Moving a car to Australia.

[nipe 1]

Guys, I'm hoping to find a person amongst you that could give me a few advises on importing a car from nz to aus. Maybe somebody done it before, maybe somebody is close to complying industry in aus?

P.S. if you have your own subjective opinion about this topic, please keep it to yourself unless it is a proven fact. Thanks.

[joshnz 2]

What are you planning taking out of interest?

I was considering taking my coupe but shipping charges etc weren't going to make it too worthwhile.

[DrphTa 5]

We moved a e39 to Australia from Auckland 3 years ago

It cost us around the 4k mark, AUD

Its not worth it in my opinion unless you plan to keep the car for years to come. It is much easier to sell the car in NZ and then buy one over here

[DrphTa 5]

Can go into more detail if you like, im sure the you know the jist on what needs to be done?

[elmarco 56]

Bear in mind that the Australians use the ADR rules which can be different to the ECE equivalents. NZ accepts both (most NZ new cars will be to ECE regs), but you may be asked to prove ADR compliance (at your own cost) for a vehicle coming into the country. It may not be a given that a particular NZ new car meets the ADR's....

This looks quite useful if not downright frightening from a paperwork perspective:

Linky

[RvT 9]

For actual shipping, www.Kiwicar.com used to offer a roll on / roll off service where the boat would travel from Japan to NZ then to Brisbane then back to Japan. Looking at the schedule they now do it in reverse but you could ask for a price if you get serious.

[nipe 1]

I m wanting to take two of my cars over with me, one under personal import scheme and one under pre-1989. The Personal import is nice and clear, so thats left for last thing to worry about. But the pre-1989 is my e30...it used to be 316i and now it has 2.7 m20 with a hairdryer on the side of it with all the accompanying stuff, so thats the biggest worry, will i actually be able to get it there in modified form ok? (Say for arguments sake I got a cert for everything here in NZ)

[nipe 1]

Bear in mind that the Australians use the ADR rules which can be different to the ECE equivalents. NZ accepts both (most NZ new cars will be to ECE regs), but you may be asked to prove ADR compliance (at your own cost) for a vehicle coming into the country. It may not be a given that a particular NZ new car meets the ADR's....

This looks quite useful if not downright frightening from a paperwork perspective:

Linky

That ADR is confusing, I'm not sure if e34 or e30 will need side intrusion bars...

[DrphTa 5]

I m wanting to take two of my cars over with me, one under personal import scheme and one under pre-1989. The Personal import is nice and clear, so thats left for last thing to worry about. But the pre-1989 is my e30...it used to be 316i and now it has 2.7 m20 with a hairdryer on the side of it with all the accompanying stuff, so thats the biggest worry, will i actually be able to get it there in modified form ok? (Say for arguments sake I got a cert for everything here in NZ)

It will have to meet regulation here in Aus. Which state are you looking at?

To be street legal for modifications here you have to obtain a "mod" plate, Identical to a "cert"

[nipe 1]

Going to Western Australia

[M5V8 337]

I'm another interested party here. Planning on moving at the end of this year and taking my e39 M5 with me.

Ethan, what did you have to do to your e39 apart from the $4k shipping costs?

compliance costs? stamp duty? how much is the mod plate?

do wheels count as a mod?

Moving to QLD if that helps. Any recommendations on companies to use would be appreciated.

(don't plan on selling it ... ever)

Edited March 19, 2012 by M5V8

[DrphTa 5]

I'm another interested party here. Planning on moving at the end of this year and taking my e39 M5 with me.

Ethan, what did you have to do to your e39 apart from the $4k shipping costs?

compliance costs? stamp duty? how much is the mod plate?

do wheels count as a mod?

Moving to QLD if that helps.

(don't plan on selling it ... ever)

This was a drive in/off service, so you can expect to pay a little more

The car had to be immaculatly clean, then the underbody of the car is steamed cleaned to remove any dirt, oil etc

Incl in the 4k the car had all fluids removed, new belts put on and new filters.

Seeing as the e39 we imported was NZ new it met all compliance with AUS regulations apart from child safety restraints. These are mounted in the parcel tray to accommodate for securing baby seats. Cost for these was around $400 installed

You then pay %10 of the value of the car in stamp duty

Mod plates vary depending on the mod. The most basic plate costs $66. Any mod that is ADR approved does not need a mod plate. Ie I have new springs and 18" wheels on my M3, as it is within mod specification. In QLD if you change wheels they cannot be 2" bigger or smaller to standard and must be within 3% of standard rolling diameter. Lowering springs cannot be lower than 30% from standard. Things like coilovers, new brakes, engine etc all need mod plates

Back on topic.. for $4000 the stamp duty and child restraints were inclusive. The only thing next to pay was the rego ontop. This then varies depending on number of cylinders.

4cyl is $340 for 6 months

6cyl is $440 for 6 months

8cyl is $540 for 6 months

After the rego is paid we picked the car up 2-3 weeks later!

[DrphTa 5]

PS we used NZ van lines.

Had a 48ft & 24ft container for all of our things including the car. Cost was around the 50k mark

[M5V8 337]

all sounds reasonable except the $50k! part holy cow. You must have had alot of stuff.

is it a requirement to change the fluids and belts?

I think we will probably go with shipping the car and then another container for the rest of our stuff. $4k is pretty reasonable for a everything drive on/off service.

[DrphTa 5]

That was not touching anything. Van lines packed everything up and then unpacked it where we told them to in Aus

I know coolant is a must, not too sure about the other fluids

What mods does your M5 have? probably best to put it back to standard when shipping. Just for moving purposes and compliance. The other thing about QLD is we dont have to get wofs every 6 months. You only need a "road worthy" when the car is being sold. You could own a car for 30 years here and never have it checked

[drifty325i 0]

I will probably end up doing this with my E30

[M5V8 337]

. You could own a car for 30 years here and never have it checked

oh so much safer....lol.

mods is really just wheels (still have standard ones) front springs, strut bar, filters and exhaust. I doubt they would pick up things like upgraded slotted brake disc's or light upgrades.

Geeze I hope we can get away with 1 container.

[DrphTa 5]

I will probably end up doing this with my E30

Good luck , They will probably encourage the idea of a V8 in a e30

oh so much safer....lol.

mods is really just wheels (still have standard ones) front springs, strut bar, filters and exhaust. I doubt they would pick up things like upgraded slotted brake disc's or light upgrades.

Geeze I hope we can get away with 1 container.

I love not being checked all the time

You should be okay, another thing to note is you cannot have anything in the car when importing

[M5V8 337]

cheers ethan. appreciate the words of wisdom.

guess there's a few little surprises coming our way

[nipe 1]

Ethan, do you know anybody who imported under pre 1989 rule? The personal import scheme is looking quite straight forward at this stage. Do you know if it is ok to bring two cars at the same time where each car is under different scheme? Also do you know if maybe its easier to bring the e30 as parts and get a shell locally? Thanks, been good source of info so far.

[DrphTa 5]

Ethan, do you know anybody who imported under pre 1989 rule? The personal import scheme is looking quite straight forward at this stage. Do you know if it is ok to bring two cars at the same time where each car is under different scheme? Also do you know if maybe its easier to bring the e30 as parts and get a shell locally? Thanks, been good source of info so far.

No sorry,

It is quite straight forward to import a personal car.

You would be hit with commercial charges if you were going to be importing 2 cars at once. Unless you could import the car under a partners name. Therefore both being imported as personal cars as long as you have owned them for atleast 12 months

Importing the parts would not be viable in my mind. You would definietly have to weigh up the costs of shipping vs selling and re-purchasing. What parts would you want to import?

[nipe 1]

I d just cut a car in two and ship whole lot haha

So even though they under different schemes it would still have that commercial charge outcome?

Edited March 20, 2012 by nipe

[nipe 1]

so one cant use 2 schemes at once? As in bring 2 cars under different schemes each?

[DrphTa 5]

so one cant use 2 schemes at once? As in bring 2 cars under different schemes each?

What I know is, the cheapest way to import a car Is under a personal licence. When you want to start to import multiple cars you will have to pay for a seperate importing licence as it is not deemed personal anymore.

If that helps?

[DrphTa 5]

To answer your question directly

Yes you can use two schemes. But you will pay through the roof for importing 2 or more cars