POW148

Hi Guys

Next year I am heading back to the UK for 10 weeks. I am planning on purchasing a caravan and doing a lot of touring whilst over there. I am thinking of buying a 2-Berth Elddiss Caravan for this task.

I have looked at the caravans over here and most are extremly expensive and not that well made. The Elddis caravans tick all the boxes for me but they are extremely expensive here compared to what you can purchase them for in the UK.

As an example, a 2-berth 1997 Elddis van is for sale here - Price is $19,000. A similar van in the UK is less than 4,000 GBP and there are hundreds to choose from. I would probably purchase a twenty foot container and ship it out in that. I am also planning on buying a Aga Stove whilst there and shipping that back also.

Has anyone on here imported their own caravan when they have migrated. If you have, what sort of hoops do you have to jump through, which shipping agent did you use and what sort of expense am I looking at. Was it a hassle to have it registered over here.

Thankyou for any advice you can give me

Kind Regards

Barney

renth

I thought of this too a while back, seems like a wonderful arbitrage opportunity.

I did look into it, obviously loads of paperwork plus aircon/gas system needs to be decommissioned before shipping by a certified person then when it gets here recommissioned by similar certified person.

Plus import duties bases on value of van in Australia not what you paid for it plus GST. I think I read that the electrics need to be checked by an Aussie certified sparkie (not 100% sure if I remember correctly).

Next up I read that pommie vans "not up to Aussie conditions" - I assumed that was bullshit but let's face it a couple of hundred Ks on a corrugated road is bound to **** up a British van not designed to take that punishment - you may need to upgrade the suspension in that case.

Don't let that put you off - I seriously considered it as a business opportunity but stuck it on the "too hard" pile, for now.

furbacchione

All that and! contact your insurance company and see if they will insure it. many imports by private people can be a nightmare to get insured. I looked into importing an M series Z3 and a Mini Cooper but the uncertainty of whether I could get insurance year after year made me think twice about it. I could only find one insurer that would give me insurance and one tentative at the time I was doing my recon. It didn't appear that commercially imported vehicles by reputable companies had the same hassles, but then you're not saving anything. Without insurance a vehicle is less than worthless.

POW148

Thankyou for your advise guys. It is very much appreciated.

I will certainly be looking into it.

Regards

Barney

cresta57

Is it for ya Ma?

POW148

and her Dags :-)