One thing that seems to come up repeatedly for me here when selling a car is this statement "I've seen an American specs one for xx,000 cheaper". Or often what happens is I will spend time with someone discussing a car only to find out a day later he/she/they decided to buy a seemingly identical one for less money.
American specification cars do differ from the specification that is originally destined for this region.
To some people a car is just a car and providing it is the same year and colour it might as well be identical, but underneath they can be very different and hide an unpleasant past.
US cars do often differ with the GCC equivalents, cars of German origin especially.
The US cars have different dashboards, different bumpers, different lights, often different exhaust/emissions systems so have sometimes have a lower power output than we have here. Depending on where in the States they've come from the AC system won't be up to the job, thus after an hour of driving in Summer the cabin will be at a temperature previously unknown to science. Then the engine overheats because the thermostat and cooling system are not configured for this climate because 6 months ago your car was sitting at -33c in Minnesota.
Another problem is accident damaged cars. The car is deemed roadworthy and irreparable in the States yet it can be exported and repaired very poorly in an unskilled workshop here, so if or rather given the standard of driving here you do have a crash you won't have the protection that the original manufacture intended, your vehicle might not even have airbags fitted. You can check for any registered accident damage by doing a report at www.carfax.com but it will only show you damage that was recorded, but what it does show is usually very detailed.
You've also got flood damaged cars to contend with, often insurance companies won't pay out on these if it is deemed that it was the owners own stupidity that caused the damage so what you find is that nothing is registered on any report because it never went through the process of insurers, rather the car is just sold as spares and then shipped here and as above 'fixed' and put back on the road. Flood damaged cars are a nightmare, they develop electrical gremlins that are seemingly incurable and you will spend weeks and tens of thousands replacing wiring looms, control modules and convenience units just to fix on mystery problem only for another to develop immediately after.
It doesn't always make financial sense to buy an imported car, sure it looks cheaper now but sometimes you'll find that it requires parts for servicing that are only for USA markets so will have to be brought here especially for you and I know of some main agencies/dealerships that won't touch a vehicle that isn't an original GCC vehicle.
You've got depreciation to take into consideration, sure you can save maybe 15,000 or even more on a 2012 Mercedes C-Class but when you want to sell it in 3 years or so it will be worth less than a GCC one anyway so you're never really financially that far ahead anyway.
You might save 5,000 or even 10,000 over the 3 years of ownership having a US imported car but one of the biggest annoyances for me is the options they come with, we've grown quite accustom in UAE to vehicles generally coming with very high level of factory options. It's extremely disappointing to get into an imported one and realise that it doesn't have the dual AC system, the sunblinds, parking sensors, bluetooth, navigation and if it's come from a cold climate state they will usually have small alloy wheels to accommodate the winter tyres which just look depressing compared to the big S-Line, AMG, M package wheels. It's a lot of hassle and in reality doesn't offer any substantial financial benefits worthy of the potential headache. It only makes sense if it's a car you really, really want and simply isn't officially imported here like a Tacoma.
I'm not saying that they've all previously been upside down, submerged and on fire, of course there are some perfectly fine ones. Just do a carfax report and check the car thoroughly.
American specification cars do differ from the specification that is originally destined for this region.
To some people a car is just a car and providing it is the same year and colour it might as well be identical, but underneath they can be very different and hide an unpleasant past.
US cars do often differ with the GCC equivalents, cars of German origin especially.
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| US Import - different bumpers, no xenon, no panoramic roof. |
The US cars have different dashboards, different bumpers, different lights, often different exhaust/emissions systems so have sometimes have a lower power output than we have here. Depending on where in the States they've come from the AC system won't be up to the job, thus after an hour of driving in Summer the cabin will be at a temperature previously unknown to science. Then the engine overheats because the thermostat and cooling system are not configured for this climate because 6 months ago your car was sitting at -33c in Minnesota.
Another problem is accident damaged cars. The car is deemed roadworthy and irreparable in the States yet it can be exported and repaired very poorly in an unskilled workshop here, so if or rather given the standard of driving here you do have a crash you won't have the protection that the original manufacture intended, your vehicle might not even have airbags fitted. You can check for any registered accident damage by doing a report at www.carfax.com but it will only show you damage that was recorded, but what it does show is usually very detailed.
You've also got flood damaged cars to contend with, often insurance companies won't pay out on these if it is deemed that it was the owners own stupidity that caused the damage so what you find is that nothing is registered on any report because it never went through the process of insurers, rather the car is just sold as spares and then shipped here and as above 'fixed' and put back on the road. Flood damaged cars are a nightmare, they develop electrical gremlins that are seemingly incurable and you will spend weeks and tens of thousands replacing wiring looms, control modules and convenience units just to fix on mystery problem only for another to develop immediately after.
It doesn't always make financial sense to buy an imported car, sure it looks cheaper now but sometimes you'll find that it requires parts for servicing that are only for USA markets so will have to be brought here especially for you and I know of some main agencies/dealerships that won't touch a vehicle that isn't an original GCC vehicle.
You've got depreciation to take into consideration, sure you can save maybe 15,000 or even more on a 2012 Mercedes C-Class but when you want to sell it in 3 years or so it will be worth less than a GCC one anyway so you're never really financially that far ahead anyway.
You might save 5,000 or even 10,000 over the 3 years of ownership having a US imported car but one of the biggest annoyances for me is the options they come with, we've grown quite accustom in UAE to vehicles generally coming with very high level of factory options. It's extremely disappointing to get into an imported one and realise that it doesn't have the dual AC system, the sunblinds, parking sensors, bluetooth, navigation and if it's come from a cold climate state they will usually have small alloy wheels to accommodate the winter tyres which just look depressing compared to the big S-Line, AMG, M package wheels. It's a lot of hassle and in reality doesn't offer any substantial financial benefits worthy of the potential headache. It only makes sense if it's a car you really, really want and simply isn't officially imported here like a Tacoma.
I'm not saying that they've all previously been upside down, submerged and on fire, of course there are some perfectly fine ones. Just do a carfax report and check the car thoroughly.
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