To give you an idea, the Prius in SA costs the equivalent of $35,866 at a current exchange rate of R7.50/$. It just shows you how much taxes, duties and other nonsense can be smacked onto the price. Look at this: Mercedes C180K Classic R266,000 Audi A4 1.8T Multitronic R268,500 Toyota Prius R269,000 (leather,NAV,ASC - no keyless entry) Saab 9-3 2.0T Geartronic R274,500 Now you see how the Prius is priced here. How about you guys in the states? What other cars are priced in the same range as Prius?
Wow, that's a lot. How much do they tax you? BTW, since you are from SA, are you a cricket fan? I am from Sri Lanka.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Albertus @ Apr 12 2007, 06:27 AM) [snapback]421957[/snapback]</div> Just glancing at the mercedes home page, the C-class models here in USA range from $30425-$39375 base MSRP (they don't list the C180K classic as available here). Your Prius sounds like it would be a US package 6 (i.e., with NAV and leather, though the smartkey omission sounds odd -- wonder if there's some regulation regarding encryption tech preventing that from exporting to South Africa). With the current incentives from Toyota, I've seen people claiming to have bought a package 6 Prius here for as low as $26,600. The current Toyota USA MSRP on a Package 6 is $27,345. So that Prius markup in SA looks considerable.
Fully imported cars are heavily taxed here. I guess to protect the local manufacturers. We build BMW 3-series for the local market and also for Australia. We even export cars to Japan! We manufacture for much of Australasia, due to the fact that we are all mostly right-hand drive. Most of Toyotas models are built locally. The omission of keyless entry on the Prius sold here is curious. It's not even an option. In fact, there are NO options on loacally sold Prii, but then again they are already well kitted out. I guess Toyota Japan thought there is too much risk of problems relating to keyless entry here. As I understand keyless entry can run the 12V battery flat if left for a long time. Toyota dealerships are plentiful here, but only a handful can work on Prius. Should an owner have trouble with keyless entry and battery, it may be difficult to find help quickly. Keyless entry is offered on Mercedes here though...so I do not know. It's not all bad though. Local banks are more willing to finance a Prius with a large residual (35%) due to the presence of the 8year/180 000km service plan. Also, the insurance is cheap cause local car thieves walk big circles around Prii. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Michgal007 @ Apr 12 2007, 03:17 PM) [snapback]421974[/snapback]</div> We don't pay a vehicle tax per sé. We have to register the car yearly and you pay according to the weight of the vehicle. w.r.t cricket....I never could understand the rules. :blink:
