How do you import a car from overseas?

Ever wanted to import your own car? Here are some things you need to know.

We’ve all done it before – spent hours navel-gazing at cars for sale on various overseas classifieds, websites or auctions.

Whether a cut-price supercar or a Japanese microcar piques your interest doesn’t really matter either, as now there’s half a chance you can actually go ahead and import the car of your dreams yourself.

Due to the relaxation of laws concerning privately imported vehicles recently passing legislation (new Road Vehicle Standards Act), we can now privately import a larger variety of new and used vehicles from overseas than ever before.

But before you start looking, what do you need to know about importing a vehicle into Australia?

Can I import any vehicle I want?

Although the rules have been relaxed, there are still requirements on what types of vehicles can be imported into Australia.

If you wish to import a vehicle that’s less than 25 years old, it must be listed on the Special Enthusiast Vehicle Scheme register. You can click here to view the Government’s register of cars eligible to be imported into Australia.

If you want to import a vehicle that’s older than 25 years, then lucky you – there is no list. You can import any vehicle you like – including left-hand-drive cars – and depending on the state you live in, register and drive that car on the road.

For example, it is now legal in New South Wales to road-register your left-hand-drive vehicle with full registration and drive it on the road every day if it is over 25 years old.

If you own a late model car – that’s not on the approved vehicle list – but you still want to bring it over to Australia, then you must make an application under the personal import vehicle scheme.

Personal import applications require the applicant to prove their relocation status to Australia in order to get the car into the country, however.

Can I import any left-hand drive car?

Only some left-hand drive vehicles can be imported into Australia.

Vehicles 25 years old and over are generally allowed, as are later model vehicles features on the federal government’s Special Enthusiast Vehicle scheme.

Cars are added to the Special Enthusiast Vehicle Scheme based on certain criteria, like rarity. This is the pathway that supercars like the 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari or the 2005 Bugatti Veyron take to be freely imported into Australia.

How much does it cost to import a vehicle?

There are two common ways to import a vehicle into Australia: Roll-on/Roll-off sea freight (RoRo) or in a shipping container. The former involves people literally driving and parking your car on a vessel; the latter packaging a car safely into a container and then having it loaded onto a boat.

Costs for Roll-on/Roll-off shipping start from around $3000 from Asia to Australia, and upwards of $5000 from Europe. Using a shipping container can cost anywhere from double the amount of Roll-on/Roll-off shipping.

Do I pay GST, duty and luxury car tax when I import a vehicle?

Taxes and duties vary depending on the country of origin. If the vehicle originates from a country with a free trade agreement with Australia – like Japan – your imported vehicle is only taxed 10 per cent (GST).

If the vehicle comes from Europe, there is half a chance you’ll be paying 20 per cent instead (10 per cent duty and 10 per cent GST). Also be aware that your vehicle duty and GST bill is calculated on the cost of the vehicle combined with the cost of shipping.

Expect to pay from $5000 to $10,000 to import an average-value car depending on where the car comes from and how much you pay for it.

If the cost of the vehicle and its shipping exceeds the current Luxury Car Tax (LCT) threshold of $71,849, then your imported vehicle will also be taxed 33 per cent on first registration.

There are other seasonal costs to be aware of too – like a pest treatment for bugs that’s only required if your vehicle was exported within a particular date range of the year.

Can I import a car from any country?

At the moment, you can import a car from any country.

It’s worth noting that duties and taxes vary per country – so do your homework before you buy.

What is the best way to find a vehicle overseas?

The easiest way to buy a car overseas is from a reputable car dealer.

Purchasing a vehicle from one of many well-known international car dealers will help mitigate any risks with the quality of the vehicle and help make payment of the vehicle secure.

However, things can still go wrong, and vehicles still often arrive in a different condition than advertised. If you’re attempting to buy a car from a private sale, then tread ultra carefully.

Chasing up an international payment you made for a car that didn’t arrive is a bureaucratic nightmare, so private-to-private bank transfers of large sums of money should be avoided at all costs when buying a car overseas.

The best way to buy a car overseas is to engage an Australian business or brokerage that specialises in this type of transaction that specialises in buying cars overseas and has experience in the field.

How long does it take to import a vehicle?

Expect the process of buying, importing and road-registering an imported vehicle to take around 16 weeks (or four months).

There are numerous Australian legislative hurdles along the way that can either compress or stretch that timeline – something that a private buyer cannot expedite.

Something else out of the vehicle owner’s control is the current situation at ports across Australia. With the volumes of new and used imported vehicles rising exponentially – and numerous quarantine issues causing havoc with local customs authorities – Australian ports are experiencing volatile wait times.

If you’re in a rush or under a strict time crunch, then expect importing a car to take a little longer than you first expected.

When my imported car arrives, can I register it right away?

Before you register a vehicle under state-based legislation (Service NSW, VicRoads etc), it must undergo federal-based compliance by a Registered Automotive Workshop.

A list of Registered Automotive Workshops can be found here. Import vehicle compliance is a federal-level vehicle certification system that must be conducted before the imported vehicle can pass the next, state-based authority for road registration.

Once vehicle compliance is completed, the imported vehicle’s VIN or unique identification number is placed on our country’s national vehicle database (NEVDIS) for use by state-based authorities like Service NSW or VicRoads, insurance companies for CTP/green slip, and to ultimately get the car on the road.

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