Taking car over or not?

[Guest Gwen]

Have any of you clever people got an answer for me on a maybe very stupid question?

Has anybody taken their car over or not? It would make financial more sense to take ours with as we will be making a loss if we sell here and buy there again. What's the laws on importing a car this way?

It is 3 years old and NOT paid up yet.

[Camper]

You would not pay import duties as you have had it longer than a year, you have to get a import permit in advance. The only down side is that if it is not up to Australian Safety Standards they will get it up to their standards at your expense before they reregister the vechile. Unless it is a clasic i would not take a car. all your made in Australia brands are much cheaper than in SA. Nissan, Toyota, Holden (OPEL & CHEV) Ford.

The imports are not much cheaper than SA, Mercedes etc.

regards

Camper

Edited April 10, 2007 by Camper

[matman]

The only down side is that if it is not up to Australian Safety Standards they will get it up to their standards at your expense before they reregister the vechile. Unless it is a clasic i would not take a car. all your made in Australia brands are much cheaper than in SA. Nissan, Toyota, Holden (OPEL & CHEV) Ford.

regards

Camper

As Camper has stated unless it is a classic or a car you just could not buy here - My advice - dont even go there - waste of time and effort to try bring your car over. Alot easier, less hassle and cheaper probably to buy a car when you get here. Some useful websites:

Australian Automobile Assocation - bringing car into Australia

Aus Customs Service

Vehicle Certification in Australia

The Australian Safety Standards thing is pretty serious - let me give you an example. I had a BMW in S.A. which was a year old and I thought it would be best just to bring out with me. However when I enquired to ensure it was up to specification I was given a list of things that did not meet the Aussie standards and I would have had to replace at my own cost - somethng as simple as safety belts - that was just the start of the list. BMWs are manufactured in S.A. and even shipped to Aus - how could my BMW not meet Aussie std for safety belts - apparently BMWs for Aus have a different safety belt design specification before they are imported to be sold.

In the end it just seemed to much of a hassle and would cost me alot of money to get the car up to spec so I left it - glad I did because in the end I bought a little Toyotoa Corolla for $14K - runs on a sniff of petrol and trust me with petrol at over a dollar a litre you dont really want a 2l or 3l guzzler. Besides with a max speed limit of a 100km/hr (except in limited parts of Aus where it is a 110km). No point in haivng a huge car for speed - to many cameras around and with teh points system you will get caught.

My services cost me nothing - approx $200 every 6months (dont have to service every 6mnths, but I do it to keep the warranty) and Toyota have this cool thing - you book your car in for an hour service. SO you decide what time you would like to take your car in - you go into the drive thru - wait in the lounge/coffee area and presto and hour later you get your serviced car back - awesome.

With public transport I just did not see the need for a large car - we did buy a second car, which is the family car - a Renault Scenic - great car - cant wait for the new diesel 7seater model which comes out in a few months. That will cost about $40k, but is the top of thr range - there are other makes of vehicles which are cheaper.

Rgds

matman

Edited April 10, 2007 by matman

[Guest Gwen]

Thank you for all the advice guys.