Taking a car from UK to NZ - any advice?
 

Hello everyone,

First post here..... We're heading to NZ and want to take our car with us. We can fit it in our container but the International Removal companies that we have approached don't seem very clued up on the process (and neither are we!).

Does anyone have any tips/advice? In particular what happens once the container lands in port in NZ (for us Lyttleton)? How do you get the vehicle from port to the Entry Certifier? Any views on a good Entry Certifier? How do you insure the vehicle in that period between landing (marine insurance for the voyage) and getting it registered (standard car insurance)? And anything else that you might think is useful!

Cheers in advance.

Tom

Re: Taking a car from UK to NZ - any advice?
 

What car is it.

Personally unless it's something special I'd probably leave it behind.
I believe any warranty it may have will be invalid as the NZ main dealer will not take responsibility for a car they haven't sold. They are not keen on doing any future recall work if it's an import.
My understanding is, the certifier will collect the vehicle. You cannot drive it from the point of entry to the certifier.
can't help with much more I'm afraid.
Trademe is the place for car prices should you decide not to bring it

​​​​​​You may have already seen these but if not they provide some useful info https://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/importing-a-vehicle/
​​​​​​https://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/importing-a-vehicle/exceptions/immigrants-vehicles/

Re: Taking a car from UK to NZ - any advice?
 

Had to bring ours as diidnt want yet another thing to deal with when we got here, plus we had no extra money. Least you won't have the ridiculous road rules we had to endure when we came over.
I emailed the AA here when we came we came and they were very helpful. I see now that they have a form you can fill in to let you know if your car would be acceptable: https://www.aa.co.nz/cars/owning-a-c...-enquiry-form/
at the bottom of that form is a link to more information on how to do it, forms, things to be done before loading the car, things to be done when it arrives etc

Re: Taking a car from UK to NZ - any advice?
 

Remember the ridiculous give way to cars turning right rule 😂🤣

Re: Taking a car from UK to NZ - any advice?
 

They still have that crazy rule getting on the moto at Manurewa. You stop on the main road to let the traffic on the other side have the right of way to cut across a main road.

Same as the junction at pukekhoe. Dangerous if your new to the area. I nearly ploughed into a car first time down there

Re: Taking a car from UK to NZ - any advice?
 

yep that was the one

now that is seriously ridiculous, its a country wide rule I believed !

Re: Taking a car from UK to NZ - any advice?
 

Thank you. :thumbs_up:

I filled in the AA form but they didn't get back in touch :thumbdown: Since originally posting I have been in touch with a couple of independent Entry Certifiers who said that because the vehicle is a newish European model, the process is fairly straightforward because it will meet/exceed all the NZTA standards.

Re: Taking a car from UK to NZ - any advice?
 

Thanks for the info :thumbs_up: It's a two year old low mileage Skoda Kodiaq. I spoke to an Entry Certifier and they said that Skoda is a brand that is gaining more traction in NZ. New dealership in Christchurch and parts should be ok to get because NZ police force now using Skodas. Cost of second hand increasing and less choice due to global new car production issues. We'll need a second small run-around vehicle as well so didn't want to be having to buy two at once. :fingerscrossed: car and all our stuff will fit in container so it works out reasonably cost effective exercise.

Re: Taking a car from UK to NZ - any advice?
 

PS Are EVs taking over in NZ? How long will the good old diesel internal combustion engine be around for? Any risk that they will be taken off the road or taxed out of existence any time soon? Problem in UK is that global production of EVs simply cannot keep pace with demand.

Re: Taking a car from UK to NZ - any advice?
 

For years the most popular car by a country mile has been the Ford Ranger 3.2 litre diesel ute. There's a big push going on for electric, but for non city dwellers they are neither practical or affordable

Re: Taking a car from UK to NZ - any advice?
 

It's a hangover from the days where there were trams in the middle of the street. It was way to clear the middle of the street first so trams weren't held up. Melbourne has the same give way rule. Govt has never changed the rule deeming the population too dumb to be able to adjust.

Re: Taking a car from UK to NZ - any advice?
 

TBH I was expecting carnage on the roads when NZ dropped it.
I was both relieved and disappointed that it all went smoothly 😂🤣

Re: Taking a car from UK to NZ - any advice?
 

Oh, they did change it? That's how out of date I am.

Re: Taking a car from UK to NZ - any advice?
 

Just don’t do it….. I did it with my 2 year old mini….by the time it had to be sandblasted underneath for superficial rust and the compliance cost …let alone the shipping …you as well to buy something here more suitable to the climate and good prices on Japanese cars.