benobi

Hi Savitar Just came across your thread and interested to know your thoughts on our car that we are planning to move over to Melbourne from London - move is planned early April 2015: Car Make : BMW Car Model (including engine and gearbox) : X5 40d 3.0L diesel Car Year : Dec-2012 Car mileage : 8800 miles Special options : M-Sport finish, 7-seater, pano roof, electric tailgate/wing mirrors What is your motivation for sending the car (profit, can't get car in OZ, love the car and can't leave without it etc)? Use for driving business clients around as well as personal use When are you planning on sending it? March 2015 How long will you keep the car when you get to OZ (best guess, I.e. days, months, years, never sell, try to be as specific as possible)? As long as possible, at least 3 years When will you need the car in the UK vs Aus (I.e. it takes 3-4 months from shipping to on the road, will you have another car to cover it)? As soon as possible but we have car on both ends to cover us Many thanks in advance Ben

Thanks everybody. I had already messaged Iron Chef via their website for info, but I was just curious to hear of other people's experiences in this area. Any thoughts from those who'd already done it would be good to hear.

Hi everyone I'm new to the forum and have been researching my move to Oz which should be in about 15 months time. One thing that I've been looking into is the end-to-end cost for importing a car from London and getting it on the road in Oz. I accept that the figures will vary for each individual but I was trying to get a feel for relative costs. Would like to hear from those who have successfully negotiated the minefield, would you be able to share your experiences? The figures that would be interesting are the custom value of car at import, and total costs incurred to import over and make the car roadworthy. Many thanks in advance Cheers Ben

JoandJon - Thanks for the baby link. My missus will write to Centrelink to confirm what the requirement is regarding the baby bonus. Will report back once we get an answer. I suspect we probably won't be able to take advantage of it if we need to be permanently settled in Oz within 6 months of the baby being born, but it will be good to know. KZ1 - Thanks for the car link - will read up and have a think about what to get. Our neighbour owns a Q7 and it looks huge but I guess the roads are much wider in Oz. Personally I like the look of the Audis but if BMW are in higher demand and are valued more in Oz then that's what we'll go for. We are planning to buy one for ourselves, and getting a 2nd car for selling on as an investment. Cheers Ben

Greetings all First post here on the forum - hoping to get a few thoughts from those in the know regarding a permanent move to Australia. I am a Brit who has been married to my Aussie wife for a year and a half. I will be applying for my spousal visa now - we plan to emigrate to Melbourne on a permanent basis, our initial thinking would be in about 18 months say around August 2014. There are 2 factors that I am unsure about, which could influence the timing of our move: - Baby considerations: Our baby is due to be born in the UK around Aug 2013. We plan to head to Oz perhaps within a year after that. We would like to take advantage of the Oz baby bonus scheme if available, but not sure whether we would be considered eligible? - Car considerations: We would like to take a car over to Oz. Depending on finances we could be in the position to purchase a car say around £30k for my wife now. I could also consider buying a 2nd car around the £30k mark, if I would be considered eligible to bring one over in similar fashion. I'm assuming this will be dependent on when I get my spousal visa though? So my questions are: - Would we be eligible for the baby bonus and if so, how long after the baby is born do we have before we need to move to Oz and register? - Does the 1 year rule for owning a car apply irrespective of my spousal visa status? (ie. if I buy one now, does the 1 year clock start ticking now, or only when my spousal visa is approved?) - With a £30k budget, any recommendations of what car to go for? First thoughts were second hand BMW X5 or Audi Q5. Any thoughts would be much appreciated! Cheers Ben