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[Audi A3/S3] Personal Import Questions S3


dangermouse
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Hi guys,

i dont post here much buts its a great forum. I read it alot!

after a few test drives in the S3 i have decided to go for one. I currently have a MKV Gti

anyway since i used to live i germany i have decided to try and import one myself and have just a few questions.

1) do i pay MwSt (the german equivilent of VAT which is currently 19%) if i do pay it can i claim it back?

2) can i extend my warranty to 3 years?

3) Do i have to pay VAT on taking the vehicle back into the UK? any other charges?

4) Any general tips from people who have done this before?

thanks

James

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I looked into personally importing an S3 from Germany a couple of months ago.

Having taken into account the relative differences in spec and pricing between the UK and Germany, I worked out that I would save the princely sum of £350 on the spec of car I wanted. Simply not worth the hassle.

In answer to your VAT question, the usual way is to pay the basic German list price plus any options "ohne MwSt", and then pay UK VAT upon import.

You would get the standard European 2 years warranty if you personally imported. I believe that for a modest fee (not) you could extend the Audi warranty when you get the car over here.

As I said, while importing might have been worthwhile a few years ago (I imported my 8L S3 from Germany in 2000 and saved £3.5k) it's not nowadays.

Good luck!

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well the spec i want costs

41.550,00 Euros from Germany including MwSt at 19%

so 33655

minus the Mwst at 1.5 exchange rate that is £22437 (think the rate is about 1.494)

plus the VAT on entering the UK £26,363

I specced the same car on the UK configurator and it was £30,500

so there is a saving of £4,000 to be made!

is there no way not to pay VAT - thought the EU was supposed to stop that!

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There is no way to dodge VAT and if you try and get caught you'll be a very serious trouble. Within the EU, you have a choice, you can either pay the sales tax in the country of origin or VAT when you import it. You have to pay one but not both. In this case it looks like it's slightly cheaper to pay VAT here.

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Be careful - the standard spec for German cars is much less generous than for UK cars (e.g. leather trim is not standard on German cars), so you are not comparing apples with apples so far as price/spec is concerned between UK and German cars.

You can either pay VAT or its equivalent in the country of purchase or upon import to your country of domicile. It would obviously be mad to pay MwSt as it's higher than UK VAT. There is no way to avoid paying VAT; if you try, you will get locked up by HMRC and have the car seized.

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The car had the leather recaros.

Any other differences between UK and German Spec?

my spec was pretty much like this, prices in euros.

S3

36.050,00

Sprintblue 615,00

Black OptikPack 360,00

Armrest 125,00

flat bottom wheel 105,00

recaros 3.385,00

cruise control 255,00

BOSE Soundsystem 605,00

Gesamtpreis : 41.550,00

Preisstand vom 01.01.2007, inkl. 19% MwSt.

looks like i would save between £3,500 and £4,000 which makes it worth doing i guess

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[ QUOTE ]

The car had the leather recaros.

Any other differences between UK and German Spec?

my spec was pretty much like this, prices in euros.

S3

36.050,00

Sprintblue 615,00

Black OptikPack 360,00

Armrest 125,00

flat bottom wheel 105,00

recaros 3.385,00

cruise control 255,00

BOSE Soundsystem 605,00

Gesamtpreis : 41.550,00

Preisstand vom 01.01.2007, inkl. 19% MwSt.

looks like i would save between £3,500 and £4,000 which makes it worth doing i guess

[/ QUOTE ]

Why don't you do what I did to make sure, by downloading the S3 spec & pricelist .pdf from audi.de and comparing it in detail with the one from audi.co.uk?

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[ QUOTE ]

should i try and get a UK spec car from them or just get a right hand drive german model?

[/ QUOTE ]

You would have to pay a premium for RHD, which adds to the basic cost of the car. This is one of the main things that now makes importing uneconomic; the right of manufacturers to charge a premium for RHD was upheld by the European Court last year, and Audi (and other manufacturers) now exploit this to the full to deter parallel imports.

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[ QUOTE ]

should i try and get a UK spec car from them or just get a right hand drive german model?

[/ QUOTE ]

I would have hoped from this thread you have worked out that your not going to save any money really and in the long run will most probably end up losing. ie As I am sure you are aware there are a lot of S3 being purchased and when it comes to resale why would you pick an import over a UK car other than price, also you will need to purchase an additional year's warranty. I am sure if you call around dealers you may be able to get a little discount.

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[ QUOTE ]

well the spec i want costs

41.550,00 Euros from Germany including MwSt at 19%

so 33655

[/ QUOTE ]

Your sum's a bit out here - don't take off 19% divide by 1.19, you'll find your saving is about £1000 less than you have worked out.

If you then add the cost of 1 extra year warranty, and the additional depreciation because it's an import you'll probably not save much at all.

Autocar have at least 2-3 new cars available from dealers now from about 29500 - have a look.

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Try Select Automotive. I'm importing a UK spec S3 using them for a saving of about £4.5K, i.e. fully loaded for about list! No German VAT to pay, just UK VAT. I'm not getting an extended warranty (just the manufacturers 2 year) and I intend to keep the car a long time so the resale value isn't a concern (doubt there will be a £4k difference if it’s a private sale). I want the money in my pocket now, not 3 years time! I'm part way through the process with them but my experience so far is positive. I'm in no way affiliated to them.

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[ QUOTE ]

Try Select Automotive. I'm importing a UK spec S3 using them for a saving of about £4.5K, i.e. fully loaded for about list! No German VAT to pay, just UK VAT. I'm not getting an extended warranty (just the manufacturers 2 year) and I intend to keep the car a long time so the resale value isn't a concern (doubt there will be a £4k difference if it’s a private sale). I want the money in my pocket now, not 3 years time! I'm part way through the process with them but my experience so far is positive. I'm in no way affiliated to them.

[/ QUOTE ]

Since when have Select started importing Audis? Their website doesn't allow you to select Audi as a manufacturer.

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As others have said:

1. you do not pay German VAT but pay UK VAT when importing.

2. go for full UK RHD spec to avoid re-sale nightmare

3. after 3+ years I really don't think there is a price differential between a full uk spec import and UK car, or rather if you have a nice spec great condition car that would stop trying to knock you down (£500 max) because I know you made a saving when buying (the ONLY difference between this and UK car)

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Spook, I saw a Select advert on the Autotrader.co.uk used car section and gave them a call. Order a national search high to low and scroll down past the nearly new cars for the advert. As mentioned, I haven't got my car yet so will only be able to give them a full recommendation then, but so far, so good. I'm keenly watching the euro exchange rate and I'm probably one of the few people in the country to want a BoE interest rate rise!

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