6000 euro profit importing a Volvo?

BigAl81

Hey guys,

I had a question on the feasibility of the below...

1) Purchase this car in the UK for 7,000 pounds (assuming negotiating 10% off the asking price).

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201405144194046/sort/default/usedcars/page/3/price-to/8000/maximum-age/up_to_6_years_old/radius/1500/price-from/1000/make/volvo/postcode/e151ah/model/s80/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew?logcode=p


2) Convert to euro and pay VRT of 2,324 euro = total cost of 10,936 euro.

3) Put up for sale in Ireland. Judging by carzone, this car (same year, mileage, spec etc) sells for apx 17,000. (See link below).

4) 6,000 euro profit?

The car has all the extras, heated leather seats, 70 mpg, low tax, lots of safety features etc etc so I think selling it would be easy enough, maybe undercut the closest model by a grand for a quick sale and you'll still be 5k up over all!

Am I missing something here or is the difference in price really that much? I need a new car anyway, so was thinking of doing this and putting it up for sale, and if no one is interested, keep the car myself, win win!

Cheers,
Al.

Carzone link to similar cars in Ireland.
http://www.carzone.ie/search/results?searchsource=finder&nParam=4294910742%2B200294%2B200831%2B287%2B347&channel=CARS#nParam%3D4294910742%252B287%252B347%252B200590%252B200294%252B200772%252B351%252B200481%26sortby%3Dp_VehiclePriceEUR%7C0%26channel%3DCARS%26currency%3DEUROS%26searchResultsView%3DTHUMBNAIL%26maxrows%3D30

Bpmull

Is that the 1.6 Psa engine ie the peugoet one. Or is it a volvo one? What bhp is it ? Surly the s80 is a very big car for that engine.

FrontDoor

Half the country is doing exactly that. Maybe without that level of markup.

There are lots of people importing 5-20 cars a year for people through word of mouth.

PaddyFagan

Hi,

A few points - you need to allow for the expenses of getting to the UK, getting back with the car etc - see http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=176389

The prices here are the advertised prices, I'd expect you'd get at least 10% less than that - so the potential profit is more like 3k...
(and of course you'd be paying tax on that right?)

Paddy

RoboRat

Thanks for the heads up, just bought it :-)

jameshayes

FrontDoor wrote: »

Half the country is doing exactly that. Maybe without that level of markup.

There are lots of people importing 5-20 cars a year for people through word of mouth.

I thought you could only import 3 cars every few years as an individual or something?

mickdw

The sterling price alone will be near to 10k. Add your vrt figure and you are around 12k. Add price of ferry, plane and costs and you are nearer 13k. Add possible messing and time getting it vrtd and it's not such a big saving.

vibe666

RoboRat wrote: »

Thanks for the heads up, just bought it :-)

let us know how you do, could be interesting.

brianki

Bear in mind also the potential to be nabbed with additional VRT (and maybe also VAT) on the extras that would make the 'book value' of the car higher than that shown on the Revenue Site. Now that cars are being VRT'ed in the NCT centres it is far easier for these to be spotted and taxed.

This is particularly an issues with sub 4 year old cars so this may slip under the radar but there is the potential that it wouldn't either, and you could be stung with additional cost that you hadn't bargained for.

BigAl81

Hey guys,

Thanks for the replies.

As for expenses, 5 mins on Auto Trader to find a car. 5 minutes on RAC website to organise vehicle check (cost of 200 pounds) and delivery to dublin ferry port (300 pounds).

Lets say you pay half of the profit in tax (no idea if that's right but it couldn't be more than that?) you'd still be up at least 2,000 euro for about half a days work.

As I need a car anyway, my thinking was, buy one, drive it till I sell it for a profit, and repeat. That way if I was to get stuck with a car I wouldn't be at a loss because I need one anyway.

Fool proof right?

Cheers,
Al.

BigAl81

RoboRat wrote: »

Thanks for the heads up, just bought it :-)

There are at least another 10 similar ones on Auto Trader for this model and spec. Hundreds more if you vary models so plenty to go around!

Drive it like you stole it ;o)

Al.

BigAl81

Bpmull wrote: »

Is that the 1.6 Psa engine ie the peugoet one. Or is it a volvo one? What bhp is it ? Surly the s80 is a very big car for that engine.

According to Top Gear, this new 1.6 diesel delivers the same torque as the old 2.0 liter petrol engine, but yes, it's not the fastest car in the world. Was going for the 62 combined MPG and low tax as a selling point. There are plenty or 2 liter + cars there too.

Cheers,
Al.

FrontDoor

BigAl81 wrote: »

Hey guys,
Fool proof right?

Cheers,
Al.

Certainly not foolproof by any means.

Bpmull

BigAl81 wrote: »

According to Top Gear, this new 1.6 diesel delivers the same torque as the old 2.0 liter petrol engine, but yes, it's not the fastest car in the world. Was going for the 62 combined MPG and low tax as a selling point. There are plenty or 2 liter + cars there too.

Cheers,
Al.

I wouldn't be holding my breath on the 62mpg. No matter how much performance that engine has it's still a big car I'd 5pg is probably closer to what you'll get but then it all depends on the type of driving you do.

Moomat

BigAl81 wrote: »

Hey guys,

Thanks for the replies.

As for expenses, 5 mins on Auto Trader to find a car. 5 minutes on RAC website to organise vehicle check (cost of 200 pounds) and delivery to dublin ferry port (300 pounds).

Lets say you pay half of the profit in tax (no idea if that's right but it couldn't be more than that?) you'd still be up at least 2,000 euro for about half a days work.

As I need a car anyway, my thinking was, buy one, drive it till I sell it for a profit, and repeat. That way if I was to get stuck with a car I wouldn't be at a loss because I need one anyway.

Fool proof right?

Cheers,
Al.

Nice car, didnt know they were coming with that engine.

I wouldn't say your plan is fool proof. All the cars you linked to in Ireland are being sold through dealers. As you said yourself, a buyer would be expecting at least 10% off the asking price. Then dealers also have the advantage of reputation and warranty, especially for a car of that value. You can expect considerably less in a private sale.
I wouldn't drive it once you get it back if I was you if you intend it to be a money maker. Every extra km is a km closer to something going wrong and that could be expensive on something like that.
Revenue keep an eye on anybody who is importing a few cars to make sure they are legit so watch yourself if you are not 100% compliant.

Guffy

Could you nit knock the vrt cost of the asking price and let them do it themselves?

R.O.R

gufc21 wrote: »

Could you nit knock the vrt cost of the asking price and let them do it themselves?

No.



Don't think there's any such thing as a quick sale on an S80.

Fine car, 1.6d is surprisingly nippy, but the S80 is not exactly in huge demand.

ryan101

BigAl81 wrote: »

Fool proof right?

Cheers,
Al.

No, the dealer is paying taxes, vat, wages, rates, and premises, and providing warranty cover, and taking trade ins. Someone spending a lot of money on a car, especially a newish s80 (not an easy car to sell), will be reluctant to buy one privately, with no warranty or come back, that someone else has taken in from the UK as they could easily do the same themselves, select the car for themselves, and get to know the car's history. Or they could go to a NI dealer, pay just a little more, and get the best of both worlds. So your going to have to drop the price substantially to make it more attractive than any of those options. Especially in a recession where the buyers are not there. In reality, IF you sell you might make a profit on such a car sometimes, if you are lucky. Some you'll make more, but some you'll make a lot less. Also after a while the customs and worse, the tax man, will take a great interest in you, and remember revenue can hit you with massive penalties and fines for undeclared earnings, and unlike criminal law, the onus is on you to prove your innocence, rather than them having to prove your guilt and how many cars you've actually been selling.

If it was so fool proof, I'd have given up the day job a long long time ago, and so would most of the motoring forum.

Andy_Dublin

gufc21 wrote: »

Could you nit knock the vrt cost of the asking price and let them do it themselves?

That's illegal.........

Guffy

Andy_Dublin wrote: »

That's illegal.........

Did not know that