Pro car buyers?

Hello everyone,
Thank you for a great place to find information about the Prius. This is my first post. I have tried to find a thread on the subject, but maybe my search wasn't good enough.

I found a lot of good buying advice and what to look out out for with a used Prius, but being a foreigner and not in the US, some assistance would be nice and this is were the pro car buyer comes in.

Ok, here is the case:

We live in Northern Europe and need a new car. We would like to buy Prius as gas is about $9 per gallon. We've set our eyes on a 3rd. gen. Prius from 2010. A used Prius in this category sell for about $31000 and up in our country. You can find them cheaper, but milage would then be rather high (used as taxies etc.).

Importing a newer car to our country from the US can be expensive with all the taxes, but for the Prius it is actually not so bad. We don't have too much money, but if we could find an ok car, this could turn into a good thing. Around $22000.

Pro car buyers.
My question is therefore, should we use a pro car buyer to help us?
By not being in the US, I relly don´t see how we can avoid it.
Do you have any experience with them?
Any recommendations?

We searched the net and found a few. They're not too expensive to use and can arrange for a mechanic to look at a cars for us. This will also help them negotiate a better price and tell us a bit more about the car.

A new Prius in our country starts at $46922 (Prius 1.8 Comfort).

Thank you
Paul in Norway

 

Thank you for your replies, but my question was if anyone had used a pro car buyer... But maybe this is not as wide spread as I thought in the US. A pro car buyer would find cars to your specifications, have them checked out and negotiate a price for you. For us who do not live in the US, this could be a great help, as we can't be there and check out the cars our selves.

I wish Walter, but we can't afford it
Our hope is to find a newer car at a lower price in the US than we can afford here.

Gas prices are high in Norway, but they are high all over Europe compared to the US. I think it is about $8.40 in Germany. Why...? Our governments use it as a tax, but public transport is also at another level, I think.

 

Yes, that would be the best, but with the budget we have and the way the import system works, it will be too expensive. The age of the car is important. A new car will probably end up costing the same as in the stores over here.

Buying a car in the US is not the same as in my country.
Starting price for the new Prius 2012 is, as mentioned, $46922.

 

Thank you both for your reply. Good to know.
I have found a few pro car buyers that sound promising.

To Gasper... I think we have about $15-16.000 to spend on the car.
The rest will go into shipping, taxes and registration over here.

 

Thank you, that is what we hope to do, but we can't come over, at least not now.
Too many things going on here.

Buying a car here is fine, but buying one in the US is unknown to us. That is why we need help to locate the right car. Have it checked out and do the paper work. Since we are exporting it, I believe it is easier to buy from a dealer. At least that is what exporters and importers say on the web.

A pro car buyer would handle all this.
Hopefully, we will be happy with the result

To Gaspers question about a VAT. refund. I don't know about the rest of Europe, but in Norway you can not, as a business, simply buy a car and get the 25% VAT. back. There are special rules for car purchases. Having a company car has many sides to it. Other Norwegian PriusChat readers might know a lot more about that.

 

I know the signal lights are missing on the side of US cars. Europe use 6 signal lights. You need to buy some covers for the mirrors with signal lights in them to comply with the rules. I see there are some great guides here on how to fix that.

I think fog lights at the back are not mandatory if the car came without them. Have to check that. Daytime running lights are your ordinary head lights. Parking lights are for parking. It is not mandatory with an auto on/off switch when you start the car, but you must drive with your head lights on. All year. People will blink you.

Head lights turned on makes it easier for people to spot a car coming their way. There was a lot of debate about it when it was introduced, but today everyone agrees it is for the better, I think.

I also think, in my country, it is forbidden to drive with the fog lights in front on, unless there is a fog. Why, I don't know, but possibly because it can distract the driver from looking further ahead than what is illuminated by the fog lights.