i was just in the same situation
new conti cylinders in germany price 1920 euro each
in the US genuine Conti 1325 USD
freight for 2 cyl. 400USD
so for me i went the US route
If you add 19% VAT which you have to pay on your imported cylinders, the price difference becomes rather small.
Also an importer should be able to give you better prices due to volume. Just a matter of finding a good source. Personally I would easily pay 200€ or more per cylinder just to have the company that installed them the one bearing the warranty. Otherwise you’re in a rather difficult situation should there be a problem — and there frequently are problems!
all prices are without the VAT! these are net prices
It was actually recommended (off course off records) from the german supplier (probabaly one of the larger ones in Germany right in the middle of germany) to use the US route
So… the final prices for two cylinders would be:
Conti Cylinder Germany: 2290.75 × 2 = 4581.50 incl. VAT
USA: 3310.10 including freight and VAT
That IS a big difference
yep, that is why i went US way (so not so lomg time ago witha more favorite us/euro exchange rate that would have been even more!
i even did compare some shops in europe and there was some cheaper ones as the German shop but I would have to add freight again so that would have taken nearly all the saving away from the german shop (i could have collect from there). So that is why i went to Air Power Inc.
Another thing is that if the aircraft is being operated by a VAT registered individual or corporate body, the import VAT can be reclaimed.
It can be similarly reclaimed if it is privately (non VAT reg operator) owned but used partly or wholly for travel for the business of such a VAT registered individual or corporate body… if say you do 50% of total airborne time on the business, then 50% of the expenses can be reclaimed, and if some of those include VAT then that VAT can be reclaimed. This is the UK position but it is probably the same in every civilised country, because the regime for reclaiming business expenses must work in a similar way otherwise much of business activity would grind to a halt.
achimha wrote:
Otherwise you’re in a rather difficult situation should there be a problem — and there frequently are problems!
Yes, but few of those problems are covered by warranty – ask me how I know …