Australia

[Ramone]

Just returned from a work trip down under - saw a C5 RS for sale for $75,000 (nearly £43K) am I missing something here?

[drybeer]

Admittedly a rarity in Oz, maybe an export business beckons!

[Ramone]

I think there's a big import tax - anyone know the numbers - I'm thinking about it!

[bam_bam]

Looked into it, you'll get taxed on local value plus there's a lux car tax. It makes sense if you're returning home with your beast, not so much if you're trying to make money. The shipping isn't massive, I found an outfit in Croyden that are very good at it. They're very good with all paperwork this end, Aussie side you're on your own.

By the time you got it on dry ground and had the conversion process finished, there'd not be enough margin. I've been running the numbers for a while. IMHO the B7 RS is at a sweeter price point for this type of thing, not many Aussies know what they're looking at with a C5 RS, whereas the B7 RS is entrenched in their cult car minds. It holds that spot that the WRX did in the '90s. Look up the RS4 on the Oz car trader sites and you'll see what I mean, innit.

[Ramone]

thanks for a very thorough answer - and I think you are right on the models - there were loads of RS4's about - only saw one C6 and no C5s

[Monaro-Azz]

would be an awesome idea except our government doesn't like to upset new car sales so they make you jump through lots of hoops.

You also need to have owned and used the car for a year before you can import it to OZ, and document every day spent outside of the country & the reason for being outside the country for that entire year.

You are limited to importing one vehicle per person per year.
You have to get the car valued in australia then you have to pay the shipping+ Marine insurance+ 5% of the total price so far(Duty)+ 10%GST(same as VAT) on the total so far, then get car steam cleaned & A/C emptied before shipping.
Then once in australia you need to get a identity check, compliancing(KPH speedo, seat belts, anchor points x3, legal window tinting, etc.) then Unregistered vehicle inspection, greenslip(compulsory insurance), and finally Registration.
You only have to pay the LCT(Luxury Car Tax) on the portion of the total that exceeds $58,200 at the rate of 33% excluding the GST proponent.

and finally a personal import usually sells for 20% less than an australian complianced car.

It's still worth it as you can get the car for $15-20K less than they're fetching on the private market.

IMO the C5 RS6 is a more worthy proposition than the B7 RS4's as they were $260,000+ new and the RS4 was $140,000 new and you can pick up B7 RS4's very close to what the C5's are selling for if your looking hard enough and the C5 has done most of it's Depreciation already. Also RS6's are rare in Oz but the B7 RS4's are reasonably common.

The used market is very different here our cars don't have a late depreciation like in the UK and tend to hold a lot of value late in their lives a lot of 20+Yr old sports cars similar genre to the RS6 still fetch $30-40,000 regularly.

I've done my research as I am in europe at the moment and am coming to work in London for just over a year and plan on buying a C5 RS6 & maybe an Aston Martin or Jag XKR & taking them back with me(& the wife) to Australia.

[bam_bam]

Well done Azz, you went further than I did! I know of one guys that has taken a C5 RS home but I can't get anymore feedback from him.
It stills sounds like a ball ache and only worth it if you're going to own it for a fair while. Best of luck with the C5 hunt, get in touch when in London.