# Shipping car+motorcycle USA to NZ



## SFvroooom

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone has had experience with shipping a left-driver car to NZ and then successfully drive it around? 

We are only on the ITA document-gathering stage so the impending move won't happen for awhile. I already know that we won't have THAT much household items to ship as we currently live in a small 1 bedroom industrial loft in San Francisco, California. We are particularly attached to our 2 vehicles and have no issues paying more to ship. I just haven't seen much info on folks importing their vehicles from the US.

I welcome any thoughts you may have,
SFvroooom


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## Song_Si

Hi

New Zealand Transport Agency: Importing a left-hand drive vehicle and Importing a motor vehicle and Immigrants' vehicles


> *Are there restrictions on LHD vehicles?*
> 
> Yes. Most left-hand drive vehicles have to be converted to right-hand drive (RHD) before they can be driven on New Zealand roads.
> 
> For modern vehicles, this is either very expensive or impractical – especially if the vehicle has a modern frontal impact protection system (eg airbags and crumple zones).


And there are specific requirements for Used vehicles from the United States

****

For motorcycles - search on the NZTA site there are several links; bringing motorbikes in is commonly done from US, especially Harleys, Buells, Ductais and Triumphs in recent years, suggest you contact a shipping/logistics company to manage this for you.

Requirements for motorcycles

Maybe have a look at this motorcycle site - or this one - to get an indication of NZ prices and whether the import is worth the time/expense

Happy reading!


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## SFvroooom

Well that explains it all! Thanks for pointing me in the right direction! 

Looks like we have a more solid plan now: sell the car and ship over the Harley.


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## Song_Si

Hi again - should have asked re age of your car/cars, many years ago 1990s a work colleague was able to bring in two cars from USA without the requirement for change to rhd, they were both 1950s models there was at that time an exemption for 'classics' over a certain age. Maybe some reference to this in the links above.
I have a friend in NZ who brought back an ex-US Army Chev pickup, low miles it had spent its life on Okinawa; he has had it for about 8 years, endless problems with certification issues - think because it is a 'truck' not a 'car', has become an ornament and he's given up on the conversion for now, can use it on his farm property/private roads only.


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## SFvroooom

The car is a 2008 Honda and the motorcycle is a 2009 Harley Davidson. The car doesn't fall under the exceptions so it would have to be converted regardless. Darn it.


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## Sandtower

You'll probably have to convert it to meet the harmonization rules of the region. There may be exceptions, but I'd check with the embassy or an experienced shipper to get the most recent information. You can try this company: https://www.a1autotransport.com/ship-car-to-new-zealand.php We shipped to NZ with them in 2009 and they had a good handle on the process, paperwork and taxes.


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## escapedtonz

Sandtower said:


> You'll probably have to convert it to meet the harmonization rules of the region. There may be exceptions, but I'd check with the embassy or an experienced shipper to get the most recent information. You can try this company: https://www.a1autotransport.com/ship-car-to-new-zealand.php We shipped to NZ with them in 2009 and they had a good handle on the process, paperwork and taxes.


This is a 2011 thread so I expect the op is already here and has worked through the process.


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## Sandtower

escapedtonz said:


> This is a 2011 thread so I expect the op is already here and has worked through the process.


Sorry, did not catch that! Still figuring things out a bit here.


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