Some advice needed

[Insanity-74]

Hi..quick introduction, my name is Nial, been a member of the TOC UK for a while and the GT4OC for even longer, but it looks like I may have a job offer in Perth for at least a few years so I`m in two minds of what to do with my current car...I`m the proud owner of an ST205 which I have had for a few years now and is pretty modified.........Do I bring it with me to Aus???? or do I buy another one when I get over there and keep mine in storage until I decide if I`m going to stay or not??? How easy are they to buy in Australia???? and what are the best web sites to check out to buy one??? Cars seem pretty expensive over there, nearly three times what I`d expect to pay here.....there appear to be a couple of st165`s for sale and the odd st185, but not many st205`s.....in fact non at all.

I hear all sorts of tales about importing cars over to Australia....what are the rules for importing cars???? For instance, could I as a glorified tourist import a car from say Japan to Australia???? Any help from you guys would be brilliant.

My baby

[T_Money]

Leave it in the UK, Importing into the country is doable but time consuming. There are quite a few GT4 over here if thats what you where after. Go to www.carsales.com.au or www.carpoint.com.au to search for whatever tickles your fancy.

[SuperDave]

Australia has some pretty anal grey import laws, which is good since it keeps most of the tossers out of 180's, Silvia and Skyrines. But you obviously owning the car for over 12 months in another country are able to import it as a personel import. I don't know the exact rules governing that process since it is unlikely I'll ever be in that situation. As for grey imports from Japan the car usually has to be fairly stock and then it still needs to be complied and duty and GST paid on top. So if you want a car from Japan you'll need to go through the same process we have to.

And for the price of everything here, you'll have better get used to it, Australians get ripped off for everything and it is always the old model too.

Edited January 18, 2008 by SuperDave

[Insanity-74]

Cheers for the advice and the links to the web sites...hmmmm. might have to have a look around for something else then, or an Aus GT4

Australians arnt the only ones that get ripped off, the UK is just as bad...at least you have plenty of sunshine to cheer you up....it just rains here 70% of the time.

Looking forward to visiting Australia in a few months, never been before, should be awesome, might even bring my surf board with me......then I`ll have to learn to surf :D

Thanks again

Nial

[Insanity-74]

Cresus Jiste almighty....you wernt kidding about the high prices were you $30,000 for an st205 thats more than double what I`d pay here.

[CAP]

Really is that so? Even considering exchange rate? Are they popular over there?

[runnaln]

I came over to Oz in 2000 and brought my GT4 over a little later, it was a pain, but got it done. They are worth a lot more here than in UK as very few here. I assume you are coming on a tempory work Visa, in theroy you should be able to bring it over and just put the estimated GST on current value in some sort of bond (The may be specific WA rules). I dealt with Victoria and got a diffrent story each time I spoke to them. For two years I would not bother.

Happy to help. If you want to contact me.

Edited June 19, 2009 by runnaln

[Moto]

I wouldn't bother either, it's expensive and a lot harder work than importing a car from Japan into the UK (which I have done with 2 Supra's). Just buy an Auusie car. You will have to get used to high car prices for everything except the Ford and Holden (Vauxhall/Opel) offerings.

For $30,000 you can get a quick car but nothing like in the UK and it will have to be a blown falcon turbo or V8. Both are common as dogs dinners and not my cup of tea.

[whitestivo]

if you bring over here a corolla tsport, you may just be the king of this forum

whitestivo

[SuperDave]

The Tsport is just a Sportivo plus or minus a couple of minor things. You didn't mean the compressor?

[MR22ZZ]

or a 3 door ;)

as for the prices of cars in Australia, take into account we don't get snow in any major centres, don't salt roads and hence have low rust levels.

Our air is pretty salt free as long as you live more than a couple of kms from a beach.

[Moto]

No but you have golf ball size hail, extremely harsh UV levels, poor quality road surfaces (comparitively speaking) and stonechips the size of my winky. I don't see how either effect the mean price of a car, especially the new car market.

The cost to ship cars to Oz is not a big factor either. Aussie's just get ripped off. You can get some European cars for almost half the cost in the UK than over here in Oz, why? Shipping would cost ~$1000, what makes up the other $30,000 price differential over a new BMW?

Are the car manufacturers charging way too much or does the goverment tax the things to highly? Or both?