Buy Your Next Car in Europe

With Toyota’s reputation for quality on the ropes after a massive recall, you may be thinking about a European make for your next new car. Some auto industry experts advise bargain hunters who are looking to get their hands on a new Mercedes, BMW, Audi, or Volvo to look into a program called European Delivery, which can potentially save them big money while giving them a chance to enjoy a pleasant European vacation.

If you choose to buy through a European Delivery program, you will probably get a factory discount of from 5% to 7% from the above car makers. In addition, you may get a free night at a hotel near the factory, along with a free meal and payment for all or part of your airfare.

Here’s how it works: Once you’ve chosen the make and model car you want to buy, you head to your local dealer to make sure it’s eligible under the program. If it is, you’ll make payment and insurance arrangements at the dealership and you’ll be given papers to take with you to the factory in Europe. When you get there, you take delivery of the car, use it on your vacation, then drop it off at a designated shipping point to be shipped home (free of charge), where it will arrive in several weeks.

A caveat: The entire process can take anywhere from four to eight months, so it’s not for you if you’re itching to get into a new car soon. Also, it pays to read the fine print about insurance coverage in Europe as well as how long you can keep the car in the European country without paying sales or value-added taxes. For more information, check the individual car makers’ websites or go to eHow.com.