Wish I could buy a Camaro in the states

[shadetreemechanic]

So I sometimes like to check out cars and models available overseas, I'm sure there's plenty of you blokes doing the same.

I just cannot get over the fact you can buy a base model Camaro for 22 grand...they look so damn sexy and feature the same motor as a SV6
Not to mention the cool interior that's years ahead of anything over here...

Even factoring in other charges like taxes or whatever, say 25 grand. Still a bloody bargain!!

What do youse reckon? I know importing's a no goer....but I'm just comparing (and wishful thinking haha)

[Blown V6 Hatch]

It's all good and well to buy the car for 22K, but then you have to spend 30K getting it converted to RHD....

[CapriciousWL]

There are mobs who will import and convert but the price is high. The other option is second hand, registered in a RHD country (UK, Japan etc) then imported. Takes aboutv12 months that way, but can allegedly bypass some of the import duties.

The other issue is conformance with ADR's etc.

[shadetreemechanic]

Obviously not gonna import...just saying what you get for the money over there

[hi_ryder]

if new left hand drive cars were aloud here the govt would just put an outrageous tax on them so only the super rich can have them.... by the time your done with a conversion and tax on a new corvette a 50k car turns to a 200k car...

[pjdm1980]

I believe that the price come down to a couple of facts, one of the big ones is the size of the market in the USA.

[Stressball]

Not to mention the luxury car tax that, combined with the GST/import duties, makes up something like 43% of the total sale price here. Hence why a Porsche in the UK is reasonably cheap, whereas the same model here goes for double the price comfortably.

[W84N01]

in Unique car magazine, you pay $2780 to get the car imported to Melbourne, all taxes and shipping and duties all paid for and sorted out for you.

My Dad imported a Silverado from Texas, and he is still over $40k in front if he was to sell it tomorrow. He bought it to tow around a fifth wheeler, and is even importing that from USA all AUS specs and ready to be licenced here in WA, and he will be almostn $100k in front with that one too.

Cost Dad around $30k to get the car converted to RHD, plus have it registered and licenced in WA for a year.

Well worth the cost and time to do it, as you can sell it tomorrow and make a nice sized profit.

First chance i get, i'd love to do it.....DPI here in WA tells me you're only allowed to buy and sell 6 cars if you don't have a dealer licence, so imagine the cash you'd make just out of 6 cars in the one year........very tempting

[acex1138]

im sorry, seeing chev badges on holdens ruined anything that starts with 'chev' for me... lol

[Reaper]

So I sometimes like to check out cars and models available overseas, I'm sure there's plenty of you blokes doing the same.

I just cannot get over the fact you can buy a base model Camaro for 22 grand...they look so damn sexy and feature the same motor as a SV6
Not to mention the cool interior that's years ahead of anything over here...

Even factoring in other charges like taxes or whatever, say 25 grand. Still a bloody bargain!!

What do youse reckon? I know importing's a no goer....but I'm just comparing (and wishful thinking haha)

I was loosely considering buying one when it was slated for Australia but changed my mind when I saw one in person. Granted it was a pre-production hand built car which is usually a bit rough around the edges but the dash just looked hideous to me. Externally it looked great but the interior plastics looked straight out of a 1970's Mazda 929.

if new left hand drive cars were aloud here the govt would just put an outrageous tax on them so only the super rich can have them.... by the time your done with a conversion and tax on a new corvette a 50k car turns to a 200k car...

You seem to have a chip on your shoulder about people with money.

There are mobs who will import and convert but the price is high. The other option is second hand, registered in a RHD country (UK, Japan etc) then imported. Takes aboutv12 months that way, but can allegedly bypass some of the import duties.

The other issue is conformance with ADR's etc.

There are no RHD Camaros. The tooling exists for the dash plastics and the like but RHD production was cancelled before any were ever made. Doubtful they will start it again as the Camaro is moving to the Alpha platform for the next model. No RHD are planned at this stage.

Reaper

[87RB30VL]

I've seen heaps of LHD muscle cars around, dunno why they're apparently illegal?

[S.T.K.E]

I've seen heaps of LHD muscle cars around, dunno why they're apparently illegal?

Cars before X year don't require the conversion.

[naf33n]

i hired one when i was in the states in july, and honestly, it was a bit disappointing, they look aweseme ... sound terrible, but i spose most restricted 8s do. the interior has the big stupid plastic bit the wraps along the doors and dash, made it feel real tacky. perfromance wise was nothing special, but it only had 166 miles on it, so probably needs to loosen up a bit. the soft top made a terrible noise when folding, like plasctic was cracking...

but would i buy one... hell yeah, who wouldnt want bumble bee



this is the only one i have of the interior, but you can see that big light grey/silver plastic bit on the door, hard thin plastic.. so cheap and nasty

[Drawnnite]

Cars before X year don't require the conversion.

yeah its something like x number of years... 30 or 40 or around that amount.

checked vicroads, says this:

The Standards for Registration specify that the steering wheel of a vehicle must not be located to the left of the centre line of the vehicle.
However, vehicles over 30 years old with a Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) of less than 4.5 tonnes are exempt from this requirement. These vehicles must still comply with the Standards for Registration applicable at their date of manufacture and be fitted with headlights which are suitable for a right hand drive vehicle (i.e. dip to the left).

if we did have USA prices on all our cars, it would be crazy.
it would work out to like what, $15-20k for a brand new VE Sv6

but yeah their massive market over their creates the lower prices.

[hi_ryder]

You seem to have a chip on your shoulder about people with money.


Reaper

cause i think paying 200k for a vette is stupid?

[naf33n]

cause i think paying 200k for a vette is stupid?

then dont pay it... sometimes people are happy to pay extra just to own something rare or different, and in this country a vette is rare, especially a c6.

i know the guy that got the first S type jag in aus, almsot 2 years before jag australia released it. from memory it was about 80-100 grand more then what jag sold it for

[hi_ryder]

then dont pay it... sometimes people are happy to pay extra just to own something rare or different, and in this country a vette is rare, especially a c6.

i know the guy that got the first S type jag in aus, almsot 2 years before jag australia released it. from memory it was about 80-100 grand more then what jag sold it for

guess im coming from a place where vettes are everywhere, people here see one and start wanking... im like eh.. nice vette. but not 200k nice... end rant...

[rx2_freak]

There is a place near me that imports all those big american donks [yukons,escalades etc]

i saw on the weekend they have a camaro ss transformers edition for sale for around 125k.

http://www.victorianamericanimports....hicles_new.asp

[naf33n]

guess im coming from a place where vettes are everywhere, people here see one and start wanking... im like eh.. nice vette. but not 200k nice... end rant...

ha, good one... no where in australia "vettes are everywhere". not even in america. i probably saw 10 when i was there...

[shadetreemechanic]

Hmm, interesting bit about the quality..though it looks like nice stitching inside etc...

Thing is though, over here a 20K car ain't gonna run more than a 1.8 or 2L four banger..and the supercharged LSA V8 version's 45K, that's like buying an SV6 here

[franck]

mate of mine went to the uk to work and chase his gf stayed for about 2yrs, about 6weeks before he was due to come back to oz he bought a 930 1986 model with 40k (miles) it is an absolute beast! in excellent condition, he landed it for a total of 47000AUD, but you have to be careful with rust because of salt on the roads in winter. even though they are galvanised the cars can rust, however a lot of people that are wealthy store their exotic cars during the winter months and this was one example. so after some research he bought a very clean car, at about half the price of an oz delivered 930, in the end all of these 911s of that era were hand built in stuttgart, so really who cares if its oz delivered or not with that saving

[Reaper]

guess im coming from a place where vettes are everywhere, people here see one and start wanking... im like eh.. nice vette. but not 200k nice... end rant...

Not sure I'd pay $200k for a Vette but each to their own. Anybody who earns enough to spend that on a car - good luck to them.

Reaper

[IS250FSSV]

My twin has a Bumblebee and a Cadillac Escalade in Brisibane

[Crisis63]

I believe that the price come down to a couple of facts, one of the big ones is the size of the market in the USA.

To a degree I suppose but that doesn’t really explain why the other way around a HSV GTS is $20,000 more in Oz than it is in England when they only import 20 per year..

We get reamed by manufacturers and the government in equal parts.

In other news I saw a car transporter yesterday with a re Camaro and a white and blue Mustang Shelby on it. Both looked awesome.

[ari666]

hmm, didnt notice this thread before.

corvette conversion is expensive because the parts and labour that need to go into it is MASSIVELY more difficult than a mustang or camaro conversion. the 07' mustang is really nicely symetrical, so coversion is basically a cut/weld job. i am hoping to be able to complete a conversion in 3 weeks and change around 28 grand for it. when you include the cost of parts, labour and the cost of running the RAWS, i think that is fantastic value. if you dont think so then you go and do it. then come back to me once you have gone over the 40k mark on parts alone and only have it half finished.

i got distracted by my landlord and now have forgotten what i was going to say...