How much to import ??

[Guest]

Right got my eye on Alex's mates CS which if I can shift the MG I'm sure is the one but its going to come down to timing.

In the mean time I'm still looking just in case the bargain of the century appears.

I know someone mentioned something about this on my noobie thread but having seen this one I wondered how much it would cost all in by the time I got it back home. Low mileage reasonable money , not sure about the colour [:-]

Yellow 968 CS

Cheers

Mike[8D]

 

[John Sims]

Mike,

There was an article in 911 & Porsche World about 18 months ago about buying a 993 from abroad for under £20K. I'm afaid I can't remember the details but have little doubt you could get the back issue off them.

I would suggest that the price noted isn't going to be that much of a bargin once you get the car home and, in how ever many years, eventualy go to sell it again. Left hookers don't command the same price in the UK generally as a right hand drive car for a start. You will have to re-register the car in the UK and fit new UK spec headlamps for a start. Assuming buying in an EU country I don't think you now have to pay duty on your purchase, but this would be the critical thing to check.

At the end of the day, how much fun will driving a left hand drive car be for the sake of saving £2-3K particularly when you consider how cheap finance is these days?

 

[2alexcoo]

Last time I looked at 993 prices on mobile.de (just for research, you understand []), they were hardly any cheaper than similar LHD cars in the UK, plus of course you've got all the hassle of importing it.

 

[Matt]

Mike

actually importing the car is relatively cheap and easy but the bits add up: cost of travel to pick it up, registration in the uk (£30ish), road tax, new mot, new numberplates, new headlight lenses to pass aforementioned mot. should have a new mph speedo - although its not needed for mot it is under construction rules - therefore the police can nick you for a kph only speedo or your insurance co could refuse to pay out post an incident.

once in the uk the process is simple - get mot on the car then send off all details to DVLA who issue new uk registration and tax.

from experience (i've imported from Sweden & Germany in the last 12 months) its easy to underestimate some of the costs which can catch you out - flight, hotel and ferry can add up to £500-£1000, then theres food (&beer), petrol to drive back, road tolls. also you need to check the banks exchange rate & fee when you do the transfer/bankers draft.

only other thing is that you end up negotiating a price over the phone for an unseen car - if you then need to take a bankers draft over you have no negotiating position once you are in front of the car apart from walking away. the way round it is to have 90% of the price in a draft/transfer and the rest in cash to negotiate. the only other alternative is to fly over to look at the car, then agree price, then agree when to pick it up..costly in £ & time.

happy to chat through if you want

matt

 

[Guest]

Matt, so do you reckon if I allowed a grand on top of purchase price that would about cover it ? What about a PPI how much do they run out at ? can you get an idea of value from that before you fly out ?

Like I say a back up plan at the moment, its just nice to get all the options covered.

Cheers for the replies guys.

Mike

 

[Matt]

mike
the porsche inspection from memory about £100-£150 - i would either get the vendor to have the inspection done and then fax you a copy so you can negotiate the price vs. faults found, or alternatively get it booked in for the day you are there so you can watch it happen, then negotiate. if you get the OPC inspection they provide you with a visual check sheet with ticks & crosses against it so easy to understand. obviously check that the inspection is for the car you are buying if you choose the first option! the first option also allows you to call off the purchase if it reveals a shedload of faults - and saves you the cost of flying over.
i would recommend doing this - when i bought my 964RS it more than paid for itself in the brand new genuine front discs fitted to the car for free..

dependent on where you have to travel to will dictate the costs massively - i've been lucky both times and flown direct using ryanair or air berlin (mmmm...nice[]) £70 vs the scheduled flights £350. assuming you can fly cheapo then £1000 should cover the whole process.

it has an added bonus of being a good laugh/boys own style adventure if you take a mate as well - we ended up on the dockside in sweden with a 911 cup car, a stack of 4 wheels and a spare decklid - which would not fit in the car, trying to bribe the boat people to take the wheels on manually as cargo [] - we were saved by a couple of english blokes in a van who took them for us and then shouted us a decent meal and few bottles of wine on the boat before leading a marathon drinking session in the bar surrounded by burly scandanavian truckers []

Matt

 

[Guest]

Cheers Matt, I will definately go the inspection route if I go for a euro purchase, like you say small price to pay for peace of mind []

As for the UK, it really depends I'd certainly have a good look around myself first as I'm pretty up on the nuts and bolts side and have obtained loads of info on the 968 weak points over the last few weeks. However if there was any doubt I would have a full inspection done just to make sure. TBH as long as the engine and box are OK I'm prepared to sort minor probs like brakes and suspension as unless its an M030 spec I'd probably be changing them anyway.

Mike [8D]