Is it cheaper to buy a BMW in Euros in Germany and have it shipped to the US or to buy it in the US with dollars?

Answer 1

It is cheaper to buy a BMW in the United States with US dollars then Euros in Germany, for a couple of reasons. If you have noticed that BMWs have gone up in price over the past couple of years it is because of the exchange rate. Before one US dollar would get you 1.25 Euros, now the trend has changed. One US dollar get around 0.75 Euros. So in essence when you bought a BMW years ago and paid $30,000 US dollars that would equate to 37,500 Euros. Now take into account the exchange rate change. A $30,000 US Dollar BMW would equate to 22,500 Euros. This is a difference of 15,000 Euros for one vehicle. They make less money per car now but since the US is the largest market for BMWs they will not charge an extra 15,000 Euros per vehicle. That would lose great market share. BMWs have gone up to help cover the loss in the exchange rate. Therefore, since Germany operates on Euros the exchange rate doesn't affect them in country and the price of the vehicle goes up accordingly to their internal inflation rate. The biggest reason to not purchase a BMW in Europe is taxes. Depending on where you live the sales tax rate differs but will be somewhere between 4% to 9%. The sales tax rate eludes me currently in Germany but it is much higher somewhere near 17%. Now if you buy that car in Germany for 17% and you ship it to the US you will have to pay registration and sales tax fees when it enters the US. Also, if you buy it in Germany you will have to ship the vehicle at a much greater price. Since BMW ships thousands of vehicles a year they get a destination charge from the Germany factor to the dealership at approximately $550.00. If you ship a vehicle on your own you would spend approximately $1000.00 to $2,500.00 to ship the vehicle. My recommendation is to buy a BMW in the US at an authorized dealership and save yourself the headache and cost. Currently, BMW has an awesome program called European Pick-up. If you are going to Europe for vacation and are buying a new BMW, BMW will have your car ready for you at a dealership in Europe and you can drive you vehicle while you are on vacation. They even pay for your insurance. Once you are ready to come back to the US, you simply take the vehicle to an authorized BMW location and they will ship it to your local BMW dealership. This is all offered at no extra cost. Hope this was helpful for you.