In Israel (Tel-Aviv)...Any F-Chatters??

I gave a ride to an Israeli engineer who was here on business, and he said he had never even seen a Ferrari in person before! He told me that car purchases in Israel are taxed at 100%, so whatever the price of your car is, you'll have to double it for your out-of-pocket price including the tax. So generally you'll only see smaller less expensive cars.

 

Israel is one of the last places you'll see a Ferrari. In fact, one of my cousins told me that there is only about 2 Ferraris in all of Israel. As the guy above mentioned, there is a 100% tax on cars. But most high end cars are even more than twice the price.

An M3 coupe in Israel is about $130,000 (yes, U.S. dollars).

A F430 coupe in Israel, at sticker of course, is equal to a nice apartment (we call it a condo) in a nice neighborhood.

Put it this way, the nicest car in Jerusalem (that I've seen in a while) is a 645CI coupe. The guy who owns this is like a king there.

When it comes to cars, Israel is exactly like Europe. Since gas is so expensive, most of the cars are 4-cylinder cars, some turbocharged, and usually French cars. Renault, Citroen, and Peugots are popular. Japanese cars have also become popular (esp Mazdas and Hondas).

That's why I tell my family there that I'll never move there (heh). I'll only visit the Holy L
and.

 

I have seen pics of a Diablo Roadster in Isr and several P cars. One was a 964 Turbo RUF with BBS LM wheels.

 

There are very few sports cars in Israel. The situation has changed for the better over the last few years. I do see plenty of big four door Mercs driving around.



It is true what everyone said.

100% tax or worse !





A Z-4 or something similar is a big deal

 

That is absolutley INSANE.

 

Somebody has to pay for defending against 23 hostile countries in the middle east.

There is at least one Lambo Countach that I know of and few older model Ferraris that I heard of.

 

- So true

Is it a replica ? My brother in law's daughter, has a Merc SUV ML 300 class, and they paid over 100K for the truck. WOW o/t - I do not think their is a Hayabusa motorcycle in the country. - They just do not import those.

Joe - Time for us to ship our cars over for the summer ? LOL. - The road to Yom ha Mehlach / The Dead Sea from Arad. Whoa !!!!!


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A few years ago, their was also a substantial tax on all appliances, cameras, and radios etc....

 

On my last trip to Haifa (about a year ago), I saw a single mid-80's Corvette and even a Porsche Cayenne S ...

Other than the unreal taxes, the biggest problem with specialty cars there is service. They have to be shipped to places like Kuwait or Saudi Arabia to get worked on, because there is nobody in Israel qualified to work on them.

For brands like Mercedes, there are enough in the country (mostly used as limos and taxis) that they have local service capability.

A co-worker there paid $90,000(USD) for a friggin' Mitsubishi Montero. So, what my company provides employees is either a small company car (like an Opel), or taxi-vouchers for whever you need to go.

But then, of course, have you seen the roads and the way people drive? I'd never want to risk what would be a half-million-dollar car. It also makes you something of a soft-target, in which case armor is better than speed.

--Joel

 

The road called Sdom-Arad, I used to ride/race it up and down years ago on a Motorcycle, it's one of the most beutifull roads known to man..
It's the Angeles-Crest forest HWY of Israel.

 

That would be crazy!!!

Why stop at the Dead Sea? Just go all the way to Eilat...hell yeah.

 

Speaking of service, SL55's (and the rest of the family) are not allowed in Israel b/c there's no one to service it. Similar situation for others.

Countach - I heard that someone in Tel-Aviv has one, the only one in the country.

There are nice cars in Israel, mainly in the more affluent areas such as Tel-Aviv and Herzilya (what I call the Beverly Hills of Israel - there are $10 million homes there). This past summer, I saw a lot more BMW 7-series' in Tel-Aviv and they were 745s, not 728s or the smaller engine variations like before.

 

I moved to Jerusalem from Montreal about ten months ago. I had to abandon the hope of every owning a Ferrari or any other exotic, and that was a sacrifice I had to make.

Between the high tarrifs on importing cars to Israel, and the price of gas, the aforementioned struggling economy burdened with a high defense budget, and a society with laregly different priorities, we just don't have much in the way of flashy cars 'round here. Sucks being the only country in the region with no oil revenues.

It's true what people have said here. There aren't many exotics in Israel. Mercedes are common and aren't considered as "special" as they are in North America. They're taxis here.

I saw that 645Ci, but it's an uncommon site. I saw one or two Jaguar XJs, an old Vette here or there, a Porsche Cayenne (with New Jersey plates...odd).

The richest guy in the country I can think of is Nir Barkat, a leading entrepeneur who financed his own race for mayor of Jerusalem (but lost and is now opposition leader on city council). Last I saw, he drives a BMW X5 4.7iS, which is pretty much the most impressive car you'll see around here. And you'd need to know your cars to distinguish it from any other X5, for that matter.

There are Italian car dealerships, selling Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo. I've seen a couple of older Alfa GTVs around. It comes as a surprise to me that there is even one (albeit older) FCar or Countach in the country.

Does anyone know if the owners of said cars have available daughters in their early-mid twenties?
And if you guys do end up bringing over your FCars for a drive through the Negev, and care to take me along...

 

How about Gil Schwed?

 

lol....who are you looking for, Natalie Portman?

 

Don't know who Gil Schwed is, but as for Portman, the short answer is yes. And I'm sure that dream will come true by writing on an online chatroom about it, too. (Feelin' like a sci-fi geek right about now.)

 

Gil Shwed is the billionaire founder and CEO of Checkpoint, which makes, supposedly, the best firewalls and computer security software. The company's listed on our NASDAQ. He's kind of like the Bill Gates of Israel. He used to be in the Israeli army intelligence, which is where he learned about firewalls etc.

 

My sister went to college there. She should be in Jerusalem right now for a second semster, but didnt go becasue our house got flooded. She will be back there in March.