importing cars

Scorpy · Post by **Scorpy** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 5:08 pm

Hi,

Im new to posting on this forum but have been reading it for ages.

I just saw a widebodied starion for auction on ebay in the uk and was wondering how hard is it to import the car to australia and the cost that would be involved.

Has anyone else done it??

Thanks for your time

starion4me · Post by **starion4me** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 9:07 pm

hi mate, i imported my widebody from the states almost 2 years ago

the cost depends on a lot of factors i will try to explain them

once you have found a car you like dont buy it until you get a verbal consent from canberra that you can bring it in. they wont give written approval until they have a copy of all the forms including a copy of the ownership papers. Catch 22 i know, but its like that throught the entire event.

i have to say right now that it is a risk as they can change the laws at a drop of a hat.

buy car, get written approval from canberra

pay all of the following before it leaves the port, sometimes the freight company will pay these for you and you pay them when it arrives. Note that all the fees are going to be in pounds at their end! this is quite a shock cause even though pounds are worth 2.75 times aussie I bought a sandwich in london for $10 pounds, ouch!

the purchase price -
is not just the cost of buying the car it includes -
the cost of any repairs or modifications after you paid for the car
the cost of getting the car to the port
the cost of washing and fumigating
the cost of draining all the fluids including disconnecting or removing the battery. This part sucks as they still drive the car into the container or on the boat with no fluids in it.
the cost of driving into the container and securing it
customs fees
some other admin fees that just make your eye balls pop out

while in transit you will need to pay for the following (best to do it in transit as they can charge you for storage of the car this end for 200-500 per day)

15 % of purchase price (that included everything above and the prices seem incrediable) $500 for driving the car into the container and securing it as an example
10 % GST on the total cost of buying the car and getting the car to OZ

Time to pray to the car gods and hope like hell they are listening as there is the possibilty of one more tax - LUXURY TAX 55%

If that hasnt got you screaming you must be the ice man.

Canberra have the power to rip your balls off and make you say thank you. If they decide that your car is a luxury vehicle then prepare yourself, lube your ass and bend over as its 55 % on total cost as well. They came across a brochure in the states that stated it was a luxury vehicle, lucky for me I work for a law firm. But be warned its possible.

then you have all the hidden cost over here
fumigating again if they used wood to pack the container.
washing the car and this must have been preformed by the queen herself as its around $150
Cost of admin stuff...$100 here, there and everywhere.

now i was lucky as i was able to get a private tow truck and go to the impound myself and sign it out. Your not meant to be able to do that, so i have been told as it is supposed to go straight to an ADR approved place for compliancing

Now i imported my under the 15 year rule which meant the im except from the national compliancing but not the state

Mate, i have to say it, its a big job importing a car especially if its your first time like it was for me.

Canberra make it as hard as possible to prevent you even considering importing a car. They see it has taking funds away from the local market.

I hope you get a descent freight company as i was unlucky. Mine was cheap but it was supposed to be a direct sale from portland to sydney. It wasnt it, it was scheduled for a ship change in singapore and it was a day late and missed the changeover. When the car was overdue I was calling them all the time and leaving messages, finally they got back to me with the news that the container is missing and they are trying to locate it. After 4 weeks they found it still at the port in singapore in a locked container.

MAKE SURE YOU GET INSURANCE WITH YOUR FREIGHT COMPANY!!!!!

Hope this doesnt put you off

c u
Jas
www.starion.webhop.net

scum · Post by **scum** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 9:46 pm

i imported a car a while ago, i just hit it with the hair dryer untill it was small enough to fit in an envelope, when u get it, just add water. :D

Scorpy · Post by **Scorpy** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 12:12 am

Oh bugger!

I was thinking it might be a little easier because my brother was living over there. I was going to get him to buy the car, drive it and then bring it back. I might to a little more searching and see what the shipping companies cost.

Thanks for all the advice.

The car I was looking at was only 350 pound

decoy · Post by **decoy** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 3:02 am

starion4me, now that is a scary story!

scorpy, give LxS a pm (or she might write in here) as she just bought over the parts needed to convert her JA to a widebody. works out cheaper... but still expensive.

toysrus · Post by **toysrus** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 3:17 pm

I'ld still rather a conquest!

As they have stronger diff's, leather interior and the ELECTRIC SEATBELT!! :D

decoy · Post by **decoy** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 6:51 pm

starions have leather interior too ya know, even narrow bodies. all the conquest have done is change the tail lights, colourcode the grill and put different badges on :S

NXTIME · Post by **NXTIME** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 7:44 pm

Jap-spec widebodies dont have leather seats.

ProZac · Post by **ProZac** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 7:52 pm

what about an 86 model? it was 87 when they changed to the other seats?

SpidersWeb · Post by **SpidersWeb** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 5:49 am

Almost all NZ new Starions have LSD,ABS,Leather and much more.

I dunno how elec seatbelts go with compliance here though, I was thinking of buying the units and installing. But then thought twice about it, probably have to get a LVV cert or some crap.

To be honest, if you want a widebody, it may be cheaper freight wise to get it from NZ, but they're a bit more pricey than 350 quid. Also its cheap to fly here, purchase the car, get it on the boat yourself, fly back and pick it up. (Of course all the export/import fees apply, and you still have all the Aussie law fun). We also got lots of 1988 VR4s for the same price.

More irrelevant stuff I picked up on the web:

Japanese GSR-II and GSR-III had factory speed cuts. They cut at 180, but its so easy to disable, it'll be pretty hard to find one still active. Evidence from two websites, including Mitsubishi Motors Japan.

ProZac · Post by **ProZac** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:05 am

you totally sure about that? i know the digital dash stops responding above 180, but the car keps going? (I back off due to the driveshaft making one "interesting" noises.

Yes, im just replying to all your posts today, im a stalker you see.

NXTIME · Post by **NXTIME** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 11:36 am

How much would a clean wide body sell for in NZ?

ProZac · Post by **ProZac** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 2:15 pm

One just sold up north for $9k. AFAIK there are less than 5 in the country tho. Importing one will be easier in 2006 tho, as they will be more than 20 years old.

LxS · Post by **LxS** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 2:30 pm

It's crazy no matter what way you try and do it. Save yourself the hassle, have a look in the for sale section, steve is selling his UK imported widebody for only 12k

It would be very hard to bring one in for less than that. Especially in his condition.

mrb1 · Post by **mrb1** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 3:22 pm

Stupid electric seat belts :D

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