JH2

Hi,

May I ask for some advice please.

With exchange rates as they are right now, and shipping charges relatively low we have decided to bring my car with us.

Its a 2009 BMW X5 - and I am confident it will have no issues with certificates of conformity; I am also aware of the import / GST regime.

My question(s) is this : When it comes out of the container and has been cleared by customs, what is the procedure for getting it registered onto NZ plates ?

Assume that it will be insured.

Can you drive it on UK plates until it is registered onto NZ plates ?

Its only 2 year old - will it need a WOF ?

How do you tax it ? Can you tax it on UK plates whilst waiting for NZ plates ?

How long does all this take ?

Thanks very much for your help.

Cheers.

JAMES

johnht

Hi James,
have you seen this factsheet?
http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/fa...a-vehicle.html
Other links you can find from the NZTA site will also probably help especially to the entry certifiers e.g. NZ AA.
John.

rushmere

I recently brought a car with me.

The main problem I had was understanding the process. No one seemed to be able to tell me at the time, so I just took it one step at a time and it all worked out OK in the end!

In my case, it took about a month for the car to be cleared by MAF and customs after the car arrived in NZ. However, I suspect this was mainly due to the sheer uselessness of my shipping company, and it should be much quicker than that, probably less than 2 weeks.

The shipping company informed me when the car was ready to collect. I was then instructed to go to the customs office in central Auckland with some i.d. and they gave me a release form for the car. I was then able to collect it from the shipping company. As the car is not registered at this point, it can't be driven on NZ roads. I had to get a company to trailer it to a VTNZ to get it registered (I used www.captaintransporter.co.nz who were really good). I believe the AA and one or two other companies are also able to register an imported car. Once the car had arrived at the VTNZ, it took about 3 days for the car to be registered and WOF'd. They hand you the NZ number plates when they've finished and you have to fix them to the car yourself, so it's handy if you've got a screwdriver! You can then drive it away. All cars need a WOF - mine was only just over a year old at the time. Registration for one year and the WOF cost around $800 in total.

Hope that helps.

Jan n Neil

It,s way easier with a bike it got delivered to the house i rode it to vtnz and it came out with NZ plates on it, simples

sirplug

Bring it. It's worth it for a car such as that......

simonsi

Once it has cleared customs and MAF you will need to have it delivered to a compliance centre, not any WoF station or VTNZ can do compliance. As part of a succesful compliance they will issue a first WoF. You then take the WoF and compliance certificate and you can register the car and buy plates. Fix the plates and it can then be driven.

I´d be more cautious and recommend you talk to a compliance centre before shipping, it will be an expensive mistake to find you are missing a certificate or label on the car and such things CAN cause a complete compliance failure.

PM for more details if you need, I did this about 6mths ago.

coffeeaddict

Im bring a restoration with me and it is free of import tax as we are entering migrants.. they said it ws classed as "Concession purpose".

simonsi

Yes but you still have to have owned the car for at least for it to qualify for the concession, any less and get is collected.

coffeeaddict

At least what? lol typo at the most important part

rushmere

You need to have owned it for at least a year. See here.

simonsi

12mths, sorry was updating by phone :-)

get equals GST too....

JH2

Thank you all.

Very helpful.

Cheers.

JAMES

anniiee

In my case, it took about a month for the car to be cleared by MAF and customs after the car arrived in NZ. However, I suspect this was mainly due to the sheer uselessness of my shipping company, and it should be much quicker than that, probably less than 2 weeks.

The shipping company informed me when the car was ready to collect. I was then instructed to go to the customs office in central Auckland with some i.d. and they gave me a release form for the car. I was then able to collect it from the shipping company. As the car is not registered at this point, it can't be driven on NZ roads. I had to get a company to trailer it to a VTNZ to get it registered (I used www.captaintransporter.co.nz who were really good). I believe the AA and one or two other companies are also able to register an imported car. Once the car had arrived at the VTNZ, it took about 3 days for the car to be registered and WOF'd. They hand you the NZ number plates when they've finished and you have to fix them to the car yourself, so it's handy if you've got a screwdriver! You can then drive it away. All cars need a WOF - mine was only just over a year old at the time. Registration for one year and the WOF cost around $800 in total.

All the above is exactly what happened to us except we drove the car to the compliance centre because it was only 1km from the shipper. Oh the compliance centre issued the WOF (MOT) at the same time it. It only took about 5 hours from collecting to driving home but I think this will depend on how busy the compliance centre is at the time. Another point you do not require car insurance to legally drive on NZ roads but you really should have it.

rushmere

I guess the risk is very low for such a short distance, but it's worth pointing out that it's still illegal to drive any vehicle on a NZ road at this stage, no matter what the distance is. Even if you did have insurance, the cover would not be valid for this short journey. Please don't take this as criticism - it's just so that anyone in the same position can make a fully informed choice!

RobClubley

Mine sat in the shipper's warehouse for a week waiting for the MAF inspection.
Once that was complete they transported it to VTNZ on a truck to get certified. Import checks and certs took about 5 hours then I paid, was handed plates (with no screws, so bring some!).
That was it, drove away.

Then I had to sort out the damage the shippers did under insurance.