Miata List Archive

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Mail From: rsorrent (Richard M Sorrentino)

When I spent nearly a year in Oz, the people of the NSW MX-5 club found me a
dealer who imports used MX-5's (formerly known as Eunos Roadsters) from
Japan. He sold me the car with a guaranteed buy back. It really made our
trip to Oz, including Tazmania, which has one of the the best sets of Miata
roads in the world. I also didn't think the insurance was all that
expensive, and I had no problem with licensing.



Dick and Saph 10 AE



Message: 17

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 04:48:53 -0400

From: "Bruce MacKay" <fallstone at gmail.com>

Subject: Re: [Miata] The MX-5 in Oz - can I buy one, and how much

would it cost?

To: dillon.boyer at gmail.com

Cc: Miata List <miata at realbig.com>

Message-ID:

<85030f3b0704250148nef683cax89d0294add4c05e4 at mail.gmail.com>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"



Dillon,



Your comments lead me to suspect that this may be your first long-term

adventure abroad. There are a few other matters you may wish to consider:



a) Insurance costs may be somewhat higher than those to which you're

accustomed. While all insurance companies operate the same way conceptually

(actuarial analysis), there are external (sometimes called "social") factors

that come into play as well. Ever wondered why there are so few 2-seat

sports cars made in Germany, but so many capable sports sedans? That's

because German insurance underwriters are required to impose a 50% surcharge

on any vehicle with only 2 seats - explaining why every Porsche 911 has

vestigial seats in what normal humans call the cargo area. Those seats,

silly as they are, allow Porsche to avoid that insurance surcharge for that

model. I'm not familiar with Australian underwriting rules - David should be

able to provide you with a rough estimate of insurance costs for a driver of

your age, marital status, and miles (kilometers) driven per year.



b) Gas (petrol) costs outside the US, in all but a handful of places, are

significantly higher. Those few places where petrol costs less are almost

always countries that either (i) produce large volumes of the stuff, or (ii)

have governments that, for their own reasons, dramatically subsidize the

stuff. Australia, as far as I can tell, falls into neither category.



c) Australia seems to require that you obtain a local driver's license. Like

the US and Canada, driver's licensing is done at the state/territory level.

You'll need to check and see what that entails. In some countries the

process is both laborious and expensive.



d) Check into local vehicle-related taxes. Our tax load on cars tends to be

much lighter than in many countries.



e) KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN FOR MIATA "GOODIES". Many won't be useable here, due

to the alternative configuration of the engine compartment to accommodate

right-hand-drive, but some will- and many of those won't be otherwise

obtainable here.



Have fun!



Bruce MacKay

96 M Edition



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Mail From: miataturbo (Sam Sharp)

And ya gotta buy SOMETHING, right? Might as well be something fun. The
expense related replies will apply to everything, right? So a Miata won't
be any worse than anything else you buy, and you'll get most of your
purchase price back when you leave.

Sam


On 4/25/07, Richard M Sorrentino <rsorrent at uwo.ca> wrote:
>
> When I spent nearly a year in Oz, the people of the NSW MX-5 club found
> me a dealer who imports used MX-5's (formerly known as Eunos Roadsters) from
> Japan. He sold me the car with a guaranteed buy back. It really made our
> trip to Oz, including Tazmania, which has one of the the best sets of Miata
> roads in the world. I also didn't think the insurance was all that
> expensive, and I had no problem with licensing.
>
>
>
> Dick and Saph 10 AE
>
>
>
> Message: 17
>
> Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 04:48:53 -0400
>
> From: "Bruce MacKay" <fallstone at gmail.com>
>
> Subject: Re: [Miata] The MX-5 in Oz - can I buy one, and how much
>
> would it cost?
>
> To: dillon.boyer at gmail.com
>
> Cc: Miata List <miata at realbig.com>
>
> Message-ID:
>
> <85030f3b0704250148nef683cax89d0294add4c05e4 at mail.gmail.com>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
>
>
> Dillon,
>
>
>
> Your comments lead me to suspect that this may be your first long-term
>
> adventure abroad. There are a few other matters you may wish to consider:
>
>
>
> a) Insurance costs may be somewhat higher than those to which you're
>
> accustomed. While all insurance companies operate the same way
> conceptually
>
> (actuarial analysis), there are external (sometimes called "social")
> factors
>
> that come into play as well. Ever wondered why there are so few 2-seat
>
> sports cars made in Germany, but so many capable sports sedans? That's
>
> because German insurance underwriters are required to impose a 50%
> surcharge
>
> on any vehicle with only 2 seats - explaining why every Porsche 911 has
>
> vestigial seats in what normal humans call the cargo area. Those seats,
>
> silly as they are, allow Porsche to avoid that insurance surcharge for
> that
>
> model. I'm not familiar with Australian underwriting rules - David should
> be
>
> able to provide you with a rough estimate of insurance costs for a driver
> of
>
> your age, marital status, and miles (kilometers) driven per year.
>
>
>
> b) Gas (petrol) costs outside the US, in all but a handful of places, are
>
> significantly higher. Those few places where petrol costs less are almost
>
> always countries that either (i) produce large volumes of the stuff, or
> (ii)
>
> have governments that, for their own reasons, dramatically subsidize the
>
> stuff. Australia, as far as I can tell, falls into neither category.
>
>
>
> c) Australia seems to require that you obtain a local driver's license.
> Like
>
> the US and Canada, driver's licensing is done at the state/territory
> level.
>
> You'll need to check and see what that entails. In some countries the
>
> process is both laborious and expensive.
>
>
>
> d) Check into local vehicle-related taxes. Our tax load on cars tends to
> be
>
> much lighter than in many countries.
>
>
>
> e) KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN FOR MIATA "GOODIES". Many won't be useable here,
> due
>
> to the alternative configuration of the engine compartment to accommodate
>
> right-hand-drive, but some will- and many of those won't be otherwise
>
> obtainable here.
>
>
>
> Have fun!
>
>
>
> Bruce MacKay
>
> 96 M Edition
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Miata mailing list
> Miata at list.realbig.com
> list.realbig.com/mailman/listinfo/miata
>
>
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