Should I bring my car?
 

Hi all,

I'm debating whether to bring my car to NZ. Its a 2011 Mini One. 1.6 Diesel. Manual transmission.

Would it be more hassle than its worth?

Any advice would be appreciated

Many Thanks

Re: Should I bring my car?
 

That's the question, what's it worth? :)

Re: Should I bring my car?
 

Don't know for sure, approx £8000 - £9000
Do mini's hold their value in NZ?

Re: Should I bring my car?
 

Its going to cost about £6000 to ship it there. Then a few thousand NZD to get it through customs, register it and put it on the road in NZ I think, a few here have done it who know far more than I do.

You would have to clean it really, really well, inside and out, and under it.

If you are getting a shipping container and can fit it in there with your belongings, then it would be better than sending it separate I think.

Re: Should I bring my car?
 

It's a very expensive car in NZ. Have seen ones as back as 2003 (so over 10 years old) going for $10K and up - take a look here:
Motors search results - Find vehicles on Trade Me Motors

and your car just under the 30K mark..

Motors search results - Find vehicles on Trade Me Motors

Re: Should I bring my car?
 

Don't forget the Road User Charge you pay on a diesel, $58/1000km. Takes a bit of gloss off the cheaper pump price!

Re: Should I bring my car?
 

If you hate automatic gear vehicles then yes bring the car. Manual drives here are like katipos. Impossible to find

Plus as it being a diesel, again a no brainer. $580 a year for 10,000km - resulting in nice cheap fuel pricing. Diesels on average should save you hundreds a year - unless you drive like a lunatic.. Filling your car up with addition to the 0.58c charge per km still works out cheaper than the $2.07 per litre charge. Plus you don't need to fill up as often.

Re: Should I bring my car?
 

Not always a great difference for small cars, see attached

Re: Should I bring my car?
 

Wow they go for double the price out there then! That's interesting..and although I intend to keep it for a long time myself, it looks like I will still get a good price for it when I eventually sell it one day.

I am terrible at driving automatics, I've only ever driven manuals! So that's another thing to bear in mind. Will that make it more difficult to sell on one day though if most people drive automatics?

And how much is diesal per litre? My car is pretty economical anyway, It does about 80mpg on the motorway and 50 ish around town

Does anyone know if mini parts are easy to get too?

Thanks for all your replies!

Re: Should I bring my car?
 

if you import a car you and sell within 3years. think its 3, you will have to pay customs a percentage.

we bought our Zafira over in the container along with the house stuff, bear in mind you will probably be here before you container so you will have to factor in rental costs if you rent a car.

as someone has already pointed out it not just the cost of the import but the maf inspection, then the wof and registration.

Re: Should I bring my car?
 

It's currently about $2000 on the NZ end in fees

Re: Should I bring my car?
 

To be honest I'd say sell it in the uk and buy here.
Export charges will be around £1500 - £2000. Fees this end will be around another £1000, so you'll have spent around £3000 or $6000 just to get it here, through customs, MPI, compliance, registration and a warrant of fitness!
I doubt the car will be worth that amount more here so majority of this is lost money.
I'm doubtful your uk spec car would be worth more being that it's odometer will be in miles and mph and it's a manual. Shouldn't be any issues with servicing or parts but it'll cost you more here and there may be a delay on parts coming from Europe.
Once you import a vehicle you must declare that you will not sell on for a period of 2 years or you agree to pay GST at 15% of its value at the time of sale, and that's the $ value customs declare it is worth in nz.
Yes diesel is cheaper than petrol here as it is not taxed at the pump. Currently around $1.28 a litre in the BOP for diesel and around $2.08 for regular 91 unleaded. Fuel has actually risen around 25c/30c in the last week. You must pay for Road User Charges in minimum blocks of 1000kms for $58 each and your car mileage should always be within the range of your purchased RUC license. Also bear in mind diesels are more expensive to insure here and your vehicle license (rego or road tax) is also more expensive than a petrol car. Petrol car currently $280 a year and a diesel just over $400 I think. These costs are due to drop slightly as ACC have reduced their fees from 1st July 2015.
I run a 1.9 diesel astra as my work horse. Did a whole heap of calculations on different cars, engine sizes and fuels before deciding on the cheapest motoring for my commute and since I do high mileage it costs me heaps less than a similar size petrol car even when you take into account the extra costs involved. It's simply due to the lower cost of diesel irrespective that there's ruc's to pay for, however if you aren't doing high mileage the savings will be negligible.

Re: Should I bring my car?
 

Agreed, small diesels don't make as much economic sense due to arcane taxation unfortunately.

Re: Should I bring my car?
 

Escapedtonz, thanks for such a thorough reply - really helpful!

Perhaps it really isn't worth all the effort and hassle after all...

Re: Should I bring my car?
 

our decision was a no brainer, we just could not afford to buy a car when we got here, the $3000 odd it cost to get it through would not buy a car in a condition of ours.