Savitar

You're not the first to ask!

 

There's no way of avoiding the taxes on arrival unfortunately. In terms of what's good to bring, it really depends on your budget. Friends of mine are in the UK and opted for an A6 Allroad diesel and a Range Rover. But as a general rule, look at Porsches, Bentleys, Jaguars, Aston Martins etc - British cars seem to drop like stones over there, which makes them good buying. Around 4-5 years old is the sweet spot. PS add BMW M5 estate to the list, as we don't get them here.

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...

Hi iron chef

 

2003 BMW M3 convertible SMG

110 on clock

uk value about 7k

not sure on aus value

thanks

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.

Hi everyone, mat here im in uk at present visiting family for 1 yr, after 15yr away,....at present im converting a campervan and totally aware of all the difficluties ahead when I export it to perth where I lived for the last 5 years,....im ozzy citizen and uk citizen,..was just looking through the web of paperwork I need to upload to there via forms,..nothing says I need to upload every single page of my passports just the photo pages is this correct,

Do they actually check every single persons movements through immigration etc when all your doing is bringing your vehicle home with you,...why dont they do us all a favour and say yes you can bring your vehicle with you with only one form to fill in that stops you selling it for the first 5 yrs,.....problem solved,... but then we all know that they wouldnt make much money from that, seems crazy im fitting my van out for me to use indefinately live in travel in use for work etc etc, and at the end of the day its all my own blood sweat and money gone into the huge stressful task of fitting it out,....then they just stick there hands out saying ahhh mate we will have this much for that vehicle please for doing jack shhhhhh,...make me angry that they think we are not allowed to make any profit for the work carried out through our skills,.....just typical of the ozzy government though as I seen for the last 15yrs,....there hell bent in taxing and taking from people that have busted there back side to achieve something. Any way hope some one has the answer to the question at top,....would love to take me van so I dont have to get ripped off buying yet another one there with a million kilometers on for afound 60, 000 dollars

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?

Hi Chef,

 

Could use some help and info with my situation.

I have two Porsche 911s One is 1970 911E and the other is 1989 3.2. Both have been owned and used by me on a regular basis for past 10 years.

Both have sentimental value. I have looked on Carsales.com.au and Drive.com.au and the nearest valuation I can find is a 1988 Turbo for $49990. The Turbos are normally much more expensive than the non turbo cars like mine. The valuations on RedBook.co.au shows the value as over $150,000 which is ridiculous. The value here in UK is not much more then £20k or $37,000.

 

What do you advise me to do. Are these guys really sticky on the '89 cut off date as the car was made in I think April 1989.and I could import them both as early classics.

If, as I read I'm only allowed to import one car can I 'sell' my early Porsche 911 to my son who lives in Sydney? He wants it anyway and I would like to keep it in the family.

WE could then ship them over in one 40ft container with the household stuff. I have had a quote for that btw. 2cars and household stuff for £5.5k

Any idea what sort of duties would be payable on both cars?

It's a bl...y minefield.

 

Look forward to your reply.

 

Paul

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...

Hi BMW 320i se saloon

2002 65000 miles on clock,

manual, aircon,

2.2 petrol

going to perth

£2500 uk value, $7800 Aus value

Given the minimum cost of import is 2,500 pounds, if you were to sell yours now and that you would have more to spend than the value of these cars in OZ. You have to realise also that in OZ imported cars are around 30% less value at time of sale, so its probably only worth $5,000 to sell as is. My view, its not worth it..you will be better off financially selling in the UK and buying fresh in OZ.

Heading back in six months 1 x Australian Citizen (dual Citz w UK). Been working in the UK for 3 years. Owned car since July 2011.

Is it worth shipping? Can you give approx. cost to ship? Thanks!

 

Year: 2011

Make: VW

Model: Golf Match TSI

Variant: 5 Door Hatchback

Engine: 1390cc

Fuel: Petrol

Transmission: Manual

Mileage: 8000

Aircon: Yes

UK market value: £11000 (not accounting for low mileage)

Australian redbook & market values: Can't find this model (Match) on there

City: Sydney or Brisbane

You have to be careful with this. I bought a 2011 (MY2012) golf TSI 118 (comfortline spec, the top of the line here is high line but they are almost non existant, this one was supercharged and turbo charged) with 21,000 KM on it for $18,700 on the road, and that was nearly a year ago. This was also the DSG. In OZ, you almost can't get manual cars in things like golfs, aussies just drive autos so resell will be hard.

I have not heard of the "match" variation but as the one I bought was very well spec'ed.

Here is the clincher, its going to cost you probably 4000 pounds import / transport etc costs. Assuming you could sell it for 11,000, thats 15K to play with in OZ, or around $25,000. If you take a look at carsales, you can get VERY nice golfs for way less that this :

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Volkswagen-Golf-2011/SSE-AD-2856173/?Cr=1&sdmvc=1

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Volkswagen-Golf-2012/SSE-AD-2787981/?Cr=9&sdmvc=1

http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Volkswagen-Golf-2013/AGC-AD-15634275/?Cr=9&sdmvc=1

That last one is a latest model 2013, 4000 miles and only $23K.

Take into account that your car will not have a warranty, it WAY harder to sell on (OZ people don't like imports) and the versions here will have all of this, you will (probably) have to wait 1-3 months in OZ for it to arrive so need to organise interim transport for then, I think there is little value in bringing your car....my opinion anyway....

Hi Dawson

 

I got my Landcruiser 4x4 shipped from Scotland to Perth recently. I have seen lots of BMWs here and they are expensive. I've checked and the import cars do sell, esp when they are good ones. I don't see any problems with your BMWs to be sold here. You plan to bring One car over here only. I'd suggest you get both cars in here (provided it's in the two of you's name separately). They are very expensive here and X5 is the car for Perth- you'll enjoy it, even if it is little old........

 

All the best

They do not need to be one each in each of your names. As long as its insured to be driven by both, there is an existing relationship (husband / wife etc) and you both live at the same location, you can bring one back in each of your names...

I had one

To much bother

i sold it in the uk

bought another once out here with in a few days

FEES insurance holdings shipping taxes...

most people dont bring cars over

That is certainly one view point. However there are many people out there that would disagree. Yes, there are some cars that are not worth taking but there are many that are, to the point of being able to make quite a bit of money out of it (compared to selling in the UK and buying the same car in OZ).

And if you can't be bothered doing it yourself, just get IronladyImports to do it for you, simples!

Thanks guys

 

I'll double check the mileage to be sure.

 

Sarah

Sarah - I really don't think that milage will be the issue here. Even if the milage was 10,000 miles (rather than 110,000) 09's were never sold in Australia. According to red book the 11's are $22K, if you assume you could even get the same price as the 11 model, given its an import it will be worth less (10-20%). So lets say you could get $22K (Lets just say a miracle happened, your car only has 10,000 miles and you get $22K) you have to compare it to what you would get in the UK, around £13K, which on the current exchange rate is around $22K. Therefore when you factor in the costs of shipping, compliance, etc you would lose money and if it does have 110,000 miles you would get significantly less.

Shipping cars like '04 M3's where they are worth £8K in the UK Vs $40K in Australia makes far more financial sense, so that at least you can break even. It sounds to me like your car would be better off with staying in the UK. Then take the $22k you sold it for, add say $6K for the import costs and buy an Australian version when you get there. Something like this perhaps, 2012 model with only 9,000KM :

http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Abarth-500-2012/AGC-AD-13910586/?Cr=2&sdmvc=1

At the end of the day its completely your decision but financially it does not seem to make sense.

My husband has a FIAT 500 ABARTH. Cost around £13,000 in the UK for a 2-3 year old still so they are quite expensive. I'm worried these cars are too new, so it would cost a bomb to keep. The only possibility it won't is the fact it is the same as a Fiat 500 - just a better one:biggrin:

 

It is a 2009

Air con

70,000 miles

$35,000 (redbook.com.au didn't have many to compare to. Think they were NEW prices)

 

Looking forward to your reply!

 

Sarah

There are no 2009's on the redbook site but if you look here:

http://www.redbook.com.au/cars/research/used/details/2011-abarth-500--595748?R=595748&Silo=spec&Vertical=car&Ridx=1&eapi=2

You will see the second hand prices for a 2011 model with average of only 35,000K Vs your 110,000km. So it would seem yours would be worth far less that this.... :

Valuation Prices

[TABLE=class: prop-list]

[TR]

[TD=class: item, bgcolor: transparent][TABLE]

[TR]

[TD=class: label]* Private Price Guide[/TD]

[TD=class: value]$22,000 - $24,500[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: item-alt, bgcolor: transparent][TABLE]

[TR]

[TD=class: label]* Trade In Price Guide[/TD]

[TD=class: value]$17,700 - $20,200[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: item, bgcolor: transparent][TABLE]

[TR]

[TD=class: label]* Average Km[/TD]

[TD=class: value]20,000 - 35,000[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: item-alt, bgcolor: transparent][TABLE]

[TR]

[TD=class: label]* Price When New[/TD]

[TD=class: value]$34,990*Price Guide (EGC)[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

Hi Craig,

Just looking at the new forms for importing a car.

http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/vehicles/imports/application_forms.aspx#io1

As you may remember (as I have posted here a few times), my partner and I are planning on bringing in two cars (one each) to OZ. The documents don't allow for any space for "is this car in your partners name" but you have mentioned a few times that its quite possible. Are you able to let me (and the other readers) know how you go about filling in the form for the import for this (not line by line here, just in general) and what supporting documents you need? The reason I ask is that almost all the documents I have on the car are in my name (ownership, tax disc, insurance etc) so not sure what they look for in terms of supporting documents other than a licence in her name with our home address?

Thanks,

I moved over from the UK 18 months ago. I made the decision back then that i would not bring my car out to save all the bother (moving house was enough to deal with at the time). Now i regret this decision and have been looking for ways to import a 'nice car' from England.

Through my research i have come accross the 'Specialist & Enthusiast Vehicle Scheme (SEVS)'. Ive read up about how it works, as well as looking at the list of eligible vehicles. I'm interested in purchasing either a Lotus Elise or a TVR Chimera, both of which are on the list.

 

The whole process gets abit cloudy: "The fact that a vehicle is included on the Register of Specialist and Enthusiast Vehicles does not guarantee it will be able to gain approval to be plated. A vehicle may not be able to satisfy specific ADR requirements even though it meets the requirements set out for eligibility on the Register.

Where a vehicle does not match an entry exactly as detailed, or cannot meet a condition or restriction on an entry, a new Register decision can be sought. An application for eligibility is to be submitted to the Administrator. Application forms are available on this website."

 

My questions:

1. Is it possible for me to purchase say a TVR Chimera in England and arrange for family to ship from that end, then engage an approved importer in Australia to handle the paperwork etc?

2. Can anyone provide me with some sort of price to handle the import application, plus the GST and registration and cleaning etc etc etc ( I have seen the cost spreadsheet that is available for use if importing under the 'Personal ImportScheme) i.e total cost to be driving the car over here in NSW (Excluding purchase cost and shipping cost).

 

I really hope this is possible to do....I await your responses!

 

Cheers

I looked at this a while go. From what I understand you could do this but an importer in OZ will charge you $15,000 for the privilege of doing the import under the SEVS scheme (this is on top of the car, import changes fees etc). Most of the time it turns out to be very little value in doing this unless there is really something in OZ that you can not get OR you are happy paying over the local car prices......

Quick search on UK / OZ web sites. The UK price is around 15,000 pounds, OZ is around $40,000. For the UK car it will cost you about say $8,000 import fees, then say $10,000 for the SEVS service so around almost $40,000AUD......but the imported car under SEVS might have a lower value in OZ and its a BIG hassle / time to do this...... So very little value unless there is something very specific you want you can't get in OZ, probably not worth it...

Good sound advice. I have been doing a lot of looking around at the options and researching a lot also to purchase a couple of cars to purchase for myself and my wife in the near future to bring back to Australia, and being in the Personal Import business with many years of experience at importing and also selling cars in Australia, I feel quite confident that there is amazing potential IF you do it right. With that said, I would always suggest that you look carefully at all of the costs and options before jumping in to something like this, always look at the potential both upper and lower ends then allow for the worst, and above all else make sure you follow the 'golden rules' when choosing the car to purchase:

 

- choose a vehicle of the same year, make and model as was sold in Australia with the same specification and trim level too. If you import a car which is different to what was sold here then it will stand out as being an import and will scare off some potential buyers and most likely end up with a lower sale price.

 

- choose a vehicle with reasonable mileage and in good condition as you would expect to see in Australia. If you get a car with underbody rust, which is quite common due to the snow and cold in the UK but quite rare to see in Australia, then that will obviously make it harder to sell also.

 

- choose a vehicle which is old enough to be out of warranty when it arrives in Australia as warranties are not internationally transferable. It would hurt your potential resale value if you were trying to sell a car with no warranty against local Australia delivered cars which still had some original factory warranty remaining.

 

- where possibly purchase a car with full service records as there is uncertainty about imported cars mileage being genuine because it's so easy to wind back the odometer, so having some records to prove the mileage and history would be very helpful to resale value.

 

Of course there is a lot more to it as well, but if you buy the right vehicle, don't over spend on the purchase price or importing costs, then you can more than double your total investment in some cases although usually I would expect to see a decent return of around 25-50% if you do research, calculate figures and buy reasonably well.

 

Here is an example of a 2010 BMW M3 coupe with sports automatic transmission purchased for around £27,000 today (around $41,000 at the current exchange rate). In 12 months time this car would be worth around $115,000 and would cost around $22,500 to import and get on the road in Australia, making your total investment around $63,500 plus whatever you have spent in the meantime for insurance and servicing in the UK. M3's are almost all the same specification as Australian models so as long as this is a good car with good history then you should sell it for close to Australian car value, but lets allow a little less to be safe and say it was worth only $95,000 then that would still be an excellent return on investment of around 50% or around $30,000.

 

Other excellent models to buy include Aston Martin, Bentley, etc but these might be harder to sell eventually, so I would usually suggest sticking to Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi, Range Rover, Porsche, etc.

 

I hope this helps anyone looking at these options a little further, bearing in mind that this is just my personal opinion. I am happy to answer some further questions for anyone ready to buy a car, and of course you are welcome to talk with us at Iron Lady Imports to help you import the car and get it on the road in Australia when the time comes too!

 

Cheers,

 

Craig Moor

Iron Lady Imports

Great advise Craig. Just one concern with your maths. There are no 2010 M3's in the country (UK) for sale at the £27K mark. Well, almost, there are two but they are both cat D (previous accident repair) and I personally would not suggest anyone touches them. I took a look at AutoTrader and Pistonheads and the cheapest non cat D coupe in the UK is around £34K. Now the things you need to be aware when purchasing a M3 to sell in the Aussie Market :

- In the UK they had different stereo options. Base, Business, HK (Logic 7) and Individual. In Australia, there was only HK and Individual. Therefore if you bought one that was less than HK (which a LOT of them in the UK are) then it would be harder to sell in Australia I think and very expensive to upgrade (well over £1,000).

- Most cars in Aus have EDC (not all, but most) where as the UK many don't have it.

- There are actually quite a large number that have the 18" wheels in the UK, almot none have it in OZ

- Mileage is generally higher in the UK than Australia. Really not sure why that is actually but its quite common to see 20,000 milage 2 year old cars in the UK whereas you can get lots of less than 20,000 KM cars in OZ for the same year.

So if you are looking for a M3 the a HK or individual stereo, EDC and less than 20K on the clock for a 2010 you are looking far more like £35 - £37K.

But, having said that, find the right one, with the right miles / features / service history / condition etc and I certainly agree you should be able to off load it (should you want to do that) for more than you paid for it. I, personally, look at it this way. I would never spend $130,000 on a M3 in Aus for a M3, I love them but I can't justify the $30 - $50K depreciation over 3-4 years. This way I get a 2011 M3 which I will have great fun driving around, ship it over to Aus and hopefully at least break even but if it was to seel for more, that is a bonus.

My advice, having spend many months looking at the M3 markets between Australia and the UK is

- Go for as lower milage / KM as you can in the UK as that seems to affect price more than anything.

- Ensure the spec you go for was available in Australia (i.e. at least HK stereo)

- Ensure it has full BMW service history so that it can be verify easily

- If you go for a AUC (BMW Approved used car) you will get a very good example, normally with 12 months warranty

- Typically, the more you spend on a car in the UK, the more it will be worth in Aus (I.e. if there is a 30K, non EDC version for £34 and a 10K, EDC, Individual stereo, competition pack for £40 there will probably be $20,000 difference in the price in Aus)....

- But the best advice, research yourself (the people buying, not you Craig) to ensure you know what you are getting into!

Happy motoring!

Hi,

 

This is an excellent thread, I've been looking for some of this info for a while, so thanks very much for all your posts.

My girlfriend is an Aussie and we plan to move to Oz within the next year or two and we'll both be taking our cars across, I have a 2008 BMW X5 and my girlfriend is about to buy another car so I wondered what sort of thing you thought might be good to make the most of the opportunity to make some cash? - I get the impression that the more she spends on a car, the more she'll gain when the time comes to sell in a few years back in Brisbane or Sydney.

We're thinking of something along the lines of a Nissan 370z or do you think it'd be more beneficial to spend some more cash and maybe get a BMW M3, Porsche 911 or Nissan GT-R? - All would be second hand.

We basically want to make some cash on re-sale, whilst having a good car to have a bit of fun with over the next few years. A classic may be an option too, is there anything you can think of that may be in high demand in Oz?

 

 

Thanks in advance,

 

G

Hey G,

You really need to plan this very carefully if you plan on trying to make money. While the difference in the price of cars between the UK and Australia looks large, you have to factor a lot of things in, for example :

You might look at a E92 M3 and think WOW, they are going for $150,000 but I can get one in the UK for £20,000! But you have to compare like for like (year for year, feature for feature etc). So lets say you spend £40K on a 1-2 year old E92 M3 which is retailing in OZ now for about $130,000 second hand. If you factor in costs in the UK to keep if for a year (insurance, tax, servicing etc) lets say worst case its £45K it owes you. Then you need to take into account importing costs, lets call that $20K, with the current exchange rate that makes it around $68,500 + $20,000 = $88,500. So you think, WOW, thats $130,000 - $88,500 = $41,500 profit, but wait!!.

Now take a look at the cost of a 2-3 year old M3 in Aus right now (as your will be a year older), and that are going for more like $105 - $115K, hmmm, now down to around $16,500. Still good you think, then you realise that as this is an import, its going to sell for lower than a local car (its just the market), so perhaps you get $95K for it as an import.....that leaves you with $6,500. Now that's a VERY fine margin and given that prices can change, import rules / costs can change, you might find that turning into a loss very quickly.

Seriously not trying to turn you off this, I am sure there is money to be made, but you need to go into it with your eyes open and some good research. Don't just look at now, think about all the costs, depreciation etc and set yourself a realistic goal....

Hope this helps

P.s. My and my fiance are bringing back (planning to) 2 X M3's.....so I have done the research.....

Hi Iron Chef,

 

To be honest I have to agree with you I think the problems I had with the Stag would still have had problems with the AQIS officers, sometimes they will just reject because thats how they feel, ha ha . The M3 which is newer, I think just went through due to it being the easiest to clean. Maybe the cleaner that http://www.firstbasefreight.co.uk used was better than the original.

 

Well at tleast they got there eventually, ha ha.

Hi avfcforever, I am planning on shipping two M3's (one E46 and one E92) over next year (well I own one, my partner the other) from the UK. Are you able to provide a little more information on things like the :

- Costs of shipping (including the firstbase costs etc)

- Valuation of the car Vs the cost of the car in the UK and Aus and therefore the tax cost

- Any issues with getting a road worthy? How long did it take to register?

- Any plans to sell the car? If so, any experience with what the market thinks of an import M3?

Happy to PM you if you don't want to advertise this....

Thanks...

Hi,

 

I have a tricky situation. My car is registered in my dad's name, although it's my car. When I bought the car I didn't have a credit rating (as I had just moved to the UK). My dad put the car in his name so that we could get the credit to purchase it. How can I prove that the car is actually mine? Would a letter/ declaration from my dad be enough? I'd love to be able to take it to Aus with me.

 

Anyone been in a similar situation?

 

Thanks,

Cath

Hi Cath,

I am sure this will NOT help you but my girlfriend is in a similar situation. I am the registered owner of the car but its her car. She will be importing is when we return to OZ next year. So I emailed the Australian car import people and explained the situation. The basically said that it was OK, as long as we could prove our relationship (bills, same living address etc) and that the car is for her use (insurance, location of the car on a daily basis etc).

My advice would be to email them and ask directly, they are the ones that provide the approval so they are really the only ones who can advise on your situation.

Calculating the likely valuation for Australian Customs is no easy task. It requires awareness of the used car market in Australia as well a good working knowledge of the customs process. It's certainly not as simple as just subtracting a percentage, and unfortunately it's way too complex to explain without causing widespread confusion.You are likely to see a drop in Australian value of around 10% over the next 12 months, however this may not mean a 10% drop in the Australian Customs valuation which could be more or less than 10% lower depending on other factors also.The cost estimate I provided was for each car to be shipped separately by normal RORO method. We can arrange container shipping if required also.Regards,Craig

We can apply for one vehicle in each name without needing to transfer ownership in most cases, so that should not be any trouble. I can tell you without even looking up the figures that both cars will be worthwhile importing to Australia, all BMW models are fairly good, especially the M series.

 

At the current rates the 2004 model would cost you somewhere around $10,050 all up including all shipping costs, Australian compliance costs, road registration and our service fee. This car would end up owing you somewhere around $24,850 on-road in Australia which is well below the $40,000 market value. The 2010 model would be somewhere around $17,850 at todays rates so this one would be on-road for around $75,650 give or take, so again a massive saving over the average market value in Australia .. and these will only get cheaper to import in another year with further depreciation.

 

I would strongly suggest bringing them both if you can.

 

Regards,

 

Craig.

Thanks Craig. Sounds like some good confirmation. Can I ask what value you put on the cars and how you got to that? I have my own calculations and interested in how you got to yours. I have been told that its "as much as half" the current australian value but given at the value is around $115k my calculation is that you have placed a value of around $55K, which is lower than half (the safe bet I have been assuming is 10% above half) - This is for the new M3 that is....

Also, and I will NOT hold you or anyone else to this, but based on your experience, what is the likely valuation in 12 months time? Are we talking another 10% 30% 5% reduction in the "as landed" value?

With the costs you provided, is that based on both cars going together in one container or individually? We ARE planning on sending both, I am just curious how you got to that.

Thank again for your assistance.

Hi Craig,

Great thread. Thanks for all the posts so far, very helpful. I am actually an Aussie who has two cars (together with my partner, so one each) that we are looking to bring back in 12 months time (Currently living in Edinburgh, Scotland). What I was hoping if you could let me know how much you believe it will cost and if, in your view, its worth it....

- year of manufacture.... 2004

- make, model & variant.... BMW M3 Coupe SMG

- body type (coupe, convertible, etc).... Coupe

- engine size & fuel type...... petrol 6 cyl, 3.3ltr 343HP/252KW

- transmission....... 6 speed SMG

- drive type (4WD, front wheel drive, etc)..... Rear

- mileage..... 56,000 miles

- any special features, options or modification..... HK Stereo, Navigation system, 19” wheels, heated front seats

- does it have aircon..... Yes

- realistic current UK market value...... £10,000 (that is all I can get for it privately)

- Australian RedBook value (www.redbook.com.au - click through to the page with 'Private Price Guide', 'Trade In Price Guide' and 'Price When New' listed, then tell us the 'Private Price Guide' range)....... $39,400-$44,300

- Australian market value (http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/search.aspx - search for the closest matching vehicle)....$40,000

- which Australian state/city ..... VIC

- year of manufacture.... 2010 (MY11 in Aus)

- make, model & variant.... BMW M3 Coupe SMG

- body type (coupe, convertible, etc).... Coupe

- engine size & fuel type...... petrol 6 cyl, 4.0ltr 420HP/309KW

- transmission....... 7 speed DSG

- drive type (4WD, front wheel drive, etc)..... Rear

- mileage..... 8,100 miles

- any special features, options or modification..... Competition pack (EDC, 19” CSL wheels), HK stereo, elec folding mirrors

- does it have aircon..... Yes

- realistic current UK market value...... £39,000

- Australian RedBook value (www.redbook.com.au - click through to the page with 'Private Price Guide', 'Trade In Price Guide' and 'Price When New' listed, then tell us the 'Private Price Guide' range)....... $110,000-$120,500

- Australian market value (http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/search.aspx - search for the closest matching vehicle)....$115,000

- which Australian state/city ..... VIC

I fully understand that bringing two back under one name (as they are both in my name currently) is a difficult thing, from reading other forums / posts but have emailed the import people in OZ to see what is required to ensurre we are covered. I would assume worst case that we just transfer one to my partners name and we should be good to go.

Any advice / thoughts would be apprecaited.