As some of you may have gleaned in my last topic, I am looking to buy a second hand car - preferably an E34 524/5 diesel or a E38 730 d or an old diesel Mercedes - all built like tanks. I am seriously being tempted by EBAY with low auction prices. Now I've been doing some research and was shocked to find about the ridiculous importation laws.
Correct me if I'm wrong because I am apparently quoting a website that took its information way back in 1992 (and I need clarification) but to import a new car you have to pay 100% of the car's original value and pay 10% less for each succeeding year it is old? Now, I am willing to pay my dues and tarriffs but this is ridiculous. Ostensibly, this is to protect our auto industry which I don't understand. What auto industry? Everyone of our local carmakers are dead and all of them made POS American jeepneys with Japanese engines. What are we protecting? Because if you really look at it, we're not helping ourselves, we're buttressing the economies of other countries and protecting THEIR profits - because most of the money made in the transaction go to them (Japan, Germany, USA,et al.) not us. It'd be great if a larger amount went to the gov't but it doesn't. Sure, some companies have factories here - BMW has one, for example - but they're not final assembly plants (where the real money is to be made), rather, we just assemble (not even manufacture) components.
I've also heard that there is now an age limit in importing a car to no more than five years old under some equally absurd anti-junk cars provision (again, correct me if I'm wrong and this is just an urban myth). I'm sorry, but how is a well maintained 19 year old W140 Benz or a 25 W126 a junk car? How about a 12-13 year old US-spec BMW 7 Series or 17 year old 5-Series? Which moron wrote these laws? Because, it is so aggravating I actually want to break these laws just out of spite, just to flip a middle finger in the face of the gov't.
This leads me neatly to the so-called "Subic cars". Now these are great: cheap, second hand cars from Europe, Japan, Korea or America sold cheap at auction - it reminds me of those auction houses in England that sell anything from a middling Mondeo to interesting classics in varying conditions. Anyone who've seen Episode 6 of Top Gear's season 13 will know what I'm on about. But everyone's heard horror stories about botched conversions-people suddenly losing steering control and crashing. The Anti-junk law is supposed to stop that. But here's the thing, why does it have to affect good but old cars as well? Here's an interesting thought, instead of passing a meaningless piss-in-the-wind blanket law that everyone will ignore anyway, why not just hire or mandate certified mechanics to inspect every single car and turn those away found to be dangerous and unsuitable? I know lots of Mapua engineering students looking for a job. That way great and cheap older cars will be available in the hands of poor people which they may then use to do something productive. How's that for protecting OUR economy?
Now this has me thinking, what with my newfound anarchism and desire to subvert the authoritahs, could it be possible I avoid the absurd tarrif that requires me to pay 3 times the value of a used E38 7er by having the car shipped to the Subic Freeport Zone? New it was around $60000 which means a 13 year old car would have to pay, I think I'm right in saying, 8% of the orginal car's value: $4800 (Php 219,360) for a car worth Php 75,000-80,000 on EBAY. Mind you, that doesn't include the $2800 RO-RO or $3340 20 ft container shipping fees or the other duties you have to pay as well and the LTO registration fees and the insurance, etc.......
What do you think? Could this plan work? Anyone here know a dealership selling a good condition 90's diesel 5 or 7 Series or and 80's diesel Benz for less than Php 100K so I can avoid the hassle? Or am I a criminal unpatriotic a-hole for thinking this?
