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Author Topic: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.  (Read 128757 times)

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Offline el_guero

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1500 on: June 20, 2017, 09:30:38 PM »
WOW!

What a deal for MAXX.  :party0031: :party0031: :party0031:

A couple modifications, and we can call him Mad Maxx.

Offline Maxx

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1501 on: June 20, 2017, 10:15:41 PM »
I am going to buy a car tomorrow, a black 2005 Mercedes ML 350 Special Edition. An original California car that looks in almost perfect condition. The driver's side side mirror has a crack but other than that I don't see a thing wrong with it. The interior looks like brand new with zero wear. 161,000 miles on the odometer. I will be taking it to the mechanic to have it checked out with the present owner along. My aid will be along also. He called the title transfer people in the government. All I have to do is bring my passport along with it translated into Georgian (done). This must be notarized (done). My unexpired US drivers license which is good till 2022. And the money of course. Everything is done at a police station near where the large car market is. The cost of the car, $6,300 which seems to be the going price for a mid-2000 Mercedes ML.


I had a 2000 ML, I bought it used with about 100K miles on it and it's got
250K on it now. $6,300 is a bit high for here but who knows what they go
for in Georgia.

 



Here is the car when it first came in. It has a California license plate on it. There is about a 20% import tax for such a vehicle and the year. Newer vehicles and ones with large engines really get hit hard for taxes percentage wise. For right hand drive Japanese vehicles the import tax is over 100%! As I said earlier the Georgian government is concerned that too many of these will enter the roads. Import items like electronics and cars are not cheap here. Also that $6,300 is not the end of it for me. Registration will add an additional 25% to the cost. So I am looking at around $8K total to make the purchase and get it registered. I'll give you an exact total later today. It is 8:15 AM now and my aid and the owner of the car are coming by at 11 AM. After the mechanic checks it over then we're off to registration. 

When I went over there to see the car (actually it is called a truck) I met the owner, his father and grandfather. The father said he bought it for his young son (about 20 years old) but he didn't like it because it was too big. Who knows what the real reason is why they are selling it.   

Offline el_guero

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1502 on: June 20, 2017, 10:21:35 PM »
Is this like Ukraine, where everybody who shows up gets a percentage of the purchase price?


Offline Maxx

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1503 on: June 20, 2017, 10:31:37 PM »
WOW!

What a deal for MAXX.  :party0031: :party0031: :party0031:

A couple modifications, and we can call him Mad Maxx.

Back when I was young and more foolish I'd probably would add a lift kit to it, bigger taller tires and for good measure put a yellow bumble bee racing stripe on it.... and totally ruin it. You have to figure the Mercedes engineers know what they were doing. Now a days with the computers and sensors you can't modify anything. I could have gotten an old CJ 5 Jeep and installed a supercharged 426 Hemi into it but I am getting too old for such nonsense. My street racing days are long over.

Offline Maxx

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1504 on: June 20, 2017, 10:38:21 PM »
Is this like Ukraine, where everybody who shows up gets a percentage of the purchase price?

Who knows? I promised my aid I would take him and his wife to the Hard Rock Cafe for a celebratory dinner. I told him I would give him something for his efforts. I figure a good meal and 200 GEL ($83) seems about fair for his services. I figure if help him out in little ways he'll watch my back on the big things. His wife is constantly reminding him to protect me from 'this and that'. His daughter age 4 thinks my name is "Hello" as that is what she hears everyone call me. She says to her father in Russian, "Say hello to Mr Hello for me. Cute kid. She brings out the inner grandfather in me.

Offline el_guero

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1505 on: June 20, 2017, 10:57:24 PM »
Pretty good.

I'll take you up on a great dinner.

 tiphat

Offline Maxx

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1506 on: June 20, 2017, 11:41:03 PM »
Pretty good.

I'll take you up on a great dinner.

 tiphat

You ever get out this way the dinner is on me.  tiphat

Online AvHdB

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1507 on: June 21, 2017, 04:28:43 AM »
Maxx,

I would carefully control the VIN #, on the physical vehicle and various documents.

The comment that the car was to big for his 20 year old son does not make any sense.

Av
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Offline Dogsoldier

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1508 on: June 21, 2017, 05:44:48 AM »
Whatever you buy in the way of a car, over there, don't buy an automatic. They are rare and usually only available on expensive cars that you can't afford to maintain.

The need for a car is obvious but have you yet investigated the driving licence situation?

Usually you have a few months of being in the country before you need to exchange your foreign licence for a local one. The clock ticks from the point at which you became resident, not the point at which you started to drive.

Also, you might find that, unless you are a resident of Georgia, you can't actually own a local car. You may well find that you need to find a local trustworthy friend to own and insure the car and then he will allow you to drive it.

You might wanna check this out before spending any money.

Oh, as to what to buy?
You don't have a lot of money and no network of people who will honestly help you with servicing and maintenance. For that reason, look for throwaway wheels. Cars that are cheap enough to regard as disposable. Brand or type of car is less important than it's ability to run for 12 months. Regard such a purchase as one where any costly repair means the car is thrown away.

Ain't no 'pussy magnets' in your attainable price range but there will be many serviceable shopping carts.

From what I learned I can drive on my driver's license until it expires in 2022. And then further again if I renew it in the States to whenever it expires again.  I can also register a car without being a LPR of Georgia. Georgia from what I can tell is the freest country in the world as far as bureaucracy is concerned. I'll double check everything though before I purchase a car. Car registration here is high. It starts at about 25% and can go north of that quite a bit if it is a large displacement engine vehicle and especially of it is a Japanese right hand drive vehicle. The government is trying to eliminate those with high tariffs of over 100%! The government fears a flood of right hand drive vehicles and has stated it is the reason for the high import tax of plus 100%. According to the local news there is no desire to convert the roads for right hand drive vehicles.

I suggest those islands (England and Japan) convert to left hand drive. Lets get with the program! 

To make it easy they can do this in stages, 1st the motorcyles a year latter the lorries (trucks) and in the third year all personal vehicles. (blondes can have an extra year)
I'd be interested to know how this is done.  :chuckle:

Offline Maxx

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1509 on: June 21, 2017, 12:42:18 PM »

Big day for me today. I got my Mercedes ML and possibly a girlfriend. She is 47 year old Georgian English teacher living in Tbilisi. Quite attractive! We have been on PMs off an ex-pat message board and phone calls. Her curiosity finally got the better of her and she invited herself over for a meet and chat tonight. She got here about 9:30 PM and stayed about half an hour. She lives on the other side of town and took the metro. We talked about this and that. When she was leaving I said to her that we should get together sometime and do some trips together. She said, "Yes definitely". I could tell she was pleased. Her name is Marina.

Online 2tallbill

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1510 on: June 21, 2017, 12:47:36 PM »
Is this like Ukraine, where everybody who shows up gets a percentage of the purchase price?

Not at all, while they have some corruption, it's nothing like Ukraine.
FSUW are not for entry level daters. FSUW don't do vague FSUW like a man of action so be a man of action  If you find a promising girl, get your butt on a plane. There are a hundred ways to be successful and a thousand ways to f#ck it up
Kiss the girl, don't ask her first.
Get an apartment not a hotel. DON'T recycle girls

Online 2tallbill

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Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1511 on: June 21, 2017, 12:52:18 PM »

Big day for me today. I got my Mercedes ML and possibly a girlfriend. She is 47 year old Georgian English teacher living in Tbilisi. Quite attractive! 
Her name is Marina.

You could pack up a picnic basket and an ice chest then go exploring/ camping/adventuring. Georgia has mountains, trees, the sea and
more churches than a small Texas town.



FSUW are not for entry level daters. FSUW don't do vague FSUW like a man of action so be a man of action  If you find a promising girl, get your butt on a plane. There are a hundred ways to be successful and a thousand ways to f#ck it up
Kiss the girl, don't ask her first.
Get an apartment not a hotel. DON'T recycle girls

Offline Maxx

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1512 on: June 21, 2017, 01:41:39 PM »

Big day for me today. I got my Mercedes ML and possibly a girlfriend. She is 47 year old Georgian English teacher living in Tbilisi. Quite attractive! 
Her name is Marina.

You could pack up a picnic basket and an ice chest then go exploring/ camping/adventuring. Georgia has mountains, trees, the sea and
more churches than a small Texas town.

Plus she works for a Georgian tourism business. She knows the interesting sights and has the connections.

Offline Maxx

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1513 on: June 21, 2017, 01:48:16 PM »
Is this like Ukraine, where everybody who shows up gets a percentage of the purchase price?

Not at all, while they have some corruption, it's nothing like Ukraine.

Saakasvili the former president really did a bang up job cleaning out Georgia corruption. I was just talking today about this with the guy I bought the car from. He is a Tbilisi police detective. He said the Saakasvili had his own corruption going but sure did a good job cleaning it out elsewhere. He came in a fired all the police, cut and simplified taxes and regulations and got Georgia on its feet. He was definitely for him.

Online andrewfi

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1514 on: June 21, 2017, 02:01:55 PM »
Did you check out the VIN?

Is it all one car or is it two (or more)?

Was it scrapped in the USA?

Years ago, I bought a Volvo 760. Great car, bought very cheap. It was two cars borged into one. Done right, not a problem and I knew what I was buying but it seems to me that to make this deal worthwhile your car must have been almost valueless in the USA.
...everything ends always well; if it’s still bad, then it’s not the end!

Offline Maxx

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1515 on: June 21, 2017, 02:30:49 PM »
Did you check out the VIN?

Is it all one car or is it two (or more)?

Was it scrapped in the USA?

Years ago, I bought a Volvo 760. Great car, bought very cheap. It was two cars borged into one. Done right, not a problem and I knew what I was buying but it seems to me that to make this deal worthwhile your car must have been almost valueless in the USA.

The process of importing these cars is quite detailed. There is a plastic credit type of card with all the details and numbers that is made up at the Georgian DMV. This is what you give the police if they pull you over. The DMV checks the VIN numbers at the drive through custom inspection and then you proceed into the place where you get your license plate and the ID card after about a half of hour of computer checking.  It is late now and I'll post tomorrow with more details.





Offline rosco

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1516 on: June 23, 2017, 05:10:51 AM »
Whatever you buy in the way of a car, over there, don't buy an automatic. They are rare and usually only available on expensive cars that you can't afford to maintain.

The need for a car is obvious but have you yet investigated the driving licence situation?

Usually you have a few months of being in the country before you need to exchange your foreign licence for a local one. The clock ticks from the point at which you became resident, not the point at which you started to drive.

Also, you might find that, unless you are a resident of Georgia, you can't actually own a local car. You may well find that you need to find a local trustworthy friend to own and insure the car and then he will allow you to drive it.

You might wanna check this out before spending any money.

Oh, as to what to buy?
You don't have a lot of money and no network of people who will honestly help you with servicing and maintenance. For that reason, look for throwaway wheels. Cars that are cheap enough to regard as disposable. Brand or type of car is less important than it's ability to run for 12 months. Regard such a purchase as one where any costly repair means the car is thrown away.

Ain't no 'pussy magnets' in your attainable price range but there will be many serviceable shopping carts.

From what I learned I can drive on my driver's license until it expires in 2022. And then further again if I renew it in the States to whenever it expires again.  I can also register a car without being a LPR of Georgia. Georgia from what I can tell is the freest country in the world as far as bureaucracy is concerned. I'll double check everything though before I purchase a car. Car registration here is high. It starts at about 25% and can go north of that quite a bit if it is a large displacement engine vehicle and especially of it is a Japanese right hand drive vehicle. The government is trying to eliminate those with high tariffs of over 100%! The government fears a flood of right hand drive vehicles and has stated it is the reason for the high import tax of plus 100%. According to the local news there is no desire to convert the roads for right hand drive vehicles.

I suggest those islands (England and Japan) convert to left hand drive. Lets get with the program! 

To make it easy they can do this in stages, 1st the motorcyles a year latter the lorries (trucks) and in the third year all personal vehicles. (blondes can have an extra year)

Hmmmm maybe harder than first thought;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_left-hand_traffic

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1517 on: June 23, 2017, 05:50:56 AM »
Whatever you buy in the way of a car, over there, don't buy an automatic. They are rare and usually only available on expensive cars that you can't afford to maintain.

The need for a car is obvious but have you yet investigated the driving licence situation?

Usually you have a few months of being in the country before you need to exchange your foreign licence for a local one. The clock ticks from the point at which you became resident, not the point at which you started to drive.

Also, you might find that, unless you are a resident of Georgia, you can't actually own a local car. You may well find that you need to find a local trustworthy friend to own and insure the car and then he will allow you to drive it.

You might wanna check this out before spending any money.

Oh, as to what to buy?
You don't have a lot of money and no network of people who will honestly help you with servicing and maintenance. For that reason, look for throwaway wheels. Cars that are cheap enough to regard as disposable. Brand or type of car is less important than it's ability to run for 12 months. Regard such a purchase as one where any costly repair means the car is thrown away.

Ain't no 'pussy magnets' in your attainable price range but there will be many serviceable shopping carts.

From what I learned I can drive on my driver's license until it expires in 2022. And then further again if I renew it in the States to whenever it expires again.  I can also register a car without being a LPR of Georgia. Georgia from what I can tell is the freest country in the world as far as bureaucracy is concerned. I'll double check everything though before I purchase a car. Car registration here is high. It starts at about 25% and can go north of that quite a bit if it is a large displacement engine vehicle and especially of it is a Japanese right hand drive vehicle. The government is trying to eliminate those with high tariffs of over 100%! The government fears a flood of right hand drive vehicles and has stated it is the reason for the high import tax of plus 100%. According to the local news there is no desire to convert the roads for right hand drive vehicles.

I suggest those islands (England and Japan) convert to left hand drive. Lets get with the program! 

To make it easy they can do this in stages, 1st the motorcyles a year latter the lorries (trucks) and in the third year all personal vehicles. (blondes can have an extra year)

Hmmmm maybe harder than first thought;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_left-hand_traffic

Maybe the blondes should go first?
“If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” T.S. Eliot

Offline rosco

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1518 on: June 23, 2017, 06:04:07 AM »
Whatever you buy in the way of a car, over there, don't buy an automatic. They are rare and usually only available on expensive cars that you can't afford to maintain.

The need for a car is obvious but have you yet investigated the driving licence situation?

Usually you have a few months of being in the country before you need to exchange your foreign licence for a local one. The clock ticks from the point at which you became resident, not the point at which you started to drive.

Also, you might find that, unless you are a resident of Georgia, you can't actually own a local car. You may well find that you need to find a local trustworthy friend to own and insure the car and then he will allow you to drive it.

You might wanna check this out before spending any money.

Oh, as to what to buy?
You don't have a lot of money and no network of people who will honestly help you with servicing and maintenance. For that reason, look for throwaway wheels. Cars that are cheap enough to regard as disposable. Brand or type of car is less important than it's ability to run for 12 months. Regard such a purchase as one where any costly repair means the car is thrown away.

Ain't no 'pussy magnets' in your attainable price range but there will be many serviceable shopping carts.

From what I learned I can drive on my driver's license until it expires in 2022. And then further again if I renew it in the States to whenever it expires again.  I can also register a car without being a LPR of Georgia. Georgia from what I can tell is the freest country in the world as far as bureaucracy is concerned. I'll double check everything though before I purchase a car. Car registration here is high. It starts at about 25% and can go north of that quite a bit if it is a large displacement engine vehicle and especially of it is a Japanese right hand drive vehicle. The government is trying to eliminate those with high tariffs of over 100%! The government fears a flood of right hand drive vehicles and has stated it is the reason for the high import tax of plus 100%. According to the local news there is no desire to convert the roads for right hand drive vehicles.

I suggest those islands (England and Japan) convert to left hand drive. Lets get with the program! 

To make it easy they can do this in stages, 1st the motorcyles a year latter the lorries (trucks) and in the third year all personal vehicles. (blondes can have an extra year)

Hmmmm maybe harder than first thought;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_left-hand_traffic

Maybe the blondes should go first?

In my experience, blondes seem to do what they want when driving on the roads these days!!  ;D

Offline Maxx

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1519 on: June 24, 2017, 07:04:02 AM »
Before going to Georgia's equivalent of the Department of Motor Vehicles 'DMV' I stopped by the mechanic.


He hooks his computer to a laptop and precedes to read the engine and other sensors. A crowd of 5 people crowd around the laptop looking at the data. It appears the engine is sound as is the "upper half of the car".


Down in the pit, just before the mechanic has it hoisted up to check the undercarriage, a quick inspection is made. Up on the hoist it is determined that the right front coil spring is broken and all the brake pads need replacing. The slight grinding sound is not as the owner said it was, from just sitting around and not used. It no doubt had been sitting a while but on account of the repair work needed to be done. Lucky the rotors had little scoring on them from the worn brake pads. Knowing labor is inexpensive here and the parts where not too much (I was quoted 150 GEL/$60) for the spring) I decided to go ahead and purchase the car.
 

This was not the only guy sleeping in the shop. There was another guy sleeping on a car seat recliner sleeping in the shop along with men lining up and down the street snoozing outside all the shops that did auto repair, sold new and used tires, sold antifreeze and engine oil and used auto parts. Georgia has a version of siesta time in this "No woman zone." Look at the photo one up from this one. Behind the left blue hoist tower you'll see a car seat recliner where another guy later was sleeping on.

After I purchased the car I brought it back to the shop and had the spring replaced and the brake pads installed. Total cost, 450 GEL/$186.

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1520 on: June 24, 2017, 10:07:48 AM »
Have fun with the new toy. Perhaps it can be your very own pussy magnet?
...everything ends always well; if it’s still bad, then it’s not the end!

Offline Maxx

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1521 on: June 24, 2017, 11:21:24 AM »
Have fun with the new toy. Perhaps it can be your very own pussy magnet?

Not biting.  :-[  It's more of a fancy PT Cruiser.

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1522 on: June 24, 2017, 01:09:36 PM »
Oh noes, PT Cruiser was only nice for about 2 weeks. If that's the case surely you wasted your money?
...everything ends always well; if it’s still bad, then it’s not the end!

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Re: Maxx's Relocation to Tbilisi, Georgia.
« Reply #1524 on: June 24, 2017, 03:49:15 PM »
As way of reference the car as described by Maxx would retail in lower Connecticut for between $4,899 up to 5,999.=

On E.Bay nationwide with the defects it would be around $4,000.= give or take 20%

On Copart the car would go for between $1,800 to 2,400 on a good day. I can mention the Copart price because a friend bought the exact same car for his wife on Copart, he has a dealer plate. The biggest issue the car seems to have are the engine mounts.
“If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” T.S. Eliot