turboswede
Member
I just started watching Top Gear on BBC America after catching the episode on the best of the worst British cars of the 70?s and love the show. I spent a lot of my childhood in Europe in the late 70?s and early 80?s and formed a deep affection for cars we couldn?t buy here in the states. That was a great era for European cars and a terrible time for cars in the U.S. Even the cars we did get were anemic versions of the real thing with ugly rubber doorstop bumpers (ever seen a US spec BMW 320i?), but I digress.
One thing I have a hard time with are the car prices they refer to on the show. I noticed it when they reviewed the Corvette and did not talk about value for money.
I checked out some UK prices for cars available in the US and was absolutely astounded at the prices the British cough up to drive. For example:
Make Model UK Price In USD
Chevrolet Corvette ? 45,995 $ 89,400
Lotus Elise SC Touring ? 34,550 $ 67,200
Porsche Cayman ? 36,220 $ 70,400
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo ? 27,849 $ 54,100
BMW Z4 Coupe ? 32,110 $ 62,400
Nissan 350Z ? 26,795 $ 52,100
BMW 328i/325i SE ? 27,917 $ 54,300
BMW 335i ? 33,088 $ 64,300
Mini Cooper S ? 15,848 $ 30,800
BMW 328i/325i SE ? 24,907 $ 48,400
Porsche Boxter ? 33,375 $ 64,900
Honda S2000 ? 28,050 $ 54,500
Mazda Mazdaspeed3 ? 18,995 $ 36,900
Ford Mustang GT CS ? 28,995 $ 56,400
Can you believe that they would need to pay nearly $90,000 for a base Corvette or $56,000 for a Mustang GT Convertible? Even the Mini Cooper S made in the U.K. is about $8,000 (or 30%) more in Britain.
I hope that the prices I found include VAT and all other sales taxes; otherwise I can?t see how anyone could afford to drive anything fun. My daily driver is a Honda Accord with the 244hp 3.0 liter V6 and the 6 speed manual transmission that cost me the equivalent of ?15,000. For that money in the UK I would have ended up with a Skoda Octavia with a 1.8 liter 4.
Does anyone know why cars are so expensive in the UK or (alternately) why they are so cheap here in the U.S.?
One thing I have a hard time with are the car prices they refer to on the show. I noticed it when they reviewed the Corvette and did not talk about value for money.
I checked out some UK prices for cars available in the US and was absolutely astounded at the prices the British cough up to drive. For example:
Make Model UK Price In USD
Chevrolet Corvette ? 45,995 $ 89,400
Lotus Elise SC Touring ? 34,550 $ 67,200
Porsche Cayman ? 36,220 $ 70,400
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo ? 27,849 $ 54,100
BMW Z4 Coupe ? 32,110 $ 62,400
Nissan 350Z ? 26,795 $ 52,100
BMW 328i/325i SE ? 27,917 $ 54,300
BMW 335i ? 33,088 $ 64,300
Mini Cooper S ? 15,848 $ 30,800
BMW 328i/325i SE ? 24,907 $ 48,400
Porsche Boxter ? 33,375 $ 64,900
Honda S2000 ? 28,050 $ 54,500
Mazda Mazdaspeed3 ? 18,995 $ 36,900
Ford Mustang GT CS ? 28,995 $ 56,400
Can you believe that they would need to pay nearly $90,000 for a base Corvette or $56,000 for a Mustang GT Convertible? Even the Mini Cooper S made in the U.K. is about $8,000 (or 30%) more in Britain.
I hope that the prices I found include VAT and all other sales taxes; otherwise I can?t see how anyone could afford to drive anything fun. My daily driver is a Honda Accord with the 244hp 3.0 liter V6 and the 6 speed manual transmission that cost me the equivalent of ?15,000. For that money in the UK I would have ended up with a Skoda Octavia with a 1.8 liter 4.
Does anyone know why cars are so expensive in the UK or (alternately) why they are so cheap here in the U.S.?