Buying a Mercedes overseas
Joe Collins
> What would a decent price be for a 1970 Mercedes 280SL with soft and
> hardtop. The car is silver w/blue interior and was imported from germany.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Anyone have any experience doing this? I'm tempted to pursue this
and would like to hear from others. What little I've heard is to go
to Germany on vacation, buy it there and then have it shipped to the USA.
Thus it is a used car (yours) that you are bringing home.
Comments/suggestions/tips welcome
many thanks,
John_Schubert
You have to be careful with the year of car you buy. You may be subject to
EPA and possibly DOT (bumper and door intrusion beams) standards. If the
vehicle needs both, this could cost as much as $5000 or more depending on the
car. If you can't afford to make the changes or refuse, the car is seized
and destroyed! The example car ('70) probably only needs some smog equipment
added, as bumper standards and door standards started about '73.
******************************************************************************
* John Schubert; Hewlett Packard, AMSO | The opinions contained herein *
* Sunnyvale, California | are my own, because nobody *
* INTERNET: j...@hpams0c.hp.com | else wants them... *
* CompuServe: >INTERNET:j...@hpams0c.hp.com| *
* or 72007,1334 | "Ban low performance drivers, *
* HPDESK: HP2200/40 | not high performance cars." *
******************************************************************************
Scott Allen
a 1970 SL in Germany and try to bring it back you are going to have to go
through all the crap that you have to do with a grey market car. (Unless it
is old enough to not require that -- check with DOT and EPA). Grey markeet
cars for the most part are no longer practical for cost reasons.
Buying a NEW car in germany and sending it back is a bit more straight forward,
since you are purchasing a U.S. model rather than a German model. You can
arrange the deal with your local MB dealer (or BMW for that matter, probably
even VW or Porsche), pick up the car there and drive it for however long
you want, then they ship it back and install any special US stuff when it
arrives here. You save a bit but only if you want to go to Europe anyway and
have a nice car to zoom about in.
Any way you slice it, you aren't going to find any bargains by purchasing a
car in Germany. The dollar is just too weak these days for that. The trend
seems more to be Europeans purchasing older classic European cars and returning
them to Europe.
have fun!
Scott.
David Lesher
>> hardtop. The car is silver w/blue interior and was imported from germany.
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>Anyone have any experience doing this? I'm tempted to pursue this
>and would like to hear from others. What little I've heard is to go
>to Germany on vacation, buy it there and then have it shipped to the USA.
>Thus it is a used car (yours) that you are bringing home.
OLD CARS:
ISTM the cutoff for non-conforming cars was 1968. Newer than that you
must bring the car into full compliance - very hard for safety
rules.
NEW CARS:
It used to be that you could buy a new Mercedes (NOT VIA a US
DEALER), and with minor changes [at one point- just adding a
insulated front pipe!] meet both EPA and DOT rules.
But M.B. of North America, mad at not getting their large
markup, got a bill passed within the last few years that greatly
inhibits so-called gray market conversions. Now, Y.B.F....
Of course, the factory will NOT sell a US spec model to anyone
but M.B. of NA......
--
A host is a host from coast to coast.....wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu
& no one will talk to a host that's close............(305) 255-RTFM
Unless the host (that isn't close)......................pob 570-335
is busy, hung or dead....................................33257-0335
John G. DeArmond
>The two different dialogs above are VERY different in procedure. If you buy
>a 1970 SL in Germany and try to bring it back you are going to have to go
>through all the crap that you have to do with a grey market car. (Unless it
>is old enough to not require that -- check with DOT and EPA). Grey markeet
>cars for the most part are no longer practical for cost reasons.
>Any way you slice it, you aren't going to find any bargains by purchasing a
>car in Germany. The dollar is just too weak these days for that. The trend
>seems more to be Europeans purchasing older classic European cars and returning
>them to Europe.
Very true. In 1984 or thereabouts, I bought a BMW 635 CSI in Germany and
managed to get it back into the country without smog mods through an EPA
loophole that has since been closed. When I bought my car, the dollar
was at its peak relative to the mark, at about 3.5 to one or so. I got
the car for the US equivalent of about what an economy car cost back then.
The situation now is vastly (or ghastly?) different. I have a friend in
Germany even as we speak. I asked him to get me some prices on spare
parts. With the mark currently worth about 85 cents, the prices are stunning.
Try $650 for the muffler and tailpipe assembly. Or $350 for an electric
window motor. A water pump that costs about $45 in the US quoted out
at almost $200! This is NOT the time to be looking at gray market
cars. While the importers were accused (rightfully so) of gouging people
when the dollar was strong, they are now absorbing some of the exchange
rate. BMW parts are much cheaper at my local yuppie paradise than
in Germany.
As to owning a gray market car, I have mostly nice things to say. I have
been quite disapointed in the overall quality of detail work in the BMW
- something I've noted in US models as well. I just got to used to
Japaneese quality, I guess. Other than the seemingly constant nagging
minor problems, the car is very much fun to drive. It burns just about
any fuel you want to throw at it and has not of the smog bogs that were
characteristic of the era. I like the German idea of ergonomics
(excepting the custom ricarro seats which I *HATE* with a passion.) The
car is obviously optimized for high speed driving. It is sluggish in the
typical city environment but once you get it up to about 90, it takes on
a whole new personality. It feels heavy and solid but responsive in
straightaway driving but it handles exit ramps and high speed mountain
roads as well as many traditional sports cars. It seems a part of the
German stereotype to just get the job done and don't make a big deal of it.
Parts have not been a problem, though I've had to pick replacements
heuristly :-) in some cases (you know, walk the isles with old
part in hand looking for the proper replacement. For example, it takes
brake pads from two different US models. Body parts could be a problem
though. When I decided to buy my car, I resigned myself to having it
laid up for an extended period in the event I ever got hit. One can
get parts from Germany but it takes some time.
Whether or not the car is worth more or less than the US counterpart
depends greatly on your prospective. If you are like me and wish to
own a car that is unique in an area, then by all means get a gray
market car. I have ever seen only one other 635 like mine and it
invariably attracts a lot of attention from knowledgable BMW fans.
If on the other hand, all you want is yuppie appeal, it might not
be worth as much in that maintenance requires one to fire a neuron
every so often :-)
John
--
John De Armond, WD4OQC | We can no more blame our loss of freedom on congress
Radiation Systems, Inc. | than we can prostitution on pimps. Both simply
Atlanta, Ga | provide broker services for their customers.
{emory,uunet}!rsiatl!jgd| - Dr. W Williams | **I am the NRA**
siegman
writes:
>... . In 1984 or thereabouts, I bought a BMW 635 CSI in Germany ...
>. . . . . . When I bought my car, the dollar
>was at its peak relative to the mark, at about 3.5 to one or so.
it brings back too many memories of spending a wonderful year in
Germany that year also, and acquiring another expensive German-made
machine in Munich whose list price in Germany was the same number _in
DM_ as its list price _in dollars_ in the U.S., with the exchange rate
at over 3.4 DM/$. Particulars:
- seats two
- three wheels
- wonderful glossy black finish
Anyone (John?) want to guess at the marque? And the mileage?