Savitar

I am going to have to disagree a little with the ironchef here. Having brought two cars in myself and then sold one of them I can tell you its not just as simple as "Buy an expensive car". The car I sold was a 2011 BMW M3 with 16,000KM on the clock in 2014, competition pack, immaculate etc. The Aussie delivered cars were going for around $100 - $115K and I got $85K for mine with the next highest offer $72K.... The issue you have is that Aussies just don't want to spend money on imports when there are equivalent cars that were aussie delivered for sale. There was a guy I was talking to who was trying to convince me that $75K was a great price when the next best car on his list was $110K!! There seems to be a stigma around imported cars even though they all come from the same factory. Think about it, if you were buying a $200,000 car in OZ, would you want an aussie delivered one with an aussie history or a "trust me, this is a great car" import....Most aussies won't spend that type of money on a car unless its a true bargain. Now the trick (in my view) is bringing in something where there is VERY little competition in oz when you are selling it. Therefore if someone wants one there is not much choice and they will pay close to the aussie delivered price as they realise they don't have a choice if they want one. Now given I have lots of BMW experience here are some examples : BMW E46 M3 CSL BMW E30 M3 BMW Z4M What you need to do is your research on the UK price, the Aussie price, the import charges and, on average 20-30% reduction in the aussie car price on your resale. If you can get a rare car then that reduction in sale price is far lower and makes the chance of making money greater. What most people find is that they will NOT make money by bringing in a car. For me, I ended up breaking even on owning a E92 M3 for about 20 months. Now while that might not seem great, it would have cost me about $30K if I had owned the same car in oz for the same period given the depreciation. So rather than trying to make money, you can look at it that you can own an exotic car for 1-2 years for next to nothing.... My 5p worth...

I used them for two cars and, for the most part, was very impressed. Overall the process was quite simple and they were more than happy to help with any questions at any time. The process in Aus especially was excellent with everything done with no trouble what so ever... I would recommend them for sure. They know what they are talking about and make the process simple and just leaves one thing less you have to worry about. They are not super cheap but if you make one mistake doing it yourself you could easily spend their cost so for the peace of mind, its a no brainer for me...

Hey 99flake. I imported a 04 M3 (and a MY11 but that is another story). Feel free to PM me if you want any info about import an E46 M3.

We put in - Body wash - Sun cream - face cream - lots of misc makeup - Lots of food (BBQ sauce bought from the US), candy, etc - A thermomix - Lots of other stuff All make it no problemo....

There is no doubt, for that range of price there is NO value in buying in the UK beforehand and shipping, you will end up with WAY too much hassle and in the end more cost.... For that price you could get a 2011 Golf DSG in OZ (for example) which is a nice car for that amount of money....Lots of other options clearly... Hope that helps..

For that price you could almost get a movecube and ship a LOT more....worth a thought....

No problem....happy to provide my thoughts....Any questions, please let me know...

I can tell you from experience that if you unpack all your new stuff, use it once or twice (or not if you want) then pack it they will not care. Just don't put it on a box that has obviously never been opened and tape the receipt to it, if you do, you will get done. What they are looking for are people importing commercial quantities of stuff for re-sale, they don't really are about people bringing in personal stuff. Now having said that, if you bought a completely new house worth of stuff you might be in trouble but the odd new thing or two will not matter. We had a 4-5 month old Thermomix in our container, did not declare it, and got away with it just fine....

Hey Mark, Happy to provide some thoughts on this. Firstly, in terms of eligibility you are best to speak with IronLady imports, they are the experts here and will be able to give you the best advise around this. Now having said that, my understanding is that you CAN NOT do what you are asking. You need to have owned and LIVED with the car in the UK for at least one year before applying. If you are planning on moving in Sept then you will only have 6 months of living with it. You can't just leave it in the UK and then ship it over 6 months later, it simply does not work like that. Now if you are coming to OZ for a short business trip but your place of residence stays the UK (and you go back there regularly) then it should be fine....They are VERY strict on this as you have to provide a photocopy of EVERY page of your passport. Now, assuming you do qualify for the import, the key question is, is it worth it? Well I can tell you from experience that if you are planning on making money by doing this then forget it for all but very rare cars. I imported a 2010 BMW M3 competition pack that was just on 3 years old and only 8,000 miles on the clock. When I bought it I paid (convered into Aussie) about $65,000 for it and they were going for around $130 - $145k at the time in OZ. No brainer for a big profit right???? Wrong, over the next 1.5 years (by the time you get it on the road its about 1.5 years) the average price of the cars in oz dropped to around $95 - $110K, but still you would think its a shoe in for making money...WRONG....it cost me about $20K to get it on the road all up once you take into account fees to export, import, ship, insure, compy and then to put on the road....THEN, and this is what is the kick in the nu7s, imports typically go for around 20-30% LESS than aussie cars of the same standard. People in just don't trust ANY car that comes in as a personal import when the same car is available delivered to OZ. Its stupid but its the way it works. For my car, I almost completely broke even. It basically cost me NOTHING to own and drive a 1.5 year old BMW M3 for 1.5 years.....in oz for the same time the average person would have lost around $30K - $40K. So while I did not lose any money, did not make any money, I saved the $40K I would have lost if I have purchased the car in OZ. So are there any cars where you can MAKE money.....Hmmmm.....not very likely. There certainly would be BUT you really need to find something special that is not worth a fortune (as think about it, if you were forking out $200,000 for car, would you put your money on an import or an Aussie delivered one with full warranty, local service history etc), that does not really have much competition for sales in OZ. What you are looking for is an enthusiast car where people will recognise what it is over the import stigma.... More than happy to give you my thoughts on some cars if you are interested but you really need to sort out your 12 month thing as (as I understand it) that is a deal breaker...

Hey Ben, Looking at the prices of these cars in the UK I am guessing that this is worth around 40K to sell right now. That means you are talking around $78,000 AUD in your pocket. Now if you look at this offering in OZ : http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/BMW-X5-2012/AGC-AD-17222731/?Cr=4 You will see that its only $88K without negotiation. It appears to be a similar spec to yours and the same milage. Given that it will cost you at least $20K just to get your into the country the maths just don't add up. Then when you look into selling that is where it will hurt you....you are looking around 20-30% Less in selling value (and a lot more hassle) so if you sell in 3 years you are probably looking at around $8-$10K less in value for the sale. Adding this all up, I just don't think its worth it. You can sell, and then pick up an ozzie one for less than the importing price and then will have a far easier (and more profitable) sale.... My 5c worth.

Hey Paul, Sorry for the late response. I thought I had already responded but clearly that did not work. In short, both a VERY well worth sending. For cars of this age and stature the import factor just does not exist (or will not affect the price / factor). Old porkers are going up in value these days, especially if there is something special about it, like both of these. I would highly suggest you get some quotes for the import valuation before you go too far just to know what you are in for with the costs of the imports. As arrows said, the registration process should be simple for you but might require a little work, just like any MOT.... Also, as Arrows said, you can get both of them in, on though the pre-87 rule and one for the personal import scheme so should be straight forward... Good luck with the imports and enjoy the porkers!!

Sorry, what is your question? Are you asking if they will check your passport? The answer is yes....they want to know you genuinely owned and lived with your car....For my application i was away from home about 6 months of the year I applied but as it was genuinely for work (I.e. 1-2 weeks at a time to the same location, returning to Edinburgh each time PLUS a letter from my company confirming the work trips) it was fine.... What is your concern?

The IronChef is the expert (but also AWOL currently). As far as I am aware you will be in luck : - You can import as many pre 89 cars as you want, anyone in OZ can, I.e. you don't need to do it as part of the personal import scheme - So you can import both, one under the personal import scheme and one for the pre 89 scheme - If you are traveling with a partner you can import a car in their name, even if every document is in your name....as long as it can be seen as obvious (I.e they are on insurance) - You can't "sell" your car to your son as a way around things. The rules are simple, if you want a personal import car (post 89) then you NEED to live with the car in the UK for 12 months prior to import. If he lived in Aus, there is no chance. - Once you get the cars into OZ you can do what you want with them (sell, keep etc) - The redbook value you will see at first is the selling price when new, look for the second hand price to get a better value. I run a separate thread on my opinion (for what its worth), feel free to go there if you want and I can give you a separate view...

I am no expert but I can't see any reason why you would have to register it within any timeframe. There were some issues with documents on my import and it did not get registered for about 3 months after it arrived....so I think you are all good.... Ironlady imports is the expert here though, worth giving them a shout (google them if you can't find them here).

This is a bit of a struggle to quote. There is only one for sale in the UK at the moment and that is around 25K. THere is a 120D Msport for 22K so lets assume that is around the price you are looking at. Including shipping this car will owe you around $50K aussie (I.e. you could have sold it for $40K and with the $10K import charges you would have $50K to play with). Now the only thing similar in OZ is a 118D 2014 which can be had for $40K Aussie. http://www.carsales.com.au/nearnew/details/BMW-118d-2013/AGC-AD-15961043/?Cr=2&sdmvc=1 This is a 118D Msport for $44K with warranty and servicing included. When you take into account no warranty for the imported car, on resale you will get at least 20% less than aussie delivered cars and far more hastle selling it, I just can't see the value in bringing it along. Now if the power different for the 118D Vs 125D is something you really want then sure, it might be something you do. But given the hassle and large cost issues I would just sell yours in the UK and buy something similar in OZ....Life will be far simpler and financially better for you...