Buying a new Vauxhall from Holland or dealer

System

not looking for a Vauxhall, but after a good deal on a new Landrover Discovery, any ideas or sightings?

Paul_Riley_2

Haven't done it myself but I looked into it a while back just out of interest.

One thing I remember is the fact that Ireland is a decent source because (a) its easy to get to in person if necessary (b) the vehicles are RHD as standard.

If you do your research you'll find that different brands of vehicle will each have their cheaper country. e.g. At the time I looked into it VWs were at their cheapest from Holland whereas Ford were cheaper elsewhere.

There is a magazine readilly available from decent newsagents that specialise in buying vehicles from abroad. (Can't remember whether it is monthly or bi-monthly.)

A work colleague of mine got a VW from Holland last year.
On one hand it took months to get it because at the time VW put export orders at the bottom of the pile.
However, on the other hand when it did arrive it had many features that were standard on a Dutch vehicle but would have been optional extras on a UK sourced equivalent.  This makes the cost savings more attractive than on first sight.

jmalls

I'm back... (no offence taken)

More tips?

Go to Google - type 'car importing' will give you companies who will do the donkey work for you. It also gives you tips/guides by other people.

There are companies out there who import other car makes eg landrover you just have to search.

On the subject of which country to import from, Finland had the highest rate of taxation when I bought my car but delivery charges were also very high! There is a website which covers all taxation classes in Europe but I can't remember it.

jmalls

This is my 4th message & it's hard work keeping up. If guys out there have posted 100+ messages they obviously are spending loads of dosh with the internet on all the time but spending nothing on anything else because they sit in front of the PC!

Thanks for reading ...

booogle

Has anybody imported a car recently? A lot of the car mags are saying it's not worth it anymore due to the euro exchange rates. I'd be interested to know for BMW & Audi in particular.

Here's a link to the EU reports on regional variances in car prices :http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/car_sector/

Dannyboy_4

Dannyboy and Galstonian,

Just curious - how could you buy your second-hand cars if no one had bought it new in the first place  ???

Just teasing!  ;)

Nix

Exactly - which is why I am happy that some people do!


Danny.

Dannyboy_4

For those that think it is pure vanity, do you also buy your clothes and furniture secondhand? I doubt it. Yet such items would be easily available in good condition at a fraction of the price.

YES, I do buy those second-hand as well actually, when it is quality stuff and cheaper to do so!


Danny.

Dannyboy_4

ps.


I wasn't meaning to insult anyone who wants to buy a NEW car for themselves.

Maybe the word "vanity" was inappropriate, so replace that with "if you want to pamper yourself", then go ahead!

I was just looking at things from a money-saving perspective, possibly saving yourself thousands of pounds in the process, by citing my experience of the alternative option of buying a decent second-hand car instead, after you have had the AA or whoever to inspect it.

I don't want this to become an arguement, I much prefer discussion, with alternative viewpoints and helpful contributions.

So sorry if I offended anyone.

Oh, and if you want to "hide" how old your 2nd hand car is, you could get yourself a "cheap" personalised numberplate!

Danny.

BikingBud

Hi First Post on here, great site, so please excuse me if I'm not quite up with the etiquette.

Anyway, I bought a Mondeo estate with a saving of £4.5K from a car supermarket. You go down as the second owner even though it only had 8 miles on the clock. My intention was to keep the vehicle for over 100k miles. It was well spec’d and I was very happy with the deal. I had even approached Main Dealers to see if they could get any where near. They were not interested, wouldn't budge from £18.5k. I do not understand how they can run a business like that but I obviously went elsewhere.

I had the car for about 16 mths and was offered a job abroad. So I looked into selling the Mondeo, I had done about 18k miles nothing too excessive but it had been used, what else do you buy a car for?

The best offer I got was the £7.5k trade in offer from a dealer, phrases using !!!!!! Turpin and mask sprang to mind. At the end of the day there are so many ex fleet cars with less than 10 miles where people can leave any MOT failure for a £1000 deposit that there was absolutely no interest in my car.

I could not let it go at that price, it was worth more to me, in the end I brought it with me, driving a RHD car is not too bad.

The moral "The prices are cheap but the residuals are even lower"

BB

System

Have been contemplating buying a Zafira for a while now and would love to hear how easy you found it. Are you pleased with your new vehicle?

Thanks

Linda : ;D

jmalls

Linda

It took 4 months from ordering our Zaf to delivery because of all the extras so my wife would be happy/pampered!?! It was relatively easy to buy from abroad - read the 10 point plan & print it out
The thing against buying from abroad now is the £/€ rate. I got 1.56, I think it is now about 1.4€ to the £.
Over 17000€ this is a loss of some £1250.
We have had the car so far 12 months & had no probs with it.
The dealership Van Der Molem speak good English - we had no probs with them either. You'll just have to get in touch with them (I don't work for them) & ask for a quote & do your own sums...

jmalls