Exporting a TVR
Discussion
Are you a member of the TVRCC? If so contact the New Zealand office. I think a Chimeara was recently taken over by a member and if memory serves there was a piece in the Sprint magazine which had information about what to do. The bit that sticks in my mind was a body off restoration of the chassis because of a small amount of suface rust.
Unless the car in question is over 20 years old, it will not meet NZ frontal impact standards. There is an exemption from this, but only if the car maker in question produces less than 200 units per year (of all models).
Basically the NZ LTSA define a 'low volume' producer as 200 units; in the EU its 2000.
There is a new exemption for dedicated motorsport cars (full roll cage, race seats, harneses, must be raced at least twice per year), but this is not complete yet. That is how I plan to get my Cerbera back there......
So it's not easy, the LTSA said that several people have tried to bring in TVRs since the law was changed 2 years ago, but have not been sucessful. The Chim mentioned in the other post was imported before this....
Basically the NZ LTSA define a 'low volume' producer as 200 units; in the EU its 2000.
There is a new exemption for dedicated motorsport cars (full roll cage, race seats, harneses, must be raced at least twice per year), but this is not complete yet. That is how I plan to get my Cerbera back there......
So it's not easy, the LTSA said that several people have tried to bring in TVRs since the law was changed 2 years ago, but have not been sucessful. The Chim mentioned in the other post was imported before this....
Echo what Simon said. I have spoken to the guy who imported the Chim and he got in just before the laws changed. By all means dig around and see if you can find some way around it, but those that have looked into this before, me included, have drawn a blank.
I have asked TVR three times in the last year if they plan to do Euro NCAP testing on any of their new models (a standard which NZ recognises) and the answer is consistently "no".
Edited to add - I was told there is a Griff that was brought in after the laws in the hope of registering it somehow. It's now an expensive and under used trailer-to-the-track car.
>> Edited by Ffirg 005 on Tuesday 27th January 13:05
I have asked TVR three times in the last year if they plan to do Euro NCAP testing on any of their new models (a standard which NZ recognises) and the answer is consistently "no".
Edited to add - I was told there is a Griff that was brought in after the laws in the hope of registering it somehow. It's now an expensive and under used trailer-to-the-track car.
>> Edited by Ffirg 005 on Tuesday 27th January 13:05
The motorsport exemption will be a viable option (if you want to race your car). I'll let you know how I get on.
Otherwise, there may be other ways. For instance if you imported a car with no engine, and then fitted one there, it would technically no longer be a TVR, and could be certified as a low volume vehicle. I have some contacts in the modified car world over there, so am investigating this too.
Its a pain, and even the LTSA guys admitted that defining 'low volume' as 200 units per year was short sighted.
TVR don't crash test their cars as they don't have to, hence their desire to keep to under 2000 untis per year. Saves a lot of money.
Otherwise, there may be other ways. For instance if you imported a car with no engine, and then fitted one there, it would technically no longer be a TVR, and could be certified as a low volume vehicle. I have some contacts in the modified car world over there, so am investigating this too.
Its a pain, and even the LTSA guys admitted that defining 'low volume' as 200 units per year was short sighted.
TVR don't crash test their cars as they don't have to, hence their desire to keep to under 2000 untis per year. Saves a lot of money.
I don't know how true this is, but was told that when the legislation was being drafted "200 per year" was intended to be the maximum output per model, not the total output of the maker. This would have made some years of Griff production legal IIRC. Unfortunately the way it has been written into law is a 200 limit of cars made, so we're stuck with it.
The guys at the LTSA told me the tale of someone who bought in a limited edition Ferrari (only 75 made) on this basis, but was unable to register it.
I guess the bottom line is, its a number that doesn't make much sense, but as it only affects a handful of people, its unlikely to change. Unless a politician wants a TVR imported
I guess the bottom line is, its a number that doesn't make much sense, but as it only affects a handful of people, its unlikely to change. Unless a politician wants a TVR imported
I can provide some advice on importing to OZ. I have a 95 Griff 500 that was imported with the help of TVR Service Centre in Melbourne. If you email some further details (of the car, etc) I can probably provide some advice. (Nb. the compliancing rules have recently been updated - they appear to always be changing !!)
bigbazza said:
Hijacking this thread slightly, anyone have experience/knowledge of taking a TVR to Oz?
I took my cerbera to Australia in July. If you have owned the car in the UK continuously for at least 12 months then you can import it at the time you emigrate without having to modify it for compliance. The only thing that I had to do was install child restraint anchor points behind the rear seats (these need to be engineered, I can help out with this if anyone is planning on doing it). Two seater cars probably won't require any mods. This was in New South Wales, some states require the speedo to be changed to KPH.
The biggest catch is the customs duties and taxes. You will be charged 15% of your original purchase price as customs duty plus plus 10% of (purchase price + shipping costs + customs duty). You will also be charged 3-5% of the value of the car as stamp duty when it is registered.
Looking at the price you paid for your car, you would be looking at paying around 6000 pounds in duties/taxes.
Also, if the car is more than 15 years old then the normal restrictions don't apply (eg. 12 months period) and it is very easy to import. That's why there's a slow stream of older TVRs finding their way to Oz.
Let me know if you want any more info. Come on people, we need more TVRs over here!
bigbazza said:
Thanks for your advice on all this, we are going through the emigration process and can't stand the thought of driving a holden or a honda over there...could I get the AJP8 serviced in Melbourne then?
Some of those holdens are very quick beasts, but I agree, they are not for me...
As far as I know there are no cerberas in Melbourne. So, even if there was someone there that worked on TVRs they probably wouldn't have experience on the AJP8 engine. I could be wrong, there may be an expat somewhere here that used to work on them.
I had my 12K service just before I came over so I haven't needed any major work yet. I've been doing the small things myself and so far so good. I know a few good mechanics that I will try to get the service of when I need more serious stuff done.
It's easy to get parts shipped over and small things will not get picked up by customs, I ordered a temp sensor from TMS which arrived in 3 days. Some parts can be obtained locally (eg. plugs, oil filter, fuel pump, diff).
So it's definitely not going to be as easy as dropping it off at a dealer in the UK to get everything done. You may need to use a few different specialised places to keep it all together and will need to learn a fair bit about how the car works yourself.
It's hard work, but I just couldn't part with this car - it's awesome!
Am in the middle of importing my car to Melb now, a 5lt Chimaera.
Have driven it ywice in Melb now, once from the docks (took 1/2 hour to bump start it) and once to the engineers/mot place.
Very strange driving it here when i am used to driving it around the A3 and A24!!
So far all I have done is get David Batty to check it our before i left and fit a KPH speedo. The engineers have told me nothing really is needed other than a flat wing mirror, a couple of chips out of the windscreen and that's about it so far anyway...
Send me an email of you need any info, will try and help, other guys on the forum have helped me...
Have driven it ywice in Melb now, once from the docks (took 1/2 hour to bump start it) and once to the engineers/mot place.
Very strange driving it here when i am used to driving it around the A3 and A24!!
So far all I have done is get David Batty to check it our before i left and fit a KPH speedo. The engineers have told me nothing really is needed other than a flat wing mirror, a couple of chips out of the windscreen and that's about it so far anyway...
Send me an email of you need any info, will try and help, other guys on the forum have helped me...
maverick dave said:
Am in the middle of importing my car to Melb now, a 5lt Chimaera.
Have driven it ywice in Melb now, once from the docks (took 1/2 hour to bump start it) and once to the engineers/mot place.
Very strange driving it here when i am used to driving it around the A3 and A24!!
So far all I have done is get David Batty to check it our before i left and fit a KPH speedo. The engineers have told me nothing really is needed other than a flat wing mirror, a couple of chips out of the windscreen and that's about it so far anyway...
Send me an email of you need any info, will try and help, other guys on the forum have helped me...
Dave, congrats on your import!!! Melbourne's a good choice, the roads in Sydney are terrible (potholes everywhere). On the downside, you've got the speed camera problem there. Suggest you get a Road Angel www.blackspot.com.au/
I'm not sure if it's exactly the same in Victoria as in NSW but at the time of registration you need to write down the estimated market value of the car on the registration form. They calculate the stamp duty from this so it is to your benefit to greatly stretch the truth here.
glena said:
Does anyone have any experience re exporting a TVR from UK to New Zealand including emmision laws? <img src="www.pistonheads.com/include/images/scratchchin.gif"> <br> <br>>>> Edited by glena on Monday 26th January 23:00
![www.pistonheads.com/include/images/scratchchin.gif">](http://www.pistonheads.com/include/images/scratchchin.gif">){kind=link}
I exported one to NZ many years ago, but last I heard customs were no longer allowing TVR's to be registered in NZ (not sure of the reasons).
www.karmanshipping.co.uk/newzealand/nzrules.html
www.karmanshipping.co.uk/newzealand/nzrules.html
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