wanttobedownunder

Hi All,

I am looking to buy a van as soon as I land in perth. I have looked on the net and they seem very expensive compared to uk prices.
Would it be worth importing one as I will be shipping my household goods over in a container anyway?
If so how much import tax and any other costs would expect to pay?

Thanks,

Tony.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

The general feeling from people who have investigated this is that its not worth the effort unless the vehicle being imported is something very special, like an Aston Martin... for a van, just forget it.

craig_m67

Rubbish.

The general feeling from people who have investigated this (and done it) are that it is simply dependant upon you meeting a few basic eligibility requirements and adding up the easily worked costs (freight, insurance, customs duties and other taxes) to ascertain if spending the money would leave you ahead or behind.

There are a few excellent threads with all the info you need, do a search.
I'll have a look and edit a few in laters.

cheers
Craig

iamthecreaturefromuranus

I await to see the big long list of people who have imported a van....

One other thing for the Op to keep in mind. Unless you plan to either sit on the dock until your imported van turns up... or sit in the cab of your imported van for six weeks while it bounces around the Indian Ocean you are going to need someway of getting about as soon as you land. Factor the hiring of a vehicle for six weeks into those import costs.

craig_m67

Maaaate, the OP (Tony) neither asked for a list or a feeling.

My diesel estate had a UK value of around £2K - all up (landed/registered) it cost £3K to bring it here. It would cost significantly more than £5K** to replace it here in Aust. (which you couldn't as the derv never made it).

**your milege and experience will vary.

I can't be arsed searching for all the guff and links right now, but they're available. It's really not that difficult to import a car, the hardest part is working out if the numbers add up for you.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roa...ral/index.aspx

Also another good point to keep in mind... import a van that isn't available here in Oz and spares will be almost non-existant. Import a euro van, French/Italian and parts, if they are available will be astronomic in cost.

Geelong Gent

Can you just verify that £3k figure?
The frieght alone should of taken up most of that

craig_m67

Date Organisation Description A$Value
11-Feb-09 - Wentworth Removals Shipping UK-Aust. $3,265.31
23-Apr-09 - Conroys Quarantine inspection fee $165.00
08-May-09 - Conroys Import Shipping Line Document Fees $15.00
19-May-09 - Conroys Steam Cleaning as demanded by AQIS $225.00
15-May-09 - Commercial Freight & Logistics Customs Duty, declaration charges $1,294.02
14-May-09 - Brisbane Vehicle Valuers Customs import valuation $200.00
11-Jun-09 - Road Freight (Louise) Road freight from Conroys to ASE Sandgate Road $130.00
11-Jun-09 - Earl Gilchrist Engineers Certificate $250.00
11-Jun-09 - ASE Steering Child seat mount modifications $250.00
12-Jun-09 - Suncorp Queensland CTP $329.00
12-Jun-09 - QLD Dept. Transport QLD Registration + Duty $382.00

Total A$6,505.33

Wentworths was £1,600 (@0.49), could have been £1,100 with hindsight (based upon length of car).
We were in no hurry for the car (travelling in Thailand), it all could have been sorted within a fortnight of landing.

Alfa imported my car (156 1.9JTD SW) into Aust. but not as a derv. The derv engine arrived in the next model, so spares (body/driveline) are available locally - although cheaper via UK royal mail. The history, mileage, problems and subsequent maintenance with my car are well known to me - as opposed to buying unknown second hand here. There was also a great deal of family attachment to the car as it took us all over UK/EU. That said, it's just a car, and if it'd been cheaper to get another family derv here it would have been left. I have to say that driving it and the family to Wentworths and then getting a cab to Heathrow was a piece of piss. I actually did try and sell it, but we had no takers (Dec-Jan 09) even at £1K.

Insurance was via Shannons, and suprisingly is cheaper than the equiv. original petrol version with the majors (AAMI, RACQ, NRMA, etc)

Geelong Gent

Thanks Craig, always nice to see factual figures to compare

wanttobedownunder

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the info. I was looking at a brand new transit I know you get them in Australia so spares will be available. They are about £12k here but $42k there???????? so would I pay a tax percentage of what its worth in Auz or the uk?? I presume Auz and then all the costs that craig mentioned????????????

craig_m67

You are not allowed to bring in a vehicle that you haven't personally owned/operated for more than 12months, unless it was manufactured before Dec 1989.
There's a thread with a spreadsheet by bigAPE somewhere which should help... or here in this Wiki

wanttobedownunder

Thanks craig forgot about that bit DOH!!!

bigAPE

That's the main link with the latest information. Download the Excel and fill out the details. Simple.

One word of caution, you might want to check to see if the vehicle qualifies as being "commercial", there might be positive tax implications if this is true. Also note that the import dury on vehicles is being halved in the new year.

Al