coming to america

[noAE86]

hi all,
i have never been to america before, i dont know how the car sales system works in USA and the exchange rate is fighting me right now, so what better time to buy a new car lol.

me and my wife plan to come over next year to buy myself a white 6mt BRZ, the tricky part is... i am going to ship it over to shanghai china!!!! i moved over to shanghai last year for my job,

the new car duty tax in china is so retardedly high we can pay for ourselves to fly over, have a holiday and send back a NEW "secondhand" car and still save heaps of money, the BZR is reportedly going to sell for around $60,000usd

i really want this car!!!! coming from a fine line of sporty cars and luxobarge germans this is going to be my balls-up midlife crisis car,

if you guys can help me out on filling me in on the process of buying a new car in america i would much appreciate it, i come from new zealand where buying a car is just three steps
1, cash
2, sign ownership papers together
3, drive home

i dont need insurance, servicing plan or warranty's, id like to know what is a REAL fee and what might be tack'd on at the dealers, ive been following the "dealer black list" thread closely and being a out of town person they could pull a fast one on me and i would not know it,

my wife says if i cant work out how to do this we will just opted to buy a bmw 1m, rather then buy a stupidly over priced brz, strangely the 1M is sold at the normal around the world price that bmw sets,

cheers

[Capt Canuck]

Have you thought of using a service?
I know when I was in the UK, there were loads of them for buying JDM cars and shipping them to the UK.

There must be companies that can do the same for you in the US and throw a 'used' FRS on a boat from you later in the year, when used ones start hitting the market.

[noAE86]

hi,
by used i mean i want to buy a brand new one, but to import it, it has to be assigned as "used"

i talked to one company here in shanghai, they said "have your car at this port on this date and we will do the rest" and when i asked about buying a brand new car and details they didnt know what the details was as they are only shipping the car and not part of the buying process, i will try and find other companys but this is a very limited service in china as everyone just seems to bend over and pay the great wall tax, i'd rather keep the 30k tax and spend it on modifications and track time,

we will most likely be buying from new york city area or cali/Hollywood as that is where our holiday will take us, things like paperwork fee and on road costs, bug me as ive never had to deal with that before, on road cost i dont think i will need as its never going to be driven on american roads, so do i HAVE TO buy it?

[Draco-REX]

In the US we're stuck using a dealership system from WWI. So things aren't always as clear cut.

Essentially:

Drive up to dealership and be set upon by a commissioned salesman within a minute.
There will be some friendly banter and chat about your wants/needs etc.

If you've picked out a car and want to buy, you then haggle the price. In the US cars will have the MSRP (Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price) on the window sticker. Then the dealership may add another sticker with any options/services they added themselves. Dealerships also have what's called the "Invoice" price. Invoice is supposed to be how much the dealership paid for the car from the manufacturer. However, most dealerships get rebates and incentives from the manufacturer so they often pay under Invoice.

There will also be destination charge (delivery from the manufacturer to the dealership, unavoidable), as well as a Documentation and Processing fee (might be argued into the price.) There's also TTL (Tax, Title, and License). These are state fees that can sometimes be argues into the car's price, but usually are kept separate. These fees will vary from state to state.

Be careful, if you're trading in and/or getting financing, the salesman may jump straight to your monthly payment. By doing this, he can play with the numbers to get himself the best deal. ALWAYS keep your numbers separate. New car price, trade-in value, and interest rate. Discuss them individually and don't let them start mixing them together.

Once you've signed, you have to have insurance on the car to drive it off the lot. If you already have an insurance policy you have about 24-48 hours (varies) to talk to your insurance company and insure the new car. If you don't already have a policy most dealerships can get you insurance immediately.

BUt at this point you can drive it off. To sum up:

Pick car
Agree on price
Pay Price, less trade-in, plus Destination, Doc fee, and TTL.
Get insurance if needed
Drive off

The good news is that there are a LOT of dealerships in the US. If one rubs you the wrong way or treats you badly, there's probably another of the same make not far away.

But really, there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to buy direct from Subaru or whatever and have the car dropped off at our homes. But that's an argument for another thread.

[Turbowned]

Sorry, this was all I could think of when I read the thread title:



Joking aside, I was reading in another thread that someone was quoted $410,000HKD (~$54,000 USD) for a BRZ Limited in Hong Kong. So you're not kidding about them being crazy expensive! I'm not sure how it would work if you plan on buying the car and not registering or insuring it immediately, as you plan on shipping it overseas, but my thought is you could call dealers to find out who has one, and if you're paying cash you basically confirm they have the car and that they'll sell it at MSRP, and explain to them that you're shipping it overseas and have no need for title/registration, or any extended warranties/add-ons. I don't know how the tax will work, honestly. But if you know what you want and have the money you can pretty much pick it out and pay for it; the transportation overseas will be on you.

[old greg]

Originally Posted by noAE86

if you guys can help me out on filling me in on the process of buying a new car in america i would much appreciate it, i come from new zealand where buying a car is just three steps
1, cash
2, sign ownership papers together
3, drive home

i dont need insurance, servicing plan or warranty's, id like to know what is a REAL fee and what might be tack'd on at the dealers, ive been following the "dealer black list" thread closely and being a out of town person they could pull a fast one on me and i would not know it,

If you've got cash/equivalent in hand, that's all there is to it. Insurance is arranged directly with an insurance company, the standard manufacturer warranty is included in the base price of the vehicle and any dealer that requires you to buy a service plan is somewhere to avoid. And if you intend to just load the car directly onto a flatbed truck and have it delivered to the port I'm sure you could avoid paying any title/license/registration fees. Oh, and dealer fees are negotiable; Haggling is always worthwhile.

Originally Posted by noAE86

hi,
by used i mean i want to buy a brand new one, but to import it, it has to be assigned as "used"

...

we will most likely be buying from new york city area or cali/Hollywood as that is where our holiday will take us, things like paperwork fee and on road costs, bug me as ive never had to deal with that before, on road cost i dont think i will need as its never going to be driven on american roads, so do i HAVE TO buy it?

Let me offer an alternative. Firstly, don't buy it in New York or you'll just end up waiting/paying more for shipping. Secondly, don't buy it in California either. Instead, buy it in Oregon then register it, get tourist car insurance and drive down the Pacific Coast Highway to LA. Oregon has no sales tax compared to ~7% in California, which will save you ~US$2000. Registration and insurance will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of ~US$2-300, which leaves US$1700 left for gas, lodging and touristy stuff before you break even. Take a few days and see the sights with the Missus; The Golden Gate Bridge, Hearst Castle, Big Sur, Redwood and/or Yosemite National parks etc. while cruising down one of the most scenic roads in the world.

[noAE86]

oh wow thank you guys so much for the quick and informative response, i will study this for ages lol,

Draco-REX; thanks for that detailed rundown, lots to research,
destination charge, huh did not know i'd have to pay for this, thanks,

Turbowned; haha that's what i had in my mind too when i typed that title out, im not even close to being that rich or a prince but im sure our trip will be just as funny, freaking $60,000!! thats two cars in any other western world, they LOVE the Buick's VW's audi's here, its crazy how many cars Buick and Cadillac is selling each day, every second car i see on the road is a Buick, american auto makers should not be asking for tax payers money cos the share volume they are selling is record high,

old greg: thats some great advise, i didnt even think about a road trip to National parks, and driving to save, hope i can transfer my new zealand or austraila or chinese licence to a temporary U.S one, i'd love the drive. Oregon you say..

[old greg]

Originally Posted by noAE86

hope i can transfer my new zealand or austraila or chinese licence to a temporary U.S one, i'd love the drive.

No need. You can drive on your Aussie or Kiwi license as long as you have a valid visa, just carry your passport with you when you drive. If you want to be extra safe, get an "International License" from whichever Govt. agency issued the license you wish to use. You'd still need to carry your regular license, the international one is just sort of a certificate of authenticity with translations into a bunch of different languages. An international license would mandatory if you wanted to use your Chinese license though, as not many American cops can read Mandarin.

[noAE86]

Originally Posted by old greg

No need. You can drive on your Aussie or Kiwi license as long as you have a valid visa, just carry your passport with you when you drive. If you want to be extra safe, get an "International License" from whichever Govt. agency issued the license you wish to use. You'd still need to carry your regular license, the international one is just sort of a certificate of authenticity with translations into a bunch of different languages. An international license would mandatory if you wanted to use your Chinese license though, as not many American cops can read Mandarin.

sweet as
usa still accept international license, i wasn't sure as some countries have stopped doing this,
thanks old greg.