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

[Iron Chef]

16 hours ago, Abags said:

Hello @Iron Chef

We are in the process of our VIA for a Porsche 911 (2006, 62,000 miles) car and are also looking to ship household effects too.  If we use our removal company to ship the car within a 40ft container with the rest of our household goods, will this be the most cost effective way? 

Or should we ship the goods in a shared container and then use a separate company for the shipping of the car alone? How much is that usually?

Thanks for your help

 

 

Hello and welcome!

If you can fit your car and all your personal effects into the one container, then go for it. If you're going from a 20ft to a 40ft in order to accommodate the car, it might be worth checking the price difference. Feel free to email us for a cost breakdown

[kazb67]

It will be fine, you will just need to supply your marriage certificate as part of the documents. Your address on your driver's licence presumably matches your partner's address on the V5C, so you should be fine to bring both.

We’re not married although we supplied all relevant docs to prove we were a family in order to get our visa.
Yes, all addresses match.

Thanks for replying [emoji846]

[kazb67]

Our shipping agent won’t allow us to confirm/accept their quote until we have VIP which is totally understandable.

Started to apply but fell at the 1st hurdle [emoji20] They ask for supporting docs to total 100 points, before you can continue with the application, these include employment resignation, house sale, evidence of applying for Aus bank account/tax code/Medicare etc. We’ve not got ANY of those things yet as our house is just about to go on the market & we won’t officially resign until it sells. We’ve not applied for any bank accounts etc as we thought it’d just be best to do it all once we arrived.

Anyone else come across this & how did you get around it?

[Iron Chef]

1 hour ago, kazb67 said:

We’re not married although we supplied all relevant docs to prove we were a family in order to get our visa.
Yes, all addresses match.

Thanks for replying

That should be sufficient.

 

1 hour ago, kazb67 said:

Our shipping agent won’t allow us to confirm/accept their quote until we have VIP which is totally understandable.

Started to apply but fell at the 1st hurdle They ask for supporting docs to total 100 points, before you can continue with the application, these include employment resignation, house sale, evidence of applying for Aus bank account/tax code/Medicare etc. We’ve not got ANY of those things yet as our house is just about to go on the market & we won’t officially resign until it sells. We’ve not applied for any bank accounts etc as we thought it’d just be best to do it all once we arrived.

Anyone else come across this & how did you get around it?

If you can show the house is on the market that should be fine. 

[Abags]

Can i just get some clarification on the VIA process - we made an application and paid the 50 Dollar fee - they asked for the initial 100 points and we have provided that.  After this, we were not provided with anywhere else to upload the 'proof of use' information.  

What are the formal next steps?  Do they come back to you to ask for more information?  Is the total waiting period for VIA approval inclusive of this initial wait time that we are now in?  Just wondering if we have missed something here!
Thanks

[Iron Chef]

17 hours ago, Abags said:

Can i just get some clarification on the VIA process - we made an application and paid the 50 Dollar fee - they asked for the initial 100 points and we have provided that.  After this, we were not provided with anywhere else to upload the 'proof of use' information.  

What are the formal next steps?  Do they come back to you to ask for more information?  Is the total waiting period for VIA approval inclusive of this initial wait time that we are now in?  Just wondering if we have missed something here!
Thanks

You sit and wait, basically. If they need more information, they will ask.

[Abags]

Thanks Iron Chef.  So it might be the case they dont ask for anything else? How strange on their side that they dont ask for the ownership AND proof of use at the same time.  Thanks

[palaceboy1]

We have a 6.9 m motorhome which we have owned for 12years how problematic would it be to ship from the UK to Australia .We should be getting our 143 visa in 2020 and be moving over in early 2021.Is it better to ship separately from our belongings ? It is built on a Fiat base and a German converter Neismann & Bischoff it only has a habitation door and no driver or passenger door which is usual for this model. Are we being unrealistic to consider importing this vehicle and be better selling and buying over there

[palaceboy1]

2 hours ago, palaceboy1 said:

We have a 6.9 m motorhome which we have owned for 12years how problematic would it be to ship from the UK to Australia .We should be getting our 143 visa in 2020 and be moving over in early 2021.Is it better to ship separately from our belongings ? It is built on a Fiat base and a German converter Neismann & Bischoff it only has a habitation door and no driver or passenger door which is usual for this model. Are we being unrealistic to consider importing this vehicle and be better selling and buying over there

Also what weight of vehicle will I be allowed to drive in Australia , at present I can drive up to 7.5 ton but next year I will be 70 and taking a medical to keep this on my licence for a further 3 years , will this allow me to drive my motorhome in Australia as it weighs 3.850tons

[ArrowsEng]

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

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

[Iron Chef]

2 hours ago, ArrowsEng said:

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

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

^^^What he said

[palaceboy1]

4 hours ago, ArrowsEng said:

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

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

It exits to the right so that the end of that idea

[Abags]

On 21/11/2019 at 04:38, Iron Chef said:

You sit and wait, basically. If they need more information, they will ask.

FYI we got our VIA approved within about a week.  Provided a comprehensive pack of information confirming ownership and usage.  Very prompt and its being dropped to the shippers next week.  Thanks for the help. 

[nineyb27]

Hi @Iron Chef I am already in Aus but looking to bring my year 2000 Rover Mini over, still in UK, garaged and I still have ownership of the car. Is this possible? 

[Iron Chef]

On 24/01/2020 at 23:38, nineyb27 said:

Hi @Iron Chef I am already in Aus but looking to bring my year 2000 Rover Mini over, still in UK, garaged and I still have ownership of the car. Is this possible? 

If you have been in Oz for less than 6 months, yes it's possible to bring it in as a personal import. You may actually be lucky with your particular car anyway, as it is eligible under SEVS too.

[kazb67]

We have a family car which I drive daily, Volvo XC90.
My partner is supplied with a works van. He also has a Ducati which he rides in better weather.
Im a stay at home mum so they were both just registered in his name when we bought them & I know you can only import 1 registered vehicle every 5 years.
I applied for the 2 permits explaining the situ but they have been intouch & confirmed that only 1 vehicle can be imported.

Has anyone been in this situation & successfully imported 2 vehicles?

[Iron Chef]

14 hours ago, kazb67 said:

We have a family car which I drive daily, Volvo XC90.
My partner is supplied with a works van. He also has a Ducati which he rides in better weather.
Im a stay at home mum so they were both just registered in his name when we bought them & I know you can only import 1 registered vehicle every 5 years.
I applied for the 2 permits explaining the situ but they have been intouch & confirmed that only 1 vehicle can be imported.

Has anyone been in this situation & successfully imported 2 vehicles?

I think your partner has also sent an email enquiry to us, so I might be doubling up! As it stands, you could bring in two of the three vehicles, assuming you want to import the work van. Depending on which model the Ducati is, we may be able to do all three. All I will say is be very careful what you apply for initially - if the import approval for the Volvo is issued in his name, you won't be able to apply for the Ducati in yours if you don't have a motorbike licence.

[kazb67]

Hi, thanks for getting back to me. Yes, he has sent you an email directly.
We had applied for both Volvo & Ducati but they have asked us to confirm which 1 as we can’t have both. We haven’t replied to their email yet.
We’d want to bring the Volvo & the Ducati. The Ducati is a Multistrada 1260 Pikes Peak, 2018.
No I don’t have a bike licence.

[rammygirl]

Two permits needed surely. One for the Volvo in your name and one for the bike in your husbands. One vehicle per person. 

[Iron Chef]

14 hours ago, kazb67 said:

Hi, thanks for getting back to me. Yes, he has sent you an email directly.
We had applied for both Volvo & Ducati but they have asked us to confirm which 1 as we can’t have both. We haven’t replied to their email yet.
We’d want to bring the Volvo & the Ducati. The Ducati is a Multistrada 1260 Pikes Peak, 2018.
No I don’t have a bike licence.

Have you applied for both in your husband's name? Might be best to contact me direct to discuss where you're up to. Don't respond to the department until you have.

[fosseboy]

We imported 2 vehicles in our separate names as you use the name the vehicle is registered in. Also my car went in the container as the general shipping was in my name. My Wife was a returning Australian but still had to comply.

I don't know how old your Volvo is but read my post before

I cannot speak more highly of Iron Lady who were great and their agent in Perth saved me being wrongly charged thousands in stamp duty. (You have to collect your car from a compliance centre. The licensing centre tried to charge stamp duty on its shipped value - does not apply to a personal import - but luckily the Iron Lady agent had warned me to object. The girl had to ask her supervisor who then accepted it was a personal import.)  And collection and compliance were handled smoothly for us.  But in hindsight I would not recommend bringing a UK Volvo to Australia unless you realise what may happen and have money. Volvo were good in extending the warranty for Australia but I then paid $2000 for a 2 year extension (on advice from a dealer) as parts are expensive and may have to come in from Sweden.  I couldn't adapt the GPS for Australia. My 5 year service cost an arm and a leg - I thought the dealer was joking with me as he read the numbers singly...2, 1,...2..4...then I looked at the invoice and it was 2 thousand 1 hundred etc....Since writing the post, Volvo have closed one of 2 dealerships in Perth (and one now covers ALL Western Australia) and, had I bought a new Volvo, I would be facing a 90 km trip each way on the most congested part of the freeway to get it serviced or repaired. And fears of being stranded if more that 150 kms from Perth (the generally applied recovery limit unless its a brand new car).

Don't want to be a killjoy. Been here 8 years and love it.

[TheGaroo]

On 17/03/2020 at 02:49, fosseboy said:

We imported 2 vehicles in our separate names as you use the name the vehicle is registered in. Also my car went in the container as the general shipping was in my name. My Wife was a returning Australian but still had to comply.

I don't know how old your Volvo is but read my post before

I cannot speak more highly of Iron Lady who were great and their agent in Perth saved me being wrongly charged thousands in stamp duty. (You have to collect your car from a compliance centre. The licensing centre tried to charge stamp duty on its shipped value - does not apply to a personal import - but luckily the Iron Lady agent had warned me to object. The girl had to ask her supervisor who then accepted it was a personal import.)  And collection and compliance were handled smoothly for us.  But in hindsight I would not recommend bringing a UK Volvo to Australia unless you realise what may happen and have money. Volvo were good in extending the warranty for Australia but I then paid $2000 for a 2 year extension (on advice from a dealer) as parts are expensive and may have to come in from Sweden.  I couldn't adapt the GPS for Australia. My 5 year service cost an arm and a leg - I thought the dealer was joking with me as he read the numbers singly...2, 1,...2..4...then I looked at the invoice and it was 2 thousand 1 hundred etc....Since writing the post, Volvo have closed one of 2 dealerships in Perth (and one now covers ALL Western Australia) and, had I bought a new Volvo, I would be facing a 90 km trip each way on the most congested part of the freeway to get it serviced or repaired. And fears of being stranded if more that 150 kms from Perth (the generally applied recovery limit unless its a brand new car).

Don't want to be a killjoy. Been here 8 years and love it.

the other problem with Volvo is that they depreciate at an eye watering rate in Oz. Anyone trying to sell one will discount heavily to get rid of it. 

[fosseboy]

On 07/12/2019 at 09:33, ArrowsEng said:

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

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

And then you also have compliance issues as you would with a trailer caravan - gas, electrics, fridge capability, no air con etc....which is why we didn't bring our caravan 8 years ago.....

[fosseboy]

On 03/04/2020 at 23:23, TheGaroo said:

the other problem with Volvo is that they depreciate at an eye watering rate in Oz. Anyone trying to sell one will discount heavily to get rid of it. 

And I also found that the $2000 warranty extension was not transferable to a new buyer unless it was a Volvo dealer. I was offered $15000 part exchange by dealers against a $60k new car, $16000 by a Volvo dealer against a $100k car. The car was under 5 years old.  

[TheGaroo]

On 06/04/2020 at 12:14, fosseboy said:

And I also found that the $2000 warranty extension was not transferable to a new buyer unless it was a Volvo dealer. I was offered $15000 part exchange by dealers against a $60k new car, $16000 by a Volvo dealer against a $100k car. The car was under 5 years old.  

ouch... that's truly painful