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How much do you save shipping and buying your Mercedes from Germany?

If i buy a Mercedes Benz from Germany and ship it to the united states, how much could or will i save. Can you give me an example of a US priced car to the total German and shipping priced car.

Public Comments

1. Eric, The M-B you will purchase in Germany does NOT comply with USA emissions or safety standards. You would have to pay an importer to import it for you. Then it gets expensive because you have one year to take the doors apart and put in a cross beam, replace all of the glass to comply with US standards, modifications to the engine to comply with emission standards etc. If you don't bring it up to US standards within the one year, it will be exported or crushed. Now you know why a M-B is less expensive in Germany. Vehicles manufactured for export to the USA are required to comply with USA standards which make them more expensive. Suggest you get information from US Customs before you make a decision on this. They have literature
2. I don't know about the US but in Canada, there is a European delivery option you can take from any Canadian Benz dealer. What you do is order your Benz from the factory and they will build it to Canadian specifications. They let you know when it will be built so you can plan your trip to coincide with the delivery. Once you receive it, you get temporary plates so you can drive it around in Europe and then you are responsible for shipping it back across. You save the dealer delivery charges but you are then responsible for getting a container to ship your car across the Atlantic. The post above is correct stating that a German Benz and a US Benz meet different safety and emission requirements. You would have to convert the car to meet US standards and that can be quite costly on some models. Also, you would be a the mercy of the US dollar and Euro currency fluctuations ( and the US dollar has taken a big hit against other world currencies the past 2 or 3 years. The greenback is not as strong as it was ) so any example provided could be off by hundreds and potentially even thousands in just a few hours or days. EDIT: Robert, the first paragraph is regarding pre-ordering a Cdn. version that can be picked up at the factory in Germany. You would then be responsible for shipping back over the Atlantic but it would a fully Cdn. compliant Benz once it arrives. The second paragraph is confirming what is stated by the first answer. A European specification Benz ( if you were to just buy a new or used one from a dealer or private sale ) is different from a U.S. spec. Benz and it would have to be converted to U.S. standards before it could become licensed in the U.S.
3. Jay p., you are contradicting yourself. First you say that they build it to Canadian spec's and then you say it has to be converted. Any German dealership has a Euro delivery program. They build the car to the requirements of the country it is going to. You usually end up saving money, having a nice vacation, and the manufacturer picks up the shipping costs. Ask at your dealership for details.
4. You probably don't save anything by buying a U.S. version of a MBz in Germany and then shipping it to the USA. With taxes, duties, license and shipping, the MBz shipped to your home town will likely cost the same amount. The Euro delivery program was devised so that you could driver your new car around Europe for a month or two before shipping to the USA.
5. Grandpa Don doesn't know what he is talking about, Mercedes (and a good deal of other European car makers) have a Euro delivery program where you travel abroad, tour the factory or whatever, and they ship your car back to the US. From what I have heard it costs about the same as buying a Benz that is already on US soil but you more or less get a free trip to Germany if you do the euro delivery option. And yes the car will be US spec. They are smart enough to config the car you buy to the standards of the country you will bring it home to drive in.
6. Most MBz Dealers have at least one specialist who takes care of EURO DELIVERY purchases. There may be a MBz Distributor in your area of Malaysia who can guide you to the right person to handle this order, the specifications, money transfers, etc. Ask around for the Export, Import Sales Specialist.