[Leica] RHD and LHD interesting statistics

[bruce at ralgo.nl (bruce)]

Thanks, Douglas. Something I always wanted to know  
precisely .................. all those people who bitch about  
"driving on the left".

What many of them forget, is that the two track railway stations also  
"drive" on the left, wherever.

B.

On 2-mei-2006, at 15:47, Douglas Sharp wrote:

> http://users.pandora.be/worldstandards/driving%20on%20the% 
> 20left.htm#rightdriving
> Douglas
>
>
> Don Dory wrote:
>
>> Joseph,
>> Thank you for the explanation.  RHD would tend to make the cars less
>> saleable around the world.
>>
>> Don
>> don.dory@gmail.com
>>
>> On 5/1/06, Joseph Yao <joseph@yao.com> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Don,
>>>
>>> Exporting used cars is straight forward, but many countries now  
>>> have very
>>> tight regulations regarding imports of used cars.  Emission  
>>> control is the
>>> claim/excuse, but ironically many countries which impose tough  
>>> controls
>>> over
>>> used car imports have a less stringent emission standard than  
>>> HK.  The
>>> same
>>> countries also benefit a lot financially from new car sales thus  
>>> money
>>> speaks louder than pollution here.  Still, used cars here in good
>>> condition
>>> are often exported: upmarket German cars tend to end up in  
>>> Australia and
>>> New
>>> Zealand, and Japanese cars are often shipped to Thailand, Vietnam,
>>> Cambodia,
>>> and Indonesia.  As a former British Crown Colony, we in HK have  
>>> RHD cars.
>>> The ideal market for our used cars would be China, but they drive  
>>> on the
>>> wrong side of the road ;-)  To give you a rough idea how cars  
>>> depreciate
>>> here, I was offered US$5,150 for my 1990 Porsche 928S4 in 2001.   
>>> It had
>>> covered 29,000 miles and was close to showroom condition ('mint/ 
>>> mint-/98%
>>> new' in Leica speak) with full Porsche service history - I was the
>>> original
>>> owner and it had cost me US$180,000 in 1990.  That's 97% loss.
>>>
>>> If I had a choice I would trade trade cheap Leica for cheap cars  
>>> - as a
>>> 'petrolhead' I would be a lot happier paying US car prices and  
>>> would not
>>> mind suffering US Leica prices :-)
>>>
>>> Bests,
>>>
>>> Joseph
>>>
>>>
>>> On 29/4/06 4:25 am, "Don Dory" <don.dory@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> > Joseph,
>>> > So is there a good arbitrage shipping used HK cars somewhere  
>>> that does
>>> not
>>> > devalue used so much, possibly the Philippines or South American
>>> countries?
>>> >
>>> > Curious minds want to know?
>>> >
>>> > As a sidelight, people wonder why Americans drive such large  
>>> cars with
>>> > relatively huge engines, costs are much, much less here.  If  
>>> you live in
>>> a
>>> > normal city and work for a largish company then your costs  
>>> would be
>>> > Porche 911:  62000 to 85000
>>> > Insurance: 1800/yr
>>> > Gasoline/93 Octane 0.82/litre
>>> > Parking: generally free at work and home
>>> > Parking: events might vary from $5 to $10
>>> > Tolls: in Atlanta 0.50 each way on the only toll road for several
>>> hundred
>>> > miles
>>> >
>>> > With costs so low compared to a lot of the world, no wonder we  
>>> drive so
>>> far,
>>> > so fast(Nathan, the normal speed on Interstates in Georgia is
>>> 130-140Km/hr),
>>> > in such large vehicles.
>>> >
>>> > Don
>>> > don.dory@gmail.com
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > On 4/28/06, Joseph Yao <joseph@yao.com> wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> Gerry,
>>> >>
>>> >> I lived in the UK for twenty years and it is still a relatively
>>> >> inexpensive
>>> >> place to maintain a car.  Here are my car-related expenses in  
>>> my part
>>> of
>>> >> the
>>> >> world:
>>> >>
>>> >> Car tax 100% - for example, a 2006 Porsche 911 costs US$220,000
>>> >> Annual road tax  US$1,700
>>> >> Insurance  US$2,800/year with full NCB
>>> >> Petrol/gas  US$8.33/gallon, approx. US$900/month
>>> >> Parking  US$520/month (residential)
>>> >> Parking  US$580/month (office)
>>> >> Parking  US$4/hour (typical downtown parking lot)
>>> >>
>>> >> Plus various tolls for tunnels/roads.
>>> >>
>>> >> And culturally we do not like buying used cars, cars  
>>> depreciate heavily
>>> >> here: typically 30%/year.  Like Leica purchases, we prefer to  
>>> buy new
>>> >> whenever possible :-)
>>> >>
>>> >> Still, I must not complain.  I understand my friends in  
>>> Singapore have
>>> >> approx. 250% car tax.
>>> >>
>>> >> Joseph
>>> >> [Hong Kong, SAR]
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Leica Users Group.
>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>>
>
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