European delivery

[Robert Clauss <beckyco@domain.elided>]

>------------------------------
>
>Date: Fri, 11 Oct 2002 12:46:42 -0700
>From: George Graves <gmgraves@domain.elided>
>Subject: Re: re: Importing non-us models,
>
>Back in the '50's  and '60's buying a foreign car FOB at the factory
>and driving it all over Europe and then shipping it back was THE thing
>to do. The pages of magazines like Road & Track (which used to be a
>real sports car magazine, by the way) always had several ads from firms
>who would arrange the deal for you. The big attraction was that you
>could pay for the car, pay for shipping, pay your round-trip airfare
>and your lodging and expenses for a two week tour of Europe for about
>the same price as it would cost to buy the same auto Stateside. As I
>recall, the automobile brands most often associated with this scheme
>were Porsche Mercedes Benz and yep, Alfa Romeo. It likely wouldn't work
>these days, however.
>
>George Graves
>'86 GTV-6
>
To the contrary, we did just that last year. Ordered a new Mercedes here,
through a local dealer. Picked it up in Sindelfingen, Germany and drove it
for two weeks before we dropped it for shipment to the US. M-B put us up
for two nights (at our choice of top grade hotels - we chose the Buhlerhoe
in Baden-Baden), fed us at the factory and gave us a tour, and paid for
full coverage insurance for up to 30 days. You save a bit, too, around
5-10%, but the savings is dependant upon the dollar/euro rate at the time.
There are no extra shipping costs. Dealers don't want to talk about, or
handle, Euro delivery because they don't make anything. You are actually
buying the car directly from the manufacturer, not the dealer, and so the
easiest way to order is through the company website. Test drives and
equipment inspection are done at a dealer, of course. BMW has a very
similar program. Audi and VW, at least recently, do not. Porsche probably
does. Volvo does but their program is not very generous. You get a US spec
car, and license plates that are different from standard German plates
("watch out- here come some crazy Americans drivers!"). Not a bad deal.

Robert Clauss
Mt. Prospect, IL  USA

'65 Giulia TI (I think I cooked the motor at Road America)
'86 Graduate  (Fall tour mobile)
'67 Vespa 150 (about to undergo its second restoration)
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