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Smart Shopper European Delivery Experiences, Advice and Info
251 messages, Last post on Jul 13, 2008 at 5:01 PM
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| Glad to help, jag98. | |
| a quick review on ed. i bought in '77, '82, a vw's and in '97 a bmw m3 (sunroof) for $34,333 + 2.71% duty and appr. 2% license fee in ca <36K. i stay for more than 3 month this way i save the saletax in ca. as far as i know vw/audi doesn't have an ed programm anymore. on that car i saved +8k. and i can drive with the bigboys (140mph) on the autobahn. the salesman will show you the ed-price if one deals honestly with him. | |
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Hi everyone -- I am doing the Volvo Overseas Delivery program on a '99 V70AWD in August. The order has gone in; full payment due 30 days before pickup in Gothenburg. Now that I'm committed, my view of the pros and cons: PROS: You can get exactly the car you want built just for you -- no compromises. Fair non-negotiable price, below US dealer invoice, posted on the Web. (At least I believe it to be non-negotiable. None of the three Puget Sound area dealers I contacted would budge.) Many factory options (wood steering wheel, roof rails, etc.) cost 50% or less of dealer list. One free air ticket to Europe plus one nights' hotel. Ticket can be open-jaw, e.g. fly into Gothenburg, home from someplace else. You cannot name your own airline or routing though. Volvo ships the car home free. It goes right to your dealer. You don't have to pay state tax and license until you claim the car back in the States. CONS Long lead time between order and pickup, 12 weeks at least. Anticipation killing me. If you pick up or drop off the car anyplace but Gothenburg, the associated fees can start to wipe out your cost savings. (Drop fees alone range from $200 to almost $1000. London is $285.) Full payment is gone from your wallet and into Volvo's 30 days before you see your car. I don't know what your fallback is if something turns out to be not right. They hold onto your marbles. After you come home, at least six weeks' wait before your car catches up with you. If you traded your old car, what'll you drive in the meantime? If you don't trade, you face a wee cash flow challenge. European insurance is extra, minimum $465 for 30 days. You have to apply for your own Swedish export license. Volvo sends you the forms, but you have to initiate this. Not all Volvo dealers have a clue about this program, understand the details, or are that enthusiastic about supporting it. BOTTOM LINE: We're getting a pretty loaded V70AWD equipped as we want it for $35,800. Well below invoice, but we're probably barely $1,000 ahead of a hard-driven dealer bargain for the same car. The free Europe air ticket makes it $2,000. Figure the cost of European insurance roughly equals what we'd spend on a Hertz car over there for two weeks, so that's a wash. As we were planning a family trip to England anyway this summer, it's worth it. If we hadn't been, I'm not sure it would be. I'll be sure to post an account of the delivery experience and relate any hassles or good things. Tom |
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Tom: Thanks for sharing that story. I am about to do the SAME thing with a Mercedes. I am planning on buying a C230 Kompressor via the European Delivery Program, picking the car up in October. If I were to buy a 1999 model for domestic delivery, the Invoice price is $27,140 and the MSRP is $31,200. The European Delivery price is being advertised at $29,650, which is just about 5% below the Domestic MSRP price. Mercedes doesn't include the flight cost like Volvo does. From my quick look at the Volvo European Delivery site, it looks like they're willing to offer steeper discounts than Mercedes. I have gotten a little budge from this price ($500); however, what I would like to know, for a bargaining tool, is what the dealer's cost of the European Delivery is. It is my assumption that the dealer's cost is lower with the European Delivery. The dealer is possibly "shopping" the 5% reduction as a benefit of purchasing in Europe, where in reality, they are simply paying less for the car, and realize that the buyer doesn't know their true cost. (For anyone) Any idea what the dealer cost is with the European Delivery program? Any idea how I might be able to find out? I think it could save me a few $$$ and give me a much better bargaining position. Thank you, Daniels856 |
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Hello Daniels856 -- Under the Volvo model there's no "dealer cost" for Euro delivery, because the dealer never buys the car from Volvo; you do. The dealer acts as your agent initially, submits the order and collects your check, but otherwise I've been dealing with a guy on an 800- line at Volvo US HQ in New Jersey. Volvo US, not my dealer, sent my confirmation invoice, arranged my air ticket, sent the Swedish customs packet, etc. With Volvo the car never passes through a dealers' hands until you go there to get it back once it arrives in the States. (And that's a new innovation for Volvo. Before this year you apparently had to go to the POE and get the car out of bond yourself, never visiting the dealer at all, which for me would've meant an inconvenient trip to Tacoma, WA.) What does the dealer get out of the deal then? I wondered as much myself, and consulted my next-door neighbor whose friend manages a Mercedes dealership. Answer from him: the dealer gets credit for the sale, which affects the size and mix of next month's allotment of cars (more M-class ones maybe)... and the individual salesperson you deal with gets the sale in his/her column, which puts 'em closer to bonuses. That's the main incentive. I think Volvo may kick in a little holdback money to cover the dealer's modest admin costs, but that's it. No wonder some Volvo dealers don't much care about the Overseas Delivery program. Honestly, this is the kind of thing you could and should be able to do strictly over the Internet with Volvo or Mercedes directly: point, click, use Visa to put down your deposit, bang, buy your car. Except that it's taboo for now in the US car-sales culture to outflank the dealer network, much as Volvo or any other company might like to. It sounds as if Mercedes is a bit more nervous of its US dealer body, because while Volvo's Overseas Delivery prices are pegged below US invoice in most cases (not the C70), Mercedes' are pegged about $1000 above. If you go through with your deal, be sure extras like drop-off fees don't wipe out your advantage. Let me know how it goes. Tom |
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Thanks Tom. I'll let you know how it goes. The C230 for European Delivery is priced $2250 above domestic dealer cost - pretty hefty. I'm looking to see if I can get someone to lower the profit margin, which appears to be fairly high; otherwise, I might just buy one off a lot, and rent a car while in Europe  It sure would be fun to have MY car to drive while over there though. With a lower than invoice cost, AND a free flight, looks like th Volvo is one heck of a bargain (and one heck of a nice car. I had a 244 DL years ago and loved it!)Thanks again for the feedback and info, Dan |
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Same with MB and BMW, no dealer cost, you buy the car directly from the factory. I know that MB and BMW pay the US dealer a commission. FWIW, renting a C230 in Europe must run over $100/day. Tom, interesting trip, taking the car from Sweden to England. I lived in England for two years and the swtich to driving on the left wasn't so hard because you are still sitting toward the center of the road. But driving a left-hand drive car in England will be a challenge. |
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It'll be interesting, all right. I've driven a goodly number of miles in the UK and I'm pretty comfortable with it (got to keep muttering "Keep left, look right. Keep left, look right" to yourself as you drive through those village roundabouts!). But it's always been in a right-hand-drive car. I've never had a left-hand-drive vehicle on English roads, and the V70 counts as a big car over there. See you buried in a hedgerow somewhere... I'm planning to get the car in Gothenburg on the morning of Day 1 and get to Copenhagen that night; Day 2 is a hard day of driving across the north of Germany to Amsterdam; Day 3 gets us to Calais, under the Channel, and up to my uncle's place in Surrey. This better work, because my loving family arrives Heathrow the morning of Day 4, and expects to see a new car! I'll report. Daniels856, good luck with your transaction -- it sounds like fun. Tom |
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I hope you have as positive an experience as I did on the MB 230K factory purchase. I picked one up last Sept.--fantastic experience--MB does an outstanding job. dranoel |
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Thanks dranoel. I'll let you know how it goes. I lived in Germany from 1986-1989 (went with a backpack and stayed :>) and I was able to go on the MB factory tour during my stay. It was amazing to hear them say over the loud speaker "Mr. Schneider, your C230 is ready for pick-up." Wow. Now I want to hear my name over their loud speaker . In regards to your comments on price in comment number 29, I have been offered $500 below the factory price of $29,650 for EB and I am still working on more. I'll be sure to post what I end up getting, although I'm going to end with a model year 2,000 (since I'm not picking it up until October) and the prices will probably go up a few hundred dollars. I've been asking Mercedes (1-800-4mercedes)about the Year 2000 options, and they have told me that dealers in the US should now this week. If anyone else has any stories on year 2000 options, please share! <G>. Dan |
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