Can Ibuy from out of UK?

[deanthurley]

I am interested in buying a new rhd c class estate can I save buy buying direct from Germany or other countries or is it all too difficult?? Thanks for any help or ideas dean.

 

[A210AMG]

Hello

I have imported a couple of cars personaly and also for work. Savings a few years ago were great. I bought a fully specced BMW Z3 in 2001 (6K worth of options) and saved around 8K.

Warranty is generally less, at the time I got 2yrs rather than the 3. Local delear serviced the car and did warranty fix's no problem. Selling it was easy, 1st person bought....I paid less, it had FULL spec, I sold for less = everyone happy.

Only thing I did was set up a Euro Account to transfer the money. Never spoke to the sales guy in Germany all done via e-mail. I must have changed the spec several times....

Thing is now the exchange rate is not that good so savings may not be great, I havn't looked for a while. Easy to do though and at the time well worth it.


Cheers

 

[jberks]

Why bother. Savings these days aren't any better than you can get from a uk dealer and whilst it would probably be fine, back in '99 when imports were all the rage, I bought an Audi A3 from a dealer. Turned out to be a good decision when, after 60 miles, it blew up. Without the dealer, I'd have been left accepting a repair or fighting Audi Germany. As it was I got another A3 as a loaner whilst they sourced me a new one.
With the dealer backup, plus the extra years warranty we get over here, and then the hassle or sorting out the uk registration, green card and everything else, unless you can save at least £3k, it isn't worth the effort and with the current euro rate, it may even be more expensive.
You could buy here and collect from the factory though.

 

[st13phil]

I'll echo jberks' comments. If you take a look at the German C-Class price list you'll find that at current exchange rates it may actually cost you marginally more for an identical spec car to that which you could source from a UK dealer. You need to be very careful when comparing prices on the W204 because there are a few bits and pieces that come as standard spec in the UK that are cost options in Germany.

 

[A210AMG]

Hello


Thats an important point to make, be sure that the car starts out FULL UK spec, as not all 'standard' specs are the same.

Have to say we have had NO problems with any imported car we have although yes the warranty is less. You can always buy the third year warranty.

As said though prices at the moment probably mean its not worth it. Back in 2000 ish times were good

 

[deanthurley]

Seems to me too now having looked at the german website prices are actually dearer so maybe I will just try push a hard bargain here after all.Thanks guys for your thoughts and help.

 

[jberks]

Cars aren't flying out of dealerships so deals are there to be had. That said, you've picked the hardest with the 204.

I went to the dealer back in 2001 looking for a 6month old 203. As it had just come out, I found myself looking at a 200k 203 parked next to a same age 240 210 with an identical price tag. The 203 was nice but not compared to the 210 so I bought that instead.

My point is that the current 211 is now probably one of the best made, most reliable and nicest to own exec saloons on the market, but as it gets towards the end of it's production run (new one along in 18 months though they won't be on the road in the UK in any number for another year), the deals available can make it a really attractive proposition when compared to a model that's just come out and has high demand. For example I got a leaflet through offering free leather and auto on the 220cdi - that's £3,000 off.

Remember that whilst residuals on 204s are concrete today, the's due to the lower availability and the desire to own the 'new model'. In 3 years time, they'll be on every road and the dealers will have forecourts full of them.

Depends on what you want, the 211 estate may be too big etc - but I suspect you could pick one up for the same or possibly less than you'll pay for a 204 equivalent, once you've fatcored in the spec, and, as good as the 204 is, it's a lot more car for the money.

 

[NewMB]

Prices between UK and Germany are not that great nowadays, thanks to today's low value of the British Pound. At the moment it's £1/€1.30....

Anyway, I have done extensive research come comparing standrad equipment between UK and Germany on C class and ML class. For example, folding mirrors are NOT standard in Germany on C or ML. THey do not have a sport version like we do, but you can pay the same package. They have Classic, Elegance and Avantgarde.

On A class, the Avantgarde has four electric windows in the UK, only front ones in Germany.

A C320 Cdi has a manual gearbox as std in Germany.... auto in UK>

Before I bought mine, I checked the pricelists several times to get the same. Once all added, it was about EUR 2000 cheaper in Germany than UK.

Not worth the hassle!