Take the car with us?

[met_74]

Hi you guys!

We bought a new car here in the UK two years ago and i was wondering if we should take it with us or sell it and buy a car in HK.
Any good advice on this subject?

Sonja

[dropdedfwed]

Hi you guys!

We bought a new car here in the UK two years ago and i was wondering if we should take it with us or sell it and buy a car in HK.
Any good advice on this subject?

Sonja

hey Sonja,
i reckon you'd better come here and see if u'd ever use ur car. 90% of HK relys on public transport. if the answer is yes then that makes it hard for u to decide. new cars here are a lot more expensive than second hand cars, but they are still cheaper than you can get in some countries (not sure about UK specifially). in syaing that, you will have already lost a bundle of value in your current 2yo car, so you're going to lose one way or the other. unless it a valuable car, IMHO sell and buy fom HK. some expats from oz will buy a nice luxury car from HK, keep for 12months, and then take back home, cos even after all the export, taxes etc it is still cheaper than we can get in Oz... prob different story for UK though. if you dig thru this website there are some dealers links etc you can sus out... from memory.

[discobay]

Agreed. Most people don't own cars here. Public transport is the best in the world. The region is small and there would be limited places to which you could drive. Maintenance is high too. Petrol costs, car parking fees and annual license fees are unbelievably high.
Saying that, if your car is special and you are into cars then it is worth considering (from someone who wished he'd kept his all those years ago).

[PettsWood]

May I ask what make and model it is. You could have problem (at least expensive) maintaining it here.

Just to give you an idea, you could be paying something like HK$ 2800 (GBP 200 pounds) per month just to have your car parked in where you live. So unless you have a hefty housing allowance that includes a car park space (also at work if you want to drive to work), it could be a small burden if you only want to drive it in weekends. Also just consider HK as an entire London congestion zone. Although no road charges, you have to pay as much as you would in London to park on the street - no free parking anywhere.

Car price wise, new cars are cheaper in the UK than in HK. The current HK boss (the Chief Executive) was accused a few years back of importing a Mercedes from the UK to evade tax (this was when he was the Finance Minister...)

[maddogmerrick]

This is a no-brainer. Your car is 2 years old already, sell it whilst you still can. If you bring your car to HK and decide to sell it after a year or two it will be worth absolutely zilch!

You should sell it and use the money and buy a 2nd hand car out here or even a new one.

The paperwork will also be a killer to deal with if you are ship it out here, both in UK and HK.

[PDLM]

The current HK boss (the Chief Executive) was accused a few years back of importing a Mercedes from the UK to evade tax (this was when he was the Finance Minister...)

That was before my time, but I'm surprised to have seen no reference to it in the last 6 years (and a quick Google and SCMP archive search doesn't throw anything up). I was only aware of Antony Leung getting in trouble when he was Financial Secretary for importing a car just before he put the duty up...

[PettsWood]

That was before my time, but I'm surprised to have seen no reference to it in the last 6 years (and a quick Google and SCMP archive search doesn't throw anything up). I was only aware of Antony Leung getting in trouble when he was Financial Secretary for importing a car just before he put the duty up...

I suppose it was in the good old days when citizens of Hong Kong were busy chating with estate agents, old coins collectors and the like to bother with civil servants. Given it was when Sir Donald was the Finance Secretary, it must have been a long time ago around 1997, I suppose. I think he gave his explanatio that he had a long holiday in Europe so he brought a car as the means of transport and afterwards he like it so much that he imported it back to HK as a second hard car with some milage on it. Apparently it was only discussed once or twice and did not caused a stir.

Yes you are right, I cannot find any reference to it at all.

[Sazzy]

We sold our car in the UK before coming out and to be honest, I havent missed having a car. The public transport is great and usually quicker than the road traffic! Plus you have to be car parking costs + maintenance costs etc etc. Plus I dont think that you will be able to drive in China as the licence is very difficult to get (Im sure someone will know more about this). So if you are staying in HK, I would say sell your car before you come.

[met_74]

thank you all for the input!

The thing is we have two small children, a baby and a toddler. I can;t see myself going on the bus with my double pushchair.

I live in London and i still drive. It is a nightmare to go with public transport with a double pram. That is the reason i would like to have a car in HK. It also gives me a sense of freedom.

The car is not expensive a typical family car: Citroen Xsara Picasso. But i like it (my husband doesnot, )

[PDLM]

I think you may have to rethink the double pram - it's hard enough getting kids around HK with a pushchair, never mind a pram. Many people adopt the on your back (or front) baby carriers for as long as they can.