TOB

Hi,

I have read in several books that you must have owned your car for 12 months prior to shipping it to Oz? Does anyone know if this is true, and if so, is there anyway you can get around it?

My husband wants to buy a car now which we could like to take to Oz but if the above applies then thats that one out the window!

Advice appreciated.

Thanks

Stormz

if you do a search for threads over the last month you`ll see quite a few good threads... evorobin had some great advice...

TOB

Thanks, I'll try that one.

Vegemite Kids

Yes that true.

See http://www.dotars.gov.au/transreg/vs...rsonal_Imports for more info

evorobin

Yeah your talking about a personal import which is 12 months. However if its a japanese car then they can be imported very cheaply in oz. What car did your husband want to buy?

TOB

He wanted to import an E Class Mercedes, but this 12 month thing stops us as we don't own it yet!

Olibeneli

I am buying a new mazda here in the UK............does that mean I can still import it cheaply or did you mean import it direct to Oz from Japan ?

mcjimbo

I'm an Expat who moved to Australia in 1986, then back to the UK in 2001.

Anyway I lived there for 15 years and during this time I was quite heavily into cars, and the import scene.

Anyway I wouldn't bother bringing out your car unless its really special. My dad had a number of friends come out to Australia from the UK after we immigrated, and the only one brought out a V12 Jag after discussions with my dad.

He then sold it and after paying shipping, and factoring in all other expenses he broke even. This was on a perfect 1989 Jag with low miles and full Jag service history.

Cars are cheap enough in Australia, especially with the flood of cheap Korean and Malaysian brands. With prices of new cars coming every year don't bother importing unless you want to keep the car for your own personal use and it has sentimental value.

Cars are rarely an investment, apart from some classics. Don't forget that the pound also goes along way out there!

evorobin

Subaru impreza sti $30K+

E34 M5 $40K+

E36 M3 $55K+

Lotus Elise is the ideal car to import. Never seen a MK1 for sale for less than $45K and thats private! They go on the forecourt at $65K despite a new one costing $80K...

With the weaker pound NOW is exactly the right time to import as spending £25K on a secondhand performance car seems silly to me

Olibeneli

What about a Japanese sports car - I am going for a Mazda RX8 that costs around £22k here in the UK.

If I ship that to Oz in 15mths lets say it's worth £19-£20k in the UK would it be worth importing?

evorobin

No as you pay a high % of its value to get it in the country. Best wait until you come over for a new car. Besides if you'd driven a series 6 RX-7 you may not want the torqueless RX-8

Olibeneli

Have you driven a RX8 then ? What do they cost new in Oz?
The new RX8 engine has won some awards so it can't be that bad. I'm no out and out sports car addict but it's good enough for me and it gets my kids in............can't do that in a Porsche.

CHnJ

cols

I brought my car in as a personal import this year. It was very expensive. Don't do it unless it is a very special car.

In Australia an rx8 costs $56K/$62K with/without leather (www.mazda.com.au).

The problem is that customs don't let you depreciate the value of the car if purchased after 1998 so duties and taxes would be charged on the original purchase price less VAT. So, if you paid 22K, this would give the car an approximate value of $44578 (18723 pounds at ex rate of 0.42).

You would pay 15% of this as duty, ie. $6687.

You then need to pay 10% GST which is calculated on the value of the car + duty + shipping costs. You may pay around 1500 pounds in shipping/insurance costs. This gives a GST charge of 0.1 * ($44578 + $6687 + $3571) = $5483.

So you would end up having to pay $12170 plus around $1000 more in various costs to get it cleared and through quarantine, etc. You would then have to pay state stamp duty when the car gets registered. For NSW this is 3% of the value of the car (5% if it is worth more than $45). This works out at around $1337.

So the total cost would be approximately $15000 to get it on the road.

This brings your total outlay to over $67000, more than the cost to buy one locally.

Sell the car before you leave and buy another one when you get here.

Olibeneli

OK OK.......so the porsche cayenne takes the kids.......they are even uglier in the flesh and to buy one we are talking shed loads of dosh........and my kids would not get in it as it looks so daft.

Big mistake by porsche to enter this market so late.........