# Shipping car to Oz? Painful as it looks?



## brysurvey (Dec 23, 2008)

Hi, am new to the forum. Was wondering if anyone has had experience of shipping a car from the UK to Australia and can share any useful advice? 

My situation is that my wife is working as a doctor in Sydney and has applied for permanent residency. I work 5 weeks on, 5 off as a FIFO and as yet havent applied for residency, although is an almost certainty through any one of 3 ways (wife, brother is a citizen or relocating jobs) I am currently commuting between Sydney and Angola on a tourist visa.

Getting back to the car, I have looked into the regulations required from Canberra, and have looked into shipping costs. Getting it to Australia doesnt seem to be the big issue (resdidency status excepted!) But actually putting it on the road in Oz seems a world of pain, expense and paperwork.

I was hoping that maybe someone that had been through this may be able to give me a few pointers, as I would rather keep the car than the wife

Thanks in advance anyway, hope someone may be able to help.

Bryan


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## kaz101 (Nov 29, 2007)

Hi Bryan,

If you search for Mustang you'll see what we had to go through but that's partly to do with it being a historic car. 

Not only will you pay shipping costs to get the car over here (we had to use a 40 ft container whereas without the car we would have used a 20ft container), but you may have to pay to get new tyres, luxury car tax, and for any else to get it on the road. 

You don't say what kind of car you want to bring in. 

Check out Used Cars - New Cars - Search New & Used Cars For Sale - carsales.com.au to see what the price is to buy a car here and that may help you decide (one way or the other). 

Regards,
Karen


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## snorkeprincess (Jan 5, 2009)

Not sure about cars but fyi it took more than 3 mths for my bf's Harley (shipped out of Singapore) to get on the road here in Sydney. By that, i mean, get all the paper work done. It's a looooong process so good luck!


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## Veronika Hurbis (Jun 6, 2008)

Hi Bryan,

Shipping a car over is very rarely worth it due to the import taxes and duties and compliance with Australian Standards. 

This website includes a quick shipping cost calculator which will give you a better idea of the real and hidden costs: 

Welcome to Karman Shipping Ltd.

These are some other sites that contain information about prices of motor vehicles in Australia: 

Used Cars & New Cars for Sale | Car Sales | Car Reviews | drive.com.au 

Used & New Cars for sale - find car sales, caravans & motorbikes, automotive parts and used cars on Trading Post Used & New Cars for Sale - Find Car Sales, Caravans & Motorbikes - Buying and Selling Online Australia wide.



snorkeprincess said:


> Not sure about cars but fyi it took more than 3 mths for my bf's Harley (shipped out of Singapore) to get on the road here in Sydney. By that, i mean, get all the paper work done. It's a looooong process so good luck!


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## Timsheldon (Feb 11, 2011)

Hi, m new to the forum too
In order to drive your vehicle in Australia, you will need to provide proof of valid insurance and your vehicle will need to meet the basic safety requirements. Your vehicle may be quarantined pending registration. You can contact:
The Administrator of Vehicle Standards
ACT Federal Office of Road Safety 0
GPO Box 1553 
Canberra Australia 2601

how about this time?!


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## TerryQ (Jan 11, 2011)

As Kaz says it is really only worth it if they are "classics", I have 3 classics and two modern which will be sold here in Belfast. The other three are worth it because we have had two of them for over 20 years and the other has been in the family for nearly 30 years, all of huge sentimental value which we are prepared to pay for.

Can anyone tell me what the problems would be bringing a 55 year old non runner. From what I have read cars need to be roadworthy (I'm guessing that means the equivalent of an oz MOT)?


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## kaz101 (Nov 29, 2007)

TerryQ said:


> Can anyone tell me what the problems would be bringing a 55 year old non runner. From what I have read cars need to be roadworthy (I'm guessing that means the equivalent of an oz MOT)?


You need to check the state you'll be moving to since the regulations can be different in each state. 

We had to make sure that there was no rust at all on our Mustang so all work like that had to be done before it was shipped over. I mention that since I'm not sure what condition your non-runner is in. 

Regards,
Karen


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## TerryQ (Jan 11, 2011)

It has rust! Its UK car at 55 years old wahat do you espect. It is of HUGE family value. For of few grand i could get it through a UK MOT but is that enough? From my point of view I want to do what me and my dad did in 1982 and take it apart and put it back together again! So can I bring it with me and do that?


I have seen similar cars for $14K but money cant buy the memories!


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## Weebie (Sep 16, 2009)

TerryQ said:


> It has rust! Its UK car at 55 years old wahat do you espect. It is of HUGE family value. For of few grand i could get it through a UK MOT but is that enough? From my point of view I want to do what me and my dad did in 1982 and take it apart and put it back together again! So can I bring it with me and do that?
> 
> 
> I have seen similar cars for $14K but money cant buy the memories!


Don't bring it in. You could be slugged tens of thousands just to get that complainced.


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## kaz101 (Nov 29, 2007)

TerryQ said:


> It has rust! Its UK car at 55 years old wahat do you espect. It is of HUGE family value. For of few grand i could get it through a UK MOT but is that enough? From my point of view I want to do what me and my dad did in 1982 and take it apart and put it back together again! So can I bring it with me and do that?
> 
> 
> I have seen similar cars for $14K but money cant buy the memories!


No a UK MOT is not enough since our car easily had an MOT and still had to have work done on it. 

Have a look at the AQIS requirements and they may be able to help:
Importing Motor Vehicles - DAFF

It doesn't specifically mention rust on that website but that's what we were told by our agent. 

Regards,
Karen


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## mants (Feb 9, 2011)

In Belfast i drive a 2004 BMW 320ci m sport was having a looking on the usedcaroz sites that have been mentioned above and for anything near the same over there is alot lot more expensive.

I was hoping i could of got the same sort of car when out there but heres the price difference:

my car here to sell now i would get around: £6500 - 7500
a year older car than mine with more miles in oz is: £18,300

Wonder why that is?

No way could i afford to be running that before insurance and tax etc


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## kaz101 (Nov 29, 2007)

Europe's a long way from here so European cars will be more expensive here than local makes. There are import taxes, luxury car tax for imported cars etc. 

Regards,
Karen


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