Shipping a car to OZ

[kiwisurf]

Hey

Moving to OZ at the end of the year.

I know its possible to register my BH5D over there so Im looking for someone who has done this in the past?

Mostly looking for info on shipping companies and the service/price recieved.

A replacement car over there would cost me far more as this car owes me nothing.

Cheers.

[clintondane]

From what I've read and heard, its HUGELY expensive and complicated to do.

[resurrection.inc]

yeah i was going to take mine but ended up wrx is banned over there to import, any how it all depends on where you are going with the different laws and prices. look up australia customs with importing cars. you must do a few steps before you leave and also have all the paper work and be approved for your car BEFORE you go and your car gets there,!! if you dont it will be kept on the docks and you will be charged every day that its sitting there

[smithcd]

It can be done but expect it to be a 5 digit figure, with the shipping then the different laws you have to meet, stamp duty etc my parents took their cars late last year one was a bp legacy as they're worth more there, but regretted it.

Try crown or similar relocation companies, they do it and can tell you what you need to do and all your options

[Swindog]

Theres a kiwi freight company that does it. State charges depend on where your going.

If its modified you pay charges for those mods above standard. If its got an exhaust chances are youll have to change it but it can be worth while if you keep it awhile.

Ive seen v3 wrxs going for $20k in Brisbane.

[subieboy]

 Swindog said:

Theres a kiwi freight company that does it. State charges depend on where your going.

If its modified you pay charges for those mods above standard. If its got an exhaust chances are youll have to change it but it can be worth while if you keep it awhile.

Ive seen v3 wrxs going for $20k in Brisbane.

Same

Reality is it is a b!tch, reason why I never took the beast over.

Have heard and seen horror stories where people have had to swap out all airbags and seat belts.

One guy had his V3 refused at border entry because he did not get a refrigerant clearance PRIOR to shipping...

[D-Style]

I was told $12K to take and put a V9 STi on the road over here. Stamp duty is a killer, as it is based on Red Book value of your car.

[mitSUBishi-guy]

My NZ New 2007 BP GT wagon is on a boat right now. In fact, may have landed in Sydney already. I just paid the duty and GST to the freight clearing company.

Got a transfer to Sydney through my work. Did the sums, fingers crossed should break even or just over at worst. Compared the incremental cost between shipping my car vs the change-over price to buy something equivalent here. It seemed to work out in my favour. Will know for sure over the next couple weeks.

Ok this is my experience in a nutshell... you need to do your own research and make your own decisions on this... After reading this, search the web for importing cars into AU. Loads of official and unofficial info there.

What you need to do - apply for a permit to import a motor vehicle. No issue if it's privately owned by you for 12 months or more. You pay an application fee A$50, plus NZ$19 to courier the documents to Canberra.

It helps a lot if you bought the car from a dealer as you'll need to supply purchase documents.

Do NOT ship that vehicle until you've received that permit - 1-2 weeks turnaround.

Contact shipping companies for quotes - all of them will ship a car for you.

You'll need to complete a NZ Customs export declaration (NZCS224) to ship the car out and an Aussie Customs Statement for Vehicle Imported by Passenger (B357). Your shipper will probably also get to you to complete a Customs Clearance Advice form from their clearing house. The clearing house for my car is applying to the Dept of Environment & Heritage to clear the air-conditioning in the car - no refrigerant license is required as the car is a one-off import for personal use. I also had to complete an Aussie Quarantine & Inspection Service form (Unacommpanied Personal Effects Stmt) which covers our belongings and the car.

Clean the car meticulously inside and out. If you've been doing donuts in the local playground best to get the car steam-cleaned. If it's only ever seen tarmac and it's clean underneath, just get under the guards with a water-blaster and some Simple Green. Apparently Aussie Quarantine will probably charge to steam clean it regardless just to earn a few extra bucks.

Unless you're not in a hurry to clear it don't pack it full of belongings - clearing cars is a different quicker process to clearing personal belongings.

Cost-wise: Shipping cost (yet to work out - my work pays for a 40' container to ship our belongings but I have to pay the incremental cost of cramming the car in and clearing it).

Marine insurance - went through my local insurer $350.

Aussie import duty: 5% on the value of the car. I supplied the purchase documents and also an estimated NZ market value (I didn't need to prove it - it was my valuation based on Trademe sales!) Looks like they used my market value. There's also Luxury Car Tax - n/a unless it's worth more than A$60k.

GST: 10% on the total of the car's value, shipping, insurance and duty (yeah, tax on tax).

I have just yesterday paid the duty & GST - A$3600.

Next steps - quarantine inspection $? (inspection cost and maybe steam cleaning)

Compliance $? - this is the Big Unknown... and the deal breaker. Fingers and toes crossed there's nothing I need to change on the car.

Registration - which I believe involves a WOF type check (pink slip?), I need to get compulsory insurance (green slip?, probably A$500 - it's basically 3rd party) and then compliance/rego - blue slip?. Total cost $?

Finally, comprehensive insurance. Anywhere from Too Much to WTF? Note - some insurance companies will not insure imports. I called 5 and got 3 quotes (NRMA, GIO, JustCars). AAMI and Commonwealth Bank both declined to quote. Premiums from A$1200 to over A$2000. NRMA was the best quote. If you're under 25 and it's a turbo, don't bother bringing the car.

Well I'll post my final experiences and costings within the next couple weeks.

Also - my opinion - it's probably easier to clear the car the newer it is. But obviously cost goes up...

[mitSUBishi-guy]

couple other things - for a facelift 2007 onwards BP legacy GT, there's no exact equivalent car here as AU went with the US(?) 2.5L turbo motor, while NZ continued with the 2.0L Turbo jap spec cars.

If your BH is a twin turbo I don't think they were even offered in Australia. That might make insurance more expensive. Alternatively it may also make the car more attractive on the 2nd hand market, being rare. A full documented service history will help if you come to sell it down the track here. BTW, I've moved to Sydney.

[Markmcrs]

 mitSUBishi-guy']

Clean the car meticulously inside and out. If you've been doing donuts in the local playground best to get the car steam-cleaned. If it's only ever seen tarmac and it's clean underneath, just get under the guards with a water-blaster and some Simple Green. Apparently Aussie Quarantine will probably charge to steam clean it regardless just to earn a few extra bucks.

I can tell you for a FACT that they will try their hardest to charge for pressure cleaning.

I am in Adelaide, South Australia. A good mate of mine has personally imported 2 Mercedes from the UK.

The second one got done for some leaves in the engine bay. Hello $440 bill for a 20 minute high pressure wash.

I was a tow truck driver - so I picked the car up from the docks and delivered it to be washed and picked it up once done - another cost most people would have to endure.

Compliance $? - this is the Big Unknown... and the deal breaker. Fingers and toes crossed there's nothing I need to change on the car.

I can't speak for the other states, but SA is not too bad for compliance - car has to go to inspection station (another Tow) to be checked over.

They love to pick on seat belts, ride height for stockish cars.

If you have mods like BOV, turbo timer, dark tint, boost or other gauges on or around the dash/A pillar they will own you.

Registration - which I believe involves a WOF type check (pink slip?), I need to get compulsory insurance (green slip?, probably A$500 - it's basically 3rd party) and then compliance/rego - blue slip?. Total cost $?

In Adelaide all you pay for is stamp duty and rego - 3 months rego is only $200 for a 4cyl, insurance is not compulsory in SA.

[quote name='mitSUBishi-guy said:

Finally, comprehensive insurance. Anywhere from Too Much to WTF? Note - some insurance companies will not insure imports. I called 5 and got 3 quotes (NRMA, GIO, JustCars). AAMI and Commonwealth Bank both declined to quote. Premiums from A$1200 to over A$2000. NRMA was the best quote. If you're under 25 and it's a turbo, don't bother bringing the car.

Just cars are pretty good, about the best actually. there is a mob called Shannon's that specialise in performance cars but Just cars beat them price wise every time.

Main stream Ins companies like AAMI, RAA, SGIC don't want to know about turbo cars and will either decline to quote or give a stupid price.

There are quite a lot of "personal Imports" getting around in Aus, so it must be a viable thing to do.

Mark.

[D-Style]

Whatever State you going to, get it Compliance there. Each state is different in little ways. QLD has Expensive Rego. Im paying about $1000 a year for my car.

Did you try Suncorp for Insurance?

[kiwisurf]

Cheers for the info guys...esp Mitsi Guy.

Yeah in a similar situation as you....work paying for shipping costs for furniture etc so I guess if I get a container out of them could look at putting the car in and doing it that way.

It is a TT BH5D. Have seen them on ebay and craigslist over there. Average about 14K+ for a revC so it could be worth doing.

Would love to take a BP over but as you said it needs to have been owned for a year in NZ so would be 2 late for us now.

Move is to Perth. 1 thing we considered doing was shipping the car to Melbourne and driving it across. Prob end up costing more as its a fair distance.

Mitsi guy can you keep me updated with how you got on please? Can give you email or phone number if you like?

Cheers.

Craig....

[Joker]

awesome info here guys will add this to a stickey/FAQ list