Originally posted by hpeak13 Originally posted by nikkij12185 @hpeakIn the case you gave, the sneakers were ONLY 20% more expensive.  That is significant.  When you consider the fact that the national average salary in Brazil is only R$1,400 (compared to the world wide average of R$2,700) the fact that things are only 15, 20, 30% MORE expensive rather than cheaper is nuts. I am just talking about the item, not the brazilian salary or how it compares to other countries. i bet most expats make more than r1400 as well. Which is what we are talking about. Expats compare here to back home, not the average brazzer salary here to back home. The average brazzer doesn't shop at walmart, target or marshall's....so that is not relevant to the discussion. I made an apples to apples comparison and an item that I buy maybe once every 15 24 months cost me 20 bucks more. That doesn't make me feel like the whole country is expensive. Sure, a lot of shoes are expensive, a lot of clothes are expensive, a lot of things are expensive. But not everything....which is what I see most people whine about here. It is possible to find good things at a fair price, that was the point of my post and my responses thereafter.....not that brazil is very inexpensive, but that it is not ALL as outrageously expensive as some here would have you believe. we can get into housing later if you wish, because I have examples of affordable well located apts too

Originally posted by spongebob And what about gas? Gas is ridiculously expensive here. Add to that the anual government taxes on the value of the vehicle, it's not worth it to have a car IMHO if you live in a big city. We have one, but it's just to go somewhere as a family and for my wife to have an expensive convenience. Tough trade off isn't it? It's boring as **** in small towns, but in larger towns the traffic and wait time on public transport is a saco too.

gas is expensive, I agree there. and honestly I don't think you get any value at all for the car you buy here. wife and i may pull the trigger on a car later this year, but i am hesitant because i think it is cheaper to just take cabs

Cars in brasil are really overpriced compared to london(uk)
I bought a Honda Civic EXS AUTOMATIC(the top of the line model)in 2009,the car at the time was 1 year old with 17000km on the clock.....i paid 63000 br for the car thats double the price i could have bought the same car for in London.....i found that very strange considering that honda fabricate this car in brasil but anyway i still bought it
The IPVA cost me about 2300br a year although this is going down slightly every year,the seguro cost me 2400br a year..both these costs i would have paid half the price in london,anyway on top of that in my first year of driving i knocked up about 4000br in multas from the basic 85 br multa to the 500 br multa( something to do with documentation on the car not correct coupled with speeding tickets...f**k knows how they work it out)
I have had it serviced 3 times at honda total cost about 7000br again about double the price of london.
The only saving grace is the fact that on the actual initial cost of the car, according to the tabela FIPE IT IS WORTH 46000 BR , so for a car that is 4 years old and has 42000 km on the clock i have lost 17000 br which is less than i would of lost in the uk..... certain cars in brasil do seem to hold their value for longer here,has anybody else noticed that ???


In the uk when you buy a new car (0km) you pay 20%VAT on the car.....if you then want to sell that car 6 months later for example you loose that 20%VAT so the car is already 20% cheaper
In Brasil it seems that everybody is always trying to get their tax back on cars,so a 6 month old car is only slightly cheaper than the same model new.....can someone exlpain that one???





Edited by mark k - 15 June 2012 at 11:09

4.8K just for having a car in the garage

Imagine all the cabs you can ride for 5k.

Life's better without a car.