ArrowsEng

On 17/06/2020 at 22:17, paulH said:

My wife ( she is Australian ) and I will be moving to Melbourne in the next 18 months .

Unfortunately my car ( 21 year old BMW ) is not going to last until we move .

Any suggestions of what type of  new car to buy now , so we can ship to OZ when we leave .

I guess I'm looking for something that will represent good value once we have taken shipping costs into account .

Are some cars easier to repair and service ? 

Is it better to buy in my wife's name ?

We have a young son , so not looking for a 2 seat sports car ( one day maybe ).

I'm not one for buying cars regularly , I've had 2 new cars in 30 years , so I need something reliable .

Budget is around £ 35000.00 

Many  thanks in advance for any ideas 

Paul 

Try this for a great deal: BMW I8, in UK about 35,000pounds https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10595214?utm_expid=.tpJdMtjvQA-ox8DOzal2LQ.1&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pistonheads.com%2Fclassifieds%3FCategory%3Dused-cars%26M%3D2897%26SortOptions%3DPriceLowToHigh

whereas in Australia, about $150,000. https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/2016-bmw-i8-i12-auto-awd/SSE-AD-6660690/?Cr=1

Its 4 seats, you claim to your friends its environmentally friendly and they are pretty quick and look flash. Surely this makes fiscal sense?

Depending on your preferences of cars, maybe look at a nearly new diesel. In the UK they are banning diesels soon and so they are becoming quite cheap, whereas in Australia we will happily use them for years to come. A lot of Range Rover, BMW, Audi and Merc diesels are coming to Australia with owners because the resale in the UK is terrible but in Australia is still ok.

On a standard car licence you can drive anything up to 4.5T GVM, over that you need a light truck licence. When you arrive, you will need to go to a licence office and see if they will convert your UK truck licence to an Australian truck licence or whether you need to resit a test. if your motorhome has a GVM less than 4.5T you are ok, no matter what it "weighs" as long as its weight is less than its GVM. The police don't like you loading your vehicles over its GVM.

First rule for motorhomes in Australia is that the habitation door can only exit to the left of the vehicle (kerb side) or to the rear, if yours exits only to the right, sell it in UK.

I dont think either of them are on the current raws list:

https://raws.infrastructure.gov.au/motorcycles/index.htm

so you would have to get a raws to apply for one or as you mentioned just get a frame for the project when you get here

Depending on the age of the bikes you might get both.

If either bike was originally built before 1989 you can bring it as a pre89 and the other as a personal import.

Or you can contact a Registered Automotive Workshop (RAWS) and they can help bring in a post 1989 bike but they charge a lot for compliance. So you could bring the project as a personal import and the complete bike as a RAWS import if it is allowed under the SEVS scheme (specialist and enthusiats vehicle scheme).

What are the 2 bikes?

I'd look at a Land Rover Discovery 3.0 Diesel, expensive in OZ but cheap in UK.

I know Iron Lady has that service in Victoria (Engineer, RWC, registration) I'd be surprised if he doesn't have it in other states also.

As long as you have owned it for more than a year then you will be fine. You apply for a personal import approval, see Iron Lady, he helps a lot of people bring over personal Imports from UK.

10 years ago there was no asbestos issue. It has only been a problem for about the last 18 months when the Australian quarantine inspection service decided to have a 100% implementation of the rule thats been around for a long time but had never really worried about. Now adays some people ship cars with no brake pads, etc and get them fitted in Australia so as they don't have to run the risk of testing. It means the vehicle has to go in a container and have a big sign on the windscreen saying "NO BRAKES, DO NOT START VEHICLE".

Hi Mopoke, we used Allied Pickfords out of Oxford.

One car was a personal import, one car was a pre-89 import and the other was a race car import (a lotus 7 type clubman which was only going to be used for track days).

You can only bring in 1 personal import per person. You can bring in as many pre-89 cars as you like but getting them complied is far more hassle than a personal import (unless you have owned it for mare than 12 months). You used to be able to bring in race cars but now they want you to prove you have a racing licence.

10 years ago, i returned to Australia after living for 10 years in UK. I packed 3 cars in the bottom of a 40ft container and the shipping company built a mezzanine floor above them and packed all our household goods above the cars. It was cheaper that way as the price difference from a 20ft to a 40ft was about the cost of shipping 1 car by itself so I got 2 cars shipped free (in a way).

For a 4x4 the rules in Melbourne (and should be the rest of the states), are a 2" lift and tyres that are no more than 50mm bigger diameter than the largest on the tyre placard do not need any engineers report. The snorkel no one cares about as lots of 4x4's run these, although most 4x4 have water in the diffs before they ever get water in the engine, this is because people put the snorkels on for looks and if they go though water they have forgotten to put a tube on the diff breathers (this should run up to above the doors) and so water enters the diff and causes more trouble.

The drive to Queensland is beautiful if you take the scenic route. Around the coast to merimbula or up over the dividing range into Canberra and see the capitol, then on to Sydney for a night or 2. Continue up the coast to Coffs Harbour and then into the Gold Coast and Brisbane. If you have the time to do it then its great. If you just want to scream up the cenre then its a bit boring.

If sellmycar offers you a low ball price, why not place it for sale on the forum or elsewhere for a bit above what they quote? Your type of car is for sale on carsales.com for $8,000. What does sellmycar offer to pay you?

Hi Apollo,

headrests and lights are the same between UK and Australia so the only things that sometimes have to be done are the Child Restraint upper anchorages as not all UK cars have these and sometimes seatbelts as some of them don't have the right markings or no markings at all.

Regards

31 minutes ago, Apollo said:

Hi Paul. If you don't mind me asking how much roughly was your total bill for shipping it over, checks and conversion to 'Aussie vehicle standards' eg. Curved side mirrors/KPH speedometer etc? Thinking of bringing my Jag XF over. Thanks Ap

Hi Apollo,

if you bring the car as a personal import, there is no requirement for kph speedo or mirrors changed, these are only required if the car is brought in as a pre-89 or RAWS import. As a personal import, it is front seat headrests, seat belts, child retraint top anchor points, laminated windscreens, right hand drive, correct headlights, indicators and tail lights, correct exhaust system and the car being road worthy.

Regards,

Hi Ruflix,

I'm a VASS engineer in Melbourne so I do the compliance work on personally imported cars. The costs invoved once the car has been released by customs are:

transport by tow truck to compliance workshop: $220

Compliance inspection, compliance plate from Niddrie nameplates: $500

Road worthy inspection (similar to MOT): $132, any cost to get vehicle to RW condtion, such as tyres, wiper blades, etc is dependant on state of car.

Vicroads registration costs: about $800 per year for registration and TAC insurance. Basic number plate $36 (but there are options that can go up to $500+ if you like). 4.2% stamp duty which is payable at the value of the car (you pay this whether you bring your own car or if you buy someone elses car here, but as your car would be valued at around $3000 or less for import the you pay on $3k, so $126). Also about $47 for a Vicroads appointment to show them the car. If you register the car yourself you get an unregistered vehicle permit from Vicroads which costs between $40 for a day to about $80 for 28days, for a lot of customers, I register the car on their behalf but there is a fee for my time for that.

So expect you budget $2000 plus a little for RW items such as wiper blades or a couple of tyres, that would then have you on the road for 12 months before your next $800 bill arrives for registration and insurance.

remember though that if you buy someone elses car here, you still have to pay the 4.2% stamp duty and make sure the seller supplies the RWC and any registration remaining on the car.

Regards.

On 9/7/2017 at 08:11, DrDougster said:

Hi Iron Chef - I've an interesting dilemma and would welcome your advice. It looks like the Merc W204 estate was never available in Aus and I have an employer who has offered to import a car. I've got a 2011 W204 350CDI estate with all extras including a panoramic roof. Or: I've got a 1997 S1 Lotus Elise and I can't believe those red book prices are correct for it. The red book price of private trade min $34,400 looks worth shipping the Merc but if we're keeping it in Darwin I could suffer the heat in the 'lise

 

Why not have it both ways! Bring the Merc as your personal import and bring the Elise as a RAWS complied SEVS car. Its more expensive to have the Elise complied as a SEVS (by several thousand dollars) compared to having it complied as a personal import but this way you can bring both cars if you wanted.

I'm a Lotus person but I'd have the comfort of the Merc over the Elise in Darwins heat if you decide to only bring one.

Hi Iron Chef,

 

I've got a bit of a cheeky one for ya

 

Suppose you're going to move in about a year to Oz and want to buy a car that will make you the biggest windfall when bringing over, which car would you buy? A classic 911 targa or maybe a recent Audi A4 diesel estate? Or maybe a Hi-Ace or the like of workhorses?

 

Just curious (and slightly relevant maybe ) and I can't help but wondering if you guys don't sit there imagining if there wouldn't be a way to get this or that car in without the extra levies

I would actually go as far as sayinging that Australians taste in cars has evolved to the point that you would be best to look at what SUV's are well priced to bring over. Every morning I drop the kids at school, 75% of cars are SUVs, and with the demographic in Melbourne moving towards an Asian (China and Indian specifically) buyer then I see them mostly driving mid to high end SUVs. I would suggest 3 to 5 year old Porsche Macan or Cayene, Merc Benz ML's or G's, BMW X's, Range Rover Evoques and Disco seem popular also and even the Audi Q's or possibly Volvo XC's or the big Jeeps. You could also do the popular Japanese Mazdas and Toyotas but not so much competition for those.

If your going for the sports cars, there are importers in Australia called RAWS (registered Autpmotive Workshops) that can bring in cars on the SEVS list but they charge people a premium for the compliance (it used to be up to $10,000 compliance for some Ferraris and Maseratis and Lotuses) but some of these compliance costs have dropped in recent years but you can still effectively undercut these guys with your personal import as the compliance cost for a personal import is much cheaper. You could also bring in cars that aren't on the SEVS list, so something like the Lotus Exige is not currently available on SEVS but the Lotus Elise is, so bringing in an Exige would be a better option, or even something wild like a Ariel Atom!

Hi,

 

Do you know if the car seat fixing's on my car are ok for Australian child seat regulations, will i need any altercations?? There is two of these points only my parcel shelf. its a 2007 lci bmw 530 sport.

 

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Yep thats a Child Restraint Anchorage that should be accepted in Australia. The only thing is there must be one for each of the 2nd row seating positions so if your 530 has 3 back seats (designated by the number of seat belts) then you will need 3 of them. Most places doing compliance on your car in Australia can get them fitted but may look a little different to that one unless you specify you want a factory CRA fitted.

Does anyone know how easy/ expensive it is to move cars to Australia. We have a Lotus Elise that we would like to ship over and possibly a Lotus Elan which is a claasic car, but not sure that would be worth any more money in Oz?

 

I hear cars are expensive in Oz, but so is a lot of things by the sounds of it!

 

Thanks for any help

Hi, just adding to the advice from Iron Chef, I'm a member of the Lotus Club of Victoria and good Elise and Elans are hard to come by. Some Elises can be imported under the SEVS scheme but the RAWS that do the compliance want close to $10K whereas if you bring yours under the PIS it would cost you less than that. If you have the early Elan, in good condition, then these are also good to bring in under the Pre-89 rules as there are few ADR's you would have to comply to if its built before 1973. It would be great to see some more Loti in Australia.

Hi Iron Chef,

 

Thanks for replying, most appreciated.

 

Thanks, you might tell the "Henrys" are quite important, I wasn't actually looking for another but when I saw the Focus in the dealership, in the same colour as the Ninjas, I had to have it, and now I find myself with an even bigger task for importing, I have a little 306 runabout too but it's worth less than the UK road tax so she can stay behind and keep a friend company.

 

I have had a nice email chat with Iain yesterday and He said the Cossie could probably be brought over on a SEVS import as it would be classed as an enthusiasts car. We had a look on the link and she is listed on the index and specifically on the 459-00 form, so that looks positive. If she still can't be registered for road use, I'll have to get a very heavy duty Mantle piece built in the lounge to put her on as a rather dear ornament.

 

Here are the links, just in case anyone is in a similar boat, or remotely interested.

 

http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/motor/sevs/

 

http://rvcs-prodweb.dot.gov.au/sevs/sevsindex.htm

 

http://rvcs-prodweb.dot.gov.au/sevs/459-00.htm

 

Hmm, Miranda Kerr? Yeah, She's quite Cute :wink:

 

 

 

Thanks again Mate, very appreciated, hopefully we can sort something out in the near future.

 

Regards,

 

Garrant.

Hi Garrant,

I was interested in reading your Post but I have to say that although the Cossie is on the SEVS list, there is no Registered Automotive Workshop that is currently authorised to comply the Cossie. Go to: http://raws.infrastructure.gov.au/ and on the LHS go to the tab, Search for a RAW. This shows you which workshops can comply which cars and at the moment, no one is doing them. To actually get one on their list costs a RAWS many thousands of dollars so one would be unlikely to comply it for you but they could apply to bring it in as a Sample vehicle but then you could never register it unless you got the RAWS to fully comply it.

Your Ford Focus RS LV was sold in Australia in limited numbers and so a replacement could be found such as:

http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Ford-Focus-2010/AGC-AD-17095685/?Cr=7

Which would leave you free to import the Cossie as your Personal Import with the bikes. As the Cossies are pretty rare in Australia, this is the only 4 door for sale:

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Ford-Sierra-1988/SSE-AD-2617341/?Cr=0

I know Iron Chef will look after you, whatever you manage to bring over.

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

I have talked to Iron Chef last week on the phone, so he is around but maybe not seeing the forum at the moment.

If your moving to Melbourne, there's no question, you always bring a Porsche to Australia!

I have just helped a guy comply his 2008 Porsche 911, 3.8 DI, nice car that one!

If both the cars are in your name and you have owned the 1989 for more than a year, then apply for the 1989 as a Personal import, this is the only way to bring a post 88 Porsche into Australia. For the 1970, you apply for it as a Pre 89 car and when you want to register it you only have to make it comply to the Australian Design Rules in force in 1970, these are ADR 4 - Seat belts, ADR 5A - Seat belt Anchorages and ADR 7 - Hydraulic brake hoses and possibly ADR 20 (if built after July 1970) - Safety rims.

Due to the race car modifications, you might get some issues with a road worthy certifcate but as long as the car is sound and not structurally damaged then it should be ok.

I'm a VASS engineer in Melbourne, which is one of the guys working for Vicroads that certifies Personal imports or Pre-89 to be registered on Victorian roads.

I also brought a 40ft container back from the UK about 7 years ago with 3 cars in the bottom of it and it was about 6-7K in UK pounds for shipping and insurance.

Hope this helps you.

Regards, Blake A.

Hi, is it worth bringing my car? Ford fiesta LX 2004, 3door.

Current UK value £1500

Red book AU value $14000.

thanks

Hey mate, I think the red book value for a 2004 Fiesta would be closer to $4000. A 2014 fiesta would be around $14000.

Give Kristian a phone call +61 (0) 402 904 069, he answers the phone but is quite busy and can take a little while to answer emails.