car importing to aus
 

has anyone imported a car to aus with view to sell im thinking of taking a BMW .gary

Do a search on this forum as there have been lots of threads on this. If you can't find anything try this web site. http://www.karmanshipping.com I e-mailed them about taking camper with us. There was 10% for this and 15% for that, £100 per M3 and it had to be a certain height. Cars may be different though. Hope this helps.

Regards
Sarah

Re: car importing to aus
 

Yeah Beemers aint cheap out here but if its an E30 M3 your fecked as most states dont do LHD on cars under 30 years, only WA and ACT I reckon. Here is a post I put down a while ago about my experience

Basically it goes like this

1. Application to Canberra, once approved you put in container

2. It arrives and you are charged taxes (15%% your stated purchase price wink wink & 10% VAT)

3. Compliance work is carried out ie child anchor points and an extra brake light

4. Car gets examined to state adr standards

5. You register and insure car and drive home. Good work fella

This is a simple guide BUT if yuo know these five points you won't be in for any shocks!

See below for my full write up

For all the wannabe ozzies on the forum this is how I did it :-

I imported my car from the UK and have the satisfaction to prove it - VERY easy if you know what your doing. Lodge an application with DVLA in Canberra, ACT - costs £20. They approve in 2 wks.

Firstly you can ship for about £800. Then you pay an import tax (15% on purchase price) which you blag by making a receipt for less than the value of the car. The only problem I had was the steamcleaning. Get it done yourself someone trustworthy before shipping.

The car comes off the ship and is held in quarantine until inspected - mine took a week.

The car is then booked in to get compliance approval (phone them when it lands) which entails putting child anchors (plate containing thread) in the back and then having another brake light fitted to rear in centre. You get special road tax to drive during this time for the mods only.

APPROVAL TIME - Mine went through JUST as handbrake wasn't tight enough but it wasn't over the top inspection.

Once they approve it you can register (road tax) and buy your number plates. Then you insure it and bob's your uncle. This sounds simple and to an extent it is and i will be doing again in another couple of years with something more exotic after a visit to the UK.

Personal imports are restricted to One car / person / year I think. Was it worth it - I had a golf gti worth £1000 in the UK and worth £4000 here so I think so yes. Not only that but I had modded (spent loads on it, new engine just a start) so all the money I spent would have been for nothing.

If it sounds like effort don't bother but it worked for me, only tip is if it isn't standard don't tell them. Chances are if it's a rare car they won't know the difference.

Cheers Evo, I`ve read what you did before and I appreciate your posting it again.

My wife wants to bring a 3 door Rav-4 across, which we bought 2nd hand 3 years ago for £5,000. What kind of receipt needs to be made (as we don`t have one anyway)... ie would a srap of paper be ok? I wonder how much we could make the receipt out for.... it`s prob worth around £4,000 now I`d guess (or less).

Just write a receipt from the person you got it of with what you think its worth. In your case about £3000 would be acceptable.

I`d have to forge their signature then :) god knows where they are.