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Importing a car

Shortstuff

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Just wondering if anyone has any info on importing a car, or knows of someone who does?

I've read through the bits I can find online, but all that has really told me is that I can't do a 'personal import' as I won't have owned and driven the car for 12 months overseas.

I suppose what i'm specifically looking for is any other options for importing it I may have apart from a personal import.

Any help much appreciated as i've been scratching my head over this for the past week or two!
 

BANGERS88

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yeah it all depends on where from so ill asume you want to get one from japan? Then if you know exactly what type and model your after it makes it alot quicker.
The next step is to go to an importing company id say stay away from ones that are just online find a good one where you can go and speak to them in person in your home city. JDS auto imports are good (Thats where i got my car from) also justjap or japanperformancedirect are all good.
Then ask them what they have and what guarantee you will get with it. Then usually what happens is you pay a deposit and the company sorts out the import itself and the australian standards changes such as tyres, seatbelts and headlights.
On a side not if you see a nice car with good mags dont expect to get the mags because to comply with standards they are removed back to standard rims. :cry:
from there most companies charge about $500 to do the rest but if you have time its cheaper to do it yourself, what needs doing is firstly you take the reciepts of purchase and the import papers and car to a R & T approved service station and they do a pit pass check however it fails straight away because you have no australian VIN number (costs about $50). They then tell you the closest place to go and get australian compliance plates and VIN number put on (bout $70). You then go back to the service station again and they do the same pit pass again and pass you.
From there you take all your bits of paper to your rego place hand it over with something like $700 (depending on how many cylinders) and you get you rego and number plates and its all done.

I hope this helps, all i can say is go through a reputable company so you dont get ripped off and dont try and do the whole import process yourself as it can get very costly and messy as you need to organise freight purchase and storage.
 

Jamie_87

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**** that sounds cheap! what about import tax/duty??isnt that like a couple grand?
If it not much extra then i wanna import a car from UK, u can get a 2001 BMW 325i coupe for $17,000aud, or 2001 jag x-type for 8000pounds($20,000aud), so much cheape than aus!!
 

Shortstuff

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It's the UK I want to import from. I'll have a look for companies round here, and also yesterday I noticed a guy with a car parked in his drive that is very similar to the one i'm after so I may see if he can suggest any local companies.

On something like an X-type Jag or BMW 325 you may have to pay a Luxury Car Tax to import it which I think is $12000 IIRC!!
 

EXCESSV

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guy at work imported his Audi S4 station wagon...only one in aus from the uk coz he has a job with us now...
nothing but headaches...he wishes he just sold it while it was in the UK and goes i would buy a HSV or something here

he filled out forms they told him and after he shipped it and he arrived they said wrong forms for permit these are the ones.
they said $12K for import tax/stamp duty based on value of $AU50K from value on UK....they said to him last week its based on local price which is $80K so extra $10K of tax....

he steam cleaned it inside and out 3 hours before going into container and paid 300pounds....here they said its gonna cost him $600 to clean it even after he showed them receipt of steam clean in UK with a date and time stamp....

he took it to get inspected and they said need aus standard seat belts.
went to body shop and they said no where to mount them.
cant on back of seat coz aluminium too weak....boot floor cant coz no room or somthing about being hollow due to spare wheel and tool positions.
he asked audi AU and they said take seats out and put others...he said F*CK OFF they are Recaro leather seats worth $10K
body shop said one other way but they wouldnt tell him over the phone...has to go in....he is worried they are gonna hack at his seats.

you could say he has had alot of dramas
 

Patrio7

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omg is that audi light blue?! i saw one with a yellow plate on the back and a white one on the front, ended in GDG. i thought hmmm eruo plates but i couldnt see the normal aussie markings ( state etc ) i was like wtf?!
 

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It sounds like you can get totally screwed over trying to import a car yourself! The only thing I think might cause real problems is the fact the model I want doesn't need a catalytic converter in the UK, but would probably be required to have one out here.
 

EXCESSV

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omg is that audi light blue?! i saw one with a yellow plate on the back and a white one on the front, ended in GDG. i thought hmmm eruo plates but i couldnt see the normal aussie markings ( state etc ) i was like wtf?!

yeah i think so.
the plates are import plates to drive to places to get it all sorted.
he lives in mindarie i think...

where have you seen it???
 

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omg is that audi light blue?! i saw one with a yellow plate on the back and a white one on the front, ended in GDG. i thought hmmm eruo plates but i couldnt see the normal aussie markings ( state etc ) i was like wtf?!

That'd be me :) Hi guys - my first post here!

Going back on topic, as I have first hand experience with importing cars (as you can see from my Audi), there are a LOT of things you need to know. You have to have a PERMIT TO IMPORT A VEHICLE which is obtained through Canberra I believe. www.dotars.com.au sould have all the info on getting that. It takes at least a month to sort out from outside the country, but may be quicker if you live here already.

1. You have to be able to prove ownership of a vehicle for 12 months in an overseas country to be allowed to import it.
2. You need to prove the value of the vehicle in the country you bought it from. This is a NIGHTMARE. The AU authorities will try to hit you with duty & GST based on THE ORIGINAL PURCHASE PRICE - with depreciation, this can be significantly more than the current value. I paid 30k GB pounds for my S4 almost 2 years ago. Current market value of a pristine one is about 22k, but I got mine valued by Audi before I left and luckily they priced it at 17.5k which is what the AU authorities based my duty and GST on. That, plus brokers fess, storage etc all came out at around $12k.
3. Quarantine - THIS IS A PAIN IN THE BACKSIDE!!!!! As Deano said, I had my car professionally steam cleaned inside and out, plus a full valet. Receipts to prove this had been done. The car was in showroom condition when it went into the container. They still wouldn't release it from quarantine until it had another 'clean' which of course I got charged for. Dont bother cleaning it before you ship as they will get you to clean it again when it arives. Just make sure it's not covered in dirt or bird crap and you should be fine.

Thats just to get the thing into the country. There is more fun to be had yet!

So, you finally can pick up your car. Hold on! Not yet! You have to have a temporary permit to move your car from where it is stored to a test centre. These are obtained from a licensing centre and cost $15.15 and are valid for 48 hours. You are only allowed to use these permits to move your car from the shipper to the test centre and from the test centre back to the shipper or home again. Thats it.
OK. The test centre WILL FAIL YOUR CAR - this is guaranteed. One of the pieces of paper that comes with the import permit is a form to obtain a PRIVATE IMPORT PLATE. You cannot get this until the test centre have seen the car and stamped the form. If thats all your car fails on, you are very lucky. The PIP takes about a week to get hold of. Only one place in the whole of AU is authorised to issue them - Niddrie Nameplates in Niddrie. Chances are you will not have child seat restraint anchor points and you may need to rewire your cigarette lighter (AU rules do not allow these to work if the ignition is switched off - most cars in the UK allow them to be operational at all times as some people plug thngs other than the lighter into them). As you can gather my car failed on these three points.

All in, importing my S4 from the UK is going to have cost me in the region of $20k AU give or take a few grand once I'm finished. Even after this is all done, I'll have paid less than it would have cost me to buy the same thing here, but it's a major pain in the backside. Not sure I'd bother with it again.

That said, I should be up and running middle of next week hopefully. Toot if you see me out and about :)

:dance:
 

BANGERS88

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holy shoot, sounds like importing a car from europe is much harder than japan. Cause all i had to do was what i said in my post and JDS auto imports did the rest and it didn't cost me any more than $10K thats all up for the car, fee's, rego, pit pass and that.
 
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