[BilLYtheKiD325i]

at last a second authorised bmw dealership for western australia. no details on when it will be completed or when bmw australia had planned to announce this but i have heard this from a reliable source involved in the development of the property which is at the back of wangara near hartman drive.

[suff]

About time!!! Finally there will be come competition for AutoClassic!

[NBTBRV8]

It might be owned by the same people...

[V1_R]

Originally Posted by NBTBRV8

It might be owned by the same people...

God Forbid!!!!

Great news... though i'm pretty sure stealerships might be in the price fixing game

[TaylorA]

Originally Posted by NBTBRV8

It might be owned by the same people...

An Auto Classic SA advised me that it is..

[kaishang]

I think to get a reasonable discount if you buy in WA you need to be prepared to price shop in NSW/Qld/Vic. Stamp duty is slightly lower too, 6.5% in WA vs 5% in NSW. This means you also need to be prepared to freight/drive the car to WA and re-register it in WA. But if you are buying a $130,000 car and can get an additional 5% discount over what Auto Classic will give you plus the lower rate of stamp duty, it may be worthwhile.

In 2006 I got about $4,500 off an E90 325i from Auto Classic, but that was only about a 5% discount on the drive away cost.

Or buy a Jaguar - they still have an "old man" image even though a new XF or XJ looks quite stylish, but they are usually discounted accordingly.

[anonymousmoose]

Originally Posted by kaishang

Or buy a Jaguar - they still have an "old man" image even though a new XF or XJ looks quite stylish, but they are usually discounted accordingly.

And Barbagallo has a pretty good reputation here in WA.

[V1_R]

Originally Posted by kaishang

I think to get a reasonable discount if you buy in WA you need to be prepared to price shop in NSW/Qld/Vic. Stamp duty is slightly lower too, 6.5% in WA vs 5% in NSW. This means you also need to be prepared to freight/drive the car to WA and re-register it in WA. But if you are buying a $130,000 car and can get an additional 5% discount over what Auto Classic will give you plus the lower rate of stamp duty, it may be worthwhile.

In 2006 I got about $4,500 off an E90 325i from Auto Classic, but that was only about a 5% discount on the drive away cost.

Or buy a Jaguar - they still have an "old man" image even though a new XF or XJ looks quite stylish, but they are usually discounted accordingly.

reading this makes me think of our friends on this forum from across the pond who buy their 335i's for $50k new... albiet USD but still..

[kaishang]

I just bought a new 330d with usual fruit plus active cruise control and sunroof for A$67k driveaway.... in the UK.

Originally Posted by perth335i

reading this makes me think of our friends on this forum from across the pond who buy their 335i's for $50k new... albiet USD but still..

[suff]

It always amuses me when you speak to people in the US and tell them how much BMW's, Porsche's & other prestige cars cost (on the road).. no one believes me!

[kaishang]

I'm suprised there aren't more upmarket cars in the US, given they are so cheap.

Europe is about 20% more expensive than the US - but still about 40% less than Australia - and about 1-in-4 cars is a BMW/Jag/Merc/Audi/Porsche/Range Rover.

The price of cars in Oz is ridiculous. How can a 330 cost over $100,000?

Originally Posted by suff

It always amuses me when you speak to people in the US and tell them how much BMW's, Porsche's & other prestige cars cost (on the road).. no one believes me!

[cruvon]

maybe we should have had our own group to lobby 1-2 independents to force miss Gillard to let us have our cars at rates on par with the US, afterall the independents seem to be getting away with a lot so a little more towards a just cause wouldn't do any harm..they can always collect their taxes from elsewhere while promoting consumerism and keeping us drivers happy instead of just the miners

[johnnydad]

Originally Posted by kaishang

I'm suprised there aren't more upmarket cars in the US, given they are so cheap.

Europe is about 20% more expensive than the US - but still about 40% less than Australia - and about 1-in-4 cars is a BMW/Jag/Merc/Audi/Porsche/Range Rover.

The price of cars in Oz is ridiculous. How can a 330 cost over $100,000?

Because, with exchange rates, local compliance, spec levels, tax, luxury car tax, registration, dealer profits, that's what it costs.

When I was looking at buying my car and the exchange rate was 2.6-2.7 AUD per GBP, once you'd specced up the cars in the UK to our level they were actually slightly cheaper here.

With the GBP much weaker now against the AUD than it generally has been in recent times it naturally looks pretty expensive.

[cruvon]

Originally Posted by kaishang

I'm suprised there aren't more upmarket cars in the US, given they are so cheap.

Nice point, I noticed that too when was in the US, could be that there are too many choices to spend money on a daily basis on everyday pleasures at tempting prices there, before they are caught out spending it on upmarket cars?..OR it could be the dilution effect of having a bigger population.

A nice statistic to have would be the % of luxury cars measured against a countries population to compare with other countries to give a clear comparison I guess, wonder if there is one!!

[kaishang]

The long term average exchange rate is around GBP1 = AUD2.20 or so.

If you use that rate, BMWs and other "luxury" cars are still cheaper in the UK (and most of the rest of Europe, except certain high vehicle tax countries like Denmark) than Australia.

Additionally the price difference gets bigger as you move up the model range, due to the rapacious 33% LCT in Australia.

And even after the tax is paid on the initial purchase, you get taxed upwards of 5% in stamp duty in the secondhand market, which retards the trading of used cars and keeps used car prices artifically inflated. There is no vehicle stamp duty in Europe and I can't see any justifiable (other than rapacious money raising) reason for vehicle stamp duty, since it taxes the same object multiple times and it is a tax on top of the existing taxes of GST, LCT and import tarrif.

BMW Australia do not help either, since when you take out all the stamp duty, LCT, GST etc to arrive at a pre-tax retail price for the car it is STILL inexplicably expensive compared to the pre-tax retail price overseas. Which again is reflected in BMW's marketing where a 330d is marketed as a "330d Exclusive".... exclusive because it costs $110k drive away, so it is so exclusive nobody can afford to buy one. OTOH there are like 5 of them parked in my office car park in the UK right now, plus another 15 or so cheaper 4-cylinder models, because in the UK they are just better-than-average ordinary cars. BMWs are so cheap in the UK, that new model F-10 520 diesels are becoming the standard "Holden Commodore" company/sales rep car because they are 1) Cheap and 2) Fuel efficient and 3) low CO2 emitters emitting less CO2 than a cheap Australian econo-box. Why wouldn't you or a business buy a BMW 520 as a sales rep car in the UK.... it only costs equiv just over AUD40,000 and burns $!%^-all fuel. It's over AUD80,000 in Australia before you even add the stamp duty and dealer delivery.

Originally Posted by johnnydad

Because, with exchange rates, local compliance, spec levels, tax, luxury car tax, registration, dealer profits, that's what it costs.

When I was looking at buying my car and the exchange rate was 2.6-2.7 AUD per GBP, once you'd specced up the cars in the UK to our level they were actually slightly cheaper here.

With the GBP much weaker now against the AUD than it generally has been in recent times it naturally looks pretty expensive.

[kaishang]

Originally Posted by NBTBRV8

It might be owned by the same people...

saw an article about it on carsguide.news.com.au

it's the same franchisee as Auto Classic