Thinking of shipping my Vauxhall Omega to Aus, going to lose money selling it in Uk and then have to buy another in aus. Can anybody see problems and cost of shipping?
pommyringer

lots of very useful info at this shipper's site: www.karmanshipping.com - someone else mentioned them a few days ago (worth searching for that thread). I contacted them for a quote and they are very friendly and seem to know their stuff.

they also mentioned this - www.redbook.com.au - probably like a Glass's Guide for Oz but haven't had a chance to check it out yet.

We would probably come out evens if we ship our ageing Golf GTi out - couldn't afford to buy the same thing out there as used cars seem to be more expensive (our car is twice the sterling value in Oz!!).

And the shippers mentioned you can fill your car with stuff so its contents get shipped for free - handy. (If only our entire belongings fitted into one carload!)

K_M

Looked into shipping my Cherokee to Oz, but sold it here in the end, summary of decision:

Pluses:
Knew the history/reliability of car
4wd!
Can fill it with stuff for shipping, cuts down on other shipping costs
Not taking a big loss selling it in UK

Minuses:
Takes a long time from start to finish - cost of renting a car in the meantime
Cost of spare parts (may be less of an issue if the Omega takes Holden parts)
Re-sale might be harder
Lots of minor things to sort out - installing battery switch, sealing underside of car, getting mirrors/speedo changed/registration/steam cleaning
General exposure to the beauracratic underbelly of Oz!

It was quite a close decision, but what actually swung it was my need for a cheap car to run - the Cherokee is great but a gas guzzler - so will look for a barina or yaris instead....

Agree that Karman are good to talk to.

Good luck

Stuart

What about the import tax.?
There are plenty of post's from the past, that you can go through for info!

all the best plum& family

Yes I know this car has enjoyed vertical depreciation in the UK/Europe sadly however thats a Commodore your driving and only a six cylinder one at that!

The minimum cost of bringing in would be £2000 (take note mk1 golf gti person) including shipping. Technically you would have to sell it to someone then back to yourself as they would want the UK purchase price which is as your aware far more than what it's worth.

LOOK HERE

You can pick up a 3 year old V8 Commodore for about £8K so I'd sell it as they're very common here and you'd never sell your Omega in OZ for a decent price. Sorry if that sounded harsh but VW, BMW or MERC are worth cash here but vauxhall aren't although a VX220 would do me nicely with a blower

...would it be worth shipping a Porsche over to Melbourne? A UK 911 (996 Carrera 4 - tipS)? 4 years old now. I suppose I would need to do the sale/repurchase thing to show a low UK purchase price (or would Ozzy customs go with original RRP?)

I'm not sure how the "sell - buy" thing would square with the rule that you must have owned the car for 1 year before it is shipped. <shrug>

...hmmm...good point! You're right. This would have to be done at least 12 months before exporting the car.

Hi argonaut,

I think a bit of forward planning is required to achieve this.
Living with a Porsche or BMW might be a hard thing, but I could do It for 12 months.

Bye
Markeh

Hi argonaut,

I think a bit of forward planning is required to achieve this.
Living with a Porsche or BMW might be a hard thing, but I could do It for 12 months.

Bye
Markeh

Hi argonaut,

I think a bit of forward planning is required to achieve this.
Living with a Porsche or BMW might be a hard thing, but I could do It for 12 months.

Bye
Markeh

...errrr...heard you the first time!

Dodgy cable connection, I take it?

Very true, I didn't really think that through

What worked for me was giving them a forged receipt from the guy I bought it off for £2K NOT the £3.4K I paid. In hindsight I still stitched myself up as could have probably got away with more but you live and learn.

As someone pointed out you DO need to have owned the car for atleast 12 months with a personal import. I have told the wife if she wants me back in the UK for a holiday it's 12 months or nothing. An Intergrale or E30 M3 is on the cards

Slightly off the topic of this current thread, but does the pay lots of money in the form of gst rule for stuff bought within the last 12 months apply for temporary residents as well as permanent ones?
(Conversely can you claim the VAT back from the UK IR?)



Nobody cared about anything I had when I arrived (and I didn't know about the rule), but I could imagine if I try to claim a tax deduction for work purposes on something that was bought within the last 12 months and hadn't declared, I might get into trouble. Do two different government depts dealing with these things?

TC