[335i/335d?]

Hi all,

I have a friend in China to ask me to find out what it will cost to buy a car in the United States and ship it to China. In his city (maybe in whole China)he cant configure the car according to his taste, he can only choose from certain options and a few colours (interior and extrerior).
I have visited www.bmwusa.com and configure the car, BMW 750il. Total price was +/- 88.000 dollar. Is this the total price or are there still other costs involved? I have read about sales tax, but is this tax already in the MSRP price or will this be added afterwards. Because the car is shipped right away, do you have to pay these costs?

further I saw a lot of websites that quote better prices then the MSRP price from BMW, can you order through them to get a lower price?

Please dont flame at me because of my English, I am dutch so its not my first language.

Thanks!!

[Streetfish]

I dont know how much it costs but figure that it should not be more than $2000 or $3000 dollars to ship a car.

If you are paying cash, aside from the MSRP (which can be negotiated down), expect to pay a few minor documentation/administrative fees for a couple hundred dollars.

Dealers normally collect tax when you buy a car but since you are not going to be registering it in the states you may not have to.

[335i/335d?]

thanks for your reply

Dealers normally collect tax when you buy a car but since you are not going to be registering it in the states you may not have to.
Will that be the sales tax where you are refering to?


If you are paying cash, aside from the MSRP (which can be negotiated down)
A lowered MSRP is that the invoice price which I see on some websites?

Does it matter in which state you buy the car? Or can you just choose a dealer which is close to a port where they can ship the car to China?

thanks again

[itsxtian]

I think this is a a scenario where you would want to cut out the dealer in general for information and contact BMW directly to find out what is the best solution they would advise.

[Streetfish]

Originally Posted by 335i/335d?

thanks for your reply

Dealers normally collect tax when you buy a car but since you are not going to be registering it in the states you may not have to.
Will that be the sales tax where you are refering to?

Yes

Originally Posted by 335i/335d?

If you are paying cash, aside from the MSRP (which can be negotiated down)
A lowered MSRP is that the invoice price which I see on some websites?

Does it matter in which state you buy the car? Or can you just choose a dealer which is close to a port where they can ship the car to China?

thanks again

a lowered MSRP will fall between invoice and MSRP. You shoul daim for 500-1000 over invoice for your negotiation

does not matter what state.

[335i/335d?]

Thanks for the help!! Next week I will be in China. Already downloaded the brochure to look through the options. My friend is looking what kind of costs are involved to import it to China. I believe he has to pay 25%-30% import duties and 17% Vat, even then the price is pretty good. Besides he can choose between a lot diffent colours and different interior colours.

What is the normal delivery time for a car in the States?

[CALIF65GM]

My mom has done 2 of these before- a Cadi and a Ford.

This is before cars were becoming common place in Chinese households.

You won't have to pay sales taxes, but you'll need to make sure the exporter picks-up the car at the dealership directly. The exporter can handle all of the paperwork for you.

As to location, I'd suggest somewhere on the west coast since it'll be less shipping costs than getting the car from inland to the coast.

[335i/335d?]

thanks for the tip. I was thinking about the same!!

Do you maybe know where I can find an exporter who is familiar with shipping to China, so I can ask what kind of costs are involved

thanks

[CALIF65GM]

Originally Posted by 335i/335d?

thanks for the tip. I was thinking about the same!!

Do you maybe know where I can find an exporter who is familiar with shipping to China, so I can ask what kind of costs are involved

thanks

Check online, but I think any decent exporter in Cali will be able to help you.

[335i/335d?]

thanks Calif! Will search for it!

[BB987]

To my understanding, the difficult part is making sure that the Chinese custom will release the car and that your car is safe when it gets to the port. The export agent will work with you until the car gets to the port in China but you may need to find a local Chinese agent to finish the second half of the process including transporting it the final destination by land on your own.

I did look into exporting a e550 for my gf's mom's before but after all the research, risk, and cost involved, it makes more sense to buy one there instead..Good luck on your search and let me know what you have found since i may need to export a 335i and a boxster there soon since I maybe going to Shanghai.

[carguy19]

GOOD LUCK getting a dealer to sell you car to export it. There are strict rules in the dealer agreement that state that the dealers cannot sell to exporters. Its been out of control lately because of the weakness of the US dollar.