Has anyone else noticed how low the US dollar has got compared to the £? I always used to base my sums on 1.5 dollars to the pound, but today it is at 1.9 dollars to the pound:

http://finance.yahoo.com/m5?s=GBP&t=USD&a=1&c=3

Yup, very good for *us* at the moment. I was reading a report that it is going to stay around 1.9 for a while and even improve to 2.0 this year. I am looking at importing another car soon so I opened an Isle of Man dollar savings account with Nationwide last month and dumped a few £££ in in case it dropped.

Oh, if anybody can point me towards an ex-police 2001+ 9C1 Impala in white with less than 100k I'd be interested! Preferably near a large port but not too fussed.

Gareth

Yeah i've noticed for weeks been great!!

Didn't think it would move from 1.88 but its still going!

Good time for our companies to sell too.

Just out of interest, how much does it cost to ship a car across from the US.

Just out of interest, how much does it cost to ship a car across from the US.

Not much.... about $700. On top of that you will probably pay clearance fees (£100), import duty (10%) and VAT (17.5% on top). more expensive is trucking within the US - one I thing I will be looking to reduce on my next import.

Some cars probably aren't worth importing - anything in colours that don't sell well over here, anything already sold here and anything V6 is a dead loss when you want to re-sell. Anything unfashionable in the US is probably unfashionable here - anything with a vinyl roof or fake wood panneling is probably not going to have a large market for instance!

Certain vehicles also don't make sense to import - a C5 Corvette is pretty much just as cheap to buy here as import, but a Z06 is pretty scare and expensive if you do find them so it is. (My boss is looking at getting a 350Z and I'm trying to pursuade him to get one!)

Oooh... forgot - anything under 10 years old which isn't European Type Approved needs to pass an SVA test (£160) which is an inspection of the vehicle's construction (as opposed to the condition which is tested in the MOT). This should be fairly easy to pass with some basic electrical work, but some vehicles might need the headlamp reflectors modified and some might need mechanical modifications, but it's difficult to tell without looking in the SVA Manual and knowing about the vehicle itself.

Gareth

It would be interesting to know what US cars are rare there... We'd pay an arm and a leg for a Cosworth Escort and would have paid a lot for a Subaru WRX a few years ago..

Would also be interesting seeing a Vette or Viper with UK plates.

Hmm. There's a Sierra Cosworth on my road. Looks just as ugly as those in the UK...

Yeah, now is a good time to visit the US and stock up on CDs and Karmas

It would be interesting to know what US cars are rare there...

Hundreds of limos all the same... except one guy who has a stretch F150 Harley Davidson:


Not sure how many Vipers, but one more if I could afford it! I have just counted 15 on the UK Viper Club's gallery, I therefore doubt there are more than 50 in the UK. I saw four in a line at the American Auto Club's summer nationals - the most I have ever seen in one place at once. There were 6,500 "proper" American cars there last year, the biggest event ever in Europe apparently. And there I was, directing traffic - I didn't get inside the beer tent once!

edit: Ooh... there's a Viper for sale at £25k.... now if I sold a car and got a £10k loan... funny ad also:

Private enthusiastcan no longer justify owning 3 Dodge Vipers so, regrettably for sale 1994 RT/10

Jealous!!!

Gareth

How much is gasoline over there? I know my Dodge 360 V8 Magnum was a gas guzzler, the Viper's V10 must have it's own tanker truck, doesn't it?

How much is gasoline over there?

Currently I am paying 73.5p per litre, which is $5.22 per US gallon. The exchange rate is obviously well up at the moment, when it was at $1.5 it would have been more like $4.20 a gallon.

So, from empty, brimming the Caprice costs me £60 ($114). Luckily I only drive 16 miles a day! Actually, I am hoping to cut this cost by getting a 3.8 Impala.

Gareth

What octane is that for? I'm currently buying 93 octane for about $1.80/gal (£0.25/L).

93 octane

I guess this is as good a place as any to ask what octane numbers are actually measuring -- percentage of octane? What's the rest, septane? nonane? Why does it matter? And is all the octane in petrol actually octane, systematically speaking, or is some of it methyl septane, dimethyl hexane, and friends?

Peter

It's actually measured in test engines distributed by some regulatory association. It's measured by counting the knocks at certain levels. Or so I've been told.

And knocks are caused by spontaneous combustion -- that not ignited by the spark itself.

This seems to be a good FAQ.

Specifically, it's not percentage, since you can get gas with octane ratings over 100.

Before political correctness and saving the planet kicked in, I'm sure that octane = tetestarone, in the sense of: "my car only runs on 5 star". In the less than happy period of my Audi TT ownership, the manufacturer recommended super unleaded, but I could never tell the difference from cooking gas.
Oops! the grumpy old man strikes again! - and he's had a few, down the pub and can't figure the spelling of T...one.

Octane bad, cetane good... Oh, yeah I now drive a Cummins diesel...

http://What octane is that for? I'm currently buying 93 octane for about $1.80/gal (£0.25/L).]What octane is that for? I'm currently buying 93 octane for about $1.80/gal (£0.25/L).

Sickening...

Standard "premium" gas is 95 RON, "super" is 97 and the other stuff like Optimax is 98. I don't think you can get 93 RON fuel anywhere now.

I believe all Jap fuel is 100 RON, so most "grey" imports are advised to use as high octane rating as possible.

Gareth

UK RON != US octane. We use (RON+MON)/2 and call it AKI (for ``antiknock index''). Our 93 AKI is probably about 98 RON, but it probably depends on the brand.

Oh, and no one refers to it as AKI unless they're being technical, and few people know how to be technical. It's just generically referred to as octane.

I always use Optimax, and sometimes use an octane booster and it makes an amazing amount of difference in my car. After trying it in my wife's not-so-sporty Fiat Punto, we still noticed an improvement in response, and apparently it will increase engine life too.

Only worthwhile if you need zippiness, though

yup good for us NZ'rs too, we were getting .40cents to our dollar, but now we getting .70cents to our dollar!! Time for another backup TiVo methinks

Yup, I only put Optimax in my clio. I did try it in SWMBOs punto and it seem a little quicker to get going. The inside of my filler cap says 98 RON so I'm just following manfacturers quidelines.

we were getting .40cents to our dollar

Four-tenths of a cent to the dollar? So I could have gotten $250NZ for $1US?

alright sarcasm taken