Esleeper

The exchange rate isn't that much different but why is a CLS that much money there?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mercedes-Benz-CL...item20afc9e5ce

AMG055

Two words, Government Tax.

drmike5000

Do they have VAT down there (value added tax)??

Let me tell you, things keep going they way they are going in the U.S., and we are going to have a VAT here also.

ER1

If you think those prices are high, welcome to Finland - the hell for everything related to cars: high car purchase taxes, high annual taxes, super high-cost speeding tickets, bad roads etc...

Finland, the land of the $200,000.00 speeding ticket:
http://www.newser.com/story/62231/fi...ng-ticket.html

If you wanna have a laugh, look at these car prices for example:
CLS 55 AMG for EUR 80,000.00 = USD 110,000
http://www.nettiauto.com/mercedes-benz/cls/3079248

New Porsche 911 turbo 2010 starting from EUR 262,313.00 = USD 367,238.20
http://www.nettiauto.com/porsche/911/3099261

New CLS 63 AMG starting from EUR 205,176.24 = USD 287,246.74 without any additional options.
http://www.mercedes-benz.fi/content/.../CLS020110.pdf

No wonder we have the oldest cars in the EU...

drmike5000

The U.S. seems to have the cheapest car prices for a Developed nation, and that is obviously mainly due to the fact that we do not have a value added tax. However, that is where we are heading. If we do not stop the deficit spending, we will be right there with you in another generation. Don't mean to go political, but there it is.

drmike5000

we may never get as bad as Finland. I'm sorry, that's pretty bad. My condolences.

Esleeper

Don't blame me. I didn't vote for the "messiah".

What is it, 2 years and 11 months and counting?

s600ed

True, and we'll become a socialist country very soon if the "messiah" has his ways.....

Esleeper

lol.

Correct!

But what do we know? We are all just lousy Mercedes owners.

s600ed

And because of this fact we are OBLIGATED to bail this great country out of this economy with our ever-growing tax bill!!!! Sorry guys for kind of going OT....

drmike5000

That's right, because you aren't doing enough, its time for you to pay your fair share!

DucatiNut

You guys here in the U.S. have no idea do you....
Cars are so cheap here it is amazing.
Gas is so cheap here (even when it was $4 a gallon) it is amazing.
A new CLS63 in New Zealand has a retail price of $186,000 US$ incl sales tax (12%).
And as far as becoming "socialist" I don't think you realize how silly those comments are ..... relative to the rest of the world you are so far down the capitalism road you couldn't see your way out in a hundred years.

IXE11

I'm from Oz & I'll try to briefly explain why we receive an almighty shafting when it comes to cars, as a matter of fact, we generally pay alot more for everything.

Eg, I purchased a MY 09 in 2008. It was a brand new CLS 350. The sticker price of the vehicle "on the road" was in the vicinity of, wait for it......$178K. That was before any discount was applied. The discount I received was approx. 10%.

Why do we pay so much, in a nutshell, taxes, both federal & state. We have a 10% GST(VAT). Any car over the value of $57K attracts a whopping 33% Luxury Car Tax(LCT). Stamp Duty Tax is 5%. Import Duty Tax is 10%. Import Duty has just recently been decreased to 5%. Dealer delivery of the vehicle was in the vicinity of $5-6K. It all adds up to an astonishingly exorbitant price.

Regardless, I love Australia & I couldn't imagine living anywhere else.

Cheers from Oz.

Esleeper

Thanks IXE11!


Appreciate the breakdown.

Yea, we have little to complain about. I couldn't believe that pricing though.

With all of the tax there, when it comes to a luxury car like this I can see it seperates the men from the boys.

Thanks for chiming in!

drmike5000

I'm telling you, that dreaded VAT is coming here, I can feel it....