Shipping tools and personal items in the car

Hi all im just trying to scratch the surface on this issue I am planning on shipping my car over to Melbourne in the summer or autumn.

I am aware of my situation regarding importation the car ie, Import approval, de gassing the AC , cleaning of the vehicle before and upon arrival, taxes and duties expected.

However i will be loading my car up with my tools, surfing equipment, boards, bicycle , books ,clothes etc can anyone tell me does all this stuff have to be accounted for by customs? as its all my own personal stuff , i have a 176 PR visa. I have not decided how i will ship the car and items yet as I assume its fairly straightforward ( into a container) and off it goes?

I have seen people mention "a 12 moth rule" does this mean that all personal imported items must be at least 12 months in your ownership? As some of my tools look like new because they are only used intermittently, ie Torque ratchet, multi metre , compression tester.They may look like they are less than 12 months old, but are in fact 5-7 years old. I take care of all my tools as they are top quality items and precision instruments , and I keep them in very good condition as they cost a fortune ££££ and do not want to have to pay tax on them (again). Has anyone had issues with customs in a similar instance?

Any info would be great

Cheers

Fergal :biggrin:

I was under the impression that nothing is allowed to be in the car,other than the fixtures and fittings that normally would be in it (ie the car seats, seat belts and buckles). So don't think your plan will work - you will need to ship your personal items separately.

The 12 month rule is basically because they don't want you importing things to sell and not paying the import duty on them, so anything not in packaging, not like new, not sellable condition as brand new type thing should be ok. If you had 20 full tool sets, then that would be different, but a few tools that don't have much wear to them shouldn't be an issue, that's not what they are looking for. (The car isn't the same, that has to be 12 months or more (unless its a vintage car/special case car type thing) provable by paperwork).

i'd assumed that would be the case too, shame though, what a waste of space!

I will look into it in detail during the week and contact a few companies and get back to everyone ASAP , as you must be able to load up your car????? I assume once you have it boxed and tagged properly there should be no dramas, I just find it very hard to believe that I would have to send a big estate car over empty!! It just does not make any sense? Unless certain removal companies say that so you have to pay extra for additional space! for your personal goods! Money making racket! I will do my best to get to the bottom of it if no one comes up with a concrete answer.

it may seem cynical, but if you look at the customs rules around the world, most of the rules are there to protect the governments take.

they may try to sell it in a different way (thats the nuts of a politicians job) but an objective look shows all.

good luck

I've shipped cars all over world as part of my job. I filled cars up with all sorts of tools and equipment, providing it's clearly shown on manifest you should have a problem. The shipping company you are using should provide you with the best information on what can & can't do.

You don't have to de-gas the AC system. There is no way of visually checking on most cars.

We are just in the process in getting the car shipped and as far as I know you can if shipping a car in a container, but don't bother if shipping car RO-RO(roll on roll off) as it will get nicked anyway. We were going to go RO-RO but my partner's car has heavy subs in the boot etc... which would get nicked so we are now having a container.

What makes you think it will get nicked, once it's on the RORO the car is chained down and doen't move etc until it arrives at it's destination.

Just the guy who I been speaking to with getting a quote for our car with his car shipping company. He comes highly recommended on this site and seems to know his stuff....he has no reason to lie!

oooooooooo, thats good news!

i'll just make sure its stuff thats not too expensive or overly sentimental

thanks

sometimes its fantastic to be wrong!

Good question, my hubby's been thinking of taking his van and we also wondered if we could fill it with our personal procession. When you find out please let us know if its feasible. thanks Lisa

Its nice to see you have such faith in removal companies ripping you off. Perhaps they would advise you not to put goods inside a vehicle because they have seen hundreds of times where it never works out well and somehow it always seem to be the removers fault in the end!

If you ship your car Ro Ro don't put stuff inside the car because it will get nicked

If you ship the car in a container don't put stuff inside the car unless you are not bothered about the significant damage it will cause to the interior of your car while it moves around in transit.

Yes we wouldn't put anything inside the car which would damage the interior. We were actually speaking of the subs and amp in the boot. Having a container also makes it easier if you got other personal belongings to ship. My partner would not be happy receiving his vehicle in oz with his expensive equipment missing. :rolleyes:

I can only go on what I have been told by the experts, and they seem to have a good track record.

You can pack the car with stuff but you will need to declare them and fill in customs forms as normal (and pay the taxes/fees etc). The difference you are saving is the cost to transport the stuff which you would otherwise have done, if you weren't shipping the car. That's what I heard.

Hi Lucysdream

We are thinking of shipping our car in a container with our belongings, any information on how you go about this would be great and also the cost involved, I assume the car has to be spotlessly clean, who does this and how much does that cost and are you allowed to pack the car or must it remain empty. We have owned our car for 4 years so the 12 month rule is not a problem.

Thanx

Having weighed up the options and went through in detail what has to be done to import the car , it just seems like a drama and more stress as my car is old but clean and has below average mileage to a similar car in Oz the way they value it over there is they take their valve of the car "as landed" in Australia and charge you 15% of that in duty(plus you have to pay to get an "experts valuation that satisfy s Customs), no matter how clean the car is YOU will get stung for $600 to have it cleaned(you have no choice really so I have been told) and then all the other various charges to get it road legal over there.

In my case its not really worth the hassle,Parts can be quite expensive for European cars and dealers will gouge you and I have been told that mechanics who can work on them know how to charge when working on them as European cars can be seen as a bit "exotic" also insurances company's may try one on , now that your car is classed as an Import. I can pick up a good clean fairly low Kilometres Falcon or Fairmont Wagon for 8-10k that's a domestic vehicle and parts are easily obtained and are in supply and are familiar to mechanics.

A Kiwi friend in Sydney told me this , it is his opinion on the matter so I will listen to him as I know him for 5 years. But again this is just his opinion.

As for just sending my tools and personal stuff I need to do some more research , I will keep you posted!

Hi Lucysdream

 

We are thinking of shipping our car in a container with our belongings, any information on how you go about this would be great and also the cost involved, I assume the car has to be spotlessly clean, who does this and how much does that cost and are you allowed to pack the car or must it remain empty. We have owned our car for 4 years so the 12 month rule is not a problem.

 

Thanx

I got a quote of just under £1200 to send my car RORO from Southampton , and I cannot put personal items in to the car!

I will pm you AJW.