In a thread on getting a Yaris and the long waiting times (which has long since scrolled in to the bit bucket that is anything not on the front page of this forum) Mark (B) made some cogent comments on how things work elsewhere in the world as far as putting up with long waiting times for a new car... this drew some flak to which I responded in some detail... not wanting my deathless prose to go unread by my huge fan club (pause for sound of one hand clapping.... thank you) I thought I would use it to start a new thread on the general aspects on how things work in different parts of the world and kick it off with a look at how it works over here
(BTW Mini buyers might find this like to the USA MINI site of interest Esp. in regard to the TV Advertising that they are running (can be seen with Quick Time Or WMP) (also almost all Mini dealers in the US offer as a dealer option full roof size decals of eitheer the US flag or the Union Jack or a bunch of flowers (ala Peter Max) to go on a white top Mini and the Union Jack out sells the US flag about 2 to one and almost no flower decals have been sold (Info from a NewEngland Dealer other parths of the US may be diferent) strange huh?
www.miniusa.com/
In the US If I walk in to a Jag dealer and he does not have the exact spec of 4 wheel drive X model (say British Racing Green with the popup GPS Navigator but not the 18" rims (making this up by the way so no nagging in details) he gets on his computer and checks instantly the stock not only on the dockside in Newark NJ but at every dealer within 500 miles chances are tha a dealer much closer than that will have one or Jag Usa... and it will be on a transporter within 24hours and I will my car in less than 3 days If it is a really weird special XK-* with custom Paint and Zebra Hide seats I would expect to wait perhaps 6 week fo it to be built
As to standard US made (well north america anyway) cars like a mustang I would be amazed if even the oddest combination of options was not on hand in the stock of a,say, Greater Boston MA ford dealer and I indeed could have my car just the way i want it the same day... it is down to volume of production and volume of sales... outside of car rental firms and few things like Gov agency and utility company fleet sales are not a major part of the USS market nor are Lease cars as a Job perk.... that means that most cars are bought new by the man or woman in the street and wants to have what he wants when he walks in or he just drives 20 miles to the next dealer (hence the interchange networks where the punter may never know that the car is in another dealers lot... "yes sir we have that it just out at the detailers being prepared for sale be here for you in an hour or so can i take you and your wife out to lunch and it will be ready for you when we get back)
One large Eastern New England dealer has in stock at any one time several thousand new cars (he and his sons have dealerships for about 8 or 9 makes) and he has NO DEBT every car on his lots is owned by him free and clear hence he has no interest payments and has the lowest prices around... hence the huge volume....
yes some special new cars will be on allocation like the Prowler etc etc but I would expect that 80% of New US car and light truck trade is done "on the spot"
Of course that's just my opinion... I could be wrong
Randolph Lee
Nantucket Island USA
PS: Am I the only one starting to be put off by folks hideing behind :handles:... What is wrong with using your real name and perhaps even a line or two of where your home is when you sign your missives to this list... I thought that sort of handle stuff went out with CB radios
~R
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Randolph Lee wrote:
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> One large Eastern New England dealer has in stock at any one time several thousand new cars (he and his sons have dealerships for about 8 or 9 makes) and he has NO DEBT every car on his lots is owned by him free and clear hence he has no interest payments and has the lowest prices around...hence the huge volume....
What you wrote is interesting, Randolph, and may point to a fundamental difference in economic and business culture around the world. Over many years in Britain it has been a necessity to maintain low inventory levels just about everywhere, and this has driven a ruthless pursuit of "just in time" and kanban systems of logistics and manufacturing.
It works on the principal that goods in stock cost money. Even the guy you quote, who owns several thousand new cars outright will be paying for them in the oportunity cost of his capital investment - but, presumably, the trade off in his lost interest (on his capital) and the profit he makes on his business means that it is worthwhile.
I wonder whether this all has something to do with the way businesses are financed and taxed in different countries. I've heard business people talking about the crippling level of business rates for retail premises,and then there's the very high value of property itself. A non-motoring related example, entirely relevant, is the way in which old people's care homes are closing down (particularly in the south east) becaue the property is worth more for development than the combined sum of all its income.
It would be interesting to hear from some of the other overseas backroomers on this issue.
Ian - no alias, Randolph - I'm me, and always have been!
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I am always amazed when I visit the states at the amount of stock in the garages.and the good deals available.
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A standard practice in the US is for builders and importers to provide the new cars to the dealers and then not send the invoice for 2 to 6 months depending on the model and the general econ. conditions... so if you do a good job on forecasting your turnover your own capital risk can be quite low... goof it up and all of a sudden you need a friend at Ford Finance! in this state and in many others you do not want to be caught with a lot of inventory at the end of your fiscal year. The Chap in question sites his outfits in small towns with cheap land and low rates on major highways near Boston this one of his links
www.boch.com
Randolph Lee
Nantucket Island, USA
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Very interesting site, Randolph!
(By the way, at one time I used my real name in groups. Let us just say it turned out it could be a mistake.)
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Spare a thought for the difficulties motorists have in less developed parts of the world. At an extreme for the States, here is the position explained to me by an ex-colleague in Syria. Where I lived in Aleppo there were one or two dealer showrooms (Skoda and em...Skoda with a couple of Audis at the back) and a couple of lots with Kia pickups and MPVs and one with small GM pickups. These vehicles were theoretically for sale and could be examined/possibly driven and then ordered at a lowish (by European standards) base price to which 200% tax is added for cars but not for Skoda pickups which worked out around £4000 OTR. As a first step my friend advised you go to the local authorities transport/licensing department and register your intention to buy a vehicle. This prevents hassle from the police when they stop you driving it and routinely assume it is stolen. Then haggle with the dealer and place an order which may get you one of the 3-4 in stock in whatever colour that happens to be or alternatively a six months wait. Once a vehicle with your name attached to it arrives in the country, you have to apply for registration plates which may take a further six months or longer to emerge from the bureaucracy. A gift to your new friend in the licensing department may help smooth the process because I also became aware of foreigners, not briefed on the system, who completed a two-year tour of duty with the car they paid for 18 months earlier still sitting in a customs compound at Lattakia port. If all goes reasonably well, you may be able to drive home in a new car/pickup 12 months after you first saw it on display. It willl not necessarily have any of the extras you wanted so much but it won't half impress the neighbours with neither the money or the patience to go through the process.
Buy secondhand? Visiting another colleague one day, he asked me to come downstairs and look at the wonderful car he had bought with just 26,000km on the odometer for $12,000 US. He was so immensely proud of getting this car after six months of waiting for plates that I couldn't bring myself to tell him the true UK value of a 1979 Peugeot 304 saloon when he asked.
There are dozens of classic American cars from the 50s and 60s in everyday use in Aleppo and more so in Damascus. I frequently saw a gorgeous white Chevrolet station wagon from the late 50s parked around town but when I started asking the price of these cars, I was quoted around $20,000 US. Syria has signed up to the world trade agreement so the value of these will fall as import duties come down so there could be some classic bargains in the future, provided they haven't all been fitted with Nissan and Toyota diesels.
Incidentally, resident foreigners don't pay the 200% tax but may have the 12 month wait for plates unless they smooth things along. They cannot sell the car other than to another non-Syrian resident and if they wish to export the car back home there is no Syrian international export plate so strictly it must be exported by ship or on a lorry because the Syrian national plates are impounded by customs on exit together with a $US deposit pending confirmation of the vehicle's arrival in its destination. That said, since I regularly drove a Syrian-registered car with blue foreign owner plates to and from Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey with no border hassle, there seems nothing to stop you from simply carrying on provided you never come back.
Sorry to go on so but really we are pretty lucky in the choices we have in Europe and the US. And I haven't even mentioned the advisability of registering the purchase of secondhand engines and major parts with the traffic office.
David
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so how long to get a right hand drive car ?
as the yaris was a buyer buying a right hand drive car in a left hand drive country which will always be a special
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also my friendly dealer in the states told me that there were only 999 combinations of door keys, a situation that even the crappiest cars here dont have
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Although against the EU trade laws, the manufacturers find that one way of deterring UK buyers from ordering cheaper RHD cars via Europe, is to quote artificially long delivery times and to find ways of prolonging the wait even after the order has been placed.
A rumour is that, soon, EU based manufacturers will have a basic price for LHD cars, and then apply a levy for RHD cars regardless of where you order them. Thisn will be justified on grounds that fewer RHD cars are sold overall and that the levy reflects the extra cost of making the RHD cars.
As to posting anonymously or without e-mail details, this is due to paranoia about getting your name put on to porn sites or other junk mail lists, and/or getting targetted by hackers/viruses.
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So, RL.
I've been biting my tongue for ages but I can't hold back.
Are you the man form Nantucket; and is it true?
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Dave asks...
'Are you the man from Nantucket; and is it true?'
Sigh... I expect all of us from famed limerick places get this qustion from time to time.... somewhere I have a T-Shirt that says on the back "YES, I Am That Man From Nantucket"
See this link for further data on the clean versions of this item (I will let you web search for the 'blue' versions)
www.nantucket.net/YI/limerick/index.html
Randolph Lee
Nantucket Island, U.S.A.
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THe Growler hides from no one (except one ex-wife and two ex-mistresses)
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Every b***dy time I think I've said something original. ;-)
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Never mind Dave, you and your mate can have a weekend out comparing tyre pressures.
DBSMLY.
David
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If only that wasn't true DW! ;-)
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