Slightly OT: Question For UK Rennlisters
 

I have asked this question before chaps and never gotten a solid answer. I am entertaining the idea of a job offer in the UK, (London). Price differences between cars in the US and the UK are outrageous. Thus I am debating on either bringing the 993 with or bringing a newer car and toying with the following four (in order of desirability) 997S, Cayman S, E46 M3 or Z4 M coupe. As a test I went to ebay US and ebay UK and searched for simirilarly appointed Cayman S. US price was $54K (GBP 27,275) UK price was GBP 40K ($79,200). One word WOW! :crying:

If I bring a car from the US what are my costs?

I am aware of and or suspect the following=>

1) VAT of 18.5%. (18.5% on what=> US purchase price, UK new car invoice price, or something else)

2) Shipping $2,000 to $4,000

3) Is there an import tax and if so how much is it?

4) What are the registration fees for title, plates and so on...........

After all this is it worth bringing a car or am I wasting my time?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Actually bringing the car over is a piece of cake (I've shipped my cars to Israel from the UK by both boat and plane, and its a ridiculously easy and quick process)... actually registering the car's a different question. You may want to check out this link:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring...cle/DG_4022583

There are many, many, many overseas registered cars driving around London (most of them on Dubai plates), so you may want to check into the possibility of just shipping the car over and NOT registering it...

Oh, and VAT's 17.5%...

Update: You can 'temporarily import' a car for a 12 month period... how long you looking to stay?

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring...le/DG_10014623

I have had my car in London for 3 years with foreign plates. The thing is you have to get out of the country once a year, very easy through the shuttle (eurostar), as low as $50.
Shipping from the US. in a container is around $1000.
You should definitely do the clearing transport papers yourself (easy),
try to reception the car yourself.
if you go through a professional, they rip everybody.
If done yourself, it costs around $300-400. A pro customs broker will tax you $2000 to porsche scary...
in the UK, the only thing you need is a resident (parking) permit, that costs ziltch and is yearly, stuck on your windshield

You have to remember the car you would take would be left hand drive, and they are not worth as much in the UK as RHD cars. That is unless is like a 993RS or something.

Sounds like you're beginning to get your head around the price differential for cars that we in he UK "enjoy" compared with you lucky people in the US. Try www.dvla.gov.uk - this website should give you all the information you need about importing cars.

Unfortunately it's not only cars. Having been to The States many times, it seems to me that just about everything costs twice as much here in the UK. I've had several job opportunities in the US, and had concluded I could more or less maintain my lifestyle on half the money. So it figures that coming the other way you should be looking to at least double your US salary.

Having said that, if you're going to get en ex-pat's package, that should go a long way to "insulating" you from the price differentials.

(BTW - I've got an American buddy who moved from Dallas to the UK, so if you have any other questions about moving here, PM me and I'll try to get you answers from him).

Actually, I've found driving on the Democrats side of the road not a problem. Put when I get into a local vehicle with the steering wheel on the same side I p*ss my pants.

Peter R.

Forgot to mention .....

Geolab's comment about parking permits maybe needs some explanation. These are only necessary if your house doesn't have off-road parking (i.e. doesn't have a driveway). In most UK city centres the houses were built a long time ago when cars were uncommon, and so no provision was made to park them. In these cases the streets in front of houses are now "reserved" for resident parking by the system of residents' parking permits. These are supposed to prevent the general public from parking in front of someone's house.

So if you move to a house or apartment that does have off-road parking, parking permits will not be an issue for you.

most impportantly , make sure you have correct insurance in place !!!

will no doubt be cheaper to tell your insurer in usa that you plant to travel to europe .
whether they will give you a full 12months cover is a different story !!
if it is ok , and you can insure with no limitations on periods outside your country , you can set-up a yearly standing order .

dont forget the cost of porsche ownership in the uk tends to be a lot due to all the euro tuners tempting you to add bits !!! :)

If you’ll be working and living in central London then having your own car can be more hassle than it’s worth, what with the £8 congestion charge, parking problems, nazi parking attendants, crime & vandalism, psycho cyclist, bendy buses and traffic.

This is just one consideration, there are many others with your suggestion of buying a Cayman for example:

How long are you planning to stay and how long will you plan to keep the car? Would you have it shipped back to the US? Investigate the costs associated with this as well.

Who will service the car? I can’t imagine an OPC going near it.

The cars you mention are readily available in the UK, so it may prove very difficult to sell a US spec LHD model in the UK, I would be surprised if you could sell such a Cayman for more than £10,000 after 3 years.

Insurance may be an even worse problem. No garage in the UK will be tooled up for a US spec 2007 Porsche so the premiums for insurance will reflect this. Add to this the fact that you don’t have a ‘no-claims discount’ or a history with any UK company so you may find a Cayman costs you at least £5,000 a year to insure, assuming you can find someone to insure it.

Will the Porsche warranty on the car be honoured in the UK? I doubt it.

If you really want to bring a car over then bring something that already has a market, eg pre-impact bumper 911s or any classic or sporty US car that’s not available over here. There is a ready sales, insurance and service/repair market for these cars. Insurance tends to be much cheaper for classics, provided they are garaged.

Caymans are two a penny in central London, whereas a US classic will help you win friends, give you a certain style and make you more attractive. Provided that Ken Livingstone doesn’t ban them from driving in the ‘low emission zone’.

Sorry to be so pessimistic. Instead, spend those $$$$ on some very tempting alternatives for weekend fun, which will make your time in London/UK unforgettable:

http://www.ecurie25.co.uk/Home.aspx
http://www.classiccarclub.co.uk
http://www.p1international.com/

Stay in the US hombre.........although I love my country, things here are pretty grim.........and not just for drivers

"If you’ll be working and living in central London then having your own car can be more hassle than it’s worth, what with the £8 congestion charge, parking problems, nazi parking attendants, crime & vandalism, psycho cyclist, bendy buses and traffic."

We're all leaving by the thousands!!

If you do come don't bother bringing your car

Wow,

Your help is great thank you for fantastic response. The plan is as follows. I have Greek citizenship and missing Europe I am looking at coming accross the Atlantic and working in London for one of the investment banks. I have spent a lot of time in London and love it but have never lived there. Thus the hope is that I will spend a few years in London and then move to Greece.

I like Geolab and urban alchemists idea of keeping the car with US plates and exiting the country annually. Besides I plan on driving a lot through Europe. - Do I have to pay VAT even with foreign plates on the car?

Ian - Insurance is certainly a concern that I will have to address. I will need to find out how that works and how expensive it is.

SJB - Believe me I know but the pay seems to cover the difference in the capital/global markets jobs in the city.

Leo - Resale does not concern me as much because it either goes to back to US or somewhere in Europe. US spec cars are not as different as they used to be but I will certainly check. I think you are pushing me to bring a Z06 corvette and believe me it has crossed my mind more than once. Any more input will be great.

Does the age of the car matter? ie is the 993 going to be a problem?

Thanks a million guys!

Ash,

Go on mate, it can't be that bad.

Ash

It can't be that bad mate.

It can be... I have to agree with Ash... it's getting to the point where you just get the feeling you're constantly having the piss taken out of you.

Everything's two to four times more expensive than anywhere else, but it isn't two to four times as good. Everything's a hassle, the government doesn't listen to anyone and is actually, officially, trying to make your life more difficult (they were proven to be trying to create traffic jams), a public transport system that flat-out doesn't work, you constantly feel as if you're watched (did you know we have, in London alone, 20% of the world's CCTV cameras?), "service" doesn't mean a damn thing (tried to speak to Sky/BT/the council etc in the past few years?), you're charged for EVERYTHING (whether you're doing something or not - there are cameras in my high-street that will automatically charge you £100 if you stop on a double-yellow for more than 20 seconds), and the only people left seem to be speaking Polish.

I swear to god, apart from my little 'corner' of London (Hampstead Village) that I truly love and rarely leave unless I absolutely have to, I can't think of anywhere I'd less like to live. As soon as I no longer have to be in the UK, more than likely I'll be out like a flash...