How much is the volvo worth?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Darren
  • Start date Start date
Er - who's 'they' in this case? We have to pay the vat (and duty if
applicable) on imports, but it doesn't get charged by the US company like
VAT normally is - it gets handled upon import. This isn't a recent thing at
all, neither is it unique to imports from the US.

Are you talking about some special new rules - if so, can you tell me more?
FWIW my last import from the US was about last month, and I know that
nothing of what you said applied to it.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I wasn't explicit enough; if you buy non-tangible goods - e.g.
s/w downloads - you are charged VAT at the rate applicable to the
"delivery" country. Try buying a software download from Symantec's US
website.

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,111422,00.asp
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,84024,00.asp

Although I can't work out how the EU can force US, for example,
companies to collect VAT for EU countries. I guess it's incorporated
into US tax laws?

BTW, if you buy from Symantec's (and other software comapnies) "UK"
website you will find that they are based in Eire and charge the Eire
VAT rate which is higher (19%?) than the UK.

Parish
 
Since any over-the-counter sale is within the state by definition (unless
the state boundary happens to pass between salesman and customer...)
they're all taxable, even if the customer lives out-of-state.
Click to expand...

Not as daft as it sounds. There is a pub in North Wales where the
boundary between two counties passes through the pub and many years ago
one of the counties was "dry" so only half the pub could open on Sundays :-)

Parish
 
Liquor has an even higher tax, so there are frequent trips across state
lines for liquor. Now keep in mind that we (USA) have a lot of people
driving gas hogs like SUV's doing this, so the savings are very marginal
sometimes.
Click to expand...

But you can get an awful lot of beer in an SUV :-)
People in the USA think our petrol prices are high. We are paying about
$2.25 per gallon (that is £0.30 per liter) for regular now. While in
the UK I was paying about $7 per gallon (that is £0.95 per liter). ...
and we think our gas prices are high.
Click to expand...

OK, don't rub it in ;-)

Parish
 
Nik&Andy said:
I have the same problem, my father bought one last year, I have been
hooked ever since....

I have never, ever driven such a wolf in sheeps clothing, some people in
the T5 club have uprated the turbo and fitted modified fuel systems and
downpipes to increase power to around 400bhp - It's hard to tell exactly
though as most rolling roads wont measure that much power!
Click to expand...


A stock bottom end won't handle much more than 300bhp- the conrods are the
weak point and will bent like plasticine over that figure.

Tim..
 
On Wed, 13 Jul 2005 11:52:11 +0100, "Pete M"

the alloys are always kerbed, the door cards
are normally far more scuffed than you'd expect from a 6 month old lease
car, and the tyres normally show a lot of wear for just 10k miles.
Click to expand...

You forgot to mention the obligatory fag burns on the interior trim!
 
BTW, can you explain something about US Sales Tax? I see on websites
things like "California residents add x% Sales Tax" which, presumably,
means that if you live in another state then you don't pay the Sales
Tax. Does this mean that if you live near the border between two states
that you can drive into the next state and do all your shopping tax-free?

Parish
Click to expand...

If you buy something over the web, and the firm you buy from does not have a
business presence in your state (assuming your state charges sales tax, I
know Delaware and New Hampshire do not) you pay no sales tax. The reason
you see 'state x residents add y% tax' is thats where the web sit's firm is
located.

If you live close to Delaware, like we do, you can go there to buy high cost
items like TV's or stereos (or food every week), or you can buy stuff like
washers and friges from a low(er) tax place, and have them delivered, saving
a very few bucks, but in my younger days it seemed well worth it...

If you are caught there are heavy fines for, say, bringing booze, beer, or
the like into Pennsylvania, my state, from New Jersey or S(lol)elaware,
low(er) tax states.

If you buy a car in a low tax place you must pay your states sales tax in
order to register the vehicle and get license plates, and usually you have
to pay the tax right at the dealers. I guess if you were big into saving
money you could buy a series of vehicles in Delaware and register them to
some sham corporation you set up...there IS a reason that almost ALL big
American firms are incorporated in the state of Delaware.

You can get around some taxes, however many states have 'rationalized' tax
collection practices so it's simpler, and there seems to be a slow,
unstoppable momentum building to have the US Congress pass some law so that
the loop hole with internet purchases is closed, I am betting this will
happen before the turn of the decade.

For some reason Americans seem to hate taxes, and its a sure fire way for
politicos to win office--the system where there are national taxes would
seem to result in less inefficency on the macro level as activity to avoid
taxes is reduced--but I know you guys hate taxes too!
 
When I was young I went to Israel and rented a Fiat 126. 1980 I think.

I had it up to 180 KMPH a lot, the army guys in Sinai were amazed how fast I
got from check point to check point. In time a cop pulled me over and asked
for my papers etc (driving a ford fairmont straight from the USA BTW).

He said the speed limit was 100, so I told him I was just doing 90 MPH (the
car had mph/kmph on the Speedo), he looked like he wanted to kill me, said
Kilometers, not miles, and told me to drive 80 KMPH all the way to Tel Aviv.
I did!

When I returned that car it was understandably worn out!

That was years ago. When I rent a car now I just want to get where I am
going. I want no dealing with cops from different states

(although I do admit that in France in 2000, I was driving quite fast, and
after I got my wife to close the windows I got a Fiat brake (estate/S/W)
with a turbo diesel to go 200KMPPH (140mph) down the side of a mountain hwy.
Still he Fiat ran fine when I returned it)

The percentage of people from the USA who figure hey what can they do to me
might be a factor in Europe, but in the USA there are low low low speed
limits everywhere, and once people get older then 22 or so parking brake
moves and Rene Julian (sp?, famous French stunt driver) moves are passé.

In the same vein cops in the USA, not cities, but suburbs just cruise day in
day out.

Sure urban cop cars take a beating, and state police/highway patrol cars
which seem to be doing >110MPH on a daily basis are a different matter.

In the USA many taxis are retired police cars.....

Most rental cars are driven by folks who do not want trouble and just want
to get where they are going.
I think they would be an ok buy if I was poor again, however a hot rod
police car...I would buy it if I had no other option and had the Need For
Speed, but hey its your money your decision.
 
Pete said:
Heh, we used to do "burn out" contests in 1.0 Micras when we were
bored. Either that or have Seicento Vs Ka handbrake tournaments.
Amazing how many times you can get a Ka to spin if you yank the
handbrake on at 50mph in a carpark.
Click to expand...

<glances at dervy>
 
Tim S Kemp said:
Plenty of guys on the T5 forums with ex-plod motors. Main problem is the
dibble spec, manual / cloth / basic everything, 16" rims with toughened
suspension, holes in dash and roof, no stereo etc. IIRC one of them fitted
a bigger turbo, custom ECU map and nitrous and is running in the twelves.
Mechanically they get everything changed that needs to be, and the engines
are very much unburstable.
Click to expand...

my ex bodyguard bought an ex police 850 T5. Apart from the holes in the
trim, and the seized rear off side caliper, it was a beaut. He loved it and
it proved to be a useful tool for getting out of places quick. He still has
it as far as I know, according to his colleagues. It was the only front
wheel drive Volvo that made me think about swapping out my beloved 240,
740s.
 
In
Zathras said:
On Wed, 13 Jul 2005 11:52:11 +0100, "Pete M"



You forgot to mention the obligatory fag burns on the interior trim!
Click to expand...

Heh, £150 a burn.. made some money out of those..


--
Pete M

Range Rover Vogue SE, Ford Capri (ressurection stalling)
Porsche 911 3.2 (For Sale)

COSOC #5
Scouse Git extraordinaire. Liverpool, Great Britain
 
Heh, ex rental cars.

*Never* buy one, well, Avis cars are better maintained than any other hire
fleet, but even then I'd be mega-wary.

Problem with them is this; there are a *lot* of them out there, far more
than most people realise. I've worked for most of the big hire companies,
and quite a few of the small independant ones, and I'd not buy a car that
any of them have had, bar the occasional Avis one.

Avis ones are only maintained properly because the cars move from depot to
depot on a regular basis, and if there's a fault it has to go on Avis's
computer system. Once it's on the system as damaged, it can only be removed
once the car has been fixed by a main agent, inspected by someone from Avis,
reported to Avis, who will then let it back on the system for rentals. If
one branch sends a car with a fault to another branch, the first branch gets
all the grief for not putting it right. This costs the first branch money,
so it's in the second branches interest to find as many faults as possible
on every car. The other companies don't give a flying ferrets left testicle.
Avis also have maximum mileage / time limits on each car which can't be
overridden without permission from Avis head office. This is hard to get.
From memory it was along the lines of Fords = 12000 miles / 6 months, Nissan
= 9000 miles / 6 months, Saab 17500 miles / 6 months, Renault 7500 miles / 3
months, Volvo 11000 miles / 6 months.

It's very, very rare any of the major hire companies will actually register
the cars to themselves, they're normally registered to a lease company which
can make identification difficult if you don't know what to look for.

When I was a Nissan salesman out of our used car fleet of 50 cars, 40 were
ex hire, 5 were "Demonstrators", a couple were "pre-registered", and there
were normally a couple of trade ins.

Best way to spot Avis cars is a little rectangular white sticker with a 7
digit number and a red border, there'll be one on the rear reg plate, one on
the back of the interior mirror, one on the lower inside edge of the
bootlid, and very often another inside the drivers door jamb. If the car has
ever had any damage, there /should/ be a piece of paper or sticker either on
the inside of the bootlid, or under the boot mat / carpet.

*Avoid* Budget / National / Hertz cars.[1]

[1] This is "in my opinion", obviously.. they're a bit litigious
Click to expand...


The thing that would worry me is not the maintenance, but knowing that
people beat the crap out of rental cars, and the chances of one having been
properly broken in are slim to none. That can cause a lot of problems down
the road.
 
And VAT is 17.5% which is 2-3 times higher than your Sales Tax I
believe. Plus, a recently introduced "reciprocal agreement" means that
if we (in any EU country) buy off the 'net from US companies they have
to charge us VAT at the rate applicable in our country. We have a name
for this situation, Rip-off Britain :-(
Click to expand...

Our sales tax is typically around 8%, it varies by state though, some have
none at all, though usually they make up for it by higher taxes for other
things.
BTW, can you explain something about US Sales Tax? I see on websites
things like "California residents add x% Sales Tax" which, presumably,
means that if you live in another state then you don't pay the Sales
Tax. Does this mean that if you live near the border between two states
that you can drive into the next state and do all your shopping tax-free?
Click to expand...

As far as I know, it only applies to things you mail order, there's no tax
on that unless the company you order from operates out of your state, so if
you mail order something from a company in CA and you live there as well,
you pay tax on it. If you mail order from another state you don't. If you
live in a state without sales tax you are exempt from paying it in a state
that does normally.
 
People in the USA think our petrol prices are high. We are paying about
$2.25 per gallon (that is £0.30 per liter) for regular now. While in
the UK I was paying about $7 per gallon (that is £0.95 per liter). ...
and we think our gas prices are high.
--
Click to expand...


It's all relative, when the price doubles within a year it doesn't much
matter if it started out at $1 or at $3, it still hurts.
 
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
BTW, if you buy from Symantec's (and other software comapnies) "UK"
website you will find that they are based in Eire and charge the Eire
VAT rate which is higher (19%?) than the UK.
Click to expand...

21%
 
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
my ex bodyguard bought an ex police 850 T5
Click to expand...

What? Are you on witness protection or a old rock star?
 
James Sweet said:
It's all relative, when the price doubles within a year it doesn't much
matter if it started out at $1 or at $3, it still hurts.
Click to expand...

At least gas/petrol is still less expensive than bottled water. Bottled
water is at least $8 per gallon if you buy it in 16 oz bottles. When
you think about it, it is amazing how cheap gas/petrol is. It must be
found, wells drilled, crude oil pumped, transported thousands of miles,
refined, and delivered to the pumps. For the bottled water they can
just put a filter on a city water spigot.
 
For the bottled water they can
just put a filter on a city water spigot.
Click to expand...

A very cogent observation. Several brands are nothing further than
bottled city water -- Aquafina for example, uses Houston city water
as the source.

Beverly
 
The message <[email protected]>
from "Bev A. Kupf said:
A very cogent observation. Several brands are nothing further than
bottled city water -- Aquafina for example, uses Houston city water
as the source.
Click to expand...

What was that CocaCola bottled water that crashed so spectacularly in the UK?
 
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