Leon FR prices in mainland EU?

[AndyM]

Just been looking at trading in my Mk1 Leon TopSport for a Mk2 Leon FR, but wondered why there is such a big discrepancy between UK and German prices? (German tax is 19%, so only fractionally more than UK)
Off the configurators... UK spec comes to 18675 GBP, and German spec comes to 26985 EUR (=21467 GBP)
Anyone know why UK list price is so much cheaper? Never thought I'd see that... always used to be that UK got screwed and many people imported.

Spec I chose was: Leon FR 2.0TFSI, metallic paint, convenience pack, winter pack, audio system CD3 (german version) / bluetooth pack (UK version), USB connection.

I guess "Audio System CD3" and "Bluetooth Comms Pack" are effectively the same thing?

If anyone has any good ideas to get me a LHD FR (or cupra) in Germany at a price closer to that of the UK, I'd be glad to hear.

Will check the showroom when I take car in for service, and see what deal they'll do. Still can't make my mind up which colour to get... ???

 

[bobmcgod]

Was a big crack down on it a few years back I think. Read in a magazine that we're now about average.

 

[phil3012]

Some countries have other taxes on cars as well as VAT (or the equivalent).

For example in Holland they have a luxury tax as well as VAT which is something like 22%, making cars very expensive.

I did some work across Europe for major motor manufacturer and whenever I picked up a magazine in one of their offices and looked at prices were comparable or more than the U.K.

The taxes only apply to domestic purchases and not purchases for export. Although you would be liable for import taxes and probably VAT.

I know that Motorpoint import there Golf GTi's from Holland so it would be worth trying there and some other LHD markets to see if that worked out cheaper. You would need to find out the import duties into Germany though.

 

[EoinM]

Some countries have other taxes on cars as well as VAT (or the equivalent).

For example in Holland they have a luxury tax as well as VAT which is something like 22%, making cars very expensive.

I did some work across Europe for major motor manufacturer and whenever I picked up a magazine in one of their offices and looked at prices were comparable or more than the U.K.

The taxes only apply to domestic purchases and not purchases for export. Although you would be liable for import taxes and probably VAT.

I know that Motorpoint import there Golf GTi's from Holland so it would be worth trying there and some other LHD markets to see if that worked out cheaper. You would need to find out the import duties into Germany though.

I actually did a thesis on this stuff back in my college days...check out the irish prices though if you think german ones are bad...

http://www.seat.ie/configurator/ind...t&modelID=244&pageTitle=Leon : Choose Version

 

[Maximus2000uk]

Thats madness EoinM! Mine cost me about £18k but the Irish equivalent costs £27k!

Is the difference simply because of the Euro, or are prices similarly high in Northern Ireland?

 

[EoinM]

Apart from VAT we have another lovely tax called VRT (Vehicle Registration Tax) which can range from 22.5% to 30% of a cars value depending on engine size. This is changing from 01/07/08 to a system based on CO2 emmissions (as is road tax for post 2007 cars). Basically most 2.0 diesels will be cheaper than the equivalent petrols. I bought my 2006 Leon 1.6 at the start of the year for just over €19k...thats over 15k STG for a 2 year old boggo family hatch. Ye dont know how good ye have it!

 

[AndyM]

Ouch at the Irish price!

I knew about the Dutch Luxury tax (BPM), since I used to live there, but moved to Germany just before I bought current car. The Dutch OTR price came to 30k+, but to be fair I didn't compare Dutch and German tax free price. I doubt it would make much difference. Belgian OTR price was similar to Germany, with tax in similar range.

Was just surprised to see UK OTR list price at a good 10% discount to German/Belgian price, when traditionally UK was more expensive. Would have expected it to be more or less the same. Maybe it's an exchange rate thing, where Seat are taking the hit, or changing some basic specs to maintain OTR prices in UK?

I could of course see about getting a LHD model through a UK dealer, and export to Germany (that must be a first), or find a decent German car supermarket in the Frankfurt/Cologne area.

I did also compare Golf GTi, with spec as close as possible to the FR, which came out with virtually identical UK/German OTR list price, and tried Audi A3 too, but seems the 2.0TFSI has been dropped(?) and needs 10K of options to get an acceptable car!

 

[EoinM]

Maybe it's an exchange rate thing, where Seat are taking the hit, or changing some basic specs to maintain OTR prices in UK?
QUOTE]

Well Irish pre-tax prices are amongst the lowest in the EU. this is probably manufacturers pricing to market. In an opposite way low tax markets may have high pre tax prices. Irish cars are very basic in terms of spec compared to cars in the UK for example. thats some of the reason why importing UK cars here is such a big business here the last few years. One thing is for sure - the car maker isn't taking a hit