[sfax]

Just as a matter of interest and to compare to prices in the UK, how much do you actually end up paying if you purchase at MSRP? I assume you have to add sales tax and then delivery and registration fees etc on top. Is it about MSRP x 5% + $1000?

[Lotus7]

To try to answer your question, there is no USA Federal tax on new vehicle purchases, but there is usually a state sales tax and there may also be local county and city taxes. Where we live (a large Midwestern city) the total tax equals 8.25%. However, if you trade in a used vehicle, the tax is computed on the net difference between the new vehicle cost and the trade in value (since the trade in vehicle was already taxed in the past). There are then additional charges for things like document transfer fees (dealer charges for doing the paperwork), and state license fees.

For our new (on-order) X3 35i the tally is something like this:

MSRP
- Negotiated discount
- Trade in value
+ State and county tax (in our case 8.25%) varies with specific location)
+ Document fee (In our case US$ 154)
+ License fee (in our case US$ 120)
= Final total cost (the amount of your check OR the amount financed)

Recently, I was wondering how the US pricing compared with that in the UK so just did comparison "build" on the UK website. Whew! That 17.5% VAT is a real killer.

I did a cost work-up for a car that was equipped exactly the same as the 35i we have on order EXCEPT it is a 20d engine. Although the standard included equipment is different, it is possible to match the US content and to select almost identical total packages, except, of course the engines.

The MSRP for the 35i we have on order totaled US$ 47665.00 (Includes delivery fee) and we were able to negotiate a price a few percentage points lower (this will vary from dealer to dealer). Total local taxes, document fees, license transfers, etc. added up to US$ 3217.50.

As per the BMW UK website, an equally equipped 20d SE had a MSRP of BP 33310.64 and a VAT (17.5%) of 5829.36 for a total of BP 39140.00. On the day I did the comparison the conversion rate was 1.5482. So the cost in US$ was US$ 60597.55. Again this was for a British X3 20d SE compared to a comparably equipped USA X3 35i.

[LSB M]

Originally Posted by Lotus7

To try to answer your question, there is no USA Federal tax on new vehicle purchases, but there is usually a state sales tax and there may also be local county and city taxes. Where we live (a large Midwestern city) the total tax equals 8.25%. However, if you trade in a used vehicle, the tax is computed on the net difference between the new vehicle cost and the trade in value (since the trade in vehicle was already taxed in the past). There are then additional charges for things like document transfer fees (dealer charges for doing the paperwork), and state license fees.

For our new (on-order) X3 35i the tally is something like this:

MSRP
- Negotiated discount
- Trade in value
+ State and county tax (in our case 8.25%) varies with specific location)
+ Document fee (In our case US$ 154)
+ License fee (in our case US$ 120)
= Final total cost (the amount of your check OR the amount financed)

Recently, I was wondering how the US pricing compared with that in the UK so just did comparison "build" on the UK website. Whew! That 17.5% VAT is a real killer.

I did a cost work-up for a car that was equipped exactly the same as the 35i we have on order EXCEPT it is a 20d engine. Although the standard included equipment is different, it is possible to match the US content and to select almost identical total packages, except, of course the engines.

The MSRP for the 35i we have on order totaled US$ 47665.00 (Includes delivery fee) and we were able to negotiate a price a few percentage points lower (this will vary from dealer to dealer). Total local taxes, document fees, license transfers, etc. added up to US$ 3217.50.

As per the BWW UK website, an equally equipped 20d had a MSRP of BP 33310.64 and a VAT (17.5%) of 5829.36 for a total of BP 39140.00. On the day I did the comparison the conversion rate was 1.5482. So the cost in US$ was US$ 60597.55. Again this was for a British X3 20d compared to a comparably equipped USA X3 35i.

That 17.5% VAT is nothing compared to that piece of paper called "C.O.E" (certificate of entitlement) in Singapore. For a lux car, the COE (right to BUY a vehicle) is probably the same cost as the price of the X3 itself here in the U.S.

[sfax]

Wow, I wasn't expecting that much detail! Thank you very much. I started trying to do a like for like comparison as well (except the engine) and ran into difficulty when trying to compute the US taxes and extras. The net difference on trade in is interesting. When we trade in, we generally just get less than we would from selling it privately and no tax benefit at all!

So I think what you are saying is that we are paying about $10,000 more and having to wait longer for delivery - lol!

VAT is also up to 20% from next year and most people that have already placed orders for delivery in 2011 will have to pay VAT at the increased 20% as it's applied at delivery, not when you order.

Some of this difference is also down to exchange rates. If you went back to the start of 2008, 1GBP = 1.4EUR but now it's 1GBP = 1.16EUR. That's a 20% difference and on a 40,000GBP car priced in Euros, that's 7,000GBP! The dollar change against the euro is not as big so you wouldn't have seen prices go up quite as much.

[Lotus7]

Originally Posted by sfax

...So I think what you are saying is that we are paying about $10,000 more and having to wait longer for delivery - lol!...

That seems to be the case.
Sorry about that, but the X3 IS an "American" car. This is our revenge for all those years that a Jag, Lotus, Triumph or MGB cost half again more here! :-)

Good luck with your American made X3. It will be interesting to see if yours arrives before the (red) one we're waiting for.

Cheers!

[sfax]

Originally Posted by Lotus7

That seems to be the case.
Sorry about that, but the X3 IS an "American" car. This is our revenge for all those years that a Jag, Lotus, Triumph or MGB cost half again more here! :-)

Good luck with your American made X3. It will be interesting to see if yours arrives before the (red) one we're waiting for.

Cheers!

Thanks and I'll keep you posted on the expected delivery date. I won't be able to give you accurate information on where it's at however because we don't have the Track Your BMW feature on the BMW UK website like you do on the US site .

Would like to see some more pics of the vermilion red so please post some when you get it.

And now I'll get back to waiting.....