Canada to Oz - I need your help to bring my Stang with

[Tristang]

I am looking for some assistance so I can bring my 2006 convertible pony with me on my move from Canada to New Castle.  As it stands right now I have a great removals team working for me but want to ensure I get as much right as I can to avoid potential issues and certainly avoiding increased costs. The car will be travelling in the container with the rest of my household goods - your right, my wife isn't happy I managed to make this work;). Port of entry will be Sydney.

This is what I understand the process to be.
- import permit / shipping / customs clearence & quarantine / settle duty & gst / tow to compliance test / address compliance issues / register & obtain plates.

From the forum I am looking for your experience with.......
- am I missing anything in above process?
- what is a close and fair priced shop that can do compliance testing?
- Any suggestions for cheap tow companies?
- car is completely stock but any work needed I would rather have done on this side to be ready, all our cash will be invested in the move itself. Is there a compliance test list floating around somewhere that someone could share?
- how clean is clean, what state of clean is needed to clear customs?  I've been told to steam clean the interior and I was also told to not steam clean interior as it will need to be done on that side again??? So which is it.....

Any other watch outs?  I need to address as much as possible on this side to keep the costs down. Appreciate any and all of your feedback.


 

[scedd1]

Short answer is you need to allow another 35k AUD to convert to RHD as the car is under 30 years old.

[StephenSLR]

Port of entry will be Sydney.  tow to compliance test / address compliance issues / register & obtain plates.

If you need a tow, the best price I got was Ed from H.Reid & Sons, you can call him on 0418 618 905

You may also want to contact Chris (sms777 on this forum) he should be able to help you with weighbridge ticket and blue slip inspection; you'll need a blue slip for registration.

http://www.mustang.org.au/forum/index.php/topic,24359.msg243412.html#msg243412

You'll also need a CTP Greenslip.

http://www.nrma.com.au/ctp-green-slip-car-insurance-nsw?mid=cs%3Aps%3ANSW%3ACTP%3AUnbranded%3A43700005669265348

You will not need to steam clean the interior, as for exterior, the customs is looking for dirt, twigs, seeds, etc., anything that could affect our ecosystems more so than grease and oil.

I just realised, yes you'll need to convert to right hand drive as your car is less than 30 years old.

I used Shermatt to do all the shipping and import papers.

s

[LEE H 69]

just my opinion, but financially it may not be worth the trouble,as said previously you will be up for $35-$38k for conversion on top of all your shipping costs etc. and with the new model being released over here in right hand drive for around the $50k mark, I think the value of the current models like yours will possibly drop.
there was one here on the Gold Coast 05-06 convertible last year for $35k.
as I say just my opinion, depends if the car holds any sentimental value I guess.

[StephenSLR]

financially it may not be worth the trouble

Admittedly, I second that, simply due to the right hand conversion cost.

s

[booah]

I had Shermatt bring in my Roadrunner from Calgary so he should be familiar  with the process. For me it wasn't straight forward , but it had to go through the US for shipping also.

[Ausjacko]

For a car this young, I understood you actually need to show a contract or similar for the RHD conversion in order to receive import approval.  As others have said, would you really bother?

[GLENN 70]

Does it have to be converted to right hand drive YES . Does it need to be booked in for the conversion before shipping YES .  Does it cost over $35,000 dollars to convert YES  . Is it worth doing      Would I bother NO .

[IGALOP]

  It is not going to be worth it! 

[ponyride]

Does it have to be converted to RHD if it's a personal import? I was under the impression that cars personally owned overseas prior to shipping and shipped by the owner may not have to be. I could be completely wrong but it might be worth checking.

[GLENN 70]

Have a look at www.infrastructure.gov.au  or look up dotars . Personal imports do have different rules to just importing a car that you have just bought .

[BAC]

Does it have to be converted to RHD if it's a personal import?

Yep, at least if you wanted to register it in Vic.  What might be worth investigating is whether it could be put on club plates as LHD. 

I can't see anything on Infrastructure web site that says you have to pre-book a RHD conversion in order to get approval for a personal import. In fact it says this:

"Modifications to bring the vehicle up to minimum safety standards can be deferred until you wish to register the vehicle."

[R_Beckhaus]

Amate of mine has an '86 ferrari LHD on club plates in NSW.

[Tristang]

Wow thanks for all the great responses. Your all right there is no way it's worth a 35k investment to convert to RHD.

 I do like the prospect of a loophole to bring over as personal import with our relocation so I will do some digging on that. I'm sure hoping the comments from ponyride onward turn out to have some merrit, it'scertainly worth me diggin into.

BTW what are club plates? 

It won't be much of a fairy tale in OZ if I can't bring my Stang 

[R_Beckhaus]

Club Plates are conditional registration plates for cars used solely for club events, so you can only drive it on club outings/events and to and from services.

[scedd1]

You have the alternative of bringing a classic with you. If its over the rolling 30 year age (March 5 1985) you dont have to convert. Theres always a market for a good early American Classic and you should turn a nice profit if you resell it here.
Club plates are a restricted registration scheme that is a lot cheaper but limits your driving. You cant have a daily driver on club plates.
In queensland my stang is $1000AUD a year for full rego or $185AUD for club rego. You need to join and remain a financial member of a club. Obviously MOCA would be the appropriate choice.

[GLENN 70]

The club plate laws for most states are for cars older than 30 years .  The laws may have changed about having to have car booked in 1st for a conversion on latest model cars  I don't know . 

[whitewun]

You might have a chat to Matt or Sheri at Shermatt ( they are based in Florida ).
They have vast experience shipping classic cars around the place.
Also I seem to recall Matt having a very nice Fox body (less than 30 years old) pony that he is
looking at bringing to Oz as a personal import when he returns

Cheers and good luck
Whitewun

[Tristang]

I've done further reading based on all your replies.
Specifically around the personal imports in NSW and there is no loop hole that I see to bring my car along for the ride. The 35k conversion just isn't worth it.

Club plates - in NSW the vehicle needs to be 30+ in order for me to obtain LHD club plates, I am SOL.

I found Shermatt so I will reach out to them next......

If anyone else has any other great ideas or back road ways that might turn into some way to bring it over please share.

[StephenSLR]

If anyone else has any other great ideas

Sell your car and buy one locally in Aus. or buy a 30+ year old classic over there; your currency is better than ours right now so it'll be worth it and then you can export that one.

Even if you find a loophole where you can bring your current car over without conversion you'll still need to convert it to RHD if you want to drive it legally on our roads; unless you plan to garage it for the next 20 years.

s

[Tristang]

I am certainly leaning to sell and look at repurchase over there. I can't buy another and import at this stage as I would need to own and use for a full year before I can take that side. So many rules........

Looks like I may end up with 20' in my container that I could bring some snow over to do some skiing on ;)

Your right  it's just a car and heck who knows maybe I find one that side that I love even more.

[Tristang]

Amate of mine has an '86 ferrari LHD on club plates in NSW.

I'd love to find out how this happened for an 86 and do the same thing, this isn't 30 years so there must be a way. I'd be more than happy to have the car sit in my garage and only use for club events.

[GLENN 70]

You can bring a pre 1989 model car with no problems . But better off pre 1985 so you can drive it in LHD form .  Or bring a classic over like a early mustang and pre 71 would be the go even tho pre 74 in up to 1973 if you like .  These early models and  have no problems coming in if they are not to modified and you don't have to own them over seas more than 5 minutes .  Just a 10 percent GST charge on your purchase price converted into Australian dollars . That 86 model car and on club rego must have been a 85 build date .

[ACT stang lover]

Are you coming over permanently or just a for a few years?  I know we have a member here who has come over from the states and is working for Dept of Defence for I think 3 years who is driving his late model mustang LHD, may even be registered in NSW as he lives  just over the border.

[shelby_mustro]

Here you go! This guy has a registered lhd newish mustang like yours still in lhd. Didn't know you could do it. I'm not sure how this would work selling it second hand for the next owner.


http://carsales.mobi/cars/details/2007-Ford-Mustang-GT-No-Series/SSE-AD-149090