Should I buy a Vette (in the US)?
Discussion
Hi all,
now I know the above is a stupid question to post in the Vette board but I have a few questions owing to my somewhat unique situation as follows....
I'm working in New York for a couple of years and missing having a car. Now owning a car here is extremely expensive due to garaging and insurance but I thought that if we got a 99'ish C5 'Vette and ran her here for 18 months/2 years and then ship her back to the UK with us we'd be able to cover our costs by selling on at the UK premium.
So specific questions are:
What would a well maintained C5 be worth in the UK in a couple of years time?
Will I avoid VAT by running the car over here?
Will I still have to pay duty on a 5 year old car?
What would be a good spec to go for (so far I'm thinking manual and pref with sports suspension)?
Would a garage who do SVA work buy the car off me at a favourable rate or would I need to do the work before selling (either to garage or private buyer)?
Sorry for all the questions but figured that you would all have a greater familiarity with some of the issues. Oh, and I have been through the archives before that's suggested
Thanks in advance,
Chris
now I know the above is a stupid question to post in the Vette board but I have a few questions owing to my somewhat unique situation as follows....
I'm working in New York for a couple of years and missing having a car. Now owning a car here is extremely expensive due to garaging and insurance but I thought that if we got a 99'ish C5 'Vette and ran her here for 18 months/2 years and then ship her back to the UK with us we'd be able to cover our costs by selling on at the UK premium.
So specific questions are:
What would a well maintained C5 be worth in the UK in a couple of years time?
Will I avoid VAT by running the car over here?
Will I still have to pay duty on a 5 year old car?
What would be a good spec to go for (so far I'm thinking manual and pref with sports suspension)?
Would a garage who do SVA work buy the car off me at a favourable rate or would I need to do the work before selling (either to garage or private buyer)?
Sorry for all the questions but figured that you would all have a greater familiarity with some of the issues. Oh, and I have been through the archives before that's suggested
Thanks in advance,
Chris
Thanks, that's a great start! The case for the 'Vette just got a little stronger.
The only other car that would suit my tastes over here would probably be a Boxster and that wouldn't allow the option of bringing it home (and still pay for itself). And you lot wouldn't let me drive round in a Boxster now would you?
Can anyone reccommend a good garage to talk to about these issues? My understanding from trawling the archives is that I should budget in the region of £1,500 for the SVA work.
Another thing, will the C6 knock the second hand value of the C5's in the UK significantly or does the limited supply keep the values up?
Sorry for all the questions, just so many things to take account of!
>> Edited by chris_w on Wednesday 5th May 13:58
The only other car that would suit my tastes over here would probably be a Boxster and that wouldn't allow the option of bringing it home (and still pay for itself). And you lot wouldn't let me drive round in a Boxster now would you?
Can anyone reccommend a good garage to talk to about these issues? My understanding from trawling the archives is that I should budget in the region of £1,500 for the SVA work.
Another thing, will the C6 knock the second hand value of the C5's in the UK significantly or does the limited supply keep the values up?
Sorry for all the questions, just so many things to take account of!
>> Edited by chris_w on Wednesday 5th May 13:58
There is a strong case for getting a Z06. As mentioned, as they are not available in Europe, *all* Z06's in the UK are US imports (someone correct me if I'm wrong!). The Z07 (or whatever it'll be called) won't be released until a couple of years after the C6 coupe and convertible, so the Z06 will still be the only option for the Z badge for a while yet.
The SVA conversion won't cost £1500, but you're right to budget about that amounnt to convert, test, register, tax etc... basically, once it's in the country, that's how much it'll cost to get it on the road.
-kenski
The SVA conversion won't cost £1500, but you're right to budget about that amounnt to convert, test, register, tax etc... basically, once it's in the country, that's how much it'll cost to get it on the road.
-kenski
I'd recommend a manual coupe with HUD option fitted if possible as that will be easy to sell when you get home. What am I saying ??? That'll devalue my car a bit !!
IIRC providing you need to be able to prove that you've driven the car for over 6 months to avoid paying VAT. It would be a good idea to keep some fuel and garage receipts, or photos of you and the car on trips, just in case the revenue men ask questions later.
The C6 effect is an unknown. I would expect it to devalue prices a bit, most people's opinion is that the C6 has been hit by an ugly stick and isn't the attractive proposition it should be.
>> Edited by te51cle on Wednesday 5th May 21:32
IIRC providing you need to be able to prove that you've driven the car for over 6 months to avoid paying VAT. It would be a good idea to keep some fuel and garage receipts, or photos of you and the car on trips, just in case the revenue men ask questions later.
The C6 effect is an unknown. I would expect it to devalue prices a bit, most people's opinion is that the C6 has been hit by an ugly stick and isn't the attractive proposition it should be.
>> Edited by te51cle on Wednesday 5th May 21:32
te51cle said:
I'd recommend a manual coupe with HUD option fitted if possible as that will be easy to sell when you get home. What am I saying ??? That'll devalue my car a bit !!
IIRC providing you need to be able to prove that you've driven the car for over 6 months to avoid paying VAT. It would be a good idea to keep some fuel and garage receipts, or photos of you and the car on trips, just in case the revenue men ask questions later.
The C6 effect is an unknown. I would expect it to devalue prices a bit, most people's opinion is that the C6 has been hit by an ugly stick and isn't the attractive proposition it should be.
>> Edited by te51cle on Wednesday 5th May 21:32
Hmmm, had a job interview this afternoon which seemed to go pretty well so fingers crossed I might be able to convince the g/f that the Z06 is a wise 'investment' - how much do they go for in the UK, can't see any on autotrader?
Picked up a 'Vette magazine on the way home and saw the letters page, the C6 is not getting a good reception is it? I saw it at the NY motor show a couple of weeks back and it's nice in the flesh. The front is a bit anonymous and probably too similar to the current viper for comfort but I like the more compact lines over the seemingly never-ending rear of the C5.
vetteheadracer said:
There are probably less than 20 Z06's in the UK. A few have been bought in via grey importers or personal imports. You might get one from a grey importer but expect to get ripped off on the price (think £50,000+) for a Z06.
Wow, I can get one here for $35k so that would be a major mark up. Would the SVC requirements be the same (mostly lights is my understanding)?
Any opinions on prefered body style and colour anyone?
I've done the sums and the fact is that only the Z06 really represents any great saving in the UK by the time you've added on import duty (if you sell it within a year) and VAT. That's why I'm importing a Z06.
The price premium is largely mythical as the advertised price and the actual sale price aren't very often the same. Take into account that the exchange rate is very good at the moment and is likely to fall sudstantially and my guess is you won't make any money at all by the time you import.
A 1997 C5 has bottomed out around £18000 and a 2001 C5 is about £30000. I did see a brand new cling-film wrapped 99 FRC on an American Vette site for $34000. Effectively a brand new car. It's a hard one to call but most Vette drivers in the UK like the targa but a convertible is usually worth more. FRC's are far more focused cas driver's cars with the sports suspension and M6 gearbox but again, most Vette buyers in the UK wouldn't know that.
This end you have to spend money to get the car type-approved which means Euro rear lights, side repeaters, fog light et al.
You might actually make more money importing a classic Amereican car. Good 1st/2nd (especially)/3rd gen F-bodies are getting harder to get and sell for about £4000. 4th gens usually cost more to import than to buy over here so forget them. A good C3 will always get buyers excited too.
There were two Z06's on the Auto Trader recently. One was an electron blue 2001 (02 model) for £35k which seems to have sold. The other is a silver 01 Z06 for £37k which is still for sale. They were the reason I decided to import one. If you buy, get the 02 model with the HUD if you can and LOW MILES is essential. Get the 01 for the right price and that's also a good buy. I was looking at $36k for an 02 and $33k for an 01.
>> Edited by LuS1fer on Friday 7th May 13:20
The price premium is largely mythical as the advertised price and the actual sale price aren't very often the same. Take into account that the exchange rate is very good at the moment and is likely to fall sudstantially and my guess is you won't make any money at all by the time you import.
A 1997 C5 has bottomed out around £18000 and a 2001 C5 is about £30000. I did see a brand new cling-film wrapped 99 FRC on an American Vette site for $34000. Effectively a brand new car. It's a hard one to call but most Vette drivers in the UK like the targa but a convertible is usually worth more. FRC's are far more focused cas driver's cars with the sports suspension and M6 gearbox but again, most Vette buyers in the UK wouldn't know that.
This end you have to spend money to get the car type-approved which means Euro rear lights, side repeaters, fog light et al.
You might actually make more money importing a classic Amereican car. Good 1st/2nd (especially)/3rd gen F-bodies are getting harder to get and sell for about £4000. 4th gens usually cost more to import than to buy over here so forget them. A good C3 will always get buyers excited too.
There were two Z06's on the Auto Trader recently. One was an electron blue 2001 (02 model) for £35k which seems to have sold. The other is a silver 01 Z06 for £37k which is still for sale. They were the reason I decided to import one. If you buy, get the 02 model with the HUD if you can and LOW MILES is essential. Get the 01 for the right price and that's also a good buy. I was looking at $36k for an 02 and $33k for an 01.
>> Edited by LuS1fer on Friday 7th May 13:20
For me, silver was the only way to go...
Blue was too reminiscent of my first little Japanese car. Black's lovely if you really enjoy washing it every day (that'd be my third car). Yellow was worth considering, but a bit loud for a daily driver... too 'look at me' for the police! Silver looks great, doesn't show the dirt, says 'I'm not a yob' and yet sounds and can be driven like a yob (when necessary :-))
-kenski
Blue was too reminiscent of my first little Japanese car. Black's lovely if you really enjoy washing it every day (that'd be my third car). Yellow was worth considering, but a bit loud for a daily driver... too 'look at me' for the police! Silver looks great, doesn't show the dirt, says 'I'm not a yob' and yet sounds and can be driven like a yob (when necessary :-))
-kenski
Ah...the great colour debate!
For me, for C5's, it's red, red, red, red then red. A mate of mine wouldn't entertain any other colour.
When it came to purchasing a Z06, I took into account that C5's look great in black but I'm on my 3rd black car already and hell, they take some cleaning! I'm not a fan of the silver as I've never liked pale cars and there are too many silver cars on British roads after the "silver boom". One colour I LOVE is the new gunmetal grey you can get in the US. It really suits the C5. Yellow I do like but they're becoming too popular and the Z06 red valve covers clashes with the yellow paint!
In the end, I bought an electron blue Z06. Not my first choice and I was going to hang out for red but this one only had 3500 miles on the clock and was the very right price. Also, I've noticed that lots of road test cars in EVO are suddenly being supplied in metallic blue so perhaps it's the new silver!
Only colours I wouldn't buy are pewter,white and metallic green but I know lots of people who like them! I still think that most people would buy a red one though and in terms of selling it on, I think black is hard to beat if it's just been polished.
I never really understood why they never made the C5 in the C4 dark purple metallic which looked fabulous and would have been my choice had they made it. Same with Sunset Orange.
If I'd been in charge of GM, the Z06 would have come in red, metallic maroon, metallic purple, black, metallic yellow and metallic orange.
For me, for C5's, it's red, red, red, red then red. A mate of mine wouldn't entertain any other colour.
When it came to purchasing a Z06, I took into account that C5's look great in black but I'm on my 3rd black car already and hell, they take some cleaning! I'm not a fan of the silver as I've never liked pale cars and there are too many silver cars on British roads after the "silver boom". One colour I LOVE is the new gunmetal grey you can get in the US. It really suits the C5. Yellow I do like but they're becoming too popular and the Z06 red valve covers clashes with the yellow paint!
In the end, I bought an electron blue Z06. Not my first choice and I was going to hang out for red but this one only had 3500 miles on the clock and was the very right price. Also, I've noticed that lots of road test cars in EVO are suddenly being supplied in metallic blue so perhaps it's the new silver!
Only colours I wouldn't buy are pewter,white and metallic green but I know lots of people who like them! I still think that most people would buy a red one though and in terms of selling it on, I think black is hard to beat if it's just been polished.
I never really understood why they never made the C5 in the C4 dark purple metallic which looked fabulous and would have been my choice had they made it. Same with Sunset Orange.
If I'd been in charge of GM, the Z06 would have come in red, metallic maroon, metallic purple, black, metallic yellow and metallic orange.
I can't recall a high mileage car selling for a lot of money in the UK. Vettes with high miles stick in the ads. The thing is they tend to get babied over here by careful owners who garage them and take them to show or track. Accordingly, no-one is going to buy a high-miler when they can buy a low-miler. Also with gas being expensive, they tend to be bought as an indulgence. With so many Vettes having low miles, you'd have to be crazy to buy a high-miler. One of the best things about a Corvette is they nearly all have low miles and if you went to look at a Porsche for the same money, it would have nearer 100k on the clock.
Chevrolet have pulled out of the UK to all intents and purposes and the facility to service and repair a modern Corvette is not only scarce but can be expensive. Corvettes in the UK tend to get bought by people who know a good car at a damned good price but a lot of people get twitchy when the car becomes a candidate for possibly expensive problems. I'm sure a Vette is good for 200,000 miles or more but the UK is a mileage driven market.
Chevrolet have pulled out of the UK to all intents and purposes and the facility to service and repair a modern Corvette is not only scarce but can be expensive. Corvettes in the UK tend to get bought by people who know a good car at a damned good price but a lot of people get twitchy when the car becomes a candidate for possibly expensive problems. I'm sure a Vette is good for 200,000 miles or more but the UK is a mileage driven market.
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