taking car with us
 

Was wondering if anyone could help.

We were considering taking our car to Melbourne and i wondered if anyone Knew if the MOT in UK was kinda the same as the tests the run in Australia. I think it is called the roadworthy certificate. The car always passes the mot here in the UK without an issue, however i am wondering if the Australian equivalent to the MOT has the same emissions ranges,tests, etc.

Any thoughts on the issue would be appreciated.

thanks in advance for any responses.

nirrade

Re: taking car with us
 

the general response seems to be 'No don't bother"

It seems to be a long and costly process and the usual advice is : unless it is exceptionally classic/sentimental, flog it and buy one here.

Re: taking car with us
 

Also depending on timing, you may end up having to hire a car here till yours gets here, and the cost of that can be high.

Re: taking car with us
 

I wish I had brought my car - my only emigration "regret".

There's a whole section in the Wiki on bringing your car I think.

BB

Re: taking car with us
 

All the states have different rules regarding Roadworthy - funnily enough Victoria don't have an annual roadworthy test. ( very Strange ! ) However before you can register your car for the first time in Australia it will have to be inspected and conform to the 'Australian Design Rules' and have a compliance issued. That can cost a lot of money depending on what they find.

Generally speaking, Family cars in Australia are similar ( and cheaper in come cases ) than UK cars, but if you have a Prestige/Exotic car then it's worth importing as these are expensive here. Go to www.carsales.com.au to see how prices compare. ( It's the Aus equivalent of autotrader.co.uk )

New cars that attract Luxury car tax are twice as much here, and so the
2nd hand prices are a lot higher. So if you have a Jag, Porshe , Lotus, Audi, Merc etc bring it because you will be quids-in. Anything else, leave it behind. Also if you have a UK import the resale value will be much less here - things like exhaust systems don't usually rust on Ozzy cars and last a life time. When the inspector saw my exhaust system he laughed and commented that most UK imports he had seen looked like that. He was right, my wifes Australian 4WD is 9 years old and still has the original exhaust and it's not got a speck of rust anywhere on it.

If I was doing it all over again, 12 months before emigrating I would have bought myself a Jaguar XKR or Lotus Esprit ( or similar ) and imported it. A 12,000 pound Jag brings over $Au50K here, and a similar Esprit V8 would get in excess of Au$75K.

Also if you do decide to import, use a container service not roll-on / roll-off. I know many people who have had cars damaged or parts stolen in transit, so a container is the way to go.

Re: taking car with us
 

The prestige imports don't have the same resale power as an Australian complianced version.

Read up about the Porsche debarcle in Sydney from about 10 years ago. Thousands of Japanese Porsche imports were imported to Australia and people couldn't sell them more than a couple of grand when an Australian version could be worth more than 60-70k

Re: taking car with us
 

Not after you have paid the luxury car tax which has to be paid on all car imports over a certain $ value.

Re: taking car with us
 

Anyone who improts a prestige euro car into Australia is a clown.

Re: taking car with us
 

Anyone who drives a Holden or ford falcon is a clown,

I seriously regret not shipping over my BMWs from the UK, Its not about resale value if you are going to keep it for a while, Also cars in the UK are in far better condition than they are in Australia, The British attitude towards maintenance seems to be much better than the Aussie attitude of don't bother and spend the money saved on servicing on a few extra crates of VB to drink whilst driving the deathtrap thats never so much as seen a workshop in its life.

Aussie technical inspections are a joke.

Re: taking car with us
 

That's got nothing to do with it. Have you tried selling your car yet?

The books aren't worth shit in Australia that's the issue.

And yes people who drive Fords and Holdens are clowns.

Re: taking car with us
 

I didn't ship it in the end, I ended up selling the 7 series in pieces on ebay due to its 390k on the clock (300k in 6 years of ownership :( ) and the m3 was sold in poland as a track car,

I ended up paying 20k AUD for a bloody diesel volvo :(

Re: taking car with us
 

True for some cars, but not for others. A 911 is at least double the cost of a German version. On the other hand an X5 30d is $96k here and $72k in the UK - far from double the price. Lotus is relatively affordable in the UK, here they are insanely priced.

Re: taking car with us
 

Apart from the rust which stuffs up the resale value.

Re: taking car with us
 

An Aston Martin V8 Vantage is relatively affordable in the UK. Here they are $300K

Re: taking car with us
 

I brought my BMW over last year, yes it has cost me a little and yes its worth less here but if i had sold it in the UK I could not afford to replace it here and like they say every thing lasts alot longer so as long as I can keep it for the next 5yrs without much cost then it was worth every penny and it was all straight forward for us to do here in melbourne, If you only have a old family car dont bother unless it holds special memories.:thumbsup: