Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Just had a price comparison sent to me from a company.....not my figures, but if you had a job waiting and the dollars to invest and then bring the car back as a personal import, it sort of makes it pretty attractive to plan or think about it.

I didn't verify these figures, but if they are true [and I have no reason to question overly them] then its a big difference.

Car Price Comparison at Least Favourable Exchange Rates

Vehicle Aust Price US Price UK Price

Mercedes Mb 300 $93,859.00 $48,840.00 $68,801.00

Subaru WRX STI $66,928.00 $35,815.00 $54,225.00

And before anyone starts, yeah I realise that you have an airline ticket, import duties, freight and other add on's to consider. But if you were thinking about one of these cars [or something similar] and already had the opportunity for work etc then it makes it all pretty interesting.

I cant live in OZ on 30k a year ......

plus i would be NOT be moving countries just for a car you would need to look at it as a life experience. then enjoy your work abroad and if you happen to find the right car look into it with consideration.

everything worth importing is always worth looking at if you end up with something unique.

I agree, maybe the UK would be a better option, but it still works out as a bargain if you can do it. Look at how many Oz under 30's spend time in England. And there are probably other countries that you could use as well?

Not saying there is profit in it, but jeez we are ripped off something chronic here.

Just had a price comparison sent to me from a company.....not my figures, but if you had a job waiting and the dollars to invest and then bring the car back as a personal import, it sort of makes it pretty attractive to plan or think about it.

I didn't verify these figures, but if they are true [and I have no reason to question overly them] then its a big difference.

Car Price Comparison at Least Favourable Exchange Rates

Vehicle Aust Price US Price UK Price

Mercedes Mb 300 $93,859.00 $48,840.00 $68,801.00

Subaru WRX STI $66,928.00 $35,815.00 $54,225.00

And before anyone starts, yeah I realise that you have an airline ticket, import duties, freight and other add on's to consider. But if you were thinking about one of these cars [or something similar] and already had the opportunity for work etc then it makes it all pretty interesting.

Yeah, welcome to Australia! The lucky country! Where you get to pay double what they pay in the US and it isnt just cars.....

2012 BMW M3 Convertable $USD 82,000 ------ $AUD 173,000

I personally think someone needs to get a pin out and burst your bubble. I AM a US citizen and I can tell you first hand that the markets there are TOTALLY f'kd, you will find it hard to get a job paying decent money and that I could NOT live on $30k/yr when I actually lived there. that was in a town of 70k and with two papermills feeding the town work.

cars are expensive here - deal wth it :)

I personally think someone needs to get a pin out and burst your bubble. I AM a US citizen and I can tell you first hand that the markets there are TOTALLY f'kd, you will find it hard to get a job paying decent money and that I could NOT live on $30k/yr when I actually lived there. that was in a town of 70k and with two papermills feeding the town work.

cars are expensive here - deal wth it :)

Its not just cars that are expensive here. I am looking at buying a couple of 4x2 2 storey houses in a very nice area just outside Houston for around $250,000 - $300,000. You can buy a 7 bed 6 bath in the same area, backing onto a private golf course for $800,000. What do you get in Aus for that money?

I agree that it would be tricky to live on $30,000 per year, but thats only because we are not generally willing to lower our standard of living. I could get anyone with half a brain that is willing to actually work a $40,000 job over there tomorrow. I was in Houston for two weeks, ate out for every meal and barely had an expense report to fill out at all. Under $20 for dinner and two pints at Hooters, served by a sexy little thing that shakes her tits at you to show how everything is bigger is Texas, show me where you get that in Aus?

I came back with a suitcase full of new clothes, calvin klein jeans $60, armani tshirts $20 etc. I think that the smallest car that I saw when I was there was a G37, everyone drives massive trucks that cost 50c.

Steering wheel is still on the wrong side, regardless of whether you live as a hobo or a baller over there. Unless it's over 30 years old you have to convert it when you bring it back, but if it's that old you can import it anyway.

Better to live in South Africa/UK/Singapore/Japan/Hong Kong if you're moving just to bring back an import.

i rekon you could live of $30k...

sure, comparatively you may get paid less in the US... but stuff is hella cheap over there...

cost of living could be half of what it is in Aus... just look at takeaway food for example

thats what happens when you compare a country with 22million people to a country with 300million

i wouldn't buy anything worth buying in singapore.

you would if it was 9 years and 11 months old and the Singaporean law said the owner had to deregister it. You can pick up some real bargains.

you would if it was 9 years and 11 months old and the Singaporean law said the owner had to deregister it. You can pick up some real bargains.

And they're on the sevs list?

unfortunately, you really dont save much bringing it over, because the "paper value" is still pretty damn high... + shipping and compliance and all that nonsense. bah.

i was considering doing that for an evo7, but there are none for sale atm.

and, there really aren't many interesting cars, that are on sevs, and for sale in singapore anyway.

work for a US company and also being state side for long stay's

another thing to consider is that in U.S, it very easy to hire and fire people... also there is a BIG difference in Pay "same job"

so things to consider...

Car and general living is Sooooo much cheaper there it not funny !!! ...

Its not just cars that are expensive here. I am looking at buying a couple of 4x2 2 storey houses in a very nice area just outside Houston for around $250,000 - $300,000. You can buy a 7 bed 6 bath in the same area, backing onto a private golf course for $800,000. What do you get in Aus for that money?

I agree that it would be tricky to live on $30,000 per year, but thats only because we are not generally willing to lower our standard of living. I could get anyone with half a brain that is willing to actually work a $40,000 job over there tomorrow. I was in Houston for two weeks, ate out for every meal and barely had an expense report to fill out at all. Under $20 for dinner and two pints at Hooters, served by a sexy little thing that shakes her tits at you to show how everything is bigger is Texas, show me where you get that in Aus?

I came back with a suitcase full of new clothes, calvin klein jeans $60, armani tshirts $20 etc. I think that the smallest car that I saw when I was there was a G37, everyone drives massive trucks that cost 50c.

where do i sign up? :laugh:

thought id do a quick search to see what all the fuss is about.

Wow.. so cheap! check the link below. 12k for a V36 coupe!! Cant even get a good s14 for that much in Perth :(

http://www.cars.com/...iles&sf2Dir=ASC

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • The average previous owner for these cars were basically S-chassis owners in the US. Teenagers or teenager-adjacent. I often tell people that neglect is easier to fix than something that was actively "repaired" by previous owners.
    • Update 3: Hi all It's been a while. Quite a lot of things happened in the meantime, among other things the car is (almost) back together and ready to be started again. Things that I fixed or changed: Full turbo removal, fitting back the OEM turbo oil hardlines. Had to do quite a bit of research and parts shopping to get every last piece that I need and make it work with the GT2860 turbos, but it does work and is not hard to do. Proves that the previous owner(s) just did not want to. While I was there I set the preload for the wastegates to 0,9bar to hopefully make it easier for the tuner to hit the 370hp I need for the legal inspections that will follow later on. Boost can always go up if necessary. Fitted a AN10 line from the catch can to the intake hose to make the catchcan and hopefully the cam covers a slight vacuum to have less restrictive oil returns from the head and not have mud build up as harshly in the lines and catch can. Removed the entire front interior just shy of the dashboard itself to clean up some of the absolutely horrendous wiring, (hopefully) fix the bumpy tacho and put in LED bulbs while I was there. Also put in bulbs where there was none before, like the airbag one. I also used that chance to remove the LED rpm gauge on the steering column, which was also wired in absolute horror show fashion. Moved the 4in1 Prosport gauge from sitting in front of the OEM oil pressure gauge to the center console vents, I used a 3D printed vent piece to hold that gauge there. The HKB steering wheel boss was likely on incorrectly as I sometimes noticed the indicator reset being uneven for left vs. right. In the meantime also installed an airbag delete resistor, as one should. Installed Cube Speed premium short shifter. Feels pretty nice, hope it'll work great too when I actually get to drive. Also put on a fancy Dragon Ball shift knob, cause why not. My buddy was kind enough to weld the rust hole in the back, it was basically rusted through in the lowermost corner of the passenger side trunk area where the wheel arch, trunk panel and rear quarter all meet. Obviously there is still a lot of crustiness in various areas but as long as it's not rusted out I'll just treat and isolate the corrosion and pretend it's not there. Also had to put down a new ground wire for the rear subframe as the original one was BARELY there. Probably a bit controversial depending on who you ask about this... but I ended up just covering the crack in the side of the engine block, the one above the oil feed, with JB Weld. I used a generous amount and roughed up the whole area with a Dremel before, so I hope this will hold the coolant where it should be for the foreseeable future. Did a cam cover gasket job as the half moons were a bit leaky, and there too one could see the people who worked on this car before me were absolute tools. The same half moons were probably used like 3 times without even cleaning the old RTV off. Dremeled out the inside of the flange where the turbine housing mates onto the exhaust manifolds so the diameter matches, as the OEM exhaust manifolds are even narrower than the turbine housings as we all know. Even if this doesn't do much, I had them out anyways, so can't harm. Ideally one would port-match both the turbo and the manifold to the gasket size but I really didn't feel up to disassembling the turbine housings. Wrapped turbo outlet dumps in heat wrap band. Will do the frontpipe again as well as now the oil leak which promted me to tear apart half the engine in the first place is hopefully fixed. Fitted an ATI super damper to get rid of the worn old harmonic balancer. Surely one of the easiest and most worth to do mods. But torquing that ARP bolt to spec was a bitch without being able to lock the flywheel. Did some minor adjustments in the ECU tables to change some things I didn't like, like the launch control that was ALWAYS active. Treated rusty spots and surface corrosion on places I could get to and on many spots under the car, not pretty or ideal but good enough for now. Removed the N1 rear spats and the carbon surrounding for the tailpipe to put them back on with new adhesive as the old one was lifting in many spots, not pretty. Took out the passenger rear lamp housing... what do you know. Amateur work screwed me again here as they were glued in hard and removing it took a lot of force, so I broke one of the housing bolts off. And when removing the adhesive from the chassis the paint came right off too. Thankfully all the damaged area won't be visible later, but whoever did the very limited bodywork on this car needs to have their limbs chopped off piece by piece.   Quite a list if I do say so myself, but a lot of time was spent just discovering new shit that is wrong with the car and finding a solution or parts to fix it. My last problem that I now have the headache of dealing with is that the exhaust studs on the turbo outlets are M10x1.25 threaded, but the previous owner already put on regular M10 nuts so the threads are... weird. I only found this out the hard way. So now I will just try if I can in any way fit the front pipe regardless, if not I'll have to redo the studs with the turbos installed. Lesson learned for the future: Redo ALL studs you put your hands on, especially if they are old and the previous owners were inept maniacs. Thanks for reading if you did, will update when the engine runs again. Hope nothing breaks or leaks and I can do a test drive.
    • No those pads are DBA too  but they have colors too. I look at the and imo the green "street" are the best.
    • I’m not sure what happened I told them about sonic tunes free OTS tune and the next the I know .. I was booted..   To funny 
×
×
  • Create New...