Korean Job Discussion Forums

krats1976 · Joined: 14 May 2003

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed a heckuva lot more American cars on the road lately? The only foreign cars I used to see were European, but lately I've seen a ton of Fords and Dodges and Chryslers and such.

Did they reduce the duties on US imports or something?

Shutterfly · Joined: 02 Sep 2004 Location: Seoul

Yes! I have seen a ton more foreign cars around. Even in my old quiet neighbourhood. I was wondering about it myself!

denverdeath · Joined: 21 May 2005 Location: Boo-sahn

I think Dae-woo was taken over by GM a few years ago, which might have something to do with it. Not sure though.

JacktheCat · Joined: 08 May 2004

If anybody's interested in a bright yellow Chevy Camaro convertible, there's a used car salesman in Icheon who's got one for sale.

ajuma · Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Anywere but Seoul!!

There's always a Caddy parked in front of one of the pool places in front of my uni (on the sidewalk, of course! Laughing

)! Pretty cool!

Hollywoodaction · Joined: 02 Jul 2004

There`s a heck of alot of GM cars now sold in Canada that are actually relabeled Daewoo. One more reason to stay away from GM cars. Wink

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

mishlert · Joined: 13 Mar 2003 Location: On the 3rd rock from the sun

funplanet · Joined: 20 Jun 2003 Location: The new Bucheon!

now where in the hell is anyone gonna drive a maserati or lambi????? the roads here are not very conducive for real driving...besides, those are "manly" cars....not for little "girlie boy Koreans" Very Happy

krats1976 · Joined: 14 May 2003

itaewonguy · Joined: 25 Mar 2003

cars have always been 30% tax.. it has never been 100% as long as I have known..

then again I was quoted for second hand cars.. but come on. who charges the same price of the car to bring it in.. thats just crazy!

mishlert · Joined: 13 Mar 2003 Location: On the 3rd rock from the sun

Pyongshin Sangja · Joined: 20 Apr 2003 Location: I love baby!

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

There was an article in one of the English daily papers that said X% of Koreans own X% of the land. It was something crazy, like 3% of Koreans own 86% of the land.

I know that car companies here often complain that they can't make a profit unless they raise the prices of their cars by so much. It's a huge mark-up. Why? Rental rates. The car companies are dead-honest about why they mark up the cars so high. Import taxes and property rental rates for the stores.

The rich in Korea only get richer...

Another example: There is one main exit into Bundang off of the main highway. Back home in the states, we'd have at least 3. I have this theory that there is one main exit for a reason. According to one of my students, her family home doubled in price from 500,000,000 won to 1,000,000,000 won in a very short time due to the Pangyo access to Bundang. How much do you want to bet that certain officials own land in exactly that area? I wouldn't be at all suprised.

In Korea it's all about consumer protectionism and land ownership. And screwing any foreign entity out of as much money as possible while stealing every manufacturing secret possible.

seoulshock · Joined: 12 Jul 2005

So the import tax is only 30%? Is this only for new cars? Or used cars as well?

I wanted to bring my Lexus IS300 from Los Angeles. I paid about $30K for it brand new. It's three years old now... So assuming it was new I would be paying $9,000 (30% of new price) + shipping fees?

But anyway, it's used... My guess is it's value is somewhere around $20K now. So would I be paying 30% of $20K ($6K) or could I just ship it here without paying any import fees?

I've been trying to get information from people in Korea, and I've heard all kinds of answers, none of them being consistent with each other.