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Luky
Elite Veteran
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Bratislava, Slovakia, EU
Vehicle(s): 300GE LWB auto, E320CDI 4M, VW Polo Classic 1.6
Posts: 1062
| Just a stupid idea
A few weeks ago somebody was thinking about importing a G from Japan to Canada and I was curious about the high prices of late 460s in Canada. Now I found a similiar G here in Slovakia for a relativley good price. Now my(maybe stupid) idea is to buy it and sell it to Canada. The car is a red 1989 280 GE Cabrio in a very good condition (I know current owner s brother), no rust, new interior, 120 000 kms, it had one owner in Germany(89-00) and the current one in Slovakia(00-). I would like to know if a price between 19000 to 20000 CAD(including shipping) would be real. Also what is the best way to sell a car in Canada, ebay or something like that? I am not telling I am going to do it tomorow, I just want to get some information.
Oh, yes here is the advertisment with pictures.
http://www.autovia.sk/auto_mercedes-g-trieda-280i_259245.htm
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gwagen460swb
Extreme Veteran
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Vehicle(s): 280GE SWB, Toyota Highlander, BMW530i, RR HSE
Posts: 513
| Re: Just a stupid idea
That is a very nice looking reg G. Is that a 460 with the grill and headlamp surrounds (custom) painted to match the red body? I tried to zoom on the pic to see if it was a 460 or 463. The sideview mirrors want to tell me it is a 460.
The two places I have seen Gs (Canadian) advertised for sale are on eBay and clubgwagen.com. clubgwagen.com gives you a good range of what Canadian sellers are seeking in terms of price. You can use these prices to compare to what you are asking.
One thing you have to think about is the G is more rare in North America vs. the more Gs you see in Europe. It is kind of hard to gauge prices. Another think to keep in mind is the Gs on clubgwagen.com have been for sale for a while. Sometimes I will assist clubgwagen.com by e-mailing or calling the sellers to see if their vehicles are sold yet. This not only helps me help the owners (sellers) from receiving continued calls about their G being sold yet, but also gives me a good idea how long a G stays on the market. Majority of the Gs for sale in Canada are still for sale awaiting new homes.
My cousins in Vancouver tell me most people looking for SUVs are looking for trucks like the new Toyota RAV4 (small class SUV) or new Hyundai Santa Fe (large class SUV). I am not sure if this may be driven by price, access to parts and places for repairs/maintenance, reliability articles, etc...
This does not mean there are no buyers for the G. There certainly have to be some people who still want one. One last thing I know I would be asking myself if I was Canadian is would I spend the money on a ticket to Praha (Czech Republic) or (Brataslava (Slovakia) as well as take the time. From talking with my cousins and their friends, they say if they can find it in Canada for reasonable price; then no need to go abroad. |
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elevatorbernie
Expert
Date registered: Aug 2006
Location: Vancouver B.C. Canada
Vehicle(s): 1989 280GE
Posts: 1347
| RE: Just a stupid idea
Luky, it depends on the condition of the G and how much the buyer wants one. Only a certain type of buyer would pay 20,000$ for a 17yr old truck. (Most people over here don't even know whay a G is) . I had been looking for a G for quite a while, but I was unwilling to travel to buy. A test drive is worth a hundred pictures when selling. My G is a Japan import, however it was already in the country when I purchased it from the importer. I spent alittle more than your price, but I got to inspect and drive it; for me this was the deal maker. There are G's for sale here but many are over priced for their age and condition. To get top dollar they have to be very clean. That said, there are some people locally that are fixing up old rusty G's and dressing them up to look like G500. I looked at 2 in the 17,000$ range, both 1987 both rusty. one the seller had purchased 5yrs earlier for 23,000$.(all freshly done over) It must have been rusted then. For some rust is not a problem, but not for me and especially not at that price. Now that some very clean Gs are being imported over from the Japan auctions, I suspect Gs of poor condition to loose value and be hard sells. That's the situation here on the west coast, east may be different. So if the G you have in mind is in good condition you may find a buyer in Canada. To answer your question on how to sell it here.... transport Canada allows citizens to import foreign market vehicles 15yrs old and older, however there are conditions and procedures, check info. www.tc.gc.ca & www.cbsa.gc.ca Some buyers might be interested in doing this themselves. In my case the importer already had done all the work already and reflected it in the price, however I had to do nothing. I just turned the key  Personally I think the best options to sell it here are 1) ebay and let the buyer do the work or 2) find an importer here to buy it and bring it over.  Bern
 (280 GE.jpg)
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 280 GE.jpg (84KB - 10 downloads)
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cball
Member
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Vancouver, B.C.
Vehicle(s): '86 280GE
Posts: 44
| RE: Just a stupid idea
There are a few people doing this already and it can work, although the heady days before 2002 are gone. Four years ago I bought mine from someone who has been bringing them in this way and with used 2002's at the dealership going for between 50-60k here between what I paid and what I have put into it for repairs, I could have easily bought one of those 2002's. If the car is really good, you might be able to get 20grand but even if it is really nice it will probably take at least several months to sell after it is here. The gwagen is in a kindof funny situation here because we see the american prices here and there is a little bit of upward pressure on the price just seeing those higher numbers but due to the differences in importation laws, americans really do just have to pay more and get a europa one rather than just any old german truck. Chris. |
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Chris
Veteran
Date registered: Sep 2006
Location: Calgary, AB
Vehicle(s): 2012 G550, 2012 GL350 BT
Posts: 241
| Re: Just a stupid idea
I maybe one of the people you are refering to in importing a vehicle from japan to Canada. I have been searching for months and found some decent trucks with low mileage but I just am leary about pulling the trigger on one since I have to take someones word that it is all checked out. And I know I might have pissed off a few local / Cdn sellers as well by being on the fence sometimes as well but I when I hear details that raise an alarm then i loose interest. For example would you guys buy a vehicle that was a GD230/240 that is discribed as a GD300 just because the engine was swapped out? A vehicle that has been painted a completely a different colour?
There was a 89 ge280 cabrio here in Alberta with 77,000km for $25k CDN in autotrader but I am not sure if it is still available since it has been a few weeks since I last looked. |
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Luky
Elite Veteran
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Bratislava, Slovakia, EU
Vehicle(s): 300GE LWB auto, E320CDI 4M, VW Polo Classic 1.6
Posts: 1062
| Re: Just a stupid idea
Thanks for the informations. I think the biggest problem is, the potential buyers wont be able to test the car before they buy it. Also I don t think, that people will have much confidence to send money to an Eastern European country in this time of car scams. On the other side I dont want to risk 3000 USD of shipping costs, if the potential buyer wont buy the car(there are a lot of people on ebay who bid on cars just for fun). Oh I have also some good news. The according the currency converter xe.com one CAD is 22 Slovak Crowns, but my bank offers me 26 SKK for one CAD, so the price will be somewhere between 16000 and 17000, not 19 to 20. |
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Chris
Veteran
Date registered: Sep 2006
Location: Calgary, AB
Vehicle(s): 2012 G550, 2012 GL350 BT
Posts: 241
| Re: Just a stupid idea
Luky,
Here is the link for the cabrio that I mentioned an the price has been reduced a little
http://canadatrader.com/result/detailinfo.aspx?ID=23231123&pgno=1&s... |
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Luky
Elite Veteran
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Bratislava, Slovakia, EU
Vehicle(s): 300GE LWB auto, E320CDI 4M, VW Polo Classic 1.6
Posts: 1062
| Re: Just a stupid idea
This one looks very similar. Even the headlamp surrounds and grile are painted. Don t you know how long is this one for sale? |
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Chris
Veteran
Date registered: Sep 2006
Location: Calgary, AB
Vehicle(s): 2012 G550, 2012 GL350 BT
Posts: 241
| RE: Just a stupid idea
I only noticed it about a month ago as I typically do not look in autotrader / Canadatrader.com for G class since they are not very common and they very seldom have any pre2002 G's listed on this site.
If I didn't have some priorities.... |
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Maxwell Smart
Date registered: Dec 1899
Location:
Vehicle(s):
| Re: Just a stupid idea
Chris - 10/18/2006 4:36 PM
I only noticed it about a month ago as I typically do not look in autotrader / Canadatrader.com for G class since they are not very common and they very seldom have any pre2002 G's listed on this site.
If I didn't have some priorities....
I can't believe how cheap G500s are in Canada now... Like Chris said it does make you question the "relatively" minor price difference between a 25 year old G needing work and a 2 year old G that isn't even broken in yet....
I've seen early model 463s in the UK sell for more than some of the 2003 G500s in Canada. |
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Luky
Elite Veteran
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Bratislava, Slovakia, EU
Vehicle(s): 300GE LWB auto, E320CDI 4M, VW Polo Classic 1.6
Posts: 1062
| Re: Just a stupid idea
I looked for G500s on autotrader.ca, and the cheapest I found costed about 55000 CAD. Thats about 2.5 times more than the most expensive W460 there. Also a G500 is much more expensive to run when it is not under a warranty. |
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Chris
Veteran
Date registered: Sep 2006
Location: Calgary, AB
Vehicle(s): 2012 G550, 2012 GL350 BT
Posts: 241
| Re: Just a stupid idea
Luky - 10/19/2006 4:23 AM
I looked for G500s on autotrader.ca, and the cheapest I found costed about 55000 CAD. Thats about 2.5 times more than the most expensive W460 there. Also a G500 is much more expensive to run when it is not under a warranty.
Just for what is worth, the cheapest G500 I have seen listed in Canada was a 2002 in Winnipeg for $39999 CDN about 9 months ago. Which was probably out of warranty of course! I had a friend work for a MB dealer here and the storys he had about the work required for all MB products was crazy and it would make me shy away from wanting to own any of these products outside of a warranty period. But then again I drive my Land Rover out of Warranty too so... |
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Chris
Veteran
Date registered: Sep 2006
Location: Calgary, AB
Vehicle(s): 2012 G550, 2012 GL350 BT
Posts: 241
| Re: Just a stupid idea
Maxwell Smart - 10/18/2006 7:10 PM
I've seen early model 463s in the UK sell for more than some of the 2003 G500s in Canada.
I have never see a pre 2002 W463 G ever! Just pics  There have been a few that Europa distributed in the US that fetch more than a year or two old G which makes me wonder why that would be as well.
Were the models that you mentioned diesel or Cabrios? |
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