Hi everyone

This is my first post here. I'm not even sure if this is actually the right forum to place my question, but maybe some of you might be able to help me. Any help is deeply appreciated. And I'd like to apologize in advance for any grammar or spelling errors

I'm living in Switzerland, but I will move to the US to do my Master's Degree in September 2009. I'll be living in California for at least two yeras (that's when my student visa expires). I might stay longer, depending on wether I get a working visa or not, wether I get a good job, wether I have a girlfriend by the time my visa expires etc...

Currently, I'm driving an Audi RS4 (06/2006) and I totally love this car. Basically, I see myself with two options: I either import the car or I sell it here in Switzerland and by a new/used RS4 or R8 in the US.

Since I move to the US for longer than a year, I'm considered a permanent resident and therefore I can import all the stuff i want free of customs charges.

However, there are other problems:
- The car only has a km/h tachometer and no mph scale. Is this a reason for denying me license plates?
- I heard that the European navigation systems don't work in the US and vince versa, because the satelites are in different positions.
- TMC will not work because European TMC is broadcasted on a FM frequency while the US uses Satelite Radio.
- If I stay longer than those two years and I'd somewhen sell the car, I assume that these issues would cut the car's value dramatically.

The other option is to sell the car next September and buy a new one in the US. My local dealer erstimated that he'd give me about 60,000 Swiss Francs for the car in a year (for simplicity, assume that the exchange rate between US$ and CHF is 1:1, although it's currently about 1:1.04). I am willing to add some more money ot my budget, so I would have about 60 to 70, maximum 80k US$ to spend on a new car. From what I've heard, cars are a lot cheaper in the US than they are here. Would I get a decent used RS4 or R8 for this amount of money?

How much would I have to pay for insurance on these cars? By then I'll be a 25 year old male with no history of traffic violations (so far, and if I had one I'd lie about it since the US insurance company won't find out about any fines here in Switzerland). I got my driver's license in March 2003.

So, what would you do? Sell or import?

Thank you for any answers.

fiNal

 

First of all, I would like to welcome you to the forums final.

In response to your question, I would probably sell your RS4 over there and buy another one here in the US to save the hassle. US $80K should be able to get you an RS4 here in the States.

Another thing I would like to mention is the radio. Satelite radio is gaining popularity here but most of the stations are still broadcasted on FM frequencies so incase you really do want to import your car, it shouldn't be a problem.

I'm not sure about this part but I don't think the driving history that you had in Switzerland would count towards the driving history in the US. You might be considered as a new driver once you move here.

At last, which part of California will you be moving to?
If it happens to be Southern California, I will look forward to meeting you at the local get-togethers we have.

Best of luck to you.

 

Welcome!

You'll be better off selling your car and picking one up here. You're correct on the conversion rate being about 1:1 favoring the franc. You won't be able to pick up an R8 in the US. Right now they're well over the MSRP ($150k - $175k) due to demand. RS4's are going for $60k - $70k. The US RS4 does have some slight differences from the Euro version. Namely the seats, steering wheel, and no start button. California also has some of the most brutal vehicle laws in the states.

I'm not sure what TMC is.

Considering the remote possibility of staying over 2 years and all the crap that would go along with importing a car, I would sell it.

 

Thank you for your answers. So I think I will actually buy a new one. Although the different seats and streaing wheel are a shame. I love both the racing seats and the racing stearin wheel in my car.

@kriptonik: I have sent applications to San Diego State Univerity, Univerity of California Los Angeles and Berkeley. All came back positive so I can actually choose betweent the three. Berkeley obviously has the best name, but I'm not sure yet if I can resist the attraction of SoCal I've spent four days in San Diego and I love this city. Unfortunately, I hardly know LA and have never been to Berkeley. I think all the party there happens in San Francisco...
So, I'm not sure yet, but even if it was Berkeley, I'd love to drive down the 101 one day to meet you guys.

@BaconBait: TMC stands for "Traffic Message Channel". If your navigation system supports it, it picks up traffic messages and uses them to calculate the fastet route, avoiding traffic.
The different seats and streaing wheel are a shame. I like both the racing seats and the racing stearing wheel in my car.

By the way, has the US RS4 a manually shifted transmission as well? Because I will not drive an automatic transmission I need that cluch pedal and gearshift lever, driving without them is so boring!

 

they have something like that in the us, it's through garmin. i think you need an aftermarket navi to use it tho.

 

Nice to here you are coming... I moved to Huntington Beach 2.5 years ago from Sweden and I absolutely love it here!!

I flew into San Fransisco to begin with, it is a beautiful city. I bought a car and drove the PCH down to OC where I found my spot the weather in Socal tipped the scale for me.

I don't know what the different schools are offering but for the city's I would recommend San Diego, it is realy nice down there, if I ever move again it will be to San Diego. LA is in my opinion more dirty and worn down with pot-holes in the streets etc...

 

I think the US only gets the manual transmission. Which is how it should be.

North and South California are beautiful. It really depends on what you want to do while you're there. The south has better beaches and Las Vegas is a couple hours away. The North has the mountains and the Bay area is a lot of fun. Both have the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), which you are now required to drive on.