My biggest draw to foreign cars started years ago because American made cars are always "Bigger is better". I like bells/whistles and luxury items in a car but really prefer to drive smaller vehicles. Honda/Toyota used to be like this. VW, Beamers, Volvos, Audi's still are. Hummer knew to make "a smaller one".

Here in the USA, there always seems to be a surplus of used cars. Our auto market is saturated, and very likely has been saturated since 1950 or so. Certain make and models of used cars are less desirable, and can be purchased for less than they are worth, when you consider how much life they have left. For used sedans and station wagons, it is a buyers market here. Used sports cars and convertibles will usually get a better price. If the price of gasoline stays above $3.00 per gallon, I suspect that used SUV's will sell for less than they are worth.

The fact that our auto market is saturated with used and new vehicles does not make living in the USA a "heaven on earth," however. Part of the reason that our economy is not competitive on the world market is that we rely on the private auto for our transportation. Factories have to buy land and maintain parking lots, a major expense.

Your thread will likely be more successfull if you can come up with a more descriptive title. "Research" is too general, and not focused on any single issue.

for me if i buy new i try to support companys that support my family and friends to a point, so far i have bought new hyundai, sister and now brother in law works for them, i have a toyota, my mom used to work for them retired now, also have had a couple of ford products, have a good friend that works for ford. take away that part of it and i would buy on price and what i liked.

Import duties, shipping, and port-of-entry fees can add significantly to the total cost. Some countries may add a tax based on fuel consumption or engine power. And then there's the dealer markup. This number may be "what ever the market will bear".

Much depends on the government of the importing country. For example, many years ago, France added a tariff to Chevrolets sold in their county. The tariff equaled the sticker price, in other words, the cost of the car was doubled.