ArrowsEng Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Hi I've decided to put this thread up as I've seen a couple of people unsure as to what happens once they have imported their car to Australia. Every state in Australia has different costs and procedures involved with registering a second hand car brought in from overseas. I can only advise you about Victoria's costs as that's where I live and deal with VicRoads, the licensing authority for Victoria. Once your car has arrived in Melbourne you need to go through the following process. Once the car is in quarantine, you have to budget on it being steam cleaned, this involves the car being put on a tow truck, taken to a special place that blasts it with water and then gets returned on the tow truck, it will cost over $500. Once this is all paid, you can get your car delivered on the back of a tow truck (about $200) or sometimes you can pick it up. If you wish to drive it on the road you have to get a 28 day unregistered vehicle permit from Vic Roads for this, i think they are about $60 but VicRoads only lets you apply for these over the phone so I'm not 100% sure on their costs. The other option is you can borrow a "Trade Plate" from the VASS engineer or workshop that your car is going to and drive it direct from the bonded storage yard. You then need to take the car, with your Personal Import Approval letters (there are 4 in total) to a VASS engineer, there is a list on VicRoads website and I'm one of the engineers on that list - this is for transparency so as you know why I'm writing this. The VASS engineer checks that your car has correct working seat belts for all seats, that the headrests are correct for each seat and that there is an ADR 34 acceptable Child Restraint Anchorage for each of the rear seats. This is where some European cars need these fitted at an approx. cost of $110 per seat (usually 2 or 3 required) but it depends on the car as something like an Aston Martin can be several hundred dollars per CRA due to the complexity. Once this is done the Engineer signs the Personal Import papers and one gets sent to Niddrie nameplates for the yellow PI sticker that gets stuck to the passenger door B-pillar to say it complies. VASS engineers charge $165 to $220 for this, sometimes more depending on complexity. Once the sticker is fitted, you take the car to a Road Worthy Certificate garage, who will check the car is mechanically safe - similar to a MOT but you only have to do this when the car is being registered on changing ownership, not every year as with an MOT. The RWC costs around $265, unless there are issues that the mechanic wants fixed, common issues for older cars are sand blasted, stone chipped windscreens to be replaced or suspension ball joints are worn. These costs vary from almost nothing to many hundreds of dollars to fix. Finally with the Import Approval signed and RWC, you need to make an appointment to go to a VICRoads office and get your car registered but there you get another lot of fees: Appointment Fee: $16.90 Inspection Fee: $27.00 Registration Fee: $270.40 Transport Accident Fee: $443.00 Insurance duty: $44.30 Number plates: $34.00 Motor Vehicle Duty: (4.2% of the value of the vehicle, based on a $3000 car, this is:) $126.00, (based on a $30,000 car it is $1260.00) VicRoads charges in total for $3k car = $961.60, for a $30k car = $2095.60. You can then finally insure your car but be careful not to mention its a personal import, unless you have to, its not dishonest but the insurance companies will put on a premium if they think the car is not Australian delivered. Finally most insurance companies give you the option of Fully comprehensive insurance (covers you and whatever you might hit) or Third party-Fire and Theft if the vehicle is valued under $1000 but this means if you hit someone, their car is covered but not yours. Regards, Blake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 What a rigmarole. You would have to have a good car to go through all that. I'd also be a bit worried about the cost of spare parts etc if it is a car you can't get here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArrowsEng Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 Actually, if your well prepared, you can have your car on the road in a week. If you let your VASS engineer know when the car leaves bonded storage, they can be prepared for the car to arrive on the same day, check it out and then post off the paperwork to Niddrie all in the 1st day. By the 3rd day you have the plate fitted and the car off for the RWC. If it passes with flying colors then by the 5th day the car can be at a VicRoads office getting its plates and your happily driving it from there on. As for spare parts, most imports are not much harder to get than Australian delivered cars. I have 2 Australian delivered (European cars) and I get most spare parts from overseas over the internet as they are generally cheaper, even with shipping costs. When you have a car that you know and trust and have lived with overseas for some time, it can be more useful to bring this with you, rather than trying to find a car in Australia that you don't know why someone is selling it and what problems you may get stuck with, especially considering that most cars in the UK cost much less than second hand ones in Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M005 Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Great information, one questions I have is how is the value of the vehicle calculated for the purposes of the motor vehicle duty? I have a VW Camper van (based on a 2011 VW T5 Van) that I'm considering bringing with me, but as with everything it all depends on cost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArrowsEng Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 Someone like Iron Lady have a service where they value your vehicle for customs purpose, its usually a bit less than you can buy a car for as the valuation takes into account the mileage and condition of the vehicle. I am about to do a VASS and registration for a campervan in a week or 2 for someone. The only difference with a campervan to a normal car as in import is that we have to fit a fire extinguisher and get any 240V electrics or cooking / heating gas system certified, which is quite straight forward. When you compare campervan prices in OZ compared to UK then I think a Personal Import is the best way. Here are 2 VW campers for sale at the moment, not cheap! http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Volkswagen-LT-2004/AGC-AD-16612892/?Cr=2&sdmvc=1 http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Volkswagen-Transporter-2009/SSE-AD-3043375/?Cr=1&sdmvc=1 I would the valuations would be half of these but best to ask a valuation expert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M005 Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Thanks, will look them up. When we do move over it will be to Melbourne, so I'll let you know :smile: Here's mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArrowsEng Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 Looks like a very neat and tidy setup. Happy to help when you get it to Melbourne. Phone number is 0430507676. Email: blake@arrowspe.com.au Regards, Blake A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North to South Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Hi Blake, Thanks for the post and a lot of useful info there. One question I have is regarding the speedometer. We are looking to bring our 3 year old SLK when we move in a few months. The car today only has a MPH speedometer with no KMH on the dial, but it does have a large electronic KMH on the main display when you select it. In your view would this be sufficient or is it likely that we would be asked to have a KMH on the dial which means replacing the entire instrument cluster? All help would be most welcome as I know mercedes have quoted over a £1000 for the actual cluster before fitting. thanks, Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArrowsEng Posted October 30, 2014 Author Share Posted October 30, 2014 Hi Blake, Thanks for the post and a lot of useful info there. One question I have is regarding the speedometer. We are looking to bring our 3 year old SLK when we move in a few months. The car today only has a MPH speedometer with no KMH on the dial, but it does have a large electronic KMH on the main display when you select it. In your view would this be sufficient or is it likely that we would be asked to have a KMH on the dial which means replacing the entire instrument cluster? All help would be most welcome as I know mercedes have quoted over a £1000 for the actual cluster before fitting. thanks, Rich Hi Rich, Because your car will be a Personal Import, there is NO requirement to change the speedo. Also, as its an SLK (only 2 seats) there is no requirement to fit Child Restraint Anchorages, so your car is one of the easiest to do. Let me know when it gets to Melbourne and I'll help you through the process. Regards, Blake A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A and S Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Great information, one questions I have is how is the value of the vehicle calculated for the purposes of the motor vehicle duty? I have a VW Camper van (based on a 2011 VW T5 Van) that I'm considering bringing with me, but as with everything it all depends on cost Hi M005, we we were wondering if you had shipped your T5 to Australia. We emigrated in December 2014 and picked up our T4 camper van earlier this week after it finally passed quarantine. Now we are trying to find a VASS engineer to check compliance. It's been so long since we used the van that we just want to be able to drive it over here rather than look at it on the driveway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M005 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Hi A & S Congratulations on emigrating & taking your T4. We're off to Melbourne in 2 days for a recce and plan to emigrate later this summer. Where are you living? I exchanged messages with ArrowEng on here who (iirc) is a VASS engineer in Melbourne. Hope you get it sorted soon and get to enjoy the van again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfndirt Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Great information, one questions I have is how is the value of the vehicle calculated for the purposes of the motor vehicle duty? I have a VW Camper van (based on a 2011 VW T5 Van) that I'm considering bringing with me, but as with everything it all depends on cost Sell it there and buy a Landcruiser Troopcarrier conversion here.... http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Toyota-Landcruiser-2012/AGC-AD-16483319/?Cr=2 Miles better option for Aussie - you can go anywhere. I have yet to buy one but have rented a few times, awesome way to get around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A and S Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Hi A & S Congratulations on emigrating & taking your T4. We're off to Melbourne in 2 days for a recce and plan to emigrate later this summer. Where are you living? I exchanged messages with ArrowEng on here who (iirc) is a VASS engineer in Melbourne. Hope you get it sorted soon and get to enjoy the van again Hi, hope you enjoy your recce. We are living just outside of Ballarat and absolutely love it. It's hard to decide on somewhere to live when you have a limited amount of time and money to explore different areas. It's not where we planned to live but we saw a house and fell in love with it so decided to take the plunge and buy. With hindsight it may have been better to rent for a while so we had time to explore before putting down roots but it's all fallen into place with me getting a job close to home. I also exchanged messages with ArrowEng but managed to find a local VASS engineer. Now we have to get Aussie gas and electric sign off, proof of crash testing for the RIBbed, specification on the front seats and a photo of the engine number before we can get the compliance certificate. Looking forward to a few trips out in it once it's road legal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArrowsEng Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 Hi I've decided to put this thread up as I've seen a couple of people unsure as to what happens once they have imported their car to Australia. Every state in Australia has different costs and procedures involved with registering a second hand car brought in from overseas. I can only advise you about Victoria's costs as that's where I live and deal with VicRoads, the licensing authority for Victoria. Once your car has arrived in Melbourne you need to go through the following process. Once the car is in quarantine, you have to budget on it being steam cleaned, this involves the car being put on a tow truck, taken to a special place that blasts it with water and then gets returned on the tow truck, it will cost over $500. Once this is all paid, you can get your car delivered on the back of a tow truck (about $200) or sometimes you can pick it up. If you wish to drive it on the road you have to get a 28 day unregistered vehicle permit from Vic Roads for this, i think they are about $60 but VicRoads only lets you apply for these over the phone so I'm not 100% sure on their costs. The other option is you can borrow a "Trade Plate" from the VASS engineer or workshop that your car is going to and drive it direct from the bonded storage yard. You then need to take the car, with your Personal Import Approval letters (there are 4 in total) to a VASS engineer, there is a list on VicRoads website and I'm one of the engineers on that list - this is for transparency so as you know why I'm writing this. The VASS engineer checks that your car has correct working seat belts for all seats, that the headrests are correct for each seat and that there is an ADR 34 acceptable Child Restraint Anchorage for each of the rear seats. This is where some European cars need these fitted at an approx. cost of $110 per seat (usually 2 or 3 required) but it depends on the car as something like an Aston Martin can be several hundred dollars per CRA due to the complexity. Once this is done the Engineer signs the Personal Import papers and one gets sent to Niddrie nameplates for the yellow PI sticker that gets stuck to the passenger door B-pillar to say it complies. VASS engineers charge $165 to $220 for this, sometimes more depending on complexity. Once the sticker is fitted, you take the car to a Road Worthy Certificate garage, who will check the car is mechanically safe - similar to a MOT but you only have to do this when the car is being registered on changing ownership, not every year as with an MOT. The RWC costs around $265, unless there are issues that the mechanic wants fixed, common issues for older cars are sand blasted, stone chipped windscreens to be replaced or suspension ball joints are worn. These costs vary from almost nothing to many hundreds of dollars to fix. Finally with the Import Approval signed and RWC, you need to make an appointment to go to a VICRoads office and get your car registered but there you get another lot of fees: Appointment Fee: $16.90 Inspection Fee: $27.00 Registration Fee: $270.40 Transport Accident Fee: $443.00 Insurance duty: $44.30 Number plates: $34.00 Motor Vehicle Duty: (4.2% of the value of the vehicle, based on a $3000 car, this is:) $126.00, (based on a $30,000 car it is $1260.00) VicRoads charges in total for $3k car = $961.60, for a $30k car = $2095.60. You can then finally insure your car but be careful not to mention its a personal import, unless you have to, its not dishonest but the insurance companies will put on a premium if they think the car is not Australian delivered. Finally most insurance companies give you the option of Fully comprehensive insurance (covers you and whatever you might hit) or Third party-Fire and Theft if the vehicle is valued under $1000 but this means if you hit someone, their car is covered but not yours. Regards, Blake. I should add to this that the Fee that Niddrie Nameplates charges for the PI Plate has increased recently from $86 incl GST to $94.60 incl GST, which you will see on the Vehicle Import Approval that goes to Niddrie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ella Rich Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Can I ask you,why do you want to import it ? Even if some problem persists you can contact localal auto mechanics there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A and S Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 So 8 months after taking our Volkswagen T4 off the road in the UK, it's now finally registered in Victoria. There have been many stressful times but now we can look forward to exploring in our camper van. Has it all been worth it? Financially we would probably have to say no but then that's not the reason we decided to add another challenge to the already stressful period in which we sold our house in the UK, packed up and put into storagce everything apart from a suitcase each, moved in (along with our dogs)with various relatives for the next 4 months, converted our T4 from a dusty tilers van to an amazing camper van, shipped it along with all of our possessions to our new life in Australia. To give an idea of costs involved to anyone else thinking of doing this, here's a rough breakdowns of what we paid out (not including conversion costs) Import Permit $50 Extra cost for a 40' container $2,600 - our van did get damaged despite being in a container. Friends of ours used RORO without problem so this may be a cheaper option Insurance £300 Australian Gas/Electric Certification $362.45 - obviously needed as its a camper van so won't apply to a car Customs valuation Fee $290 Customs Disbursment Charges as follows: Duty $118.53 GST $411.85 AQIS Service Fee $140 AQIS Processing Charge $15 Declaration Processing Charge $50 AQIS Container charges $8 Customs Clearance $125 Cargo Management Reengineering $15 GST ON AQIS Service Payment Amount $14 Steam Cleaning as requested by DAFF $500 - our van had to be cleaned 3 times before it was passed by quarantine, luckily we only had to pay once 2 x Unregistered Vechile Permits due to unforeseen delays $68.70 each - this can be done online but make sure you print out the permit at the time as the email option failed for us both times involving lengthy conversations with Vic Roads to get another one emailed out. Costs for compliance report & roadworthy which includes costs to get vehicle through the roadworthy $1,519.10 Vic Roads Appointment Fee $16.90 Vic Roads Inspection Fee $27 TAC Premium $233 Stamp Duty $23.30 Registration Fee $270.40 Plate Fee $34 Stamp Duty $294 I think that's all the costs, easy to miss one when there's so many! It's also worth bearing in mind that costs can go up or down depending on the value of the vehicle and where it will be garaged. There is a lot involved in importing a vehicle to Australia, unforeseen problems and delays which were very frustrating. Luckily we saw the post by Blake who came to our rescue in guiding is through this maze of red tape. We would highly recommend him if you are importing a vehicle to the Melbourne area. We are actually a 2 hour drive away but after getting nowhere for 6 weeks with our local VASS engineer we contacted Blake after seeing his post on Poms in Oz. Here's to many years of travelling in our wonderful T4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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