Perimeter

Great question, thank you very much.
Answer: Excise tax, documentation, registration and dealer fees
Sales tax is not the only extra cost in buying a car in USA,
but I was clear that all States differ so I grabbed a round number as an approximation. Truly ballparking, but Carl's example has shown you that my ballpark is quite low for CA.


To reiterate, prices in different countries are seriously affect by taxes. The post complained the Porsches were more expensive in Germany than USA although they are made in Germany. If shipping was the only difference his complaint would be solid...but it isn't.

In the same manner, it is not fair for Germans to complain about the price of gasoline/petrol being so much higher in Germany vs USA because it is is a function of taxes not pure production/delivery costs.

sapman

sapman

Perimeter

Cool, so we're clear on the numbers being a ballpark.
You brought it up a second time, so you obviously are stuck on using 10% not 15% and I'm flexible enough to be in agreement on using that as a ballpark too.
So let''s run the numbers again using your figures: 19% tax German built into every advertised car and your 10% tax (not disclosed in any USA advertisement) sum to 29% price difference from taxes only.

BACK TO THE POINT
It still makes my point that when a German human views German Porsche advertised prices then compares them with USA advertised Porsche prices that he can not conclude USA Porsches are cheaper.
Heck, if true, that is enough to start a Trade War with Dumping allegations.

Why not optimize your tax situation and use a professional?

I use a very informed Auto broker in the last 5 transactions. He has executed a 1031 swiftfull, petitioned the Board of Equalization for tax offset and won, registration conversion success and called 26 Porsche dealers before finding an allotment.

Allen Faulkner (allenfaulkner@msn.com , 602.363.5616)

He has many more tax savings options (on new cars too), ask when you call him


Allen Faulkner - Drive Inc

Perimeter

I must politely disagree and rebuttal with additional facts that Trade Ins in California PAY FULL TAX.
Stated another way: There is no tax offset in CA if you trade in a car and the tax basis will be the full purchase price.

Example: If you trade a $100k GT4 in on a $200k GT3 then you pay full tax on the basis of $200k.
This tax amount is the same as if you just bought that $200k GT3 by itself with no Trade In.


BTW, I looked in your profile but can not see where you reside - USA or Germany ?

VLJ

There are many reasons I'm glad I don't buy cars in California.

In 2015 I bought a 991 C2S and had to fly out there to get it in order to avoid paying tax. According to the dealer (DTLA) if I had it shipped across state line or had them register the car for me I would pay sales tax but if I got a "one way" permit, drove the car home, and registered it when I got to AZ I would likely never have to pay the sales tax. It was a pain in the *** when I got to MVD as they did not know how to process the paperwork but it finally got done.

In Arizona the trade value offsets the purchase so the sales tax collected at the dealer is often minimal and private party sales have no sales tax. These rules are great.

ak432

I sold mine last year and miss it! Even with my new touring....just not the same for street driving. The GT4 is a really fun street car as well as an incredible track car. If anyone has wants to part with a clean sub-5000 mile example...(private party) pm me.

James88

This is exactly how I felt when I drove a 991.2 GT3 recently.

Bossing

Perimeter

pm sent

johnny2five

My friend just bought a 458 with 3 previous owners. So the state of California received about $300k x 9% + 250k x 9% + 225k x 9% + 200k * 9% = $88,000 in taxes. FROM ONE CAR! I'm obviously making some assumptions on price but you get the point. And my friend will likely sell the car in the next year, so the money making machine (for CA) will live on for years to come.

Viperguy324

I'm an American that lives in Germany... And I'll say it again. Your math is wrong. The EXACT same GT3 is cheaper in the USA then Germany, Get over it.
Include the exchange rate and now count the same fees but again higher amounts the German market car and you will have the correct numbers.

Viperguy324

EXACT same Build base price...

USA
$174,710 Tax not included

Germany
180,273,90eur =$225,343.00 Tax included
-19% = 146,021.00eur or $182,526
like I said 10% And if you think fees and tags are less in Germany...lol how about no.

Perimeter

Ouch!
You're right
and while I hate to throw gasoline on a fire, I will point out that but yours is a single sale of that car.
Each time it was sold before then it incurred taxes and they were probably higher because newer.

But wait, there's more
Every sale of that car forward will also be taxed, just probably a little less 'cause its older.
Ouch!

Perimeter

Thank you for the rebuttal, very good comment.

Since I have never bought a car in Europe, I did some research. This article makes a very good case.
It mentions your claim of exchange rates, tax/fees built into EU car adverts (full disclosure) and German discounts unavailable to USA buyers. In a vague way he calls USA dealers HARD A S S for USA buyers to negotiate aginst, Germans giving more.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201...unts-up-to-42/"The Truth About European Car Prices; Discounts Up To 42%

European new car prices can be as confusing to us Yanks as ordering from a menu in Latvia. We’re always hearing about tiny $29k econoboxes and the like. List prices are typically converted to US dollars, and the results can be very misleading. MSRPs are assumed to be more solid than ours. And the 19% VAT (value added tax) is not factored in. The result often is an assumption that European car manufacturers are getting ginormous prices for their little hatchbacks. Lets pull back the curtain of confusion and seek some truth. Like the Audi A3 shown above: if you factor in purchasing power parity, remove the (included) 19% tax, and factor in the 29% discount being offered, the equivalent US price is: $12,353.

Allow me to explain:

Lets start with the MSRPs: Discounts are rampant, especially in the wake of Europe’s Cash for Clunker programs, with only high-demand models exempted. Obviously, slower sellers get higher discounts. The biggest, 42%, was for a Citroen Xsara. But if you follow this link here; it will take you to a (slow) slide show from Auto, Motor und Sport that shows a large spectrum of cars like the Audi above. It’s in German, but you’ll be able to figure out the two prices at the bottom of each screen and the percent discount.

VAT tax is included (by law) in all advertised prices. That means for our purposes, and to get a feel for the prices manufacturers are getting, reduce all prices by 15.966%.

Currency conversion: The dollar has swung by huge amounts in the last ten years versus the euro. But unless you personally are buying with dollars, its largely irrelevant to this exercise. Europeans are paid in Euros, and buy in Euros, and the general rule of thumb is to use a purchasing power parity ratio of 1 euro to 1 dollar (as per the Economist). So if you want to know what a car actually costs European buyers, don’t convert it to dollars. And as the European manufacturers exporting to the US have long known, the currency fluctuations can not drive their pricing; the market does.

They (ED: German dealers) either hedge, make less profit until the dollar comes back up, or have US plants that ship some of their cars back to Europe, like BMW and Mercedes do, to offset the imports. Any way you look at European prices, converting their MSRPs to dollars will get you…confused. Yet it’s done all the time."