Question for Aussies

[baja_yu]

How come bike prices are so high in Australia? I was just looking at the Yamaha Roadliner (XV1900) which I bought for around 14K Euros (in Europe of course) 2-3 years ago (still costs about the same), which is 19.8K AUD. In australia it costs around 26K (and that's for the 2009 model), even worse, in the US it is 14K USD which is 15.6 USD. And that US price is MSRP, you can find it the 2009 model at dealers for a couple more K less even. It is almost double than what it costs in the US. The R1 costs alomst 20K in Australia :O ...What gives?

[penagate]

Import and stamp duties.

[Nightwalker83]

Yeah, we don't seem to make lot ourselves nowadays.

[baja_yu]

That just seems ridiculously high, though. I payed import taxes and VAT on mine too. Cars are pretty much the same deal too. Browsed a few sites for a moment, saw used Golf 4 2001-2002 going for 12-16K. You can buy that in Europe for 4K easy.

I'm contemplating a move to Australia actually so I'm checking everything out. It seems it will be cheaper for me to freight my bike there (as I understood I only pay 10% of it's value, if I don't plan to sell it).

[penagate]

I'm not sure why but new vehicle prices are relatively high here. In used condition they are more reasonable (although a negligible amount of stamp duty still applies). I would never buy a new vehicle anyway as they are a terrible investment.

Bear in mind the Golf is manufactured in Europe and we are an island on the other side of the globe... Plus the market demands are rather different.

It's also a bad time to buy property here because the property market is flooded with investors and prices are ridiculously inflated.

[baja_yu]

The idea is still in early stages. I am planning to submit my applicaiton in 12-15 months, and the processing can take 9-12 months after that. Plus I plan to rent at first until I get settled, find a good job, get to know the place and see where I'd like to live. All in all it'll be at least three years before I start looking to buy. But I did browse through real estate websites too, and the prices are really high, at least to my (in my country) standards.

[Torc]

in the US it is 14K USD which is 15.6 USD

Wow, I never knew that there was an exchange rate for US Dollars to US Dollars.

So a US Dollar costs approximately 89 US Cents.

Although if I change from US Dollars to US Dollars I can get about a Dollar and 11 Cents for each Dollar .

Where can I get this bargain

[JuggaloBrotha]

This would be a great thread for jmc to jump in on, he'll not only explain the economy mechanics but he'll grouse at you for not checking the Australia import prices documentation, if you're lucky he'll even provide a work around the system, then yell at you for not trying all this out for yourself

[baja_yu]

Wow, I never knew that there was an exchange rate for US Dollars to US Dollars.

So a US Dollar costs approximately 89 US Cents.

Although if I change from US Dollars to US Dollars I can get about a Dollar and 11 Cents for each Dollar .

Where can I get this bargain

You can get it at any Typo store.

This would be a great thread for jmc to jump in on, he'll not only explain the economy mechanics but he'll grouse at you for not checking the Australia import prices documentation, if you're lucky he'll even provide a work around the system, then yell at you for not trying all this out for yourself

I actually looked at the gov website that handles imports and such, but the info was overwhelming, too comlicated and too much of it. I know if I do the move I'll have to deal with it but for starters I was just looking for estimates.

[Hack]

This would be a great thread for jmc to jump in on, he'll not only explain the economy mechanics but he'll grouse at you for not checking the Australia import prices documentation, if you're lucky he'll even provide a work around the system, then yell at you for not trying all this out for yourself