Prius Prices In Ireland

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Adrian Ryan @ Feb 16 2007, 03:06 PM) [snapback]391703[/snapback]</div>

That is staggering! I knew Singapore had high prices, perhaps even higher than that, but they're also a strictly controlled state, and have an excellent public transportation system. They have a quota for the number of car registrations available (which is set a value that keeps roads busy but virtually eliminates traffic jams). And, a car can only be operated for ten years, after that the government takes it from you and sells it (keeping the money of course) outside the country (city).

For me in Illinois, I paid about $23K - $4k for trade-in = 19K, taxed on the 19K. Can't remember what the tax was, but the net effect of the $4K trade-in was a benefit of about $4,500 which would imply a tax of over 10%. That doesn't seem right. I got the service package and weathertec cargo mat, with taxes it all came back to about $23K (pkg 1 = base model + side airbags). Same as I paid new for my '99 Outback.

When I lived in northern VA, they had a county-based property tax based on the blue-book value of the car which you paid every year (good thing I had a dirt-cheap car when living there!). In MD you have to pay a sales tax when bringing in a car from out of state, even though you paid sales tax when you bought the car initially as well. Still, I guess we shouldn't complain, based on your experience!

Gas is now about $2.20- $2.35/gal here.

 

In Canada, GST was reduced to 6%. Ontario has a sales tax as well, but this varies by province - here in Alberta there is none so we just have to pay the 6% GST, plus a federal air conditioner tax (around $150), plus a provincial tire recycling tax (around $50). Then there is dealer prep and delivery (trucking the vehicle from Richmond BC to here).
We have the Base - $34,757.40 Can. including taxes and delivery. $29,543.79 US

Add all options except nav. - Pack B - $39,082.20 Can. $33,219.87 US

Add nav to that - Pack C - $42,633.20 Can. $36,238.22 US

No leather option, no Touring model.

It's possible to negotiate below those costs - perhaps $2000 less.

It's also possible to purchase an American car and import it. Both the US and Canada have an import duty of I think around 4.5%. If I were to import into Canada I would have to pay this duty again, then apply the GST to that value. Then get the car "certified" as meeting the Canadian standards (only change for Prius is DRLs must be added). This certification costs around $150, adding DRLs costs around $500. It's about $6000 Can. less expensive to purchase in the US and import after all duties, fees, and taxes. This varies by the exchange rate, of course. Last summer it was almost $11,000!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(nerfer @ Feb 16 2007, 01:29 PM) [snapback]391737[/snapback]</div>

I'd heard about insane car prices in Singapore before from former roommates who were from there. From http://www.toyotasingapore.com.sg/cars/new...prius/price.asp, it looks like Priuses are 85117 Singapore dollars which Yahoo finance says is $55,581 USD.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Adrian Ryan @ Feb 16 2007, 04:06 PM) [snapback]391703[/snapback]</div>

Interesting but I don't think one should compare costs in isolation. Costs are relative to net incomes and the general cost of living. Is there a "minimum wage" in Ireland? If so, how much? And what is a typical annual salary? (Not an average, which can be very misleading).

Prices may seem high to many of us but ask yourself why there are so many potential immigrants from Eastern Europe, Africa, etc clambering and taking enormous efforts and risks to get into our countries. (I'm not sure if Ireland has an illegal immigrant problem.)

 

I just paid AU$49600 for a new 2007 Prius (i-Tech, i.e. with nav system, keyless entry, all leather, rear view camera) plus dealer installed and lifetime warrantied tinted windows (we have a lot of sun here in Oz) and FREE FLOORMATS, WEE! (cynical). That's US$39k and includes one year of road taxes.

 

I have it on good authority that oil will last for a long time to come.
Remember your history lessons where "experts" claimed coal would run out just after the turn of the century - the 19th century? I think oil is in the same catagory.

Whether we can actually continue to burn it without dire consequences is another matter.

Here in Alberta we have the worlds second largest reserve of oil. And most people drive either an SUV, large pickup, or a mini-van (who named them that - they weigh almost 4000 lbs - nothing "mini" about that!). So we're using the reserves up well, but they'll last at least another 50 years at current comsumption rates, and they're still finding more.

It's appearant most don't care about their "carbon load".

But the oil boom is financing the vehicle purchases. A spiral into doom?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(David Beale @ Feb 17 2007, 11:18 AM) [snapback]392018[/snapback]</div>

The coal question is rather misleading. That was the subject of a paper by Jevons in the 19th century, and he was looking at England's production of coal over the next 100 years. They didn't have the term "peak coal", but that's basically what he was saying - that after about 60 years, it would be too expensive to get at the remaining coal for England to remain economically competitive, particularly in their steel manufacturing and other heavy industries.

Fortunately England was able to switch to oil, although that didn't save their steel industry from hard times. England now imports the majority of the coal it uses, so Jevons had it right.

Today it is often said we have a 200-year supply of coal. That's at today's rate. Consider an average 2% growth, all of a sudden it's a 75-year supply. If we need to rely on coal for more things due to reduced petroleum (such as coal-gasification to replace gasoline), it drops even sharper.

But that's coal. Peak oil follows its own path, but is also limited. There's quite a bit there, and we're figuring out how to get more of it out of a field and how to get to more deep-water fields, or from tar sands, heavy crude, etc. but it all adds to the cost. So we might have enough oil for several years, a decade or so, but it will cost more money. Once again, the rich nations win. After that the price will go up enough that even the rich will be affected.