UK vs Europe prices, WTH
Discussion
I have bought a few LHD Porsches and other cars from Germany and Italy over the last 30 years, to use back in the UK. At some stages the exchange rate meant you could either get a bargain, or a car you couldn't afford here, I remember buying a three year old 968 in Germany for the price of a eight year old 944 in the UK, which is all I could afford, back in the late Nineties.
My most recent purchase was in 2016, a Ferrari in Italy, so I have kept up to date.
But..what the hell. For fun, I was checking prices on 997 Turbos in germany today. A good 997.1 manual with 40k miles is in the mid 50k pounds in England, a good 997.2 Turbo is in the low sixties, max. In Europe? Somewhere between 130k and 160k euros.
It's not exchange rates, even at the most favourable to GBP rates over the last 15 years of around 1.45, these are almost double UK price. At current rates, more than double.
It's not just 997s, also 996s and 991s. Why the massive discrepancy? Never saw that in 30 years of watching and buying, until recently. Does that mean we don't know how good we have it in the uk, and our cousins on the continent would need double the budget for the same thing - or realistically, to be buying a leggy 997.1 Carrera for the same sum as us buying a nice 997 Turbo?
In the late 90s and 2000s I bought a couple of cars from Germany which I imported, registered, drove around and sold, with what was then the usual approx 30 per cent LHD discount, and still made a bit of money. Now, we are in a time of £130k 997 turbos in Germany!
Any thoughts on why?
My most recent purchase was in 2016, a Ferrari in Italy, so I have kept up to date.
But..what the hell. For fun, I was checking prices on 997 Turbos in germany today. A good 997.1 manual with 40k miles is in the mid 50k pounds in England, a good 997.2 Turbo is in the low sixties, max. In Europe? Somewhere between 130k and 160k euros.
It's not exchange rates, even at the most favourable to GBP rates over the last 15 years of around 1.45, these are almost double UK price. At current rates, more than double.
It's not just 997s, also 996s and 991s. Why the massive discrepancy? Never saw that in 30 years of watching and buying, until recently. Does that mean we don't know how good we have it in the uk, and our cousins on the continent would need double the budget for the same thing - or realistically, to be buying a leggy 997.1 Carrera for the same sum as us buying a nice 997 Turbo?
In the late 90s and 2000s I bought a couple of cars from Germany which I imported, registered, drove around and sold, with what was then the usual approx 30 per cent LHD discount, and still made a bit of money. Now, we are in a time of £130k 997 turbos in Germany!
Any thoughts on why?
been like this for ages [I think sometime pre-Brexit vote in 2016 was the last time German cars seemed good value] - for a while new prices in the UK were so much lower than in Germany (1% VAT difference) that I called a few dealers in London to ask if I could order a LHD car. They basically said you just want to save money, so the answer is no even though I had a London address. People on here always complain about how much the new cars cost, but even compared to countries without a tax effect they still seem cheap in the UK.
Current Turbo 50 still cheaper in the UK than Germany - GBP 200k vs EUR 274k
Edit to add:
I think it is a Porsche peculiarity btw as Ferrari for example prices the cars in Germany higher than in the UK or the same at current FX rates (296 GTB EUR 283k vs GBP 258k] - In Germany the Turbo historically always cost about the same as the entry level V8 Ferrari, while in the UK it usually was a lot cheaper than the Ferrari)
Current Turbo 50 still cheaper in the UK than Germany - GBP 200k vs EUR 274k
Edit to add:
I think it is a Porsche peculiarity btw as Ferrari for example prices the cars in Germany higher than in the UK or the same at current FX rates (296 GTB EUR 283k vs GBP 258k] - In Germany the Turbo historically always cost about the same as the entry level V8 Ferrari, while in the UK it usually was a lot cheaper than the Ferrari)
Edited by MDL111 on Monday 10th February 09:03
You can still buy LHD in the UK from Porsche dealer. Specc’ed from factory new. You just need to register them in the UK they don’t allow to take them unregistered. I’ve done it a few times already.
And after Brexit there’s a grey area which means you would be charged import duty on a car coming from the UK although it was produced in Germany. Why that is I have no clue. So even if you managed to avoid the VAT with a company then I think sure registering in the EU would require import duty. So by and large the LHD cars with VAT paid in the U.K. are captive on this island and only a person permanently moving abroad with their personal vehicle could be exempt.
Similarly I think if you import from EU you would have import duty and VAT to pay which makes importing cars much more difficult than it used to (imported a Touring without too much trouble the year before Brexit came into effect).
And after Brexit there’s a grey area which means you would be charged import duty on a car coming from the UK although it was produced in Germany. Why that is I have no clue. So even if you managed to avoid the VAT with a company then I think sure registering in the EU would require import duty. So by and large the LHD cars with VAT paid in the U.K. are captive on this island and only a person permanently moving abroad with their personal vehicle could be exempt.
Similarly I think if you import from EU you would have import duty and VAT to pay which makes importing cars much more difficult than it used to (imported a Touring without too much trouble the year before Brexit came into effect).
I noticed this as well and now there are so few lhd cars available for sale in the UK, I think most have already been snapped up and exported. I’ve ended up importing my own and taking the hit on VAT and duty.
Fun driving in the UK is becoming increasingly limited that I find rhd cars less interesting so euro tours are now my highlight of the year when it comes to driving experiences. Plus since most circuits are clockwise you gain better sight lines in lhd cars!
Fun driving in the UK is becoming increasingly limited that I find rhd cars less interesting so euro tours are now my highlight of the year when it comes to driving experiences. Plus since most circuits are clockwise you gain better sight lines in lhd cars!
It's true that there's more of a discrepancy with Porsche than many other brands. Tax must play a part also but doesn't account for a 15 year old 997 being twice the price in Germany, given that many other goods are actually cheaper there now. Germanys just a very expensive place to be a Porsche fan now I guess must be supply and demand. We don't know how lucky we are!
RHD is a small market, LHD cars can move all over Europe, much bigger audience??
Looking on mobile.de prices don't look that different, a 997.2 Carrera PDK is £45k.
997 Turbo coupe from around £59k with 60k miles on it.
Yeah more, but not massively so.
It does seem though that they will pay more for super low mileage, mint examples than we do, mileage doesn't seem to be as big a concern though between say 60k miles and 100k miles.
Looking on mobile.de prices don't look that different, a 997.2 Carrera PDK is £45k.
997 Turbo coupe from around £59k with 60k miles on it.
Yeah more, but not massively so.
It does seem though that they will pay more for super low mileage, mint examples than we do, mileage doesn't seem to be as big a concern though between say 60k miles and 100k miles.
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