Transporting your car to Oz - everything you need to know!

[pwkl]

A month on the wharf?! Wowsers...have there been any complications?

 

Not that I know of, probably didn't help being over the xmas holidays but I'm not sure if it really landed on 25th anyway. I never confirmed that date, I was just happy it's in the country at least. I'll probably chase again next week.

[Iron Chef]

Hey All, Great thread

 

Just wondering what you think about transporting a mazda6 2008 Diesel to Perth from Dublin. After doing a bit of research myself i am more siding to not shipping it as it seems minimal what i would be up after all is done. Not sure how easy it would be to sell on, how popular are diesel cars in Australia? from looking at oz car sites seems petrol automatics make up most of the market.

 

Great full for any advice..

 

It really depends on whether or not you're going to get screwed when the time comes to sell it in Dublin. Aside from that it's only worth doing if you want to keep it for a while. Diesels are gaining in popularity here, but bear in mind diesel is more expensive than ULP so it's not the massive cost saving it is in the UK.

 

Is there anywhere I can find out if my civic or my wife’s rx8 will require any changes to comply with WA road laws.

Trying to get as much done this side when I have some time, that’s if the government can find the Mazda’s paperwork. Both cars paperwork were received on the same day and emails have been sent to both my wife and myself regarding more information, this was given on both cars, my civic was approved a month ago and now the department is saying it can’t find anything to do with the Mazda. Payments taken for both cars, reference number for both cars etc but they have lost everything to do with the Mazda, defenatly easier getting our visa than it is sorting cars

 

If it weren't for DIT's stuff ups, I wouldn't exist, so I can't complain too much...I always advise scanning and emailing as well as sending via traditional mail. As for the work that needs to be done, it's fairly basic, so you're not going to save much doing it in the UK. On top of this, it's different for every car, so there's no definitive lists available anywhere. Make sure you have a good set of tyres - it sounds obvious, but you'd be amazed how many people bring their cars over with supposedly freshly MOTed cars that have 4 different tread patterns...

 

Not that I know of, probably didn't help being over the xmas holidays but I'm not sure if it really landed on 25th anyway. I never confirmed that date, I was just happy it's in the country at least. I'll probably chase again next week.

 

It's the same boat I brought a Harley Davidson over on, and it did land Christmas Day - even with some major hiccups (would you believe, Quarantine went down to inspect the bike, read the engine number instead of the build plate, then flagged the bike with Customs as it had a completely different "chassis number" to the import approval! Took two weeks of arguing via email before Customs re-checked it) the bike came off the docks last week. I'd be making some phone calls.

[Malcolminthemiddle]

Hi Iron Chef,

 

Thanks for helping everyone with their import questions - what a great service you are

providing!

 

We have a 2005 BMW 325i se e90 with 150000km on the clock. Do you think the high kms would put off potential buyers. The car is worth about £5-6k in the UK but from what I can see I could probably get 20-25k in Australia. We would plan to sell the car on its arrival and buy something bigger, is this viable and worthwhile do you think.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Malcolm

[Guest surferchicksal]

Hiya

 

Yet another question from me! I have am buying an audi to bring when we move in 2 years, now do the clocks need to be changed into KM's instead of Miles? And Mr Iron Chef, When I have all the details of this said car will you be able to point me in the right direction of how much it is all going to cost to ship to Oz including GST etc etc. I have found a company that will ship roll on roll off, but they only supply the shipping costs not what its going to cost me in taxes etc. ????? Many thanks You are a very useful and knowledgable chap and I hope you are very proud of your knowledge and are helping so many people!! :biggrin:

[pwkl]

If the clocks, speedo etc don't show both km and miles, then I believe you need to make some changes. Best to source parts over in UK in readiness. As a rough estimate, expect to pay something like 35-40% of the value of your vehicle in costs to get it over here. The GST (10%) and duty (5%) are based on the 'landed' value customs have decided which is usually less than the market value of the car in Aus but more than a straight £ -> $ conversion. Fees to get through customs and quarantine can total over $1000. My advice since you are looking to buy, is get the newest, prestigious model you can afford, as then it would make it financially more viable, unless you're making a heart decision. An Audi RS6/R8 would be brilliant but a Porsche 911 would be the better bet for 2 years down the line. Once I finally get my car on the road, I'm going to provide a breakdown of costs that applied for me.

[cronemeister]

Hi Iron Chef

 

Read through quite a few posts and I'm still confused about costs etc.

 

I maybe moving to Oz in the coming months and would like to look into the possibilty of taking my car with me.

 

Its a 2006 Audi A3 2.0 TDI Sportback. I paid just under £10k for it about 15 months ago and it has about 45000 miles on the clock. I reckon I could get £7k-£8k for it if I sold it in the UK, but I've looked on that redbook site and a similar 2006 diesel Audi is €47k..is that right.

 

Where I got confused is about the taxes paid on the value of the car. Is this based on the value I paid for it £10k, or on the value of a similar car in Oz €47k.

 

If you could break it down into idiots terms and show costs for me that would be great.

 

Also, would it be more cost effective to put this in a container with the furniture I wish to move as well, or should I do them seperately?

 

As a rough average, do you know how long the whole process takes from start to finish also ?

 

Oh, my potential destination in Oz is Lakes Entrance, which is in Victoria.

 

Sorry, I know these questions have probably been asked, or answered in part elsewhere in this thread, I just don't have the time at the mo to read 60 odd pages to find out as this has all come about fairly quickly so I'm having to look into a lot of other things as well, such as taking our 2 dogs with us, and schools for the kids and weighing up all of the costs etc.

 

Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

Regards

[pwkl]

I can tell you, it won't be the value if you plain converted £10k to $, and it won't be the market value in Aus of $47k, it will be somewhere in between, my guess would be $22k.

[njpd875prv]

Hi Nick - no dice I'm afraid. You can't bring a car over on a working holiday visa, and your 12 month qualifying period means you have to have owned AND used the car for at least 12 months. Any time spent overseas doesn't count towards the qualifying period.

 

 

Hi Iron Chef

 

Thank you for your reply, is there any other options of getting my car over there, family member imports it or something?

 

Thanks

 

Nick

[Iron Chef]

Hi Iron Chef,

 

Thanks for helping everyone with their import questions - what a great service you are

providing!

 

We have a 2005 BMW 325i se e90 with 150000km on the clock. Do you think the high kms would put off potential buyers. The car is worth about £5-6k in the UK but from what I can see I could probably get 20-25k in Australia. We would plan to sell the car on its arrival and buy something bigger, is this viable and worthwhile do you think.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Based on those numbers, yes it's definitely worth bringing over.

 

Malcolm

 

Hiya

 

Yet another question from me! I have am buying an audi to bring when we move in 2 years, now do the clocks need to be changed into KM's instead of Miles? And Mr Iron Chef, When I have all the details of this said car will you be able to point me in the right direction of how much it is all going to cost to ship to Oz including GST etc etc. I have found a company that will ship roll on roll off, but they only supply the shipping costs not what its going to cost me in taxes etc. ????? Many thanks You are a very useful and knowledgable chap and I hope you are very proud of your knowledge and are helping so many people!! :biggrin:

 

As already mentioned, if you ONLY have miles marked, then you'll need km/h marked on your speedometer for registration. You can either get hold of a km/h gauge cluster before you leave (no doubt cheaper than finding one here), or you can actually get your own cluster re-marked here in Australia. If you've got two years before you arrive, I'd be planning to find a car that will maximise your returns over here though

 

Hi Iron Chef

 

Read through quite a few posts and I'm still confused about costs etc.

 

I maybe moving to Oz in the coming months and would like to look into the possibilty of taking my car with me.

 

Its a 2006 Audi A3 2.0 TDI Sportback. I paid just under £10k for it about 15 months ago and it has about 45000 miles on the clock. I reckon I could get £7k-£8k for it if I sold it in the UK, but I've looked on that redbook site and a similar 2006 diesel Audi is €47k..is that right.

 

Where I got confused is about the taxes paid on the value of the car. Is this based on the value I paid for it £10k, or on the value of a similar car in Oz €47k.

 

If you could break it down into idiots terms and show costs for me that would be great.

 

Also, would it be more cost effective to put this in a container with the furniture I wish to move as well, or should I do them seperately?

 

As a rough average, do you know how long the whole process takes from start to finish also ?

 

Oh, my potential destination in Oz is Lakes Entrance, which is in Victoria.

 

Sorry, I know these questions have probably been asked, or answered in part elsewhere in this thread, I just don't have the time at the mo to read 60 odd pages to find out as this has all come about fairly quickly so I'm having to look into a lot of other things as well, such as taking our 2 dogs with us, and schools for the kids and weighing up all of the costs etc.

 

Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

Regards

 

For those of you checking Redbook, make sure you click right through to the description of the model to get the current market value. On the screen before hand they display the price it was when it was sold new, so don't get get the two confused, for obvious reasons!

 

In terms of customs value, I generally use the Australian market value minus around 25%. Customs almost always get an independent valuer to come in and work out the customs value. It sometimes works out cheaper to put your car in a 40' container with your furniture, but bear in mind that shipping companies won't let you ship a car without import approval - if there are delays getting it through, then all your furniture is stuck on the wharf in the UK.

 

Based on my nifty new import calculator, I can tell you it's worth bringing your car over if you like it and want to keep using it.

 

I can tell you, it won't be the value if you plain converted £10k to $, and it won't be the market value in Aus of $47k, it will be somewhere in between, my guess would be $22k.

 

^^Spot on. Redbook says $20-22K

 

Hi Nick - no dice I'm afraid. You can't bring a car over on a working holiday visa, and your 12 month qualifying period means you have to have owned AND used the car for at least 12 months. Any time spent overseas doesn't count towards the qualifying period.

 

 

Hi Iron Chef

 

Thank you for your reply, is there any other options of getting my car over there, family member imports it or something?

 

Thanks

 

Nick

 

Not unless your family owns it for 12 months and then decides to move here permanently and on a permanent visa.

[Guest Bigste1979]

Hi Iron Chef

Brilliant post full of usefull info. I am currently in the process of importing my car BMW 320i. I just need to know what I have to do to get my car on the road when it arrives once I pay through the nose to customs!! And how much extra will I have to pay to do this? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Guest Big Steve]

I have recently gone through the process of importing a car from the UK to Oz (WA). In the light of all the recent questions on this thread I thought I would share some specifics that might be useful to others.....

It's an M3 Convertible, 2004 E46 with SMG in Carbon black and all the toys and 80K miles on the clock.

 

The car was worth maybe £10K on a good day, although a good day is not autumn for a convertible, or for an insurance Group 20 car with a 3.2 litre engine and fuel costs rising the way they are! There were 70 other M3 verts for sale when I looked. So I decided to export to Oz. I got it serviced inc. expensive inspection, new discs, new tyres, new exhaust (second hand/unused). Fitted flat glass and got the odometer electronically programmed to KMs. £2K bill - so it's 'worth' £12K to me.

 

To meet Oz requirements I changed the convex door mirror glass to 'flat' glass. £30 from BMW. I also got the odometer re-programmed to shows KMs (it's a digital odometer and analogue speedo) and left the standard speedo dial that showed MPH and KPH. Just the seat belt 'top tethers' that had me worried. There were no options specified for these by BMW - the Oz model is a Euro spec car with some minor changes (like door mirror glass). No mention of tethers though. There are some welded 'bars' behind the rear passenger headrests exposed once the roof of the convertible was part opened. I hoped these would do.

 

I requested the Import Approval - $50 (took 3 weeks). I received a letter confirming they had issued it, but they will only send the original 4 A4 sheets that make up the approval to an Oz address. This will need to be your Oz import agent. Getting enough 'points' to meet their criteria was less of an issue than I thought. Although it looked like I needed to be in the country first, just showing intent to move was enough. For example, agreement letter from mortgage company showing approval to let our property (rather than sell) was accepted. Same for resignation letter, although no job to actually go to. etc etc.

 

UK Shipping £1665 and Insurance £180 - I chose to have sole use of a 20ft container and to send it 2 months before I planned to arrive in Oz. I know Iron Chef advocates RoRo and it would have been half the price, but I wanted to load many of my personal possesions in the car to have upon arrival. TV, clothes, books, scuba gear etc. It made sense for me. RoRo won't allow personal possesions.

 

Dropped off on 28/9/11 nr. Barking - it sailed a week later and I could track the ship online I lost visibility in the Suez Canal - so wondered if some Somalian pirates might be joyriding my Beemer ;-)

 

What I didn't do was empty the refrigerant from the Air-con system. Although advised to, and told about import licences for refrigerant - all I had to do was sign a single waiver form and pass it to the import agent. No cost for this.

 

Eventually it arrived in Freo... about a week later - so did I.

 

I had engaged the services of an Australian import agent when it was enroute. They were quite slow to get the car 'unpacked' from the container and needed some prompting from me. Once it was valued and once customs had cleared the car and possessions it needed to be inspected by AQIS. They chose to request it to be cleaned. I was able to collect my possesions though. This was all arranged by the import agent. This is where the 'variable nature' of the costs occur. The car was valued and I was given 2 bills (detailed below as Customs and AQIS).

 

Customs: $6523.57 - This was a mix of costs of the agent, valuation, port handling, unpacking and duty charges. GST was $3174 and Duty was $1392. You can do the maths on what they valued my car as!

AQIS: $994.20 - This was to move it from depot to AQIS, AQIS Cleaning, Service fee, and drop off at nominated location. This can be anywhere. The car is yours but not yet road legal.

 

 

This part is for WA. Not sure of other State 'rules'.

 

Now you have the car - you have to get it legal. 1st step is inspection at a vehicle inspection centre. You can book a slot, or arrive early at a 1st come first served depot. I chose Welshpool!

 

To move the vehicle legally you can call the Department of Transport and request a 48hour Vehicle movement permit. You pay $21 and have to state where you are moving to/from/to. You can do this by phone and do NOT need a WA licence (although the website says you do). Just call up, give them the overseas drivers licence details, the vehicle chassis number/car make/colour etc and your credit card details. Very useful.

 

Once you arrive at the centre, you queue up and await your turn. It's much like a UK MOT and you need your V5 (for engine number/weight etc) and your original import approvals (now 3 sheets of A4). Assuming the car meets the requirements (flat mirror glass, speedo showing KMs, rear child seat tethers) and the MOT type checks you will get a 'fail' but another of the forms signed. This signed form gets you a 'sticker'!

 

You can now drive the car away (on the permit) and post the form to 'Niddrie Nameplates' in Victoria. They want the original signed form, a copy of a passport and some money. I did a combo of email/scanned doc and posted the form and phoned in the credit card details. About 10 days later I got the yellow' Import Approval' sticker. You now need to go back to the inspection centre. Another 48hr permit. I was told by the original inspector not to actually place the sticker myself, but wait for them to do it. They choose the place on the car. The sticker is not small and quite inflexible and it needs to go on somewhere quite 'permanent' such as a bulkhead that is unlikely to get replaced/re-sprayed in the event of an accident.

 

Once the sticker is on the car, another form gets a signature, the computer is updated and you can get 'rego'! Number plates and 3rd party injury insurance. This is done at the same place as the inspection and they issue the next plates on the shelf. Punched aluminium in blue/white that don't fit the UK plate mounting holes! Grrrr. But once fixed you are now fully legal on the road! It's a personal choice to extend insurance to 3rd party damage cover or to fully comp.

 

Costs:

$21 - 48hr Movement permit. Home to Inspection centre

$90 - Inspection fee. Will fail with 'no sticker' but next stage of import approval is stamped.

$86 - 'Sticker from Niddrie Nameplates - Victoria (10 day turnaround. Passport/Visa/Original copy etc)

 

$21 - 48hr Movement permit. Home to Inspection centre. (Be friendly with the inspectors the first time and you can also jump the queue and get the re-test free)

$289.25 - License fee, Insurance etc. (aka Rego and for just 6 months).

 

This happened on the 21st of December 2011 - so about 12 weeks from driving in the UK to driving it in Oz (legally). Plan on 3-4 weeks once released by customs/aqis.

 

So - overall the car owes me about $26K

I could sell it for maybe $45K - but I think there is waiting period, before being allowed to sell, of 1 year (although I have heard conflicting information about this). I plan to keep it for a while - although WA are seriously hot on speeding - so I'm not really getting the benefit of MPower! :-(

 

 

Would I do it all again? Yes - now I know what's involved. Would I recommend others try? Maybe. It's not complicated, but facts are hard to find. No single place had all the information, and I have noticed that Australians don't like to admit they don't know something, especially if they think by admitting this, they lose out on their cut. Everybody wants some part of the pie.

 

Best of luck if you do try.....

[Iron Chef]

Hi Iron Chef

Brilliant post full of usefull info. I am currently in the process of importing my car BMW 320i. I just need to know what I have to do to get my car on the road when it arrives once I pay through the nose to customs!! And how much extra will I have to pay to do this? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

It depends on where you're moving to, as each state has its own rules. Allow $500-1000 for the mods needed for registration as a general guide.

 

I have recently gone through the process of importing a car from the UK to Oz (WA). In the light of all the recent questions on this thread I thought I would share some specifics that might be useful to others.....

It's an M3 Convertible, 2004 E46 with SMG in Carbon black and all the toys and 80K miles on the clock.

 

The car was worth maybe £10K on a good day, although a good day is not autumn for a convertible, or for an insurance Group 20 car with a 3.2 litre engine and fuel costs rising the way they are! There were 70 other M3 verts for sale when I looked. So I decided to export to Oz. I got it serviced inc. expensive inspection, new discs, new tyres, new exhaust (second hand/unused). Fitted flat glass and got the odometer electronically programmed to KMs. £2K bill - so it's 'worth' £12K to me.

 

To meet Oz requirements I changed the convex door mirror glass to 'flat' glass. £30 from BMW. I also got the odometer re-programmed to shows KMs (it's a digital odometer and analogue speedo) and left the standard speedo dial that showed MPH and KPH. Just the seat belt 'top tethers' that had me worried. There were no options specified for these by BMW - the Oz model is a Euro spec car with some minor changes (like door mirror glass). No mention of tethers though. There are some welded 'bars' behind the rear passenger headrests exposed once the roof of the convertible was part opened. I hoped these would do.

 

I requested the Import Approval - $50 (took 3 weeks). I received a letter confirming they had issued it, but they will only send the original 4 A4 sheets that make up the approval to an Oz address. This will need to be your Oz import agent. Getting enough 'points' to meet their criteria was less of an issue than I thought. Although it looked like I needed to be in the country first, just showing intent to move was enough. For example, agreement letter from mortgage company showing approval to let our property (rather than sell) was accepted. Same for resignation letter, although no job to actually go to. etc etc.

 

UK Shipping £1665 and Insurance £180 - I chose to have sole use of a 20ft container and to send it 2 months before I planned to arrive in Oz. I know Iron Chef advocates RoRo and it would have been half the price, but I wanted to load many of my personal possesions in the car to have upon arrival. TV, clothes, books, scuba gear etc. It made sense for me. RoRo won't allow personal possesions.

 

Dropped off on 28/9/11 nr. Barking - it sailed a week later and I could track the ship online I lost visibility in the Suez Canal - so wondered if some Somalian pirates might be joyriding my Beemer ;-)

 

What I didn't do was empty the refrigerant from the Air-con system. Although advised to, and told about import licences for refrigerant - all I had to do was sign a single waiver form and pass it to the import agent. No cost for this.

 

Eventually it arrived in Freo... about a week later - so did I.

 

I had engaged the services of an Australian import agent when it was enroute. They were quite slow to get the car 'unpacked' from the container and needed some prompting from me. Once it was valued and once customs had cleared the car and possessions it needed to be inspected by AQIS. They chose to request it to be cleaned. I was able to collect my possesions though. This was all arranged by the import agent. This is where the 'variable nature' of the costs occur. The car was valued and I was given 2 bills (detailed below as Customs and AQIS).

 

Customs: $6523.57 - This was a mix of costs of the agent, valuation, port handling, unpacking and duty charges. GST was $3174 and Duty was $1392. You can do the maths on what they valued my car as!

AQIS: $994.20 - This was to move it from depot to AQIS, AQIS Cleaning, Service fee, and drop off at nominated location. This can be anywhere. The car is yours but not yet road legal.

 

 

This part is for WA. Not sure of other State 'rules'.

 

Now you have the car - you have to get it legal. 1st step is inspection at a vehicle inspection centre. You can book a slot, or arrive early at a 1st come first served depot. I chose Welshpool!

 

To move the vehicle legally you can call the Department of Transport and request a 48hour Vehicle movement permit. You pay $21 and have to state where you are moving to/from/to. You can do this by phone and do NOT need a WA licence (although the website says you do). Just call up, give them the overseas drivers licence details, the vehicle chassis number/car make/colour etc and your credit card details. Very useful.

 

Once you arrive at the centre, you queue up and await your turn. It's much like a UK MOT and you need your V5 (for engine number/weight etc) and your original import approvals (now 3 sheets of A4). Assuming the car meets the requirements (flat mirror glass, speedo showing KMs, rear child seat tethers) and the MOT type checks you will get a 'fail' but another of the forms signed. This signed form gets you a 'sticker'!

 

You can now drive the car away (on the permit) and post the form to 'Niddrie Nameplates' in Victoria. They want the original signed form, a copy of a passport and some money. I did a combo of email/scanned doc and posted the form and phoned in the credit card details. About 10 days later I got the yellow' Import Approval' sticker. You now need to go back to the inspection centre. Another 48hr permit. I was told by the original inspector not to actually place the sticker myself, but wait for them to do it. They choose the place on the car. The sticker is not small and quite inflexible and it needs to go on somewhere quite 'permanent' such as a bulkhead that is unlikely to get replaced/re-sprayed in the event of an accident.

 

Once the sticker is on the car, another form gets a signature, the computer is updated and you can get 'rego'! Number plates and 3rd party injury insurance. This is done at the same place as the inspection and they issue the next plates on the shelf. Punched aluminium in blue/white that don't fit the UK plate mounting holes! Grrrr. But once fixed you are now fully legal on the road! It's a personal choice to extend insurance to 3rd party damage cover or to fully comp.

 

Costs:

$21 - 48hr Movement permit. Home to Inspection centre

$90 - Inspection fee. Will fail with 'no sticker' but next stage of import approval is stamped.

$86 - 'Sticker from Niddrie Nameplates - Victoria (10 day turnaround. Passport/Visa/Original copy etc)

 

$21 - 48hr Movement permit. Home to Inspection centre. (Be friendly with the inspectors the first time and you can also jump the queue and get the re-test free)

$289.25 - License fee, Insurance etc. (aka Rego and for just 6 months).

 

This happened on the 21st of December 2011 - so about 12 weeks from driving in the UK to driving it in Oz (legally). Plan on 3-4 weeks once released by customs/aqis.

 

So - overall the car owes me about $26K

I could sell it for maybe $45K - but I think there is waiting period, before being allowed to sell, of 1 year (although I have heard conflicting information about this). I plan to keep it for a while - although WA are seriously hot on speeding - so I'm not really getting the benefit of MPower! :-(

 

 

Would I do it all again? Yes - now I know what's involved. Would I recommend others try? Maybe. It's not complicated, but facts are hard to find. No single place had all the information, and I have noticed that Australians don't like to admit they don't know something, especially if they think by admitting this, they lose out on their cut. Everybody wants some part of the pie.

 

Best of luck if you do try.....

 

Awesome description! Well written! And yes, WA has a process that is different to the rest of Australia and it is INCREDIBLY frustrating having to wait around for that damn plate to come back from Niddrie. As I've said before, unfortunately for you guys it's the complexity of the process that keeps people like me in a job

[Breezer]

Hi Iron Chef

I'm gonna join this thread for some valuable info fro you regarding exporting a motorbike from UK to Canberra. From this thread I see you are the oracle!

I have a 2002 model Honda CBR954RR2. It has 13,000 genuine miles on the clock. It cost me approx. £3,300 used and I have owned it for over 12 months.

I know about the application for approval and its accompanying $50 and I am in the course of sourcing an export company other than the ones doing our house removal.

What are the other costs I should consider for exporting my motorbike? I note from a previous reply in this thread that motorbikes attract small government fees than cars.

I note the exact same model and colour would cost me $8,500 which is approx £5,666 in todays rates.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

We are moving to Canberra in June this year.

Regards

Breezer

[Porterpink]

I have recently gone through the process of importing a car from the UK to Oz (WA). In the light of all the recent questions on this thread I thought I would share some specifics that might be useful to others.....

It's an M3 Convertible, 2004 E46 with SMG in Carbon black and all the toys and 80K miles on the clock.

 

The car was worth maybe £10K on a good day, although a good day is not autumn for a convertible, or for an insurance Group 20 car with a 3.2 litre engine and fuel costs rising the way they are! There were 70 other M3 verts for sale when I looked. So I decided to export to Oz. I got it serviced inc. expensive inspection, new discs, new tyres, new exhaust (second hand/unused). Fitted flat glass and got the odometer electronically programmed to KMs. £2K bill - so it's 'worth' £12K to me.

 

To meet Oz requirements I changed the convex door mirror glass to 'flat' glass. £30 from BMW. I also got the odometer re-programmed to shows KMs (it's a digital odometer and analogue speedo) and left the standard speedo dial that showed MPH and KPH. Just the seat belt 'top tethers' that had me worried. There were no options specified for these by BMW - the Oz model is a Euro spec car with some minor changes (like door mirror glass). No mention of tethers though. There are some welded 'bars' behind the rear passenger headrests exposed once the roof of the convertible was part opened. I hoped these would do.

 

I requested the Import Approval - $50 (took 3 weeks). I received a letter confirming they had issued it, but they will only send the original 4 A4 sheets that make up the approval to an Oz address. This will need to be your Oz import agent. Getting enough 'points' to meet their criteria was less of an issue than I thought. Although it looked like I needed to be in the country first, just showing intent to move was enough. For example, agreement letter from mortgage company showing approval to let our property (rather than sell) was accepted. Same for resignation letter, although no job to actually go to. etc etc.

 

UK Shipping £1665 and Insurance £180 - I chose to have sole use of a 20ft container and to send it 2 months before I planned to arrive in Oz. I know Iron Chef advocates RoRo and it would have been half the price, but I wanted to load many of my personal possesions in the car to have upon arrival. TV, clothes, books, scuba gear etc. It made sense for me. RoRo won't allow personal possesions.

 

Dropped off on 28/9/11 nr. Barking - it sailed a week later and I could track the ship online I lost visibility in the Suez Canal - so wondered if some Somalian pirates might be joyriding my Beemer ;-)

 

What I didn't do was empty the refrigerant from the Air-con system. Although advised to, and told about import licences for refrigerant - all I had to do was sign a single waiver form and pass it to the import agent. No cost for this.

 

Eventually it arrived in Freo... about a week later - so did I.

 

I had engaged the services of an Australian import agent when it was enroute. They were quite slow to get the car 'unpacked' from the container and needed some prompting from me. Once it was valued and once customs had cleared the car and possessions it needed to be inspected by AQIS. They chose to request it to be cleaned. I was able to collect my possesions though. This was all arranged by the import agent. This is where the 'variable nature' of the costs occur. The car was valued and I was given 2 bills (detailed below as Customs and AQIS).

 

Customs: $6523.57 - This was a mix of costs of the agent, valuation, port handling, unpacking and duty charges. GST was $3174 and Duty was $1392. You can do the maths on what they valued my car as!

AQIS: $994.20 - This was to move it from depot to AQIS, AQIS Cleaning, Service fee, and drop off at nominated location. This can be anywhere. The car is yours but not yet road legal.

 

 

This part is for WA. Not sure of other State 'rules'.

 

Now you have the car - you have to get it legal. 1st step is inspection at a vehicle inspection centre. You can book a slot, or arrive early at a 1st come first served depot. I chose Welshpool!

 

To move the vehicle legally you can call the Department of Transport and request a 48hour Vehicle movement permit. You pay $21 and have to state where you are moving to/from/to. You can do this by phone and do NOT need a WA licence (although the website says you do). Just call up, give them the overseas drivers licence details, the vehicle chassis number/car make/colour etc and your credit card details. Very useful.

 

Once you arrive at the centre, you queue up and await your turn. It's much like a UK MOT and you need your V5 (for engine number/weight etc) and your original import approvals (now 3 sheets of A4). Assuming the car meets the requirements (flat mirror glass, speedo showing KMs, rear child seat tethers) and the MOT type checks you will get a 'fail' but another of the forms signed. This signed form gets you a 'sticker'!

 

You can now drive the car away (on the permit) and post the form to 'Niddrie Nameplates' in Victoria. They want the original signed form, a copy of a passport and some money. I did a combo of email/scanned doc and posted the form and phoned in the credit card details. About 10 days later I got the yellow' Import Approval' sticker. You now need to go back to the inspection centre. Another 48hr permit. I was told by the original inspector not to actually place the sticker myself, but wait for them to do it. They choose the place on the car. The sticker is not small and quite inflexible and it needs to go on somewhere quite 'permanent' such as a bulkhead that is unlikely to get replaced/re-sprayed in the event of an accident.

 

Once the sticker is on the car, another form gets a signature, the computer is updated and you can get 'rego'! Number plates and 3rd party injury insurance. This is done at the same place as the inspection and they issue the next plates on the shelf. Punched aluminium in blue/white that don't fit the UK plate mounting holes! Grrrr. But once fixed you are now fully legal on the road! It's a personal choice to extend insurance to 3rd party damage cover or to fully comp.

 

Costs:

$21 - 48hr Movement permit. Home to Inspection centre

$90 - Inspection fee. Will fail with 'no sticker' but next stage of import approval is stamped.

$86 - 'Sticker from Niddrie Nameplates - Victoria (10 day turnaround. Passport/Visa/Original copy etc)

 

$21 - 48hr Movement permit. Home to Inspection centre. (Be friendly with the inspectors the first time and you can also jump the queue and get the re-test free)

$289.25 - License fee, Insurance etc. (aka Rego and for just 6 months).

 

This happened on the 21st of December 2011 - so about 12 weeks from driving in the UK to driving it in Oz (legally). Plan on 3-4 weeks once released by customs/aqis.

 

So - overall the car owes me about $26K

I could sell it for maybe $45K - but I think there is waiting period, before being allowed to sell, of 1 year (although I have heard conflicting information about this). I plan to keep it for a while - although WA are seriously hot on speeding - so I'm not really getting the benefit of MPower! :-(

 

 

Would I do it all again? Yes - now I know what's involved. Would I recommend others try? Maybe. It's not complicated, but facts are hard to find. No single place had all the information, and I have noticed that Australians don't like to admit they don't know something, especially if they think by admitting this, they lose out on their cut. Everybody wants some part of the pie.

 

Best of luck if you do try.....

 

Hi Steve, good post thanks for the usefull information, we have an x5 which is the same value in sterling as your BMW so hopefully our experience will be the same as yours. What work should I get done on the car in England before I bring it over? Thanks for your help, zoey

[Iron Chef]

Hi Breezer, if you're sending a container over with your household gear then definitely put the bike in there if they'll let you. Bikes obviously don't take up as much room in the container as cars do. If you send it separately, it's a break-even proposition at first glance. You'll still be subject to taxes, but they will all be less than cars obviously, and the mods required for registration are almost nil too.

[Guest Big Steve]

@Porterpink,

 

People like the X5 over here - so well worth it. Had I known about the roads/road speeds I would have bought a german 4x4 of some sort rather than the M3.

 

 

As for work. I suspect it's got the same digital odometer as mine - so easy for somebody with the right gear to re-program to KMs but only if you are bothered. The speedo has dual MPH/KMH dials so will meet the criteria. Any BMW independent will do this free/not much money. It's 2 mins using the OBDII port.

 

Check there is somewhere behind the rear seats for mounting child car seats. ISOFIX is not enough. Australia wants the child seat to be tethered at the top. If you have a mounting point - then brilliant. If you have something that 'looks' like a mounting point - just point the inspector to it when he looks. If you have nothing then you need to drill holes into your car and fix some bolts!!! Crap really.

 

Finally - the one thing that MUST be done - is swap the door mirror glass. Go to BMW and order the Australian part number. It took a week for mine to arrive. Clip them on. Keep the old convex ones. I must say, NOT having convex mirrors is a big safety issue in Australia. It gives you back the blind spots and Oz drivers tend to 'hover' in your blind spot. I have seen a number of hits/near misses as a result of this. I even see cars being advertised with 'blind spot indicators' that flash a red light on the outer part of the mirror when a car is detected. Just fit convex mirrors like the rest of the world!!!!

 

Make sure the car has no visible 'mods'. My car had been lowered almost missed the legal 100mm ground clearance. Not going to apply to an X5 but things legal in the UK are not always here. If it's standard then no probs.

 

I would also get any work that might be needed done in the UK. Costs of work here are not cheap.

[Iron Chef]

^^^ Good answers Steve! They are gradually harmonising our regs with the EU standards, but it seems to be taking a very long time!

 

One thing on the flat mirror - most glass places here will just cut you some mirror glass very cheaply (not an option if your mirrors are heated though, I presume)

[Kopper]

Hi.

I am bringing a Porsche 911 (2006) 997 to WA next year. Any help with what I need to sort out with regards to child restarint anchor points and so forth will be great so I can deal with it proior to shipping.

 

Thanks in advance

[PeteD]

Hi Ironchef,

 

Quick question, can I apply for the approval online or via email with attachments or does it have to be snail mail? Also, when it asks for address on the form, I read something about putting the address of a friend in Aus so they can despatch the paperwork there. Should I put an Aus address or my present one in England?

 

You also mention you can send a form for evidencing de-gassing?

 

Thanks

Pete

[Guest Big Steve]

Hi Ironchef,

 

Quick question, can I apply for the approval online or via email with attachments or does it have to be snail mail? Also, when it asks for address on the form, I read something about putting the address of a friend in Aus so they can despatch the paperwork there. Should I put an Aus address or my present one in England?

 

You also mention you can send a form for evidencing de-gassing?

 

Thanks

Pete

 

 

@Pete,

 

You don't need to degas or to pay. Just sign a waiver. You import agent will need this.

 

DoT will hang on to the 4 A4 sheets that make up the approval until you ask them to send them somewhere in Australia. The 1st person to need these will be your import agent - i.e. the person who deals directly with customs. Meanwhile - they will have sent a letter (snail mail) to the UK address with confirmation of the approval and the reference number.

 

You can apply through email - just scan all relevant documents - including the vehicle import approval application. Put your credit card details on the form too. In my case, the charge to the credit card coincided with the date they posted the letter back to the UK notifying me of the approval. It was 3 weeks from sending the 1st email.

[KZ1]

Re: don't need to degas:

Just check that your Air Con gas is not one of the old nasty ozone harmful types. If it is, you will be in for all sorts of grief from Customs (and huge expense) as they can not be imported under any circumstances. Most cars less than 15 years old are fine.

 

Generally speaking anyone importing a car under PIS can gain an expemption from obtaining a "pre-charged equipment licence" SUBJECT TO the the refridgerant type. Most current types (such as R134A) are fine and you can sign the waiver as suggested by Big Steve.

 

Just clarifying that the waiver exemption does not always apply.

 

All the info is here: http://www.environment.gov.au/atmosphere/ozone/licences/vehicle-import.html

[PeteD]

@Pete,

 

You don't need to degas or to pay. Just sign a waiver. You import agent will need this.

 

DoT will hang on to the 4 A4 sheets that make up the approval until you ask them to send them somewhere in Australia. The 1st person to need these will be your import agent - i.e. the person who deals directly with customs. Meanwhile - they will have sent a letter (snail mail) to the UK address with confirmation of the approval and the reference number.

 

You can apply through email - just scan all relevant documents - including the vehicle import approval application. Put your credit card details on the form too. In my case, the charge to the credit card coincided with the date they posted the letter back to the UK notifying me of the approval. It was 3 weeks from sending the 1st email.

 

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the info, brilliant. And thanks for the post detailing your journey through WA red tape, really helpful.

My car is also a beemer, a 325 coupe, 2006 E92, also bound for Perth. Hopefully then, it should have no issues with the gas in the air-con.

As for import agents, I have no idea where to start looking for one, any chance you could PM the name and contact details of yours?

 

Thanks again

Pete

[Iron Chef]

Hi.

I am bringing a Porsche 911 (2006) 997 to WA next year. Any help with what I need to sort out with regards to child restarint anchor points and so forth will be great so I can deal with it proior to shipping.

 

Thanks in advance

 

If you check with your local garage, they should soon be able to tell you if you have the bolt holes for the CRAs (if not you'll need to drill when the time comes) - you can buy CRAs through Porsche but I'd assume they'd be hideously expensive. There are plenty of generic CRAs available here at about $30-40 each, you'd only need two. If you need to get that done here, it shouldn't be overly expensive.

 

Hi Ironchef,

 

Quick question, can I apply for the approval online or via email with attachments or does it have to be snail mail? Also, when it asks for address on the form, I read something about putting the address of a friend in Aus so they can despatch the paperwork there. Should I put an Aus address or my present one in England?

 

You also mention you can send a form for evidencing de-gassing?

 

Thanks

Pete

 

ALWAYS put an Aussie address wherever possible, it saves double handling of paperwork, and the delays that go with it. As Steve has mentioned, you can send it to vimports@infrastructure.gov.au via email, with scanned copies of all the docs. I've actually started adding cover notes to all my applications so DIT send the import approvals to me if applicants can't list any other Aussie address.

 

I think the link to de-gassing is in the first post of this thread? If not, I'll go back and add it. I need to update some parts of it anyway.

 

@Pete,

 

You don't need to degas or to pay. Just sign a waiver. You import agent will need this.

 

 

That's not quite right - the only time you're entitled to an exemption from de-gassing is if you're also bringing in personal effects via boat. The rest of the docs they require for that are the same as what you have to provide when applying for your import approval. I've been banging heads with Dept of Environment and Heritage (DEH) over giving blanket exemption to all personal imports given that the paperwork that already has to be supplied when applying for the import approval in the first place, but I'm not having much luck so far.

 

One scenario that I tested recently was to send the car via RORO and the furniture/personal effects etc separately via container (as opposed to the car and all the personal effects being in the same container). It was a success - DEH don't mind if they come separately as long as we can supply a copy of the shipping docs for the other gear when the car is cleared through Customs. But if you send a car on its own without degassing and without having sent your furniture/personal effects, expect to get pinged.

 

Re: don't need to degas:

Just check that your Air Con gas is not one of the old nasty ozone harmful types. If it is, you will be in for all sorts of grief from Customs (and huge expense) as they can not be imported under any circumstances. Most cars less than 15 years old are fine.

 

Generally speaking anyone importing a car under PIS can gain an expemption from obtaining a "pre-charged equipment licence" SUBJECT TO the the refridgerant type. Most current types (such as R134A) are fine and you can sign the waiver as suggested by Big Steve.

 

Just clarifying that the waiver exemption does not always apply.

 

All the info is here: http://www.environment.gov.au/atmosphere/ozone/licences/vehicle-import.html

 

Also correct - I actually had to rescue someone in this exact situation a couple of months back (who chose to do it themselves, this wasn't one that I was handling!). Solving the problem cost them close to $1000 from memory, and that was me helping them free of charge.

 

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the info, brilliant. And thanks for the post detailing your journey through WA red tape, really helpful.

My car is also a beemer, a 325 coupe, 2006 E92, also bound for Perth. Hopefully then, it should have no issues with the gas in the air-con.

As for import agents, I have no idea where to start looking for one, any chance you could PM the name and contact details of yours?

 

Thanks again

Pete

 

See above

[Guest eileen28]

hi there have a post up already looking for info someone commented you might be able to help?? is taking a commerical vehicle same as taking a private to oz 4x4 double crew cab have taxed and insured commericaly here, any info would be great, also if you could give me an estimate if you know of what i would be hit with in line of taxes it be great thanks

[Iron Chef]

Commercial vehicles are charged the same way as any other vehicle. In terms of taxes, it's based on the customs value of the vehicle when it lands in Australia. In some cases, Customs will use the purchase docs for the vehicle, in others they will get an independent valuer in to decide what it's worth.