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MG MGA - selling an A

After 3 twenty fifth birthdays Father Time has caught up. I need a larger, easier car, to get in and out of. possibly a Magnette. My rust free, restored '57 A roadster, with matching numbers is for sale
probably to the UK. Owing me $35,000 plus. The best offer I've had in Australia is $20,000. Given that it costs upwards of $50,000 to restore an A properly plus the car, I won't accept such a low price. Where in the U. K. is the best place to advertise it ?
And , realistically, what would a good A fetch in the U K ? -- Is Vat levied on imports to the Uk ? -- Maybe this is not a good time to sell to the U.K. given the strength of the Aussie dollar , the alternative is to leave it under cover , till when? Sean
S Sherry

Sean, sad to read of your decision to sell, and difficulties in finding a buyer at a reasonable price. I know of someone in Victoria who's seriously looking for a good MGA to buy. I've sent the link for this post to him. I'm not aware of him buying one yet. Hopefully he'll contact you shortly.
I've also a friend near Penrith who's heavily involved in Magnettes. I can put you in touch if you wish.
Feel free to email me about either matter should you want to.
Regards, Tom Aczel
T Aczel

Can you feel the love? Very cool! Sean, hold tight, try to keep the A in Oz. No luck... ebay that sucker!
David Holmes

Have a look at http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/ to get an idea of asking prices for MGAs in the UK. Don't forget, these are asking prices, not what the car actually made. As a guess, I think reasonable to good MGAs are making £15-20,000.

There should be no VAT as the car is a used item but there will be import duty of I think 10% plus a handling fee no doubt. You will probably struggle to sell the car in the UK without the car actually being here. Shipping and handling are going to add to the cost as well.

Malcolm Asquith

Good MGAs in Aust. seem to bring between $25-35K, see link below
http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/results.aspx?N=1216+1246+1247+1252+1282+4294961367+4294959152&keywords=&tsrc=allcarhome&Nne=15
to get more than $32k they need to be exceptional regardless of the hard work and expense that went into the restoration.
My $0.02 as they say!
Mike
Mike Ellsmore




T Aczel

Hi Sean,
give me an email. I'm primarily looking for a 1600 but you never know. A bunch of photos wouldn't go amiss
I'm particularly fascinated with door and sill fit, gaps etc. Rust really gets my attention :) You wouldn't believe how bad some of the cars I've seen are.

If you do garage it I'd suggest you buy one of those giant plastic bags and displace all the air with nitrogen. Mothball it. An unused car deteriorates quickly, especially if it is 50 years old! "Ran when parked" is a sad phase.

http://www.carpoint.com.au/all-cars/results.aspx?N=834+1216+1247+1282+1252+1246+4294961367+4294959152&keywords=

I just turned down the white car for 27000.

& I missed out on the green one

http://www.justauto.com.au/justcars/search?search=advanced&selected_category=Choose+Category&parent_page=%2Fjustcars%2Fbuy_and_sell%2Ffor_sale&looking_for=For+Sale&search_category=&search_region=&keywords=mga&search_type_make=&search_type_model=&search_type_year=&search_type_series=&search_details_lowest_price=0&search_details_highest_price=&search_details_lowest_mileage=0&search_details_highest_mileage=&search_details_transmission=&search_show_ads_from=Dealers+%26+Private+Sellers&search_location_state=
Peter Sherman

By the way, the blank post from Tom above mine is my fault. Tom send me a link and it turns out if you do that others can post under your name! Sorry Tom.
Peter Sherman

Malcolm, Slightly off the thread topic but relating to your comment re importing items into UK. You suggest that used items should incur no vat/duty. I have just taken delivery of a 50 year old T-type radiator shell (ebay purchase) from USA, the Post Office charged £57 vat before they would release it. Is that correct or should I be appealing to Customs and Excise for a refund? Any other importers have an opinion on this? Cheers Tony
Tony Mitchell

Tony,

It looks like I was wrong and VAT can be chargeable on second hand items. However, this is often not the case on UK sales as the vendor needs to be VAT registered which many small traders are not.

Having read, or tried to read, some of the words from HM Revenue and Customs it seems that in most cases VAT is payable on imported used goods including cars. There are exceptions but as usual the whole thing is immensely complex.

In your case, sorry Tony, but it looks like the Post Office was correct.

Malcolm
Malcolm Asquith

It depends

My MGA was imported to the UK from the USA. Because it was of UK origin there was a duty to pay, but apparently no VAT because it predated the imposition of VAT.

dominic clancy

I haven't actually imported a complete car, only bits, but I did investigate it a few years ago.

So, I'm getting out of my depth but I think the rules have been tightened up in the last few years and to get a zero VAT rate the car has to be of historical significance, which apparently usually excludes most post 1950 cars, or rare.

The VAT is also apparently applied on the total import bill which includes the shipping, handling and duty.
Malcolm Asquith

Mike's comment on prices is probably spot on, you will never get the time and money spent back on your car. If you have fully documented receipts from a professional restorer/body shop (not from you-uness you are a fully qualified mechanic/body repairer) then maybe $30,000 and only if its a t/cam or delux. What is asked/claimed vs received is almost always very different from what is actually paid. Limited buyers in Australia because the guys looking for these are almost all going to be over 40 years old. Young guns just want a rice-racer or hot ford/holden. Don't forget the cost of shipping and storage and disposal if you go the UK way. Who in UK will do this for you and i a world of dubious buyers on the net are you prepared to trust some foreign email address from where ever? If you can get $25000 your doing well in my opinion (contiious MGA owner/player in Aussie for over 35 years).
regards
mark
Mark Mathiesen

Sean don't let people in the UK convince you tht prices here are any different to anywhere else in the world.

To get more than £12000 selling an MGA privately in the UK the car would have to be stunningly exceptional.

Cars do fetch more than this in the UK but they will be from quality restorers such as Bob West and Sherwood resorations, buyers will pay a huge premium for their names on a car.

Selling a car privately is always going to be difficult and will never get close to the prices dealers demand.
Robert (Bob) Midget Turbo

I appreciate all the realistic comments and now have a better understanding of the situation. Sending to the Uk is now not on. My past experience getting past the Customs and the VAT man ( other items ) reminds me of the Robber Barons who operated on the Rine River !
Yes Peter ,I take your point about the body and shut lines. I'll email you as many detail photos as you like, you will not be disappointed . I too looked at a lot of junk before I found this car... Thanks Sean
S Sherry

Bob,
Can you tell me where to find these A's for less than £12000 that are in exceptionally ( i assume good )
condition but just short of stunning. I would like a Mk1 1600 in white with wire wheels roadster.
A J Dee

Well I'd like to put in an order for a Old English white 1600, or black or BRGreen car with no rust & filler and good door gaps.
After more than a year I've concluded that the American market drives the price of MGA's world wide. 1.5 times the us price. The $ is weak at the moment so buyers market. Costs about 6K $ to import and convert steering, so it is just worth doing, with an element of risk.
Peter Sherman

AJD

Kindly reread my post I think I said ""to get MORE THAN""

I assume you have been looking for a while, what so far have you found on the private market?
Robert (Bob) Midget Turbo

Bob, I think you are a little underpriced at £12k. My friend tried for 18 months to buy an MGA roadster in good nick.He saw cars advertised for over £20k down to £10k . The £10k cars were mostly in need of restoration and the £20k+ cars were indeed overpriced - but he found one at £13k in OK condition, but not exceptional by any means, earlier this year - in fact he has spent over £2k on it already to get it somewhere near right - so I reckon £15k is the going value for a pristine car (but not concours)needing no work.
Cam Cunningham

Cam I reckon that £15 for a prestine car is about right, I would go along with that

What I have found with buying cars is that the majority of private cars are poor to say the least.

Unless you are very lucky you would need to look at about 10 cars before you would find a "nice" car.
Which is why I suppose buyers take the plunge and buy from quality sources at a premium
Robert (Bob) Midget Turbo

Hi I got £17500 for mine about 3 years ago but the guy was desperate to get it , he said he had been all over the country looking and told me that none had come close to it, a great credit to the guy who did most of the body and to Bob West who put it back together and did all the triming etc.pic taken whilst with it's p.o.


gordon

g c pugh

It was a good price then Gordon - have you seen the wanted ad in this month's "Safety Fast"? - Micheal Daws is looking for a tool kit and/or odd tools - phone 01654 767055
Cam Cunningham

This thread was discussed between 09/12/2010 and 12/12/2010

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