The Exchange rate has moved very favourably for UK purchasing power -
at least for most things ... effective rate of $1.98 to the pound.

Yet UK dealer prices are not reflecting this ... when I asked my
dealer he said "we buy in pounds" so cost is the same ... which I find
strange, if they buy a US product from a US company in the US .. then
they would pay in USD.

Unfortunately the price in the UK is a complete over charge ....
for example an 1800 SR3 here works out at $38,000 for a 4.3 190hp.
The US guys would pay only ... $23,700
With the favourable exchange rate we should be paying LESS than that,
even allowing a transport and import tax.

Yet we pay almost 60% more instead of what should be 40% less!

A question for any UK owners - have any of you imported your own
boat ? or looked at doing this ?

Or any US dealers - have you exported one to UK?

Maybe buying a new or used (less than yr old) boat and importing it
would work out a lot cheaper.
_________________

4.9% of the UK population live in Wales, the rest just wish they did.

Don't want you to think you're being ignored but this group doesn't have
that many active posters and it is rare that we have a psoter from the UK.
Occasionally, but not often. I'm guessing it's the transportation and what
your market will bear. Have you considered looking at European
manufacturers? I'll bet you can get a better deal and worst case you could
trailer it back yourself via the chunnel. When I was in the lakes around
northern italy I saw a lot of boat names I didn't recognize. I assumed they
were european in origin. I saw a few US boats as well.

"Argonaut" wrote in message
ups.com...
The Exchange rate has moved very favourably for UK purchasing power -
at least for most things ... effective rate of $1.98 to the pound.

Yet UK dealer prices are not reflecting this ... when I asked my
dealer he said "we buy in pounds" so cost is the same ... which I find
strange, if they buy a US product from a US company in the US .. then
they would pay in USD.

Unfortunately the price in the UK is a complete over charge ....
for example an 1800 SR3 here works out at $38,000 for a 4.3 190hp.
The US guys would pay only ... $23,700
With the favourable exchange rate we should be paying LESS than that,
even allowing a transport and import tax.

Yet we pay almost 60% more instead of what should be 40% less!

A question for any UK owners - have any of you imported your own
boat ? or looked at doing this ?

Or any US dealers - have you exported one to UK?

Maybe buying a new or used (less than yr old) boat and importing it
would work out a lot cheaper.
_________________

4.9% of the UK population live in Wales, the rest just wish they did.

On Wed, 27 Jun 2007 11:26:39 GMT, "jamesgangnc"
wrote:

Have you considered looking at European manufacturers?

The only good thing about the Ireland Trip From Hell was getting to
look at the small boats manufactured in Europe and the UK.

They make some really nifty, sea worthy small boats.

"Argonaut" wrote in message
ups.com...
The Exchange rate has moved very favourably for UK purchasing power -
at least for most things ... effective rate of $1.98 to the pound.

Yet UK dealer prices are not reflecting this ... when I asked my
dealer he said "we buy in pounds" so cost is the same ... which I find
strange, if they buy a US product from a US company in the US .. then
they would pay in USD.

Unfortunately the price in the UK is a complete over charge ....
for example an 1800 SR3 here works out at $38,000 for a 4.3 190hp.
The US guys would pay only ... $23,700
With the favourable exchange rate we should be paying LESS than that,
even allowing a transport and import tax.

You guys pay much more for most things than we do in the states, many times
it's as much as double.
It doesn't seem as though you really benefit from the exchange rate unless
you travel here.

Compare prices at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk and you'll see what I mean.

Rick,

Recently a Brit told his story about importing a Boston Whaler boat from the
US to the UK. He was happy about the outcome and offered up some lessons
learned to help others avoid the minor mistakes he made in the process.

The saga was outlined on continouswave.com a web site devoted to Whalers. I
believe the topic was in the GAM forum. The site has a good search feature
so if interested you should have little trouble finding the thread.

The writers e-mail should be available on the site so you may be able to
talk to him face to face and get the whole story.

Good luck to you.

Butch
"Argonaut" wrote in message
ups.com...
The Exchange rate has moved very favourably for UK purchasing power -
at least for most things ... effective rate of $1.98 to the pound.

Yet UK dealer prices are not reflecting this ... when I asked my
dealer he said "we buy in pounds" so cost is the same ... which I find
strange, if they buy a US product from a US company in the US .. then
they would pay in USD.

Unfortunately the price in the UK is a complete over charge ....
for example an 1800 SR3 here works out at $38,000 for a 4.3 190hp.
The US guys would pay only ... $23,700
With the favourable exchange rate we should be paying LESS than that,
even allowing a transport and import tax.

Yet we pay almost 60% more instead of what should be 40% less!

A question for any UK owners - have any of you imported your own
boat ? or looked at doing this ?

Or any US dealers - have you exported one to UK?

Maybe buying a new or used (less than yr old) boat and importing it
would work out a lot cheaper.
_________________

4.9% of the UK population live in Wales, the rest just wish they did.