importing a ferrari to perth

importing a ferrari to perth

Author
Discussion

pneumothorax

Original Poster:

1,355 posts

233 months

Monday 11th February 2008
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hi all, will probably be relocating to wa later this year. i would love to bring my car with me but fear it will be a nightmare. its a 348 spider, lhd, owned for over 2 years. relocation is likely to be long term. sounds like it might be a costly undertaking. any one have any advice?

aussiebeano

846 posts

203 months

Monday 11th February 2008
quotequote all
you need to prove active owner ship for 12 months, then apply for an import permit before you ship the car.

Best sites are -

www.karmanshipping.co.uk/index.html
will give you great details and step by step on what to do in the UK up to the point of the ship leaving port. Site includes the forms to download. Do NOT go RORO (roll on roll off ahip), pat the extra and get the car in a shipping container

www.cargoonline.com.au/
the guys you need to get the car through the customs and quarantine hoopla in Australia

Best of luck

7805

139 posts

209 months

Tuesday 12th February 2008
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Totally agree with both of the above links, im using both companies at the moment... My Elise 111R went into the container yesterday and is heading for Sydney (Boat Departs Friday!)... Import approval takes about 4 weeks - you can apply if you are on a 457 business visa although residency helps. Its easy though $50 for the application... just make sure you supply lots of supporting evidence. You will need to be in Australia for the import papers to be sent to you though.

You might have trouble with a Left Hand Drive car over here - worth checking that out before you go too far and spend too much money, there are some funny rules out here with compliancing and things, just do your homework I would say.

Oh and it isnt cheap to ship the cars and pay duty on them expect to spend around $12,000 - $15,000 for shipping and duty costs.

aussiebeano

846 posts

203 months

Tuesday 12th February 2008
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Kevin

I will ship my 111R to Sydney probably mid 2009. Any conversions / changes you had to make to meet Aussie regs??

cheers
antony

7805

139 posts

209 months

Tuesday 12th February 2008
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Antony,

I’ve just put some info together on the other post ref Brooke Kensington... happy to chat things through with you though, with a bit of luck mine will be on the road out here for April all going well. In summary, only changes made were: Speedo (KPH), Flat Mirror glass (Driver & Passenger side), New battery (Not an Aus spec requirement) and a good valet (AQUIS is a nightmare & I didn’t want them steam cleaning the car!). Hopefully compliance testing wont pick up anything else, maybe the Stage 2 will have to come off (But I have the original exhaust out here with me already)

If I was you... I'd change the Elise now for a SC one and discuss with the factory if you can get it built to Australian Spec... you've still got time to own it for a year... worth thinking about... and if you are shipping household contents, get some Lotus parts in your container as it'll save you some cash in the long run.

Kevin.

deviant

4,316 posts

212 months

Wednesday 13th February 2008
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Dont hold me to this but I think LHD cars are fine in WA...as long as there is a mahoooosive sticker across the back of your car saying CAUTION LEFT HAND DRIVE

I have seen a few America cars with them but I have also seen plenty of other LHD cars without them so I think most people dont bother and just cop the fine if it ever happens.

Definately bring lots of spares with you if your sending a container over. Car parts can be pricey and not always readily available in Aus if its for something unusual.
In Perth I have often found that ordering anything other than bits for a Falcon or Commodore gets a "yeah mate they have to be ordered from over east...be about 3 or 4 weeks unless you pay $50 for an overnight bag"

I like the sound of this 'ordering the car in Aus spec' lark...I wonder if you did that could you bring one straight in and rego it without going through the normal personal or sevs import stuff....

Colonial

13,553 posts

207 months

Wednesday 13th February 2008
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WA is the only state that doesn't have an issue with LHD imports of any age - other states have issues concerning age etc

S4simon

77 posts

231 months

Wednesday 13th February 2008
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Each state has slightly different regs to comply with.

I did not have to change my speedo to KPH. Got to keep the mph / kph speedo which was handy, even though I bought a VDO 0-300 KPH only speedo just in case (it's still sitting on the desk in front of me). In the end I did not have to change anything on the car, just paid heaps of money to the government for duty and first registration.

7805

139 posts

209 months

Wednesday 13th February 2008
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Having the speedo with both MPH & KPH is fine, it will pass the compliance tests...I just did it for peace of mind and ease of use really... I know when I had driven the Elise in Europe I tended to just go at a speed that felt about right rather than the correct KPH.. Given that my last speeding fine in Australia was $609 then I figured the correct speedo was the cheapest option - thankfully though, I’m still on a UK drivers licence.

Slightly off topic but it always comes up...

I had a thought a while back about purchasing cars in the UK with an Australian spec and bringing them over, I got the idea when I was working with the UK Diplomats out here, most of these guys get a car in the UK and ship it over, BMW build quite a few Mini's to Aus spec for Diplomatic exports... however, it does appear that you still need to do the personal import route or SEVS... that said, I reckon, if you can get an Australian spec car built and supplied from the UK a SEVS check should be much cheaper... Its a mine field though and like anything here if you get it wrong, you just end up losing a lots of money in the process.

The only way is to become a fully authorised Importer and set it yourself up with an ABN... I think... There just has to be a way to bring over great cars for less money to make a massive profit... just haven’t found it yet! hehe