is it cheaper for Europeans to buy cars from U.S. and ship them opposed to buying the same car in Europe. i ask because i'm selling a car and a guy from Holland wants to buy it because he says its cheaper than buying one in holland. this is not a collector car or rare car, but i ask because there are a lot of european board members here and it seems like a lot of cars do end up going over seas. i thought it was a scam at first but not sure. moderaters, delete if this is too far off topic.
Well since our dollar is worth dog shit he's probably right. Plus you couple that with the fact that these cars are very rare over there and you can start to see that they can charge what ever they want. One thing is for sure, the Europeans are doing it will style and grace over there. They are buying cars from the U.S. and bringing them over there. I heard that they also fill shipping containers full of rare parts and take them over once a year. The cars and parts will go where the money and demand is and I am pretty positive it's pretty solid over there.
I am not an expert on this subject, but I had bought a german car in germany and my german family was willing to buy it from me immediately because I paid about 30% less than they could get it. Several factors are cause for this: the dollar value vs. the euro, the taxes that the europeans pay for their items is significantly higher, and some types of cars are hard to come by. Also, In example, my german family was willing to buy an original 1956 porsche in the U.S. and take it back to germany. They believed that they would be able to sell it at twice what they paid, because the demand for collector cars is very high in europe. I would assume that the europeans are willing to pay stylish American cars...lots of wealthy folks in europe. I would just be cautious and make sure that you get your money. I know that I have seen Wayne Carini's show where he sells cars overseas through F40 Motorsports and doesn't seem to have any problems. Either way good luck with your sale.
So what are you selling ? A big flashy pickup would be interesting for over here. A run of the mill sedan makes no sense.
can anyone in Europe testify to this? what is the best way to secure funds before releasing the car? besides cash.
Done a few overseas deals before. Have the $$ wired to your account, deliver the car to the shipping company yourself(probably so-cal shipping), get signed paperwork from them noting condition etc, take pictures there & send to the buyer. Good luck Brad
I can't speak for the guy in Holland but ,here in the U.K.,we've had it good for some time due to the strong pound to dollar rate.Therefore it's been worth us shipping stuff over.It's not unusual for a group of guys to share a container and bring all their stuff over together,it cuts the cost substantially. Bear in mind also that what may be quite a common car in the U.S. could be rare in Europe. Anyway ,the pounds worth shit now too!But I doubt this will stop us bringing U.S. cars/parts over here. Regards,Mark.
check www.mobile.de a German auto trader site. Yes,here are also good priced cars over here but if you´re searching for a special type of car, let´s say a 46-48 Chevy Aerosedan, you´d be hard pressed ro find one for sale in Europe. In my eyes it´s often easier to buy a car over here for a bit higher price and be able to look it over, avoid the hassle with the shipping co., customs, fees . And on top of it all you can pay cash to a real person you and don´t have to worry about wire transfer , the risk of loosing money or getting screwed... and that´s worth a few hundred bucks more for a project in my book. Chris
I work for a company in Holland that sells only US cars and parts. I can say from experience that parts and cars are cheaper in the states. Cheaper with a capitol C. We only do ''newish'' parts, but I do know of a company here in Holland that regularly fills containers with NOS and hard-to-find parts... There is a sidenote tho; I am currently on the look for a nice project and found that it CAN be cheaper to buy a car in US, but inland-freight in the US is very expensive nowadays and it all depends on where the vehicle is located. Don't forget it takes a few pennies to get a car over the big pond. And then there is taxes, customs, etc etc... So unless it's a very good deal or a rare car, I will probably buy a car in Europe. New cars, say 1995 and up are always cheaper in the US... Oh, and; I wouldn't ship my car untill I had the money on my own account...
Alright, which one of you Euro fellers wants to buy my '26 Roadster? I'll make you one hell of a deal! Not meaning to hijack the thread.
Yeah I might want to buy it, mainly because of the cool triple-lined wheels you got. I had a set made with dual pinner lines once by DBTires. But ehm , I'm currently a bit short on cash right now because of my most recent two purchases, a '57 Chrysler and a '57 Plymouth. I also figures some Dutch guy buy's another late model something. "Unfortunatly", most US-cars of about all years are still 'popular' overhere, as opposed to the Swedes for instance, which mainly import the more interesting models and years. I think the 'European buying' will take off again soon since the Euro has gained somewhat in value again recently against the Dollar. Personally, I wouldn't buy a car that easy overhere in the Netherlands because most of the stuff that drives around here is markedup considerably usually.
A Wire-Transfer is a common thing here in the Netherlands. They will ask for your account no., bank name & address, BIC-code and such. The wire-transfer will take about 7-9 days to complete usually.
Throw in the dog and hat and ill keep it in the states... (LOL) Really if you go to craigslist and punch in a different country its always people here posting there stuff trying to get big $$$ for whatever...
i've never done a wire transfer. is it safe to give out all that info? i was thinking, wait for check to clear.
It is ofcourse, your car. You should ask for the type of payment you feel most confident with. But to my knowledge it's not possible to withdraw the money again if it has been transferred by wire. But you could ask your bank about this aswell. I have no experiences with checks though. I've payed for a couple of items by wire-transfer and also Paypal, but I always prefer wire-transfer. This is cheaper for both parties aswell.
Yeah it's safe as anything else, quick and easy too. I've bought 2 cars from the US (1 East Coast and 1 West Coast). Both times the sellers prefered to have the money wired direct to their accounts, the buyer will normally pay all the charges for the bank transfer. The vendor should wait until the money's in before shipping starts. Oh yeah cars are cheaper in the US, but better than that there is a choice. There aren't that many cars in the UK for sale to choose from and even fewer interesting/early/steel ones.
I think its most common to use wire transfer straight to the sellers acount. The bloke overseas would be pretty worried to and taking a risk. He is sending alot of money to someone he dosnt know for a car he has only seen in photos.
I've bought my last 2 cars from California, with a mixture of cash, banker's draft (which my bank then screwed up big time!) and bank transfer. Shipping and insurance always push the price up, but my take on it is that we get a car from the home of the hobby/lifestyle/obsession that we love, which is pretty cool...!
Another issue which may also play a role: Some pretty tough licensing laws on "homebuilt" cars prevent many in mainland Europe from building rods etc, but often something built and first registered in another country can be brought in and registered on the road. I know of guys building kit cars in the Netherlands, sending them across the Channel to register their and then "buying" them back. Doesn't apply to unmodified or late model stuff obviously.....
another thing to note here is the huge hikes in container shipping prices in the last year or more... last car i brought in i nearly shit... Prices in the states all seem to depend on where in the states you are buying from... if its from cali then they tend to be way higher but also shipping from that side of the states is also much more and takes much much longer... I have always paid by wire transfer and never had any problems apart from people on the receiving end being charged a fee by their bank for receiving funds even when i pay extra at this end to cover any charges...go figure...
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