All Euros are not expensive as you can see from the Boxster. The GTR is monstrously (IMO) expensive in Aus, I don't think its as bad here? 60k GBP Vs 140k $???
....so thats the idea anyway. As an exercise I am going to build it out. If its useful to others, great. I know its not about just converting the currency.
Edited by TAS1981 on Monday 7th February 13:30
But if you are actually living here and earning the dollar that $140K GTR is spectacular value. Out of my league for sure but well within the grasp of a great number of people, you wont find any other new car here with the same level of performance or spec. You could get a BMW 335i or some Audi A4 that doesn't have an RS badge on it.
deviant said:
But if you are actually living here and earning the dollar that $140K GTR is spectacular value. Out of my league for sure but well within the grasp of a great number of people, you wont find any other new car here with the same level of performance or spec. You could get a BMW 335i or some Audi A4 that doesn't have an RS badge on it.
I take your point. So my question to you is this. Is it better value in Aus than in the UK? This table says it that in general the cars above are on average 3 times the cost in the UK but with the exchange rate at 1.6. It suggests that cars are more expensive in Aus. Does it follow that its a bigger proportion of your living cost to run cars there than in the UK? I guess this then depends on the car, which is what I hope the above will tell you?The GTR is not in my price bracket either, but I was interested to know what the cost was. Also my table seems to agree with you; in comparison to the 9 I have recorded for both the GTR comes in as 3rd best value in comparison to cost in the uk. Obviously as you say this is purely a cost to buy comparison and not inter-marque, i.e. it does not say how good the car is, I would hope people know this on here!
Happy to have any input, even if you think this is a waste of time!
TAS1981 said:
I would not rule out a Monaro....but I hear thats basically the "Bogans" choice? (How many will I offend with that!) I might be wrong about that!
Of Course I may be bias! Depreciation might be higher than others if you buy new. Semi-practical 2 door, the Holden ones handle very well, ok maybe not as well as an EVO 8 or 9, only ones I can compare it too. But I reckon better than a Monaro. The Ford/FPV utes I have to reserve judgement on, as I have never driven one. They have a solid rear axle so don't get a lot of brownie points from some people. Driven a couple of Typhoons (Turbo sedans) which do have indepedant suspension, they are fast and handle well. The Auto is very good on them, ZF 6 speed. All the prices on these are new, Have to look up used.
http://www.carsales.com.au/new-cars/details.aspx?R...
http://www.carsales.com.au/new-cars/details.aspx?R...
http://www.carsales.com.au/new-cars/details.aspx?R...
http://www.carsales.com.au/new-cars/details.aspx?R...
http://www.carsales.com.au/new-cars/details.aspx?R...
TAS1981 said:
I take your point. So my question to you is this. Is it better value in Aus than in the UK? This table says it that in general the cars above are on average 3 times the cost in the UK but with the exchange rate at 1.6. It suggests that cars are more expensive in Aus. Does it follow that its a bigger proportion of your living cost to run cars there than in the UK? I guess this then depends on the car, which is what I hope the above will tell you?
The GTR is not in my price bracket either, but I was interested to know what the cost was. Also my table seems to agree with you; in comparison to the 9 I have recorded for both the GTR comes in as 3rd best value in comparison to cost in the uk. Obviously as you say this is purely a cost to buy comparison and not inter-marque, i.e. it does not say how good the car is, I would hope people know this on here!
Happy to have any input, even if you think this is a waste of time!
yes and no, petrol is cheaper, we don't have mot so we don't do a roadworthy every year but servicing on imports is more expensive and parts availability is a big issue. Masser parts will be harder to find and you will pay a premium. The GTR is not in my price bracket either, but I was interested to know what the cost was. Also my table seems to agree with you; in comparison to the 9 I have recorded for both the GTR comes in as 3rd best value in comparison to cost in the uk. Obviously as you say this is purely a cost to buy comparison and not inter-marque, i.e. it does not say how good the car is, I would hope people know this on here!
Happy to have any input, even if you think this is a waste of time!
Edited by Captain Flashman on Tuesday 8th February 02:51
Can i pipe in here by giving the 370Z a big thumbs up as a car in general.
Its a great town car and GT for the long blats, very trackable and a lot of fun.
Reliable, and parts should be easy to get, also very easy to tune up to 400HP and way beyond without breaking the bank or the car!
Saw a few in Perth the other week too, and one ex demonstrator in the papers for $60k which seemed a good price too!
Happy to help with any questions on the car.
Its a great town car and GT for the long blats, very trackable and a lot of fun.
Reliable, and parts should be easy to get, also very easy to tune up to 400HP and way beyond without breaking the bank or the car!
Saw a few in Perth the other week too, and one ex demonstrator in the papers for $60k which seemed a good price too!
Happy to help with any questions on the car.
Google [bot] said:
deviant said:
only allowing 1 personal import in 5 years
Is this correct for personal imports under any scheme?As far as I can see the RAWS, Pre-89 and Race import schemes allow you to do as many as you want. I suspect that the personal import scheme was being abused by Aus citizens living abroad and bringing a number of cars in to order and making a healthy tax free profit.
XJSJohn said:
Can i pipe in here by giving the 370Z a big thumbs up as a car in general.
Its a great town car and GT for the long blats, very trackable and a lot of fun.
Reliable, and parts should be easy to get, also very easy to tune up to 400HP and way beyond without breaking the bank or the car!
Saw a few in Perth the other week too, and one ex demonstrator in the papers for $60k which seemed a good price too!
Happy to help with any questions on the car.
Great car. If it had rear seats I would have been tempted by one. Its a great town car and GT for the long blats, very trackable and a lot of fun.
Reliable, and parts should be easy to get, also very easy to tune up to 400HP and way beyond without breaking the bank or the car!
Saw a few in Perth the other week too, and one ex demonstrator in the papers for $60k which seemed a good price too!
Happy to help with any questions on the car.
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