Our Nephew has just returned from the USA where he purchased a new 28 foot van for a total price landed here in Australia fully compliant with our Australian design rules for $42600 and for a very similar van here in Australia he was quoted $90000 so how could there be such a massive difference considering his van is not a normal production line model and he has to pay to have it shipped to Australia. I have done a little research on these Forest River brand vans and they seem to be of similar standard and maybe better than some Aussie built ones. I have been told you can also buy these vans in Queensland modified to Aus standards at similar to USA prices.
The question is why are we paying so much for a similar manufactured van here in Australia.
-- Edited by aussietraveller on Tuesday 19th of February 2013 11:37:44 AM
Landfall said
02:03 PM Feb 19, 2013
Easy, in the good old USA labour rates are about $7.50 per hour and less holidays, etc.
Because of our Australian work ethic, lots and lots of holidays, both public and private, sickies, champagne tastes on beer budgets, our workers will not work for anything less an overly high wage, we all pay more.
Impossible now to reverse the trend, for a level playing field we will have to wait a few decades for the resdt of the world to catch us down the tube.
Of course our high dollar at the moment suits anyone that is savvy enough to purchase overseas.
The often trotted out argument of "not built to suit Australian conditions" doesn't hold water either.
Ken
PS:- Not that I can complain, I wouldn't get out of bed for under $100 per hour.
-- Edited by Landfall on Tuesday 19th of February 2013 02:04:14 PM
herbie said
10:39 PM Feb 19, 2013
Hi , just replying to your comment about not many c/ vans taking the van in question, our van is 30ft and we just ring ahead to ask if they accept our size van. We have never been refused as yet.Even if it is what they call the over flow area. Some of our travelling friends have buses , Huge motor homes and 5th wheelers that make our van small in comparison to what we tow behind our 4x4.We have more problems fitting into free camping places,I think these caravan park owners have all their fingers crossed that R/V manufactures keep on making bigger R/Vs for this reason.The nomad life style has really shifted in the last 2 years , as more people are choosing to work around OZ ,while they are still young enough to earn a living while seeing this wonderful country. We started out 12 years working while we travelled on our own now there are 12 of us in tow , all doing the same thing.
Regards Herbi .
-- Edited by herbie on Tuesday 19th of February 2013 10:40:10 PM
greyghosts said
11:48 PM Feb 19, 2013
hi landfall,have PM,d you. greyghosts
neilnruth said
01:06 AM Feb 20, 2013
The price might be great but my question is where is he going to find places that will take a 28' van? that's a big van.
aussietraveller said
01:42 AM Feb 20, 2013
Hi Neil & Ruth your question is the same as mine not a lot of Caravan parks will take vans that size as most sites are now 9mx9m and you can only free-camp a limited amount of time with four children a 28' van is a bit big for me,they plan to do the full lap over extended period.
jimricho said
02:31 AM Feb 20, 2013
Economy of Scale is also a very big factor. The market is much larger and this enables manufacturers to spread their fixed costs (a very significant component in the production of most goods and services) across a much larger number of units.
It also enables the implementation of cost saving production methods that would would be uneconomical unless applied on a large scale.
Comebak-Wilson said
02:54 AM Feb 20, 2013
$100.00 an hour. Is that before or after tax?
justcruisin01 said
05:14 AM Feb 20, 2013
Did he buy a tug while over there as well ?
Landfall said
05:47 AM Feb 20, 2013
Comebak-Wilson wrote:
$100.00 an hour. Is that before or after tax?
After!
Ken
GaryKelly said
10:00 AM Feb 20, 2013
Yes, it's all a matter of scale. When you're supplying a market of 300 million people rather than 22 million, it makes a huge difference. I've often been asked by my American friends why certain things are so expensive over here. For under $10K over there you can buy a good used motorhome, one of those big fancy ones with all the goodies.
Two Strays said
05:31 PM Feb 20, 2013
Despite all the underlying factors for the extra cost, GREED, also plays a part.
neilnruth said
07:44 PM Feb 20, 2013
Herbie have you found that the caravan parks that can take your size van also charge you more for the site? We saw two 5th wheelers experience this in an outback NSW town. They were charged extra for being a 'big' van - when in fact they were no bigger than some of the normal vans - just looked bigger.
aussietraveller - I guess the $48000 he saved in getting the USA version will cover the extra cost of pulling the 28' van for a while. Hope they enjoy their trip. Their kids will never forget the experience.
johnnz said
07:55 PM Feb 20, 2013
I was at a caravan, motorhome and fifth wheel show at Las Vegas last November, there were many RV companies displaying ther wares.
On speaking with a number of sales reps on the subject of the price differance between the US and Australia, quite a number are eyeing the Aussie market, especially the fifth wheel and caravan makers where it's obviously easier to make a vehicle from scratch as against converting one.
Yes the wages are less than ours, but I don't think that's the whole reason for the difference.
Obama is committed to bringing jobs back to America, with lower material prices, electricity prices less than half of Aussie power prices, that is starting to work already.
John
herbie said
01:25 AM Feb 21, 2013
H,i am just replying to your comment about not many c/ vans taking the van in question, our van is 30ft and we just ring ahead to ask if they accept our size van. We have never been refused as yet.Even if it is what they call the over flow area. Some of our travelling friends have buses , Huge motor homes and 5th wheelers that make our van small in comparison to what we tow behind our 4x4.We have more problems fitting into free camping places,I think these caravan park owners have all their fingers crossed that R/V manufactures keep on making bigger R/Vs for this reason.The nomad life style has really shifted in the last 2 years , as more people are choosing to work around OZ ,while theyÃÂ are still young enough to earn a living while seeing this wonderful country. We started out 12 years working while we travelled on our ownÃÂ now thereÃÂ are 12 of us in tow , all doing the same thing.
Regards HerbiÃÂ
Hi NeilnRuth, sadly yes at a few parks staying over night we have had to pay for a double site, but if we stay in a park long turm re work we have never had to as yet...I say that with fingers crossed of course...We pay more to stay in c/ parks around where our work is any way , some of the places up north in WA can ask $600 per week, so that is why you will not hear much out of the c/ park owners in these areas re trying to close down free stp overs.As they make more out of us than they ever would relying on the travelling public.So in a way i guess we are helping to keep these free spots open.
-- Edited by herbie on Thursday 21st of February 2013 05:37:44 PM
Our Nephew has just returned from the USA where he purchased a new 28 foot van for a total price landed here in Australia fully compliant with our Australian design rules for $42600 and for a very similar van here in Australia he was quoted $90000 so how could there be such a massive difference considering his van is not a normal production line model and he has to pay to have it shipped to Australia. I have done a little research on these Forest River brand vans and they seem to be of similar standard and maybe better than some Aussie built ones. I have been told you can also buy these vans in Queensland modified to Aus standards at similar to USA prices.
The question is why are we paying so much for a similar manufactured van here in Australia.
-- Edited by aussietraveller on Tuesday 19th of February 2013 11:37:44 AM
Easy, in the good old USA labour rates are about $7.50 per hour and less holidays, etc.
Because of our Australian work ethic, lots and lots of holidays, both public and private, sickies, champagne tastes on beer budgets, our workers will not work for anything less an overly high wage, we all pay more.
Impossible now to reverse the trend, for a level playing field we will have to wait a few decades for the resdt of the world to catch us down the tube.
Of course our high dollar at the moment suits anyone that is savvy enough to purchase overseas.
The often trotted out argument of "not built to suit Australian conditions" doesn't hold water either.
Ken
PS:- Not that I can complain, I wouldn't get out of bed for under $100 per hour.
-- Edited by Landfall on Tuesday 19th of February 2013 02:04:14 PM
Hi , just replying to your comment about not many c/ vans taking the van in question, our van is 30ft and we just ring ahead to ask if they accept our size van. We have never been refused as yet.Even if it is what they call the over flow area. Some of our travelling friends have buses , Huge motor homes and 5th wheelers that make our van small in comparison to what we tow behind our 4x4.We have more problems fitting into free camping places,I think these caravan park owners have all their fingers crossed that R/V manufactures keep on making bigger R/Vs for this reason.The nomad life style has really shifted in the last 2 years , as more people are choosing to work around OZ ,while they are still young enough to earn a living while seeing this wonderful country. We started out 12 years working while we travelled on our own now there are 12 of us in tow , all doing the same thing.
Regards Herbi .
-- Edited by herbie on Tuesday 19th of February 2013 10:40:10 PM
hi landfall,have PM,d you. greyghosts
It also enables the implementation of cost saving production methods that would would be uneconomical unless applied on a large scale.
Is that before or after tax?
Did he buy a tug while over there as well ?
After!
Ken
Despite all the underlying factors for the extra cost, GREED, also plays a part.
aussietraveller - I guess the $48000 he saved in getting the USA version will cover the extra cost of pulling the 28' van for a while. Hope they enjoy their trip. Their kids will never forget the experience.
I was at a caravan, motorhome and fifth wheel show at Las Vegas last November, there were many RV companies displaying ther wares.
On speaking with a number of sales reps on the subject of the price differance between the US and Australia, quite a number are eyeing the Aussie market, especially the fifth wheel and caravan makers where it's obviously easier to make a vehicle from scratch as against converting one.
Yes the wages are less than ours, but I don't think that's the whole reason for the difference.
Obama is committed to bringing jobs back to America, with lower material prices, electricity prices less than half of Aussie power prices, that is starting to work already.
John
H,i am just replying to your comment about not many c/ vans taking the van in question, our van is 30ft and we just ring ahead to ask if they accept our size van. We have never been refused as yet.Even if it is what they call the over flow area. Some of our travelling friends have buses , Huge motor homes and 5th wheelers that make our van small in comparison to what we tow behind our 4x4.We have more problems fitting into free camping places,I think these caravan park owners have all their fingers crossed that R/V manufactures keep on making bigger R/Vs for this reason.The nomad life style has really shifted in the last 2 years , as more people are choosing to work around OZ ,while theyÃÂ are still young enough to earn a living while seeing this wonderful country. We started out 12 years working while we travelled on our ownÃÂ now thereÃÂ are 12 of us in tow , all doing the same thing.
Regards HerbiÃÂ
Hi NeilnRuth, sadly yes at a few parks staying over night we have had to pay for a double site, but if we stay in a park long turm re work we have never had to as yet...I say that with fingers crossed of course...We pay more to stay in c/ parks around where our work is any way , some of the places up north in WA can ask $600 per week, so that is why you will not hear much out of the c/ park owners in these areas re trying to close down free stp overs.As they make more out of us than they ever would relying on the travelling public.So in a way i guess we are helping to keep these free spots open.
-- Edited by herbie on Thursday 21st of February 2013 05:37:44 PM
AT, where in QLD can you buy these vans?