Adelaide PHer's

[somouk]

Good afternoon all,

I'm emigrating to oz in the next 18months and will be settling in Adelaide. Do we have any other PHer's from the area that can advise on the potential of getting a decent car?

I'm over at xmas and intend to do some looking around at properties so im hoping to sneak some car spotting past the other half aswell!

Thanks fr any replies,
Mart

[ariddell]

If you're not moving for 18mths i'd seriously consider buying something special in the UK and bringing it with you..

Prices of nice cars out here, especially anything European are off the scale compared to the UK.

[tim the pool man]

ariddell said:

If you're not moving for 18mths i'd seriously consider buying something special in the UK and bringing it with you..

Prices of nice cars out here, especially anything European are off the scale compared to the UK.

Ah, I missed the 18 month bit or I would have said the same thing. Don't know if it is the same in all states, but in WA you can import your personal car if you have owned it for 12 months or more. There is a recent thread on the details of this.

Can't add much about Adelaide, other than a good friend moved there from Perth recently and he loves it. (Mostly likes that it is "like Perth was 25 years ago" )

[Fiddlemesticks]

ariddell said:

If you're not moving for 18mths i'd seriously consider buying something special in the UK and bringing it with you..

Prices of nice cars out here, especially anything European are off the scale compared to the UK.

[phone]

Seriously. I moved to oz last year and very much regret not bringing a uk car over. Even if that means buying it in 6 months time, so at least you will have it for 12 months and can then bring it with you, its well worth it.

Some shippers will say that unless its an exotic or classic its not worth it is rubbish. Look at www.carsales.com.au and compare prices.

Want an M5 (E39) in the UK - 12k please. Here? Try $65k or 32k Gbp.

Want an E46 M3 - 15k in the UK. Try $70k here. For a 6/7 year old car!

How about and Alfa 156 GTA - 10k or $20k in the UK. Try $40k here.

Even with shipping costs it would be well worth it.

Some say that the resale is not that great on imports, but thats just like the uk was 10 years ago with eu imports being worth less. Its just the market protecting the local cars. But lets say an M5 import was not $65k, but more like $45k. Thats still 22k gbp and if someone told you you would be hard pressed to sell it here as an import they'd be lying. $45k her for an E39 M5 would disappear in seconds. Just dont trade it to a dealer!

I would say bring if nothing else you can have a nice car for not a lot.

[Colonial]

Cannot agree more with that advice

I cry when I see the price of cars in the UK compared to here

[Yoshiwaan]

I used to live in Radelaide and the car market is very different, and when I say different I mean expensive to buy. 2nd hand cars don't lose their value anywhere near as much as the UK, but running costs and insurance is a bit better (although maintenance on 'premium' cars is pretty high in Aus).

There are some rules to importing though. Unless the car is over 15 years old you can't import it if the model is on sale in Australia (or earlier models). The exception to this rule is if you own it for over 12 months before importing it. If you own it for over 12 months you also don't pay import duty on it.

Things like Beemers and Alfas are regarded as way higher up the chain than they are in the UK and the prices you'll pay for them reflect that.

M cars are a good way to go and could potentially even net you some money if you're crafty about it. If you can handle LHD an e30 M3 could be a good idea as there are under 30 of them in Aus, they fetch about $40,000 as far as I know.
There's also the fact that you don't see many M cars around back home (latest/one previous model) and they don't have the stigma attached to them that they do in the UK.
Honda S2000 is another good bet.

If you're definitely gonna have a car in Aus then it's well worth forking out for one a bit earlier over here.

[deviant]

Actaully the '15 year old' rule no longer exists....biggest mistake ever made by the import industry was letting that slip.

Now it is the Pre 1st Jan 1989 rule...so anything older than that can pretty much be imported freely.

Anything newer than that and it will have to go through the stupidly strict SEVS and RAWS scheme and must be on an approved list of cars unless it is a Race / Rally import or a personal import.

Personally if I was doing a personal import I would not be looking to import a regular production vehicle. I would be opting for something not available or that would not normally be road legal here...Clio V6, Noble, Ultima or Radical would likely be right at the top of my list!

Obviously they are not the cheapest cars to buy so in the budget range I would be looking to any number of Kit cars (Westfield styleeee) or an early Elise.

[Jader1973]

Be careful with LHD stuff. Not sure about SA, but VIC are really funnay about registering LHD cars. All the LHD stuff at work has to have "Caution Left Hand Drive" emblazoned across the back. I'm not sure how it applies to older imports - I've seen some with and some without a sign.