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...

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.

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...

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.

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....

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...

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!

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.

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 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...

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!

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 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 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.

Thanks Craig. Some very helpful advice. I will certainly contact you in 8-10 months to see what options you can provide.Thanks again!!

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.