Purchasing a RHD with better spec from Germany.....

[ShannonSide]

Lads,
Is it possible / cost-wise to order and collect a higher spec a RHD Polo-
from say Germany or any other country like Spain
where the 3 door model is assembled ?
thx in advance.

[Grey_Polo]

My understanding is that all LHD polos are made in Pamplona Spain and all RHD in South Africa. You can check websites for possibilities like www.volkswagen.de and www.volkswagen.fr etc...

[Deako]

I believe its all 3 doors made in Spain, and all 5 doors made in South Africa.

However, all of the Polo GTIs are made in Spain.

[Grey_Polo]

I have a 5 door LHD made in Spain...

[8080]

If you're Irish - I guess you are by the username - there's no point because pre-tax we have pretty much the cheapest cars in Europe here

[RUM4MO]

In theory it is possible to order in any VAG car from anywhere in the world that sells that model. Sticking to buying within Europe makes life easier as there is a standing agreement that allows for the purchase, for personal use a motor car or small boat or a small aircraft or a motor cycle - ie any purchase of personal transport, you either buy "ex tax" and provide proof of paying VAT in your home country within a few weeks (or get a selling country tax demand!), or pay the local taxes up front and reclaim them after paying VAT - its different rules for different countries. But, in the past - and probably still nowadays, VAG as a group have been very protective and do tend to "stall" any potentially grey-imports. I've been there and done that twice, first time a Passat 2.8V6 4Motion from INTERCAR (basically a broker) in Holland, order placed in September 1999, non refundable deposit paid when order was accepted by VW, car ready for delivery end May 2000, second was a Polo 1.4SE from a VW dealer near Baan, order accepted May 2002 - car available end of September 2002. I saved about £5000 for a very highly spec'd up car the first time and about £2750 the second time taking every thing into considereration (radio + extended warranty + all travel delivery costs). Now, if what VAG have done in the past is still valid, two things will happen, if you are buying from a VW dealer abroad, that dealer will find that VW will decrement one unit from their monthly allocation of that model to that dealer, for every "FOREIGN" car they order, you as the buyer will have to make sure that you do not intend to trade that car in against a new or used car at a VAG dealer as VAG have demanded that only "their" imports are acceptable. The thing is that you need to watch the rate of exchange and buy the Euros at the right time - that is if you are buying from the UK - and its now not as good as it was when I bought my car (first car was paid for in Dm as that was a "good" currency). I think that the best place to get a car from tax wise is Denmark - and travel is not too difficult as there are some Ryanair flights I think. The buying experience for me was excellant both times - which was completely different from the VW dealers who had their deal and their prices set at where they wanted them to be "the cars sell themselves!" and extras at UK dealers are priced out of reach of normal people. But, to do all this you do need the money up front (no loans etc) and be able to keep yourself mobile until the car arrives - oh and have either a desirable car to "punt" or a zero value one! There used to be a website dedicated to doing this and magazine support, 10 and almost 8 years on I have had no regrets on going down that route, its just a pity that its not still cheaper to do.

[RUM4MO]

Oh, and by the way, I'd reckon that VAG will still be sitting on a few court demands covering their reluctance to allow the free market to exist. Also, it is well known that VAG-UK is in fact owner by VAG - used to be owned by Tiny Rowland's company - most other Europe wide VAG importers are private companies. It was an Audi senior person that was buying and moving Seats from ??? to Italy - so they were trying this EU tax loophole as well as us - but in a really big way!

[Grey_Polo]

It's not just rip off UK, the Swiss market (where I live) has been subject to cartels for years. Although grey imports have been legal here for about 15 years, official importers and the authorities have connived to made personal (or grey imports) difficult.

Not only do cars have to be inspected and ensure they conform with such things as exhaust emission tests before they can be registered here, but the equivalent of the log book states that the vehicle is a personal import. This effectively lowers the resale price by about the saving made by importing!

Sadly car manufacturers throughout Europe have seen to it that their base price is adjusted to compensate for local taxes. Thus Denmark which has the highest taxes on cars has the lowest tax-free price. And Switzerland which has only 7.6%VAT on new car sales, has a high base price. But not high enough to made personal imports viable for Polos - high spec Porsche 911s etc. are a different story.

Fianlly, VW have seen to it the the specs vary from country to country so that imports are obvious even with the log book stating it...