Not to be rude...

Well I'm 40. Soon to be 41 and my Carbon Black, Black M5 is now pushed back to late may delivery.

I did manage to scrape together 50K way back in 88 to buy my first 911. I wish I could have afforded the turbo back then. Now I am just happy that I still want a car like the M5. (my old fart friends, who have lost the will to live, are gravitating to lexus and mercedes) This aging body still likes to go fast but I want to go fast in comfort too. I sold my silver 1999 996 since it was just not big enough. Now I am excited as a little school girl. I don't think age has anything to do with how we love our cars. We are all like a bunch of kids here.
Besides just think back to what a serious poon wagon the M5 would have been for us when we were the young ones. Now we live in perpetual envy for the young guys that can drive the M5, and hammer those other curvy things. Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda.

Hi Andy,

I too came from Taiwan and had explored the possibility/profitibility of importing exotics back there.

From my understanding, cars with engine capacity over 3,600 cc will be taxed over 180% (60% emission related tax * basic import tax of 30%) over its market price ( price of its mkt value according to age of the vehicle). Therefore, the only profitable method was to imported a car at least 1 years old as belongings of international students when they came back to Taiwan ( this explains partly why some young Asians drives very nice cars). Nonetheless, Everyone is only entitle 1 such import in his/her lifetime and the car has to be registered under the student's name for at least 1 year before it can change owner.

That makes it at least 2 yrs old and profit is about 5~15% depending on how rare the car is. The rare the better of course.

So could u please elaborate ur method? Cause if there is a better way then it will be absolutely brilliant!

Happy motoring,

Scott

Guys, no matter where the conversations lead, there is no need for four-letter words. Save those for the guy blocking the left lane.

This phenomenom of buying expensive cars for kids is strange. It does seem to be common with wealthy Asians as most young people on the web with very expensive cars are Asian. I know this may sound rascist but I think it is merely an observation or at worst a generalization. Any cultural insight would be interesting.

However, I do know of one very caucasian parent that bought his 16 year old daughter a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee because "she kept asking" and "all her friends were getting SUV's." I seem to remember trying to use the "but my friends..." technique often when I was a kid on my parents and remember always getting "but were not your friend's parents..." retort. Sound familiar for anyone else. I plan on using it on my kids.

My list of cars from 17 years old to the present:

1971 Datsun 510
1973 Datsun 510
Company cars (K-cars, Tempo, etc. bleh)
1978 Toyota SR5 Hatchback (law school ride)
1987 Golf
1989 325i
1991 M5
1994 Maxima

Hi kkelly,

When u think of it, there are really only 3 reasons that will deter parents from doing that:

1. High costs
2. High speed accident
3. Too flashy

Thus knowing import cars in most of the Asian countries are more than 2x expensive than their counterparts in N.A., it is easy to understand that it is reason 2 & 3 that Asian parents mostly concern. And bagging & promises of good behavior usually eliminate P. 2 & 3 effectively.

Just my $0.02 opinion...

BTW, Scott, did u get a reply from Andy/Arky privately maybe? I too explored the possibility of acquiring & selling but reached the same conclusion as u did.

KKelly,
Regarding your wife's stock options---they may be good as long as she doesn't have any restrictions on them and the market rebounds within the next few days, but I think (opinion) this correction will take a bit longer than some of the others we've seen.

Regarding the SUV's, they scare me. I read an article by Paul Newman (the actor who races cars)a while back, and he raised a pretty frightening issue---as the "yuppie" crowd gets older and kids start moving out of the house, there won't be any need for parents to own the SUV's and they'll start selling them off, and being that SUV's are the trend and probably will comprise a majority of vehicles on the road up to five years from now, think about which age group will be buying them the way you and I were buying the small sports cars---the 18-22 year olds. Think about how that age group tends to drive as well. Considering how many of the SUV's are being driven right now (tell me you don't have at least 1 bad experience with an SUV a month), it's not going to get any better.

Jeff L---I like your sarcasm---it has substance and I always look forward to your comments. The market will be presenting itself with some buying opportunities very soon, so if you have an intelligent broker (a rarity), you should be talking to him. Try checking out one of my favorite websites: "www.thestreet.com", to give you an idea of what is happening right now.

Also, check out Automobile Magazine May issue, which has a write-up on the Z8, as well as voting the M5 the best sports sedan built in the world for 2000, and a readers survey which says the same AND votes the S4 as the second best---heh-heh-heh....

Yes, but what most people don't realize is that it takes a totally different driving technique in order to maneuver that elephant. I see more flipped over SUV's in the winter than anything else on the road. Ownership of this type of vehicle should require a different class license as well as some sort of driving course. Granted, you will suffer less damage to your car should one rear-end you, but is that comfort enough for you? It sure isn't for me.

When several M5's, myself and a 528 met up a few weeks ago, we were following a Toyota 4Runner that was trying to keep ahead of everyone and was trying his hardest NOT to let anyone pass him. On the curvy roads as well, mind you. Speeds approaching 80 miles an hour, and even in the twisties, the moron was leaning in so hard that we all thought he was going to lose it. What if he had, and there was an approaching car with a family out for a daytrip? If someone has an SUV, they should understand its purpose and limitations. I can't even begin to tell you or anyone else here the type of morons that drive in SUV's around NYC and adjoining highways, plus some of the speeds they try to attain...I can only imagine what you have out in California.

Terence,

The E55 and C43 and 500E were requested by a close friend..have to do it for him, so that is the only except and only 3 I have done in the past 2 years(well, almost)...sorry if I confused you, I didn't clearified it before.

Yes, something "pursuasion" is the only way as the customs will do anything to make some spare dough out of you. So, you have know local authority and a little "talk" with customs....though the thing has changed alot recently..

Money Talks...

Andy Kuo