NEW CARS

Atrevido says on Jul 1, 2007, 11:39:

During my time in Colombia I have bought two used and two new vehicles. I don´t know the answer to your question but I do know that used cars are rediculously high priced and retain high value no matter how old they are. We had a Vitara for about three years and sold it for almost what we paid for it. In new car purchases I have gotten about a million off stated factory price and both were Colombian assembled. I think it would be hard to get any break on an imported Japenese model such as Daihatsu.

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Frank Rizzo says on Jul 1, 2007, 11:59:

Hi BAQ,

There are some on here that know the exact figures. I was talking with the importer that i use to ship things from the states. I was wanting to buy a new vehicle in miami. He tells me that by the time that it gets all the official paperwork in colombia that it would cost about 45% of the initial value in taxes and fees. He's done it but recommends buying new or used in colombia.

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miamimike says on Jul 1, 2007, 12:56:

Think Colombia is expensive? This 45% Number would be around 70% if the Car was being sent from Miami to Argentina, a local argentinian informed me. Only places(amereicas) duty free are Nicaragua, Honduras and Panama after you get your Pensioner's Visa. You get a huge break in these 3 countries.Same on Boats and Motorcycles but you need to hold them 2-3 years before selling.

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Frank Rizzo says on Jul 1, 2007, 13:17:

Mike, have you heard anything about TLC recently?? They were going to address this in TLC i thought??

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elk says on Jul 1, 2007, 15:44:

Miamimike: I don't know where your getting your information, but you will also pay in Nicaragua and Panama. I still hold my Pensionado visa in Panama and tried to take advantage of the "no tax law for foreign pensionado's" After going through two attorneys over six months of massive paperwork, I decided to pay the tax and chill out. I had driven my pickup from the U.S. to Panama thinking I would get a tax break. I also lived in Nicaragua and was married to a "Nica". A very long story, but I paid dearly. Buy in Colombia, new or used.....you will be a happier camper.

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miamimike says on Jul 1, 2007, 22:42:

Elk-I get my Info from Many sources. When I first saw it years ago, it was from a US Deportation Officer of Panamanian ancestory with whom I worked with at the Miami Federal Krome Detention Center. He was retiring to Panama and had many Government books(panama)on this Issue. I also saw it in EscapeArtist.com on retiring in Panama. Due to the large Number of Panamanians living here in Miami, it is common knowledge as they avail themselves to this benefit when they return to retire in their country. Here's the first source I found when I googled "retire in Panama",,there were many many sources,,,,

http://www.panamavisas.com/

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miamimike says on Jul 1, 2007, 22:44:

From above link:

The Retired Pensioner’s Visa also offers

the benefit of a special passport of the Republic of Panama but without granting the Panamanian nationality.



Both visas give the following benefits:

1. No income tax is paid in Panama for the pension received nor the interest gained from the fixed term deposit;

******2. Tax free importation of new or used household goods for up to USD 10,000.00;******

*****3. Tax free importation of a car, for personal or family use, every two years;**********

4. All benefits given to Panamanian retired persons by Law No. 6 of 1987 (discounts in restaurants, hotels, and some tax benefits); and

5. No obligation to pay warranty deposits, as required for other types of visas.

After filing the visa application, the whole procedure may take two months.

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BAQ says on Jul 2, 2007, 13:20:

Just to clear this up, I am going to buy a car here in Colombia. Let me give you an example. A Toyoto Prado 4x4 is priced at 68 million pesos. After subtracting the 18% gov tax, the cost of the truck is 56 million pesos, making the truck worth over 28 THOUSAND american dollars. This is NUTS for the Toyota version of a Jeep renegade, 4 cylinder, 5 speed manual trans and a basic model, no alarm, no ABS, no air bags ect.

Now factor in that being made here in Colombia, the labor costs are cheap, there is no transport costs to bring it into the country ect.

The above formula applies to the cars as well, made here, cheap labor ect, so this is why I am wanting to find out how much profit margin these dealers are working with on the new cars made here.

If you REALLY want a laugh, run by the Ford or Jeep dealer and look at an american built SUV, the price is MORE THAN DOUBLE what you would pay at a dealer in the States.

Anyway, thanks for the help and if anyone comes up with a source that knows the % the dealers are making, please let me know, will give me a slight edge when I get ready to buy.

THANKS AGAIN !

Semper Fidelis !

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Tinto (Moderator) says on Jul 3, 2007, 04:44:

I don't know about the profit margins but here's something I've always found interesting:



Julio Mario Santo Domingo had an empire that included all of Bavaria, part of SOFASA (the automaking company) and half of Avianca. Over the last couple of years he's sold them all. Bavaria, for being a monopoly in a couple of countries, didn't make much money; Avianca was close to a monopoly on some routes and ended up in bankruptcy. I can only guess about SOFASA, but one would think if it was a money machine he'd hang on to it.



I know the guy's a billionaire but maybe he got that way because he held such a large portion of these companies for SO LONG and their value slowly compounded (he also owns media and other companies)? Perhaps they've never been very profitable if you just looked at short period of time as a snap shot?



Remember also that large Colombian companies have only had to compete with the world since about 1990, and in the late 1990s they experienced a bad recession that put a few of them on their backs (esp. Colombian financial firms). In other words, some of them are relative babes when it comes to learning what it takes to compete globally. They may have high gross margins but they also have poor infrastructure, high security costs, a thicket of taxes and regulations, labor costs that aren't cheap compared to some of their competitors (30 paid days off when holidays and vacation are included, for example). If they've also got sub-par management, they might be able to take advantage of a protected domestic market for a while, but they're dead meat in the long term, global game.

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Atrevido says on Jul 3, 2007, 05:34:

Baq if you really really want to laugh they´re getting about 55 thousand dollars for the new Toyota FJ Cruiser, just about double what it goes for in the states.

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juanalejo says on Jul 3, 2007, 16:19:

Cars pay 35 % import tax plus 18-25% sales tax. So lets say an FJ cruiser that sells in the US for 30.000 fully equiped plus import tax is 40.500, plus 25% sales tax is 51.000 plus the dealer mark up gives you around 55.000.

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BAQ says on Jul 3, 2007, 17:10:

Yea, the car market is crazy. Colombia seems to be so protective of the car market. You CAN NOT bring a USED CAR into the country and as mentioned the taxes to import a new one are crazy.

In contrast, as bad as Chavez is, even Venezuela has cheap car prices. I realize every country has some form of protectionism for their locally made products but taxing the hell out new cars and trucks seems to me to be excessive.

I tend to think they dont want very many people owning cars here, either to protect the public transit bus-taxi industry or maybe because they are afraid the roads can´t handle the traffic.

Semper Fidelis !

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msaucey says on Jul 5, 2007, 14:31:

How much would it cost to send a car from Colombia to to the states?... I know there's a lot of early model cars that you can't find in the states... Just curious....

The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. - CS Lewis

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BAQ says on Jul 25, 2007, 14:06:

GOT THE ANSWER, TOYOTA dealers work on an average of 18% profit margin, so you should expect a minium of 10% below the initial asking price. They might not want to give it to you but they have more than that to play with.

I just purchased my NEW Toyota for 11 million pesos BELOW the published sticker price, which worked out to be right at a 16.6% discount

Dont know if Ford, Mazda, Nissan ect work on the same % of markup but they should be close.

Hope the info helps

Semper Fidelis !

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