dpdapper

So I've spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out the basis for the mileage (kilometerage?) limitation of 6,000 km on Europe-delivered cars that is contained in Porsche's purchase contract and thought I'd share my findings.

It appears that the limitation arises out of the conditions under which cars delivered in Europe (whether for ED and export or otherwise) are subject to VAT. New and used cars are treated differently: it is my understanding that new cars are taxed in the country where they are first permanently registered, while used cars are taxed where they are sold. This brings us to the definition of a "new" car. "New" vehicles are those that are less than 6 months old OR have less than 6,000 km on them. (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-conte...6L0112&from=EN at p. 9, Title I, Article 2, Subsection 2(b) of L. 347/4.)So, a car is still considered "new" if it is less than six months old even if it has more than 6,000 km on it. And consequently if the car is exported from Europe less than six months after delivery, the mileage doesn't matter in determining whether the car is exempt from VAT in Europe because it's exported before it's permanently registered.

I confirmed my reading of the law with the EU ombudsman: "We agree with your understanding. The wording chosen is the exact wording from the legislative act. Please however, note that Directive 2006/112 in which it is stated that cars need to be either younger than six months or have run less than 6.000 km, refers to intra EU trade and does not mention third countries." (I think this last qualification about third countries just indicates that they are not opining on how the car is taxed once it leaves the EU.)

Finally, I ran my interpretation by Jamie Dillon at Porsche NA and she agreed that if the car is exported within six months, the mileage is irrelevant: "I can confirm that what you've determined is correct. We [Porsche NA] have our own policy in the terms of the contract that customers must stay within both limitations, just to be safe. That said, as long as the vehicle is exported within 6 months of Delivery in Germany, the mileage is essentially irrelevant. Though we do require the mileage restriction be noted in the terms of the contract, this is not something we monitor directly unless customers are planning to keep the car in Europe for 6 months."

Hope this helps people who were wondering about this. My purchase is back on track now that I know I can do the road trips I want to do without fear of running over the mileage limitation!

subshooter

Someone in this forum said the same thing. Makes sense. Thank you for sharing.

You can see situations where American guys who work at offices in Europe and North America might try to order a ED car and then keep it at their second home in Europe and circumvent the VAT. I get it.

dpdapper

Yes, there have been other threads generally saying the same thing but they seemed based on assumptions rather than the law or, more importantly, what Porsche NA itself is saying.

I forgot to add in my initial post that the genesis of this whole issue is the fact that the Porsche ED Purchase Agreement specifically says cars are limited to six months AND less than 6,000 km. The email I received from Porsche NA basically says, "Don't worry about the 6,000 km limitation if you export the car within six months."

CAlexio

glad i checked this.. my route over the course of 3-4 months looks something like this...
March pickup: Leipzig - Nurburgring - Geneva Auto Show - Storage in Como, Italy.
June Honeymoon Drive: Como, some mountain passes in Switz. - Monaco - Barcelona - Gibraltar - Lisbon - Madrid drop-off.

I just did a map of it and came in at 5300km and change.. which leaves 700km to play with.. so a few extra Nurburgring laps!. Glad I check this so i didn't get a wild hair to go to Lapland in Finland for our honeymoon instead!!!!

dpdapper

CAlexio

Outside from Door edges, fenders, Outside of Front Spoiler/Bumper, Front Hood, Mirrors, Roof edge... Any other critical areas which MUST be PFF'd on a 911?

GrussGott

Reviving this old post as trying to figure out if the mileage limit is in place - if you're still around can you confirm if you've exceeded the 6k KM and if it was not a problem?

dpdapper

I did exceed the 6,000 km limit—I think it was more like 6,000 miles—without any problem during export. That said, this was in 2018 so YMMV. 😉

CAlexio

Interesting, they told me if my mileage was over by even one mile that I wouldn't get my VAT back... I used it so much during two separate trips in ED that I had to get it towed back to Stuttgart to not go over my mileage.

fuenfer

Out of curiosity, why was the Carabinieri hassling you?

CAlexio

The short of it is that with foreign plates, police in Italy have a much higher propensity to stop you because Italians have been pulling a "Montana" on Italian tax authorities and registering their cars abroad and then not paying regs or taxes on their luxury vehicles. It was either that or me going a little fast or both.

Funny part this was within literally 300 meters of my parents home.. made it all the way from Leipzig, Germany and got pulled over right before arriving home.

AlibiKat

Wish I would have read this before my ED. I limited my travel to avoid exceeding the mileage limit.