Is it REALLY worth taking your car....Ask the question here for another opinion

[Savitar]

So in my view its a bad idea to ask a company that has an interest in making money out of shipping cars if its worth it to ship a car. Now having said that, I used Iron Lady and would HIGHLY recommend them if you are planning on shipping your car, first class service all the way.

 

What I believe is missing from their reviews are questions like :

 

- What is your motivation for sending the car?

- When are you planning on sending it?

- What is your relationship to the car (I.e. are you emotionally attached to it)

- How long will you keep the car when you get there?

- When will you need the car in the UK vs Aus?

- What is the car worth in the UK if you were to sell it at the point of sending Vs what the realistic value of selling it when it finally arrives in OZ?

 

I have no affliction to any shipping, transport, import, or car companies in any way but I am a bit of a car nut. I recently shipped TWO M3's from the UK to OZ, one was always to keep, the other was always to try to make a profit. I learned a LOT from the experience so happy to help out.

 

If you have any questions about if you can ship, what your visa requirements are, what type of shipping you should use etc please contact Iron Lady (or another company), they are experts in that field and will provide fantastic advice.

 

My advice will be if its WORTH it to ship. My advice is free, its my opinion (you may not agree but its another opinion to use) but its COMPLETELY unbiased, in terms of any financial gain on my behalf, so if you are interested in my opinion, fire away, please fill in the following :

 

Car Make :

Car Model (including engine and gearbox) :

Car Year :

Car mileage :

Special options :

What is your motivation for sending the car (profit, can't get car in OZ, love the car and can't leave without it etc)?

When are you planning on sending it?

How long will you keep the car when you get to OZ (best guess, I.e. days, months, years, never sell, try to be as specific as possible)?

When will you need the car in the UK vs Aus (I.e. it takes 3-4 months from shipping to on the road, will you have another car to cover it)?

 

I will then work out the price in the UK (my view) Vs the price in OZ when you would be looking to sell (best guess) to determine when its worth it.

[ArrowsEng]

Hi Savitar, I would be interested to know if you made a profit on selling your second M3 and was it hard to sell a UK car in Australia and if you got a similar price to what Australian M3's are selling for? I'm a car person too, so this is just for interest.

[Gbye grey sky]

 

My advice will be if its WORTH it to ship. My advice is free, its my opinion (you may not agree but its another opinion to use) but its COMPLETELY unbiased, in terms of any financial gain on my behalf, so if you are interested in my opinion, fire away, please fill in the following :

 

Car Make : Skoda Superb

Car Model : Elegance (Saloon/Hatchback)

Car Year : 2011 (December)

Car mileage : 10,000

Special options : None of significance

What is your motivation for sending the car (profit, can't get car in OZ, love the car and can't leave without it etc)? Owned it from new. We have a small run-around which we use for local journeys. Due to unforseen circumstances (family bereavement) the need for regular long journeys and a 2nd car ended in 2012 hence the low mileage. We enjoy driving it and depreciation if we sold it before moving would be significant. We also plan to send it out well ahead of us so that it is there when we arrive so we will not have to hire a car and/or make a hasty purchase when we arrive (both of which can be costly). And we plan to do some touring of Queensland in it at the outset.

When are you planning on sending it? April 2015.

How long will you keep the car when you get to OZ (best guess, I.e. days, months, years, never sell, try to be as specific as possible)? Years certainly.

When will you need the car in the UK vs Aus (I.e. it takes 3-4 months from shipping to on the road, will you have another car to cover it)?

 

I will then work out the price in the UK (my view) Vs the price in OZ when you would be looking to sell (best guess) to determine when its worth it.

 

Interested in reading your opinion.

[Savitar]

Hi Savitar, I would be interested to know if you made a profit on selling your second M3 and was it hard to sell a UK car in Australia and if you got a similar price to what Australian M3's are selling for? I'm a car person too, so this is just for interest.

 

Hey Arrows, in the end no. All up i got almost exactly what I had into it (all up including purchase, running costs, shipping, import etc) about 20 months later. I took very careful look at the prices when purchasing, in summary :

 

When purchased : 39,000 pounds (about $65,000 at the time)

Price of equivalent model in OZ at the time : $130 - $140K

All in costs including shipping, importing etc $85,000

Sale price in OZ : $85,000.

 

Now at the time of sale in OZ, Australian delivered cars (of the equivalent model / mileage) were going for around $95-$110K. I spoke with a number of forum members with M3's to get their purchase / sell prices (had been on this forum for some time so knew which ones to trust) so found that around $95K - $100K for an Aussie delivered model was about the going price....so the car had dropped around $30-$40K in real terms in OZ in just short of two years....probably about right for a 3-4 year old M3....

 

When I went to sell, I got some CRAZY offers. My favourite was a guy who was "doing me a favour" by selling to him at $65k!!! In the end, there was no interest for the car above $100K (not even a call) I got three offers in the low $80s and eventually got $85k.

 

Now i "might" have been able to get more for it. I "might" have been able to get $5K more perhaps....I was also give advice to not tell people it was an import and hope they don't notice...but I am just not that type of person....Honesty does not pay!

 

Would I do it again, hell yes!! Anyone else in OZ who bought the car at the same time would have lost $30k-$40K on the car in the same time as I broken even. I got to spend 20 wonderful months with a 2011 M3 competition pack DCT for free.....

[Savitar]

Interested in reading your opinion.

 

Hey Grey sky, - Just one question, what is the engine of the car? 103TDI? 118TSI? 125TDI etc? That will help me....

[Gbye grey sky]

2.0l tdi

[Savitar]

2.0l tdi

 

Thanks, so here is how I see it :

 

- You don't have any attachment to it so that should not be a factor.

- You have another car for running around in the UK and plan on having it there when you arrive, so that is not a factor. Now, just remember, it takes 2-3 months to ship then another 2-8 weeks to get on the road, so just factor that in.

 

Price wise I see it like this :

 

- If you were to sell it in the UK right now, you would get 13-15K for it (based on what is for sale around that mileage), that is about $25,000

- Costs of shipping, importing etc around $9 - $10K

- So the car will owe you around $35K (I.e. you would have got $25k if you sell if and you have to spend $10K to import it).

 

Current market value in OZ for a similar car is around the same price, take this for example :

 

http://www.carsales.com.au/demo/details/Skoda-Superb-2012/AGC-AD-16482494/?Cr=1&sdmvc=1

 

2012 model, 2.5 TDI (they don't have a 2LTR TDI in OZ), it only has 1,130 KM on it. So it would be a (slightly) newer car with car less KM on it for around the same price...

 

Here is the kicker, based on my experience you would need to look at around 20-30% less in resale value for an import, so your far is in fact only worth around $28-$30K now....so a loss.

 

In the future, the price of the cars will drop so the 20-30% reduction in price for an import becomes less a problem, but selling an import in general is a problem.

 

The real issue I can see is that there does not appear to be any 2LTR TDI's in OZ. Given that engines these days are quite interchangeable its likely that engine exists in some form (I have not gone in to that level of detail) so you should be able to get parts however when selling, its not something people are looking for, that will put future pressure on the future sale of the car....

 

So my view on this is that I don't think its worth it. At best its a break even opportunity but most likely you will end up worse off financially as a result and have a lot more trouble insuring the import, servicing (as that engine is not sold here in that car) and selling.

 

Hope that helps....

[Gbye grey sky]

Thanks for that Savitar. It is helpful.

 

The servicing issue is one we had considered. Didn't appreciate that insuring an import was an issue but will factor that in now. An approach to the local Skoda dealer was positive on servicing but agree replacement parts may be an issue. Accept what you say about resale but we planned to keep it for a long time. I did feel that we would be lucky to get much more than £10,000 - £11,000 for it because the mileage is really almost too low. Having it there when we arrive would be handy especially if it is road-ready (will look into that) as avoids costly rentals. Another negative issue is the in-car satnav which will be useless there and will probably be really expensive to reprogramme. Obviously can buy a TomTom but then you have a redundant satnav.

 

Had a quote for shipping etc costs which falls in the mid-range of your figure (around $9500).

 

Useful. Think I am changing my mind about taking it. Will chat to the wife who was the primary advocate for it.

[ArrowsEng]

I don't like to but into others conversations (too much) but I do need to correct Savitar a little. The Skoda Superb is sold in Australia as a 2.0L TDI in 103kW (103TDi) and 125kW (125TDi) versions so parts are not an issue.

I would still agree with Savitars advice that bringing over a Skoda is probably not in your best interest and I say this as a Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDi owner. This is mainly due to the servicing costs of a diesel Skoda in Australia are very expensive as they come under the VW group of companies. The worst services are every 60,000km they want to service the DSG transmission and will charge you around $1000. Then at 105,000km you need to change the camshaft belt and this service is around $1500.

As fuel efficient as our Octavia is (and your Superb should be), we average 6.0L/100km, even if you buy a Holden Commodore or something of equivalent size to a Superb, you would get an average 10L/100km on petrol. Unfortunately Skoda's as yet do not hold much value, our Octavia was $30,000 in 2008, now worth around $12,000, so the depreciation and service costs against the fuel economy savings don't really match up.

All up, I'd get the best you can for the Superb in the UK and put that into buying a new car "off the lot" in Australia, I have read on this forum a couple of people have had dealerships deliver new cars to the airport for their arrival, so they didn't have to rent a car - interesting thought if you know exactly what you want. Personally I still like test driving what I'm going to buy.

One last note is that Australians tend to buy SUV's or smaller run arounds, each count for about 25% of the new car markets nowadays rather than big sedans - a lots changed in 25 years in Australia!

Regards, Blake.

[rammygirl]

If you are buying a new car you can test drive it in the UK first. I did this and bought a new golf to be ready to collect on our arrival. We got a great price, cheaper than the UK but they have gone up now.

 

New cars are a good price here but second hand are relatively expansive as they hold their value well.

 

We we also imported my OH audi tt roadster, we worked it out and it was cost neutral really, we won't make money but we shouldn't lose any either, plus we get to use it here with the top down more than in the UK, although it may get too hot in the summer!

[Savitar]

I don't like to but into others conversations (too much) but I do need to correct Savitar a little. The Skoda Superb is sold in Australia as a 2.0L TDI in 103kW (103TDi) and 125kW (125TDi) versions so parts are not an issue.

I would still agree with Savitars advice that bringing over a Skoda is probably not in your best interest and I say this as a Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDi owner. This is mainly due to the servicing costs of a diesel Skoda in Australia are very expensive as they come under the VW group of companies. The worst services are every 60,000km they want to service the DSG transmission and will charge you around $1000. Then at 105,000km you need to change the camshaft belt and this service is around $1500.

As fuel efficient as our Octavia is (and your Superb should be), we average 6.0L/100km, even if you buy a Holden Commodore or something of equivalent size to a Superb, you would get an average 10L/100km on petrol. Unfortunately Skoda's as yet do not hold much value, our Octavia was $30,000 in 2008, now worth around $12,000, so the depreciation and service costs against the fuel economy savings don't really match up.

All up, I'd get the best you can for the Superb in the UK and put that into buying a new car "off the lot" in Australia, I have read on this forum a couple of people have had dealerships deliver new cars to the airport for their arrival, so they didn't have to rent a car - interesting thought if you know exactly what you want. Personally I still like test driving what I'm going to buy.

One last note is that Australians tend to buy SUV's or smaller run arounds, each count for about 25% of the new car markets nowadays rather than big sedans - a lots changed in 25 years in Australia!

Regards, Blake.

 

Excellent point on the engine, thanks for clearing that up.

 

In terms of insurance you don't need to tell some companies that its an import but others ask up front. So you an get away with "normal" insurance in most cases.

 

Given the hassle of selling an import, that is where the pain will be. In my experience you need to assume a 20-30% reduction in the ozzie car market price so if you are OK with that then it would not be too bad but I just think that given it does not hold any significant value, its just not worth it.

[Gbye grey sky]

I don't like to but into others conversations (too much) but I do need to correct Savitar a little. The Skoda Superb is sold in Australia as a 2.0L TDI in 103kW (103TDi) and 125kW (125TDi) versions so parts are not an issue.

I would still agree with Savitars advice that bringing over a Skoda is probably not in your best interest and I say this as a Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDi owner. This is mainly due to the servicing costs of a diesel Skoda in Australia are very expensive as they come under the VW group of companies. The worst services are every 60,000km they want to service the DSG transmission and will charge you around $1000. Then at 105,000km you need to change the camshaft belt and this service is around $1500.

As fuel efficient as our Octavia is (and your Superb should be), we average 6.0L/100km, even if you buy a Holden Commodore or something of equivalent size to a Superb, you would get an average 10L/100km on petrol. Unfortunately Skoda's as yet do not hold much value, our Octavia was $30,000 in 2008, now worth around $12,000, so the depreciation and service costs against the fuel economy savings don't really match up.

All up, I'd get the best you can for the Superb in the UK and put that into buying a new car "off the lot" in Australia, I have read on this forum a couple of people have had dealerships deliver new cars to the airport for their arrival, so they didn't have to rent a car - interesting thought if you know exactly what you want. Personally I still like test driving what I'm going to buy.

One last note is that Australians tend to buy SUV's or smaller run arounds, each count for about 25% of the new car markets nowadays rather than big sedans - a lots changed in 25 years in Australia!

Regards, Blake.

 

Thanks for this. We have talked again and have decided to take the advice of both of you. Sell in UK next year and buy in Oz. My OH had become a little fixated with the depreciation hit selling a car which, when we bought it, was intended as a long term purchase.

 

Your final point was the clincher though. What if the car is really not fit for purpose for our lifestyle in Oz. having paid all that money to ship it and with worse resale value it could be a costly error.

 

Thanks both. Really appreciate your posts.

[Savitar]

Thanks for this. We have talked again and have decided to take the advice of both of you. Sell in UK next year and buy in Oz. My OH had become a little fixated with the depreciation hit selling a car which, when we bought it, was intended as a long term purchase.

 

Your final point was the clincher though. What if the car is really not fit for purpose for our lifestyle in Oz. having paid all that money to ship it and with worse resale value it could be a costly error.

 

Thanks both. Really appreciate your posts.

 

Glad we could help. I was thinking about your situation last night. You could always look to sell it around the time you would be looking to ship it (if you go down that path) and if you end up getting far less than you think (I.e. south of 10K), you can always change your mind and ship it anyway as the maths might work out at that point.....But given it only has 10,000 miles on it, you should not have any trouble selling it for a good price....

[NeelD]

Hi,

 

I've been following the posts and was actually thinking of taking my car with me. It's Range Rover Sport 2005. My wife and I are quite attached to it and love the high ride. Not sure if it's worth taking though.

[olikk23]

Hi Savitar,

 

i would be interested to see if its worth it for mine.

 

Car Make : Range Rover

Car Model (including engine and gearbox) : Sport TDV8

Car Year : 2010

Car mileage : 42000

Special options : HSE

 

I would plan on keeping it for around 2 years.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[Savitar]

Hi,

 

I've been following the posts and was actually thinking of taking my car with me. It's Range Rover Sport 2005. My wife and I are quite attached to it and love the high ride. Not sure if it's worth taking though.

 

Happy to provide an opinion, can you please provide the following :

 

Car Make :

Car Model (including engine and gearbox) :

Car Year :

Car mileage :

Special options :

What is your motivation for sending the car (profit, can't get car in OZ, love the car and can't leave without it etc)?

When are you planning on sending it?

How long will you keep the car when you get to OZ (best guess, I.e. days, months, years, never sell, try to be as specific as possible)?

When will you need the car in the UK vs Aus (I.e. it takes 3-4 months from shipping to on the road, will you have another car to cover it)?

[Savitar]

Hi Savitar,

 

i would be interested to see if its worth it for mine.

 

Car Make : Range Rover

Car Model (including engine and gearbox) : Sport TDV8

Car Year : 2010

Car mileage : 42000

Special options : HSE

 

I would plan on keeping it for around 2 years.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

 

I am in transit to the UK currently but will take a look soon and get back to you with some thoughts...

[NeelD]

Thanks Savitar

 

Car Make : Ramge Rover Sport

Car Model (including engine and gearbox) : Engine is 2.7

Car Year : 2005

Car mileage : 90k miles

Special options : none

What is your motivation for sending the car (profit, can't get car in OZ, love the car and can't leave without it etc)? Only had car for three years. in immaculate condition. Love the ride and have been come attached to it now

When are you planning on sending it? Feb 2015

How long will you keep the car when you get to OZ (best guess, I.e. days, months, years, never sell, try to be as specific as possible)? Hoping not to sell for a while once we are in OZ

When will you need the car in the UK vs Aus (I.e. it takes 3-4 months from shipping to on the road, will you have another car to cover it)? Will hire a car as soon as we get to OZ just to check out the areas we want to live in. so few months without car should be ok

 

thanks

[kabodhi]

I didn't bother bringing my car. Left it at home when I moved over for my brother to sell.

Came out on a 457, after two weeks walked into a Mazda dealer and two days later drove away in a brand new Mazda 2 (small but idea for the city) for 80 bucks a week.

Wouldn't hesitate to do it again

[ArrowsEng]

As much as I think the Mazda 2 is a great little car for the city, I think there is a huge difference between a Mazda 2 and the Range Rovers mentioned above.

Anyone coming from the UK with a Range Rover, Audi, BMW, Mercedes or any of the higher valued luxury or semi luxury cars I would recommend they bring over, especially if they have any attachment to them. I still kick myself for not buying a Porsche 911 or Merc when I lived in UK and bring that back to Australia when I came back 6 years ago.

 

All the good luxury cars which are not allowed to be parallel imported, such as Porsches, Mercs, BMW, Audi, Range Rovers, Mini's, Lotus, Ferrari, Aston Martin or even Lexus, is worth the effort if you want to keep the car yourself.

[NeelD]

Thanks ArrowsEng,

 

We initially bought the car to keep for a long period of time. I think we will decide to bring it with us. Just waiting for the vsa grant and then everything will take off fromt here

[Savitar]

Thanks Savitar

 

Car Make : Ramge Rover Sport

Car Model (including engine and gearbox) : Engine is 2.7

Car Year : 2005

Car mileage : 90k miles

Special options : none

What is your motivation for sending the car (profit, can't get car in OZ, love the car and can't leave without it etc)? Only had car for three years. in immaculate condition. Love the ride and have been come attached to it now

When are you planning on sending it? Feb 2015

How long will you keep the car when you get to OZ (best guess, I.e. days, months, years, never sell, try to be as specific as possible)? Hoping not to sell for a while once we are in OZ

When will you need the car in the UK vs Aus (I.e. it takes 3-4 months from shipping to on the road, will you have another car to cover it)? Will hire a car as soon as we get to OZ just to check out the areas we want to live in. so few months without car should be ok

 

thanks

 

Hi NeelD,

 

Sorry for the slow response, had a three week vacation and returned to a crazy workplace this week so only just getting to this.

 

I realise since you posted this you have decided to send the car anyway but here are some thoughts....

 

Selling it now in the UK, you are probably looking around 12K, perhaps a little less depending on negotiation. That would put it around $20K value plus shipping costs so it owes you around $30K in OZ. Current prices in OZ for a 2005-2006 RR sport with around 150,000KM is about $30K.

 

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Land-Rover-Range-Rover-Sport-2005/SSE-AD-2710063/?Cr=1&sdmvc=1

http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Land-Rover-Range-Rover-Sport-2005/AGC-AD-16651741/?Cr=2&sdmvc=1

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Land-Rover-Range-Rover-Sport-2006/SSE-AD-2838741/?Cr=10&sdmvc=1

 

Given its an unwritten rule that you will get around 20% less for an import you would be slightly worse off, by say $5k (3k pounds) by bringing it over Vs just buying one here plus the cost of hiring a car. It should not be a problem with servicing and insurance as they sold them here so parts will be plentiful.

 

At the end of the day the different is not "that" great so if you love the car and don't mind the small different then its not a bad idea....Its not always about financial differences..

[timleitch]

Hi Savitar would very much appreciate your advice re my car:

 

Car Make : Porsche

Car Model (including engine and gearbox) : Boxster 3.2 S tiptronic

Car Year : 2004

Car mileage : 78000

Special options : bose satnav aircon leather

What is your motivation for sending the car (profit, can’t get car in OZ, love the car and can’t leave without it etc)? Convertible, just send fair bit on it!

When are you planning on sending it? Nov-Dec 2014

How long will you keep the car when you get to OZ (best guess, I.e. days, months, years, never sell, try to be as specific as possible)? 1-2 years

When will you need the car in the UK vs Aus (I.e. it takes 3-4 months from shipping to on the road, will you have another car to cover it)? Yes

 

Many thanks in advance Tim

[Savitar]

Hi Savitar would very much appreciate your advice re my car:

 

Car Make : Porsche

Car Model (including engine and gearbox) : Boxster 3.2 S tiptronic

Car Year : 2004

Car mileage : 78000

Special options : bose satnav aircon leather

What is your motivation for sending the car (profit, can’t get car in OZ, love the car and can’t leave without it etc)? Convertible, just send fair bit on it!

When are you planning on sending it? Nov-Dec 2014

How long will you keep the car when you get to OZ (best guess, I.e. days, months, years, never sell, try to be as specific as possible)? 1-2 years

When will you need the car in the UK vs Aus (I.e. it takes 3-4 months from shipping to on the road, will you have another car to cover it)? Yes

 

Many thanks in advance Tim

 

Hey TimLeitch,

 

The inital bad news is that spending money on a car does not mean hanging onto it is the wisest option, cars are money pits at the best of times. So for my view, it needs to be based on what you can get for it and buy in OZ Vs what it will cost you to do a swap.

 

Firstly, the cost in the UK is around 9,000 as a guess, you might get a little more but there are others already out there at around 8K so its possible you will get up to 9K, so that is about $17K Aussie, add aroud $9K for import and you are looking at it owing you around $26K.

 

There are not many 04 / 05's around with that high a mileage, one here is a 05 with only around 40K miles for $32K :

 

http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Porsche-Boxster-2004/AGC-AD-16379590/?Cr=2&sdmvc=1

 

However, you can pick up a 03 with similar milage and spec for about $28K, but you should be able to get it for $26K ish. :

 

http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Porsche-Boxster-2003/AGC-AD-16687114/?Cr=15&sdmvc=1

 

Given you need a car when you arrive, the change over is very similar and you are only planning on keeping it for 1-2 years, my advice would be to sell it in the UK and get what you can for it, then look to buy in OZ. The real killer here is that while the change over is about net zero, when you go to sell the UK import you will get 20-30% LESS for it than the aussie cars, so even though they might be selling for $28 - $32, you will probably get $23 - $25k for it....And, many people don't want UK imports so it will be hard to sell.

 

At the end of the day, its probably line ball if its "worth" it to ship. For mine, if you were planning on keeping it indefinately and know its in good condition,there is no harm in shipping it...but as its only for a year or two, my 2p is that you should sell it, any get a replacement in OZ when you arrive...hey, its always nice to have a new car to play with...

[timleitch]

that’s food for thought. many thanks for your advice