Alfresco

Thanks Al,

The information you have provided throughout this thread has been excellent and I'm sure it has made all of us think a lot more carefully about this.

Of course by the time we actually move to Oz, things like exch rate, car values etc... will have all changed, so it's a decision that can only made closer to the time and then we still need to decide is it REALLY, REALLY worth it.

slipshot

An interesting guarantee you offer.

You do seem to forget the fact that you would be selling a personal import car, that may (and the chances are will) have a fairly hefty insurance premium attached to it since it is an import, be a lot hartder to insure in the first place, have a far less chance of selling because it is an import and thus seen as being 'non-Australian' spec, and finally, if no SWB Landcruisers have been sold here, getting parts would be an interesting concept should the worst occur, or even if someone swipes your bodywork in a car park...

It's very easy to say things, but the truth of the matter, as BigApe has pointed out, is that there are many other factors to consider, which could mean you make a lovely loss.

JCSUPERMOTO

I know it not a car but a motorbike,but its never been registered and is trackbike only?

I have only owned it for a few months,but seems as its a race bike only can i bring it to aus? and any taxes to be applied?
cheers

hawkwind

Hi Al,

Is there any chance you could give me an estimate on the following?

Many Thanks

Rick

• Make - Peugeot
• Model - 206CC
• Model Type - 1.6S - 2dr
• Body Type - Coupe/Convertible
• Engine size - 1597cc
• Transmission - Manual
• Year of Manufacture - 2004
• Mileage - 57000
• Condition - Good/Excellent
• What you believe the car is worth in the UK ? - £5000 (Based on Parkers)

k974

how many cars have you bought sold in australia? what background have you to give you an indication of the value of a certain rare 4 x 4 in australia??

I personnally have owned prados and patrols in and outside of australia and possibly the only or one of 10max swb prados in australia i've personally with my partner bought & sold in the region of 200 cars/vans/utes in australia (mostly 4x4's) and i'm a member of a toyota 4x4 club and a qualified mechanic (dont work at it) and have seen 2 personal import swb patrols for sale in australia i have a fair idea on what one would make out here compared to buying it in ireland/uk. as for parts 99% of mechanical parts will be available in the local delear and 60% of the body parts are same as lwb

its not 100% garunteed nothing is but if i was had the oppurtunity to do it i would. now anyone who takes the advice off a stranger on the internet is a fool but maybe there is some sense to what i'm saying and maybe somebody who has the oppurtunity will do their own independant research into it. you wont make a massive profit but you'll do ok and it'll sell in 1 day!

slipshot

I'm sure you have have a wealth of experience and seen and been there far more than I have.

That does not change the fact the costs I alluded to, such as insurance, the lack of desirability and potentially being harder to sell, and fewer parts are all key things to make a potential person aware of.

I just think you need to precis your comments with some justification and risk measures rather than advising it will be easy to sell - which you do. It's all very well seeing cars on sale, but until they are actually sold it means nothing.

Just think caution is relevant here. As someone who has imported a car, I know the issues and pitfalls all too well.

hawkwind

Al,

Thanks for putting your spreadsheet on the web. I managed to download it from the BritVics wiki site and fill in a few fields, so I think I have the figures I needed to know about.

Thanks again for your help and detailing the process.

Cheers

Rick

Alfresco

I've just read on a few car shipping websites that import duty is only 5% for 4WD SUV vehicles as apposed to 10% for most cars. Makes shipping mine a bit more attractive.

Anyone shipped a motorbike over recently? I'm thinking about doing that also.

bigAPE

I think you'll find that your friend is referring to the pending reduction in import duty on vehicles from 10% to 5% from 1st January 2010. I have not read too much about this yet, but it seems to include all personally imported vehicles.

In July 2008 the Department of Innovation (not joking, that's what the government body is called) received the final proposal document from Steve Bracks (ex-Victorian Premier) and his team who submitted that to stimulate the automotive industry in Australia they should reduce the import duty on parts coming into Australia. The net effect of this is that personal import vehicles will also fall into that category. What I don't think they took into account though is that it appears to cover the importing of production vehicles by non-Australian manufacturers, so their plan is to foster growth in the Australian automotive industry by making non-Australian cars cheaper

So good news for you if you plan to import your car next year, but bad news for the Australian economy.

Al

The BBs

Hi BigAPE,

Sorry to slide in on your post but I wondered if you could give me some idea of how we go about getting our car valued in the UK and in Australia. We assume that the valuation must be done by a recognized outfit which issues some sort of certificate? If so, where do we find these outfits?

We have a BMW which we were originally going to sell before coming over to Queensland hopefully sometime in the very near future but BMW’s have plummeted in price here in the UK and we now think that we would be better off keeping it and bringing it with us instead.

We have looked at RedBook and Drive for car values but our model doesn’t appear to be available in Australia so it is making it very hard for us to get an idea of its street value. Would you be able to offer some guidance in that respect? If you can our car details are:

Make: BMW
Model: 525d Tourer Sport
Engine Size: 2500cc
Transmission: Automatic
Year of manufacture: 2005
Mileage: 46,000
Condition: Good / Excellent

I also have a second hand Triumph motorcycle which I haven’t quite owned for 12 months yet but I will have done come the 30th of July 2009 and which I would love to bring over with me. Do you have any information on the processes required for bikes? And could we start preparing the paper work round about now despite it not being of age, so to speak?

Thank you very much in advance for any assistance you may be able to give us.

The BBs.

Alfresco

Just checked this:-

SUV's are currently 5% duty.

Motorbikes are currently 0% duty - even better.

I could probably even stick 'em in the same container.

bigAPE

Interesting. What's your source ? Did you call Customs ?

Alfresco

I searched and found this link.

http://www.cargoonline.com.au/dutytaxes.php

bigAPE

You need to contact one of the Authorised Valuers in Australia. We used the following chap

David Nelson
Motor Vehicle Valuation Service
P.O. Box 159, Glen Iris, VIC 3146
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +61 3 9885 5075
Fax: +61 3 9885 5049

All done via email and/or Fax. Cost was about $220 when I did. Give them a call or drop them an email

Al

bigAPE

Interesting. I thought the 5% was only for commercial vehicles and heavy duty off road 4x4 equipment like tractors not, for example, a BMW X5 or Merc ML500.

I think SUVs are still classified under Customs Tariff Act 1995 Schedule 3 Section 17 Reference 8703.22.1 "Passenger motor vehicles"

I would call Customs and double check, but that's just me.

Can't comment on motorbikes.