So, I just happened to be reading something about someone buying a Boxster in the US for ~ 20K. (This is a 2002ish model).

I looked on ebay, and sure enough, they range from ~ 18K+.

I asked what their new price is, and was told, $45800, which equates to just over $52K AU. We pay over $100K.

I then thought, ok, maybe I'll try a BMW. We pay $163K for a 550i. They pay $58500 US or $63K AU.

Now that is an injustice.

What's even more injustice is that the US paid less for their Monaros than we did even though they are made here and shipped across.

Australia is further away from Europe then America.
Australia is a smaller market then America.
Australia has luxury car taxes.

They are also trying to compete with the heavily subsidised American car manufacturers.

isn't it because of a 100% luxury car tax or something?

Didnt you know? USA is the new world super power and everything there is the biggest, cheapest and THE BEST, just gotta bend over and take it in :) (Joke) Dont you know what theyre in Iraq for? To fight for their freedom, freedom to pay for cheap petrol and cars hehe

Realisticaly though its the high taxes on overseas cars which make the prices here so ridiculous. If I remember correctly there is something like a 50% levy on cars over $60,000 ?? It increases as car increases in value. Dont flame me over this, just going over the vague memory of it I have.


Mongie, take a look at www.autotrader.com and search for some prices there hehe, stuff that boils my blood ... but oh well its just cars. Mustangs, Chargers etc for ~$18000 US. I really like the E46 M3's and theyre about the same price as a regular e46 here ...

Australia is further away from Europe then America.
Australia is a smaller market then America.
Australia has luxury car taxes.

They are also trying to compete with the heavily subsidised American car manufacturers.

Yes, thats nice but lets say a company like BMW, about 50% of its worldwide 3 series sales are in the US, give it time though and it probably will be china hehe

What ara said.

Things have always been like this. In 1991 I rang Mitsubishi to ask about the then new 3000GT (I think that was its name anyway) I had seen it in the states for something like 19k. So I rand Mitsubishi Oz and asked how much they would be when they arrived here. I was told approx 90k, I blew up. The guy explained it has nothing to do with cost plus margin, its all about what the market will pay.

The distance thing is a very valid point. Hardly anyone in Europe drives Japanese cars as theyre too expensive over there, too far and levy's as well.

I just found this on redbook.com.au

The f***er was 90k when it came out here, OUCH.

1992 MITSUBISHI 3000GT

Hatchback 2dr Man 5sp 4WD 3.0TT
Prices based on km 150,000 - 280,000
Trade in price guide* $10,000 - $12,400
National average price - private sale* $12,600 - $16,400
Price when new (RRP) $89,950
all prices quoted are GST inclusive

It's the same for alot of stuff. Ages ago I bought a pair of headphones off the internets in America for $60AU all up which included postage, and they retailed over here for $150.

most people after a real luxury car (not a f***in holden lol) have the money, and i guess thats the price they have to put on to make a dollar out of the aussie market

I import all my bass guitars from the states & pay roughly half the Australian price (after shipping, insurance & customs fees). My latest purchase will arrive today or tomorrow - it usually takes ~6 days to ship.

Why pay AU$4.7k for a bass when I can import it for AU$2.2k?

btw - if there are any guitarists out there who would be interested in a group buy with me for bulk strings (we halve shipping), let me know :)

the threshold for luxury car tax is 57k atm, so you pay the tax @25% on the gst exclusive portion of the rest of the price

100k car, 9.7k luxury car tax

Jim's patrol used to be a luxury car, but then the govt saw it a few months later and refunded him the luxury tax.

haha I was waitin for it

The BMW I used as an example is ridiculous though...

Even if it costs $20,000 extra for RHD and shipping, another $15 for tax, we're still being raped.

most of the increase can be attributed to postage and handling, just like with danoz direct.

also yeah, rich c***s dont care what they have to pay, so cry more.

LoL bmw.

most of the increase can be attributed to postage and handling, just like with danoz direct.

also yeah, rich c***s dont care what they have to pay, so cry more.

I think you have mistaken rich c***s with dumb c***s nooblet

1. If you are watching your pennies, why would you be shopping for a BMW.

2. If you are buying a luxury car, why would you care what it costs? Luxury by its very definition is something you don't need.

Pft, we get ripped off on *everything* in Australia.

Shimano stuff for example. An XTR RD with a RRP of GBP84.95 inc VAT works out at AUD289.95. Somehow.

Same deal with name brand notebooks etc. Look at the prices of Dell, HP and Apple notebooks in Australia.

I import all my bass guitars from the states & pay roughly half the Australian price (after shipping, insurance & customs fees). My latest purchase will arrive today or tomorrow - it usually takes ~6 days to ship.

For real?

What site do you order from? I'm look at picking up an RG Prestige in the near future, the model retails for $2000 over here, how much is the shipment from the US?

1. If you are watching your pennies, why would you be shopping for a BMW.

cos they want one prolly. cos by watching their pennies, they were able to afford one

2. If you are buying a luxury car, why would you care what it costs? Luxury by its very definition is something you don't need.

I've bought a couple of vehicles which attracted luxury car tax, the reason I cared what they cost was because the very financial principles which enabled me to buy a car that attracted luxury tax in the first place, require that I care. I'm pretty sure that even if I had the cash to go buy 10 bmw's at once, I'd still care what I paid

cos by watching their pennies, they were able to afford one

did your mammy tell you that?

LoL bmw.

Bmw > All > Ya mum.

fggt.

Aw yeah.

I've bought a couple of vehicles which attracted luxury car tax

aren't 4wd's excluded because the farmers cried?

Look at the prices on jap cars in NZ, they are cheap as because they don't to protect a local market like we do for holdud and ford.

1. If you are watching your pennies, why would you be shopping for a BMW.

2. If you are buying a luxury car, why would you care what it costs? Luxury by its very definition is something you don't need.

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG way to miss the point.

I assume that is a troll... Surely you're smart enough to see the flawed logic in the statements...

last edited by mongie at 15:46:09 14/Aug/07

i am guessing only real 4wds like Land Cruisers would be exempted unlike those poofy Prados and Pajeros.

I assume that is a troll

It must be a troll, because it doesn't compute with your patently flawless logic.

last edited by infi at 15:43:07 14/Aug/07

infi, it sounds like you're trying to make the obviously stupid argument that people with plenty of money don't care how much stuff costs, but I can't believe it so I give you this opportunity to correct my clearly woeful misunderstanding

nah the only 4wd's that are excluded are those able to be classed as commercial and not designed primarily to carry passengers

my point is, if you are rich and have decided to buy say for example (let me pick a random brand) a BMW, and if you read on the interwebs that the BMW should convert to $AU80K but in fact retails in Aus for $AU100k, you will still buy the goddamn car.

I mean who gives a s***, it's only money, when acquisition of the item is the priority here. Who wants a f***en Audi or Merc ffs?

last edited by infi at 15:53:57 14/Aug/07

some land cruisers would be exempt if purchased by a business, some patrols would be, most if not all of the little ute 4bys, but hardly any if any at all cost over 58k anyway. f-250's, imported trucks like gmc chevy dodge

prado's and pajero's are definitely designed primarily to carry passengers so no chance there

Anyone got one of these bmw ipod integration thingo's? once again aus listed price is $330 delivered, from the states $240 delivered. Just trying to find out how long the ipod docking cable is to see if it would reach the glove box.

How exactly does that gadget work?^^

i have been looking for the cable that goes from the Ipod to the Aux input in the centre console and cant find the f***er anywhere.

Hmm you have an E90 though so I'm not a 100% sure. I've just gutted the back of my e46 to see if I had the 3 and 6 pin which turns out is in use by the cd changer so think will get the dice integrator, been reading dtm forums and everyone recommends it. If you want could get two shipped to make shipping cheaper? But then again rich people like you dont care how much they spend on things :P


this pdf has it all illustrated well for idiots like me

http://support.diceelectronics.com/files/bmw_install_rev043007.pdf

the ipod cable is 5m so it should be plenty enough

last edited by Le Infidel at 16:15:47 14/Aug/07

get f***ed, 330's a rip off :p

Well the DICE kit is $150 US ... cant seem to find out how much the shipping is

my point is, if you are rich and have decided to buy say for example (let me pick a random brand) a BMW, and if you read on the interwebs that the BMW should convert to $AU80K but in fact retails in Aus for $AU100k, you will still buy the goddamn car.

Well first of all, you've just randomly picked an example which tries to prove your point, but if you read mongies post we're not talking about a "measly" $20k, we're talking about $100k for a BMW.

At those prices it'd be cheaper to import the BMW and get it converted than it would to buy in AUD.

Secondly, people doing exactly what you've described are pretty much responsible for the reason that prices are so expensive.

I guess thats what you call er "demand"?

Secondly, people doing exactly what you've described are pretty much responsible for the reason that prices are so expensive.

That is partly true, if the rich folk around here boycotted the prices you would see them drop ... but that isn't going to happen. Another anomally in this the fact that even the BMW mongie is talking about is a lot cheaper to buy in the US than lets say in Germany or in South Africa where they are made.

Its all good though, soon enough maybe it will be cheap for us too :) BMW is building a plant in China as this is what is going on in china right now

s*** they shrunk it down a bit!!

well you know, them chaiwanese are of a smaller kind

For the rest of this thread, please everyone disregard Infi's comments, [s]hes a newb.

k printer boy.

infi is probably just trolling, but he isn't necessarily wrong. google "giffin goods".

but that isn't going to happen.

That's cool, the more stupid people that buy over-priced s*** the more leet I'll feel when I import it from the US for $100k less

^

for any car peeps around here how much does it cost to change the steering from left hand drive to right hand drive? it must be s***loads, yeah?

if there's a 100k saving to be made obviously buyers are going to factor in the convenience v. the "i could buy a whole second car for that much".

in this scenario the buyer is assessing the relative ease of ponying up with the extra cash v. the extra time and energy needed to be spent to achieve the saving.

let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater here.

even if it didnt cost that much, i woudlnt want to do it

its a serious amount of work, and not worth the hassle

the new zealand market is superior. great cars that are incredibly cheap, and they get a free selection of the jap import market whereas australia taxes the crap out of imports in an effort to keep mitsubishi australia alive. or something. stop subsidising the crappy aussie car manufacturers, let them die already and let us have awesome jap cars for cheap like NZ!

for any car peeps around here how much does it cost to change the steering from left hand drive to right hand drive? it must be s***loads, yeah?

it's around 30k for a well done, complianced job depending on the vehicle of course

Infi is a yuppy a****** that's why he is saying what he is saying.

Still, BMW rox my sox and one day i will own that 335i. ONE DAY!

yuppie lawyer? who'd have thought

it's around 30k for a well done, complianced job depending on the vehicle of course

Hmm Dodge Ram's, H2's etc are about 40-45k for the conversion :S

yuppie lawyer? who'd have thought

infi is a lawyer?

i am not a lawyer. i refuse to be associated with lawyers. but i did graduate from law school.

infi is a fag?

What's even more injustice is that the US paid less for their Monaros than we did even though they are made here and shipped across.

the base model here was only £25k or something. cars are so cheap here compared to wages. mini cooper is only like £10k. i have a £13k credit card limit ffs. crazy.

i think on the continent they are cheaper again, but dont quote me.

Hmm Dodge Ram's, H2's etc are about 40-45k for the conversion :S

yeah give or take

I got a price on a dodge ram the weekend before last from maracoonda, 114k + gst for a 3500 mega cab laramie. they are about USD$50k

I would expect the Mini to be cheaper in the UK, moobs.

Nevertheless I'd love to have Cooper S.

i am not a lawyer. i refuse to be associated with lawyers. but i did graduate from law school.

You must be a politician then, right?

We have an ambulance chaser on qgl...

jim, how about i'll go you halves in this? Dodge viper motor.. oh yum

http://www.carpoint.com.au/used-car/DODGE/RAM%201500/Queensland/csn1566832.aspx?State=QLD

let's go halves in two!
you take the srt10 and I'll stick with the 5.9 diesel or the new 6.7

What site do you order from? I'm look at picking up an RG Prestige in the near future, the model retails for $2000 over here, how much is the shipment from the US?

I've used American Guitar Boutique & more recently, the classifieds @ Talkbass.

My old flatmate imported a discontinued Ibanez prestige 6 string (with binding, piezo + magnetic pickups, stereo outputs + ability to blend both piezo & mag thru the one output) in pristine condition from Asia for next to nothing.

I even think some of the big US online stores now ship to Aussie (music123, zzounds etc).

off on another tangent... stupid car names.

Here's a few:

The Toyota Kluger:
Looks like "KluGGA" pronounced as "Klooger". Either way you say it, it's a stupid name for a SUV. The same car is called the Toyota Highlander in the USA, why not call it that here?

The Nissan Tiida:
"Teeda" why not spell it that way? A stupid name for a stupid looking car. Apparently Nissan Aust. is kicking itself for not continuing on with the 'Pulsar' brand name. The Tiida has been a dismal seller.

The Nissan Silvia:
A riceboi chariot named after someone's Granny.

Toyota Yaris:
Yaris... hmm named after one of the lesser known alien races from Star Trek? I liked 'Echo' better.

Mitsubishi 380:
380? hmm not stupid just .... meh

Suzuki Ignis:
Sounds like a feral bird.

Toyota Supra:
Because it's soopa!










last edited by sLaps_Forehead at 17:53:50 15/Aug/07

last edited by sLaps_Forehead at 18:01:21 15/Aug/07

will be buying a car soon.. i'll let you know how it goes

I don't get it. I visited home (Australia) recently and discovered:

1) "SUV" has replaced the term "four wheel drive" for anything that's non-commercial, but bigger than a sedan. Did I miss the memo where the Australian term was out, and the US term was in?

2) The Chrysler's Dodge infestation of ugly f***ing cars has ramped up. Seriously, American cars here look like s***. Please Australia, don't buy these!


Bah.

Oh well. At least my next car will be cheap. :D

your gay

it isn't just cars it is everything

i just order about 5k worth of parts for my bike if i got them here i would be looking at 10k min