Sian ornih (300) a aaa] Bias This Week March 21, 1990. Page M15 eA LETS ys TOP STORY 2 Continued from Page 14 roads in the southern climes keeps corrosion damage to a People in the know are head- ing to Portland, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix. Los Angeles, one giant freeway, ap- pears to be the favored spot for those shopping for European exotics. Some say that Texas is the place to go for Lincolns and Cadillacs as that state appears to be suffering an economic downturn and large U.S. luxu- ry cars are readily available there at a low cost. One Victoria man recently purchased a 1984 Cadillac from a Texas dealer for $4,500 (U.S.) A similar car advertised by a Victoria dealer was priced at $12,900 (Cdn.). After paying the exchange, duty, federal tax and provincial tax, the man landed his used Caddy for un- der $7,000 in Canadian funds _ — a substantial saving, even ® when you consider the expense and time it took the man to fly to Texas and drive the car back Z up. Well, if it’s such a good deal, why haven't others thought of doing it? you might ask. Well, they have. Victoria's car deal- ers are doing it in increasing numbers. Terry Cramp, of McCallum Motors, president of the Victor- ia Auto Dealers Association, ~savs while he’s heard that some dealers are bringing in cars from the States for resale, he doesn’t believe the practice is widespread. He con- ever bought a car, from a bro- ker or anyone, which was from the States.” Cramp said he has heard that “weekend mechanics” have been going down to the U.S. to purchase cars for re- sale. He admits such people are a worry to dealers who are bonded . “We'd like to see legislation put forward making it more difficult for the man on the street to get a licence to deal in cars. If some guy, for $500 or a $1,000, can buy a licence and set himself up in business then rip a few people off then sail into the sun- Peedes the matter has been an item of discussion among mem- bers of his group. “With the product that we sell (Jeep and Volvo) we find that it’s not that attractive. Because , were a fran- chised dealer, we find that - it’s not that > attractive. Because we're a deal- set, it gives us a bad name, do- esn’t it,” said Cramp. Cramp said his . group has lobbied the government to increase the amount of the $5,000 mandatory bond auto dealers must put up in or- der to get a dealers li- cence. The government recently er, every- complied by thing has to increasing be done by the required the rules and bond to regulations. $15,000. We'd have to Speedway ~ change the speedo (speedome- er) head but Joe Blow on the street would probably get away with that. But for a franchised, licenced, bonded dealer, there's a= a little more expected of them. & There's the expense of going #° down, finding something and having it checked out mechani- cally by somebody down there. Then there’s the expenses of having it brought to the border then having it surveyed and searched and bonded to be brought across. There's the du- ~~ ty to be paid and the exchange *o be made. It’s surprising how g it is now,” said Cramp. on said the average i Cysised dealer doesn’t have = 4Gie manpower or facilities to | bring in cars from the U.S. » “We do enough business lo- cally and at the Vancouver auto auction. I personally have nev- er gone down there or sent any of my people down there to _survey the situation nor have I Motors is one local dealership that has brought in a number of California cars for resale here. General sales manager Carl Munro said buying cars from California gives him the ability to offer Victorians some choice. “Tf you try to find a used Porsche on the wholesale mar- ket here, it’s very difficult. Down in California, there’s 10 +imes as many people and cars.” Munro said his firm only started importing used cars for resale recently. He said it re- mains to be seen whether there’s enough profit in it to carry on. “We haven't found it particu- larly cost-effective. We're able to pick the cars up at rock bottom prices but by the time we get them back here, pay the duty, tax and the difference on the dollar and go through the necessary recondintioning that we feel is required to bring the car up to our standards, we're almost better off to buy one here,” said Munro. “They tend to have a lot of miles. The bodies are in pretty good shape but mechanically, it’s not hard to rack up $15,000 in reconditioning on a 911. Our average reconditioning cost on the cars we have brought up is $9,000. Munro said his company re- cently sponsored a free Porsche service clinic. Of the 40 cars looked at, 10 were from the U.S. and the condition of those vehicles was described as “ter- rible.” Munro said people who think they can get aood deal on a Porsche in LA sould be cau- tious. He recomr&