Sounds like you are not supporting local retailers. That is very un-Australian.

I've wondered about this a lot. That we have a small population is always used as a reason, but so does Ohio. That we are so far away is also used as a reason, but we all know how cheap we can ship stuff nowadays. So really, why is almost everything nearly double what it is elsewhere?

Most likely have to pay a greater tax on luxury cars here to subsidize heath care of the pie munchers and coke slurping kids who drive them, maybe...

Charl dv said...

if you going american muscle why not keep it classic?

in regards to cars there are quite strict importing laws so that the market does not get flooded with jap imports n ** that would damange the aus car economy. e.g. in NZ there are soo many damned imports floating around that car prices are ridiculously cheaper. Well i don't know if it's like that any more now that they laws changed but when I lived there it was nearly a 3 - 4 k difference in 2nd hand prices for cars under 10k between here and there.

an old Pontiac would look amazing in my garage though

I thought that just applies to importing those 2-3yr (or whatever it is) old jap imports (something about the japs not letting old cars stay on the road), rather than importation of new japanese cars? It does seem strange that there's such a big diff for the same new jap car in US vs Aus, unless it has something to do with the extra (?) cost of producing a right hand drive version.

I once read when Holden was selling Commodores in America as Pontiacs they were significantly cheaper over there than in Australia.

A quick check shows a base level American Toyota Camry costs about $21,000 new while a base level Australian Camry costs about 35K.

I'm all for protecting the Australian car industry but it seems like we get the wrong end of the stick when it comes to the pricing of so many items.

leftfield said...

dirtyharry said...
I thought that just applies to importing those 2-3yr (or whatever it is) old jap imports (something about the japs not letting old cars stay on the road), rather than importation of new japanese cars? It does seem strange that there's such a big diff for the same new jap car in US vs Aus, unless it has something to do with the extra (?) cost of producing a right hand drive version.

The Japanese drive on the left too...

Yep - I'm stoopid

Gizmo said...

I was in the belief that passenger vehicles that are sold NEW in Australia need to meet the Aust standards [side intrusion bars etc] where as many over seas cars that are sold NEW overseas and then imported as S/H into Aust wouldn't comply with the safety rules of new cars.
Also commercial vehicles have different standards than passenger carrying ones.

But agree it doesn't make sense with the price difference...
The Internet has certainly given Australian consumers a wake up call and are saying "Whats going on?"

4 or 8 side intrusion bars would cost about $300 per door tops I would say !! California & America have pretty stringent regulations too !! I think Volvo might have been one of the first to put them on anyway.....

Right, so how can we import them for that price?

With ice hockey its the same thing, gear is twice as much here but there are people that buy it over there for ya and send it for not much extra.

anyone doing that with cars?

quatro25 said...

What's the US vs Australia comparison of import taxes/duties and sales taxes etc.

The comparison is meaningless without that data.

Don't know.... But either way, we still paying too much.... too much tax, etc...

How nice is that base model Mustang, at a shade over $22,000 !!! V6 Mustang at Korean Prices !!! And how sweet is that Shelby GT500 !! If I could afford a 10 car garage, the Mustang would be in the line-up.

Swoosh's Ford Truck is sweet too!

PS - this thread is more about US Muscle Car admiration at USD prices, than understanding Taxes, international money policy, etc...

What about the average income in Aus compared to USA?

Cant be bothered researching it, but I'm sure any one working in the hospitality industry would be far better in Aus.

Low income, cheaper prices. Higher income higher prices?

Perhaps a case of swings and round abouts I don't know, but I do know where I would rather live and I am willing to pay more for "luxury items" because there are so many other things that make up for it.

I recently bought a Yamaha motorcycle. The RRP in Oz is $21.990, I got it for $21k. The dealer made ~$2k on that, Yamaha Aus made ~$6k, and the government ~$3.5k.

The cost of the bike in parts, labour and delivery is ~US$7800 (from industry insiders).

Yamaha Aus bares the exchange rate fluctuations, is responsible for promotion and prices the bike competitively in the market.

If Yamaha Aus, decides it can't make enough off the bike they don't bring it in.

Yamaha USA decided it couldn't make the bike sell, so they ran a preorder program... US$13,900... the bike still costs ~US$7800 but everybody gets a little less.

Who are the greedy ones? I think Aus distributors and the government contribute to high prices.
All it takes is 1 to price its product significantly below another similar product for all the other products to go down in price.

Aus retailers need to put pressure on the distributors. Everyone wants their 25%.

Take an Aus global small scale success story.
www.friendsoforis.com
They, right from the beginning put pressure on the distributor to supply them at reasonable cost to grow the market.
They in turn said they would heavily promote the brand, they setup forums, online video reviews, and were there for their customers.
The distributor lost a little on each unit, but made it up with volume.

So now even with the high A$ they're still a global success... and I wish them every success for the future.

If a company/person wants to get 25% for doing nothing but take a credit card # fark'em and go to the cheapest place in the world.

If the farker wants to make MILLION$ for doing nothing but reselling (Harvey Norman), and then whines about us looking for a better deal... boycott the hypocrite bast**d.