Looking for some opinions on my current plan:

I'm an ex-S2000 owner. Had to sell my heavily modified car before moving to Germany about 9 months ago. Would have loved to bring it with me, but it would not have made it through the strict import regulations. I've been renting cars here and there for business trips since I moved here and am now shopping around for the real deal. As much fun as I have riding my bike...I really, really want a car again.

I stopped by a VW dealership last week to check out the new Scirocco. Not a bad car, but we got to talking financing and hit a brick wall. It turns out that I don't qualify for more than one year or leasing/financing with my current one year visa. I have a working/living visa that is good for one year and while I'll be living here for about 3 to 4 more years, I can't prove that without having a longer term visa (which is not possible at the moment). I'm sure there is something I can do to qualify, but knowing Germany and all the hassle I've gone through with other paperwork related issues, it surely won't be easy.

So I got to thinking of other options. I could purchase an S2000 in the U.S. and have it shipped to Germany. I would have to pay approximately 27% in import taxes and duties on the purchase price, but other than that it would be relatively straightforward. This has a few advantages. The exchange rate is still quite in favor of the Euro (although it's falling very, very quickly in favor of the dollar over the past 4 months...dropped from over 1.6 to 1.25). I don't know what the future holds for the exchange rate, but I doubt the Euro will fall to the dollar's level. Even if it does, factoring in the import taxes and duties, I would be paying about the same per month in USD whether I bought the car here or imported the car.

The major upside to this is that when I am ready to go back home, I can immediately ship the car back to the U.S., not restricted by having to complete/break a lease or sell the car if I finance in Germany.

The major downside to the above plan is a warranty. Not sure how this would work at all. Perhaps I could purchase a warranty from a Honda dealer in Germany. Fortunately, the S2000 is a very reliable car, so there wouldn't be much to worry about but the risk is still present.

Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated!

 

On the topic of the exchange rate, this plan looked a lot more promising 6 months ago. Every 1 Euro I made was worth 1.5-1.6 dollars. Here is an idea of what the exchange rate is doing at the moment. I know there is a lot of global instability right now, but while I'm living here it sure would be nice if this would stay as high as possible. Anyone else think the downward trend isn't over yet??

If I go through with this plan and am tied in to making Euros and paying for the car in USD...it could prove disastrous...

 

Just a thought for you. There is a large American military community in Germany with American Spec cars. You might be able to find a S2000 that fits your needs this way. Often, cars are sold just before a person goes back to the States so they don't have to wait the 2 plus months for their car to get shipped. You will save shipping costs and get a well maintained car due to the required mechanical inspections. You will have some paperwork to do to transfer the car from the US military system into the German car registration system but this is done all the time so it can't be such a difficult ordeal.

I am considering selling my 03 NFR before I live next summer so I can immediately buy another when I arrive stateside but this is several months away.

 

Thanks for the tip. Can you point me in the right direction to find these cars?

 

Sure no problem. I will PM you a couple of links.

 

On the topic of exchange rates, I think most analyst are saying that the US dollar is inflated right now and should return to normalcy by dec, though not completely. The demand for USD has gone up due to the recent events so the spike in demand should be temporary. I would say at least wait until after the election. Typically the USD is stronger on election years.

Yen seems to be the safest currency atm
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/...ap5602191.html

 

I've read a few sources that state the same.

Found this site, no idea how accurate the forecast can be:

http://www.forecasts.org/euro.htm