| Author |
Message |
Robert Jude Klein (Rjklein4470)
Junior Member
Username: Rjklein4470
Post Number: 135
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, July 28, 2002 - 2:02 am: | |
If you are talking about the Ooley & Blackburn here in Indy, that is where I got my 360, and they are great to deal with. When I am in the market for a nother car I will just give them a deposit and tell them what I want and wait . if you have any questions let me know |
Mr. Doody (Doody)
Member
Username: Doody
Post Number: 324
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, July 27, 2002 - 7:34 pm: | |
i grok martin.
so my takeaway barring additional data is that this is (a) so low a volume of business and (b) so lengthy a process that is (c) replete with various failure points that amerispec et. al. aren't willing to risk their own capital on the big enchilada (the car itself).
so if a 360 na is $145K and a 360 euro is $125K delivered, amerispec et. al. don't think they could or don't want to take the risks to sell a $135K converted euro all-in. that $10K delta or whatnot isn't enough to justify the $100K capital risk.
but here's the thing. if you hedge and insure properly, the spreads do seem large enough to work. i'd hazard a guess that amerispec et. al. don't actually have $500K to $1M in capital to invest this way in 5 or 7 vehicles?
how does ooley and blackburn work? they seem to sell nearly exclusively imports and conversions. do they do the conversions? are they an RI?
doody. |
martin J weiner,M.D. (Mw360)
Member
Username: Mw360
Post Number: 494
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, July 27, 2002 - 7:03 pm: | |
Doody,
•••• Fritz at Amerispec does almost the entire package.He finds the car in Germany,trucks to the ship,arranges transport,ins,and customs,converts in Conne and arranges all paper work for dot and epa approval.The hitch is 2-fold.One the purchaser must send the price of the car (excluding all the other costs) directly to Germany and bill of sale is between the German Co and purchaser.From that point on it's your baby,other costs pd when dot/epa approval comes thru.So when he sent me my car with no background illumination on the dash and burnt headlight buckets I went thru all the agita and finally pd for the headlight buckets myself and $550 for a new liq crystal for the dash-which had to be sent to Italy-the car not usable for 3 months.
Secondly once he has your $ it is virtually impossible to get him to respond to phone calls,faxs etc-Sometimes weeks went by-he didn't return the calls but one catches him picking up the phone by mistake (hoping it is another live one?
Life is too short for this B.S.! |
Mr. Doody (Doody)
Member
Username: Doody
Post Number: 323
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, July 27, 2002 - 3:15 pm: | |
can someone please explain how the importation biz works that the importers and converters always appear to keep themselves at arms length from each other?
it seems obvious to me (maybe i'm just a moron!) that if i were dennig or any of these other folks that the best way to optimize my revenues would be to be really good at (a) sourcing cars from all over the world; (b) transporting cars all over the world; (c) if i were in business in teh us, converting cars to us spec for my customers; and (d) selling cars to customers. the whole chain from soup to nuts.
the only hard part in this is to become a Registered Importer. is that near impossible or something?
why don't the existing RIs (amerispec? etc.?) import, convert, and deal the cars?
it seems like someone is leaving a lot of money on the table.
is there some legal complication here that you can't be an RI and also sell cars?
or do these efforts fail most of the time and thus if you did both you'd go out of biz doubly fast?
doody. |
martin J weiner,M.D. (Mw360)
Member
Username: Mw360
Post Number: 492
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, July 27, 2002 - 11:39 am: | |
Matthew,
You are asking for much agita and headaches.With prices of 360's falling somewhat and the weak dollar it doesn't pay in my opinion.(I did it-see previous subject search.)
If you are intent on saving some bucks go for a used '99 euro here in the US which has been converted and has all the bugs shaken out.I'll sell you mine in a yr or so when my name comes up on the dealer's list. |
russell rosenblum (Rosenblumr)
Junior Member
Username: Rosenblumr
Post Number: 51
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, July 27, 2002 - 9:38 am: | |
I spent a lot of time speaking with Dennig (check the archives). Tom is correct, they talk a great game, but at the end of the day you are still at the mercy of the conversion house. |
Martin (Miami348ts)
Advanced Member
Username: Miami348ts
Post Number: 2510
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, July 26, 2002 - 11:44 am: | |
Contact US COnformance in Jupiter Florida. Great people. Very knowledgable and kows what he is doing.
E-mail me if you want ot number don't have it handy now.
|
TomD (Tifosi)
Intermediate Member
Username: Tifosi
Post Number: 1105
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Friday, July 26, 2002 - 6:33 am: | |
Regarding Denning - they talk a good game but in the end you are on your own with the conversion shop in the US. Even though they will give you est of costs they have no involvment other then putting a car on the boat. |
Dave Wapinski (Davewapinski)
Member
Username: Davewapinski
Post Number: 274
Registered: 8-2001
| | Posted on Friday, July 26, 2002 - 6:26 am: | |
From what I have been told, cars older than 25 years do not have to meet EPA standards.
In addititon there are certain vehicles that have an exception to the laws. Do not have a list, but the MB Unimog 1300 is one such vehicle.
If one had an address in Mexico, could run it down there occasssionally. Would this qualify???
Do not know all the details, but there is also an excemption for vehicles engaged in research or support of research. Have heard of one vehicle that has been in the US for 5 years with foreign plates. Do not know how it was done. |
Becker Cu�llar (Becker)
New member
Username: Becker
Post Number: 45
Registered: 2-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, July 25, 2002 - 6:46 pm: | |
When you go to the DMV you'll need Title and/or Certificate of origin and from there the picture is not pretty anymore. You CAN drive the Non-US, non-EPA car for up to a year(last I checked)in the US using foreign tags but also have to fulfill some requirements. Older cars do not have those requirements so probably that applies to the beetle you saw.
|
Horsefly (Arlie)
Junior Member
Username: Arlie
Post Number: 94
Registered: 5-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, July 25, 2002 - 5:39 pm: | |
This discussion brings to mind a question I have often wondered about. Let's say someone in Mexico bought a NON-U.S. version Ferrari or other car that did not meet EPA smog specs and could not enter this country on a for-sale basis. Let's say that the Mexican Ferrari owner registers his car in Mexico and one weekend he drives his car across the border to visit a friend in Texas or Arizona or New Mexico. His friend takes a liking to the car, makes the Mexican owner an offer, and the guy sells his friend the car and signs the title over to him.
Can the new owner simply go down to his local DMV and license and register the car as he would any other used car? Thus, a NON-U.S., NON-EPA approved vehicle enters the country. I started thinking about this when I saw a neighbor driving what looked to be a Mexican Volkswagen Beetle, which I believe were never up to U.S. EPA specs. |
Matthew F (Mateotnt)
New member
Username: Mateotnt
Post Number: 3
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, July 25, 2002 - 4:37 pm: | |
I've searched the archives, and I see that there is a lot of concern about importing non-US spec cars.
No first hand experience in the archives about Dennig. (Maybe that should tell me something...) Any one hear anything about them? |
TomD (Tifosi)
Intermediate Member
Username: Tifosi
Post Number: 1104
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, July 25, 2002 - 1:46 pm: | |
plus now the dollar is weak relative to where is was six months ago |
TomD (Tifosi)
Intermediate Member
Username: Tifosi
Post Number: 1103
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, July 25, 2002 - 1:45 pm: | |
Matt - welcome - please search the archives on this as there has been extensive discussion on this - my take is most feel in the end you save a little money but endure a lot of hassle. be warned |
Matthew F (Mateotnt)
New member
Username: Mateotnt
Post Number: 2
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, July 25, 2002 - 1:19 pm: | |
I'm thinking about importing a 360 from Germany. One company that helps is http://www.dennigcars.org/ . Even after EPA/DOT conversion, you can save a lot of money.
Has anyone dealt with Dennig before? Any other firms to recommend (or steer clear of)? Thanks! |