Want2goNow

Hi,

I expect this question has already been answered but what are the rules & regs with shipping your own car to NZ.
Can you buy a car in this country and then ship it or do you have to have owned the car for a certain amount of time ie: buy from a dealer and then chuck it in the container.

Cheers

Want2goNow.

TeamEmbo

Am not too sure but think I read somewhere that you would have to pay tax (GST) if new or under 12 months? or 3 years? or something. Someone put a great thread on here about the journey their beloved car took, but soz, can't remember who. And the car has to be really clean, inside, outside, tyres and underneath. MAF will inspect the car thoroughly, and I'm sure the same poster said they removed the interior panels of his car. Plus I've heard others say that you can expect to get scratches and dints if you're using same contained for your goods as they'll get packed in and around it.

This isn't something we've done ourselves. We briefly looked into it but decided it was too expensive so we sold up and bought a great one here. Loads of cars, no rust as they don't salt the roads, new, old, sporty, classics etc and prices not too bad. You can pick up a decent runner from a few hundred dollars and get a decent family car from between $5k - $12k.

PaulGent

Hi Want2go

You can ship your car out but it can be rather painful.

If you have permanent residence and you have owned the car for more than 12 months then you can import it to NZ without paying tax on it. If you don't have PR then you have to pay 12.5% tax on whatever the customs people value it at.
If you import it without paying tax and then you decide to sell it inside the next 2 years then you will have to pay a proportion of the tax you should have paid when you imported the car.
The regulations about certification of an imported car are fairly complicated and the kiwis don't seem to really like European cars. It can cost a fortune if they find anything wrong with it and even if they don't then it is still qite complex and costly. Importing my car from the UK in all cost me over $10,000 by the time I had paid for everything. I ended up selling it 6 months after it arrived as it was just going to be much too costly to run over here!
My advice would be to buy a car when you get here. You will probably get a good deal on a good Jap import without all the hassle of importing your own car and then paying top dollars to maintain it if its a european.

I hoep this doesn't sound too negative. It can be an expensive business though!

Paul

PaulGent

Send me a PM if you want more of the gory details..Happy to help

Paul

TeamEmbo

Ah hah! I think it might be you I was thinking of - was it your car that got the U shaped sills from the forklift?

Genesis

I get the feeling having read stuff like this before and knowing someone that did...DONT!!!! Unless you are silly rich, its VERY rare and valuable.....OR you love it as much as your husband/wife. Apparently the sums don't add up for the average car..its time consuming and you are MOST likely not going to find a local agent. Cars are 2 a penny over here..I bought a Saab when we got here...right pain as there was no local dealer....will NEVER buy a car now unless there's a main agent in town!!!!! Good luck!!!!

Maz

Rob shipped his car over (RobClubley). Hopefully he'll see this and pop in.

RobClubley

Did I hear my name beinig taken in vain? It was me who posted the long thread about my pain and U-shaped sills...

Hang on...

Here it is...

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=438805

Maz

Not in vain. Thanks Rob, and I didn't even have to PM you. You're good!

RobClubley

Hey, anything mentioning cars in the title and I'm guaranteed to read it

Maz

Nerd. (like me! And proud of it, too, I'll bet )

RobClubley

True!