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Hi all, I've been lurking in the forums for a while, and I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Alex from the Netherlands, currently living/working in Qatar. I picked up a guards red GT4 last summer, and absolutely love it. I've done 6 trackdays with it so far, and it's a blast. This is also my first Porsche by the way, and its everything I hoped it would be.
Porsche ownership in Qatar is stressful though, as service/maintenance is horrendous, and almost no one knows what they're talking about. I find myself gathering intel here on these forums before I go and talk to anyone at the dealership/maintenance.
Alex, your car looks fabulous. Welcome to Porsche, and the GT4 specifically. It's a fantastic sports car, as you've already discovered. Did you purchase this car in Qatar, or elsewhere and had it imported? How many miles have you been able to put on the car? Enjoy it and have a lot of fun!
Thanks! I purchased this car in Qatar, however it was imported here from Bahrain by the previous owner. I was lucky enough to buy this car with only about 4000km (about 2500 miles) on it. So far I've done about 1100km (690 miles), of which almost all of it on the track!
Q: the cheapest GT4 on Mobile.de are from that region. It's seldom a worthwhile way to buy one IMO because of the 10% duties on top of the car + transport, before adding VAT (21% in Belgium). Makes me wonder of you even pay VAT at all over there?
Thanks! Yeah the color really did it for me. Test driving this car and seeing it for real was the same as going to see puppies, you know you're gonna walk away with one.
Correct, there is no tax at all here, so compared to back in the Netherlands, these cars are quite the bargain! (Soon they'll be introducing a 5% VAT, and they've just increased the alcohol prices by 100% )As you said, it doesn't make sense to import one from the middle east if you're currently living in Europe as you'll have to pay quite a bit of tax over it. When I move back though I'm allowed to take a car (i think it might be 2 cars) with me, tax free. In this case it does pay off.
I haven't got any plans to come back in the near future, but I dream of driving the GT4 around Europe. Not many great driving roads in Qatar, they do have a great track though.
Been thinking of shipping the car to the Netherlands purely because of the lack of support from Porsche here, and the lack of confidence I have in them. Owning one in Europe would be a completely different experience.
Q: the cheapest GT4 on Mobile.de are from that region. It's seldom a worthwhile way to buy one IMO because of the 10% duties on top of the car + transport, before adding VAT (21% in Belgium). Makes me wonder of you even pay VAT at all over there?
Good ole EU VAT and tariffs... Once Europeans learn that most of the rest of world has nothing or very little, you'll understand what Trump is on about. It's a constant struggle for folks like me living in Europe.
I haven't got any plans to come back in the near future, but I dream of driving the GT4 around Europe. Not many great driving roads in Qatar, they do have a great track though.
Been thinking of shipping the car to the Netherlands purely because of the lack of support from Porsche here, and the lack of confidence I have in them. Owning one in Europe would be a completely different experience.
It's not all that great here either.. mine has been to two different dealers and in both instances I fixed the car myself. There must be a Qatar based Porsche cup team or someone supporting them.. Find them and have them do servicing/repairs.
It's not all that great here either.. mine has been to two different dealers and in both instances I fixed the car myself. There must be a Qatar based Porsche cup team or someone supporting them.. Find them and have them do servicing/repairs.
That's a good idea. I've been networking a little, trying to see where people get their parts, and where they get the work done. I'm planning to have the annual service checks done at Porsche, and do the rest elsewhere...
The problem is they find migrant workers from developing countries who have never really worked on anything of value before, and they get divided between Porsche/Ferrari/BMW/KIA/Toyota etc, zero passion for the job or passion for cars, and no concept of value. That's a bad mix. The same issue here with restaurants, doesn't really matter which restaurant you go to it all tastes the same, as the "chefs" all come from the same country.
With regards to the tax issue, it's one of the reasons I'm not too keen on coming back anytime soon . In my home country a GT4 with 10.000km would cost more than twice as much than what I bought it for, mainly because of all the taxes.
Last edited by MrFly; 02-23-2019 at 10:56 AM.
Reason: spelling
02-20-2019 | 01:02 PM
new GT4 owner!
)As you said, it doesn't make sense to import one from the middle east if you're currently living in Europe as you'll have to pay quite a bit of tax over it. When I move back though I'm allowed to take a car (i think it might be 2 cars) with me, tax free. In this case it does pay off.
. In my home country a GT4 with 10.000km would cost more than twice as much than what I bought it for, mainly because of all the taxes.