It's starting to come together...

[wedgepilot]

...my move to NZ that is

I posted here a few months back about coming over, and things are finally starting to move. Our house here just went on the market, and Mrs wedgepilot is starting to get job interviews over the phone...I'll find a job when I get there (or maybe be a kept man of leisure, hmmm ) Wellington area is looking likely, although Christchurch remains our first choice.

Anyway, being a PH'er, I'm starting to wonder about cars in NZ. How does the 'legal' side of car ownership work? Is there car tax, is it like the Aussie system? A brief overview would be appreciated.

I'm starting to get excited now...

[jamieheasman]

Firstly, if you're planning on bringing a car with you and it's not more than 20years old check to see if it passes one of :

2.3(1) A frontal impact protection system must comply, if specified in Table 2.1, with a version,
as specified in 2.3(4), of one of the approved vehicle standards in 2.3(2).

2.3(2) The approved vehicle standards for frontal impact protection systems are:
(a) Directive 96/79/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 on the protection
of occupants of motor vehicles in the event of a frontal impact (which, for the purpose of occupant protection
in the event of a frontal impact, amends the Council Directive of 6 February 1970 on the approximation of the laws
of the Member States relating to the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers (70/156/EEC));
(b) UN/ECE Regulation No. 94, Uniform provisions concerning the approval of vehicles with regard to the protection
of the occupants in the event of a frontal collision (E/ECE/324-E/ECE/TRANS/505/Rev.1/Add.93);
(c) Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208, Occupant Crash Protection in Passenger Cars, Multipurpose
Passenger Vehicles, Trucks and Buses;
(d) Australian Design Rule 69, Full Frontal Impact Occupant Protection;
(e) Australian Design Rule 73, Offset Frontal Impact Protection;
(f) Technical Standard for Occupant Protection in Frontal Collision (Japan).

If it does you'll just need to pay for GST on entry (12.5%), MAF cleaning and inspection (don't leave any apples in the glovebox!) and any other inspection/compliance work. There are details of the process on the LTSA's website - www.ltsa.govt.nz

Be aware that the IT market is limited (obviously) and by far the highest number of jobs in the industry are to be found in Auckland (unfortunately) with Wellington and Christchurch next on the list.

Think carefully about what you want out of NZ before you make any commitments. If you bring enough cash with you it could be that you could set yourself up to do nothing for the rest of your days! ($1 million NZD wisely invested with a life in a little hick town = bone-idleness).

Good luck, post here if you need any more help as they're a helpful lot on the whole

>> Edited by jamieheasman on Thursday 9th September 21:22

[Richard Deakin]

jamieheasman said:

If it does you'll just need to pay for GST on entry (12.5%), MAF cleaning and inspection (don't leave any apples in the glovebox!) and any other inspection/compliance work.

If you have been granted residence and the importation of the vehicle is part of your move to NZ, then no GST is payable - as long as you don't sell the car for 2 years. Customs will ask you to sign a contract agreeing to this. Not sure how they would ever enforce it though.

Rich

[wedgepilot]

Thanks for that, although sadly, I won't be bringing my beloved Porker with me, shipping costs are too high relative to it's value

I'm assured by PCNZ that there is a good supply of pork in NZ though, which I will be investigating at the earliest opportunity

Any other pointers on how things like car tax, car insurance, etc work over there would be appreciated. When I go looking for a car, I also need to know what documentation to look for!

[Esprit]

Glad to hear the move's all coming along nicely.

There is a lot of pork over here so you should be sweet.... bearing in mind that in NZ we don't have road-salting, the climate is generally drier, and in some areas (like Marlborough and Hawkes Bay) the climate is so dry and temperate cars just don't seem to age or rust at all!
As for tax etc.... here's the general deal:
From new a car has to have a WOF (Warrant of Fitness.... same as the MOT in England)... this comes up once a year until the car is 2 (?) years old I think then it becomes six-monthly. The standards are generally pretty easy for WOF and as yet there's no emissions testing etc but this is due to change sometime soon. They are really anal about some things but on the whole is't a simple roadworthiness check. Once your car has a WOF, you need to register it for road use.
You must re-register your car at least once a year and can re-register it for periods of 3 months to a year.... paying for a year is the cheapest way to do it and it costs about $220 a year.... this is effectively the only "tax" we pay on cars over here, the rest being paid for by levies on petrol prices you pay every time you fill up. The only case in which this differs is if you drive a Diesel vehicle.... you still pay the vehicle registration charges but Diesel isn't taxed at the pump. Instead you have to pay "road user charges", which are purchased per KM so you usually buy a block of 10,000km... not sure on the costs of this though, but it roughly equates to similar tax as if it were a petrol vehicle.
Insurance in NZ is not compulsary (although it bloody should be) and you're going to have insurance without doubt if you own anything like a nice car. Insurance is really essential because if someon who is non-insured hits you and you're not insured yourself then you're up the creek. Most responsible people insure their cars but there are a lot of people who don't too, and these always seem to be the ones who run into you (I speak from experience!) Insurance is available from any number of private insurers and depending on what sort of car/history/area/storage you have you can usually shop around for a good deal.

That about sum it up?

[wedgepilot]

Cheers Esprit, just what what I looking for and I have to say, not quite what I was expecting!

Insurance not compulsary?!? So what happens if someone uninsured runs into you? Aren't they liable in some way? Don't you end up with loads of chav's driving around in uninsured old bangers?

6-monthly MOT's (sorry WOF )is a good idea, although it sounds like it's not as strict as the UK version.

Nice looking 7, btw. I've owned a couple of 2.0 DHC's in my time (hence the 'wedgepilot' name). I always intended to drop a V8 in, but somehow never got around to it. The last one was Pageant Blue with blue check trim, a lovely looking car...

[Esprit]

No worries Alan

Yeah the no insurance thing is a bit of an arse really... it SHOULD be compulsary but isn't.... basically it just makes it all the more important that if you have a nice car that you insure it to the hilt with a reputable insurer to protect your investment.
To be fair to the boyracers etc over here, MOST of them, certainly the ones I know, have insurance, although you're right, there's plenty of scallys over here in bangers that have never even thought of insurance. I'm pretty sure though that if you DO have insurance and it's their fault and they're not insured, the insurance company can chase them up for the money (although that's of no concern to you as the insurance company will just pay you out right away). Insurance is also easier to get over here and doesn't cost nearly as much as over in the UK.... basically due to the fact that they don't HAVE to insure everyone and don't have to spread so much risk. The upshot of this is that, combined with the cheap second-hand jap market over here, it's not uncommon to see 18 year olds driving Mitsubishi Evolutions, Subaru WRXs, Supra Turbos etc when really they've got the driving skills more suited to a Daihatsu Charade! This is another reason why some are pushing for compulsary insurance as the boyracer problem in NZ is huge..... instead of spending thousands of quid on Maxxing up a saxo and still having it be only a "warm" hatch, any kid fresh out of school can go down to his local dealer and slap a deposit on a 400bhp Japanese street weapon and drive it away that afternoon.... and many of them do.
he only other thing to remember really is Driver Licensing.... over here we have photo ID drivers licenses now and I think these cost about $100 to get, you then have to renew it every ten yearsI think for a cost of approximately $60 .... renewing it basically just involves handing over the cash and a quick eye test so you don't have to re-sit any tests or anything so it's pretty straightforward.

As for the TR7, yes they're wonderful little cars.... mine's been in the garage since November 2002 gathering dust as I finished university and had a rather large student loan to take care of.... now that I've got that out of the way I'm saving up for a rather ambitious Rover V8 conversion for the car in conjunction with a complete bare-metal rebuild..... basically it's going to take me the next 2 years or more of blood, sweat and tears to pull it all together but I'm aiming for 350-400bhp..... in a TR&! Watch this space

[tvr_nz]

I'd certainly strongly recommend you get full insurance. Costs not too high - not sure how no claims bonus's might travel country to country - but there are some excellent discounts if you don't claim on your policy. But for me - some of my insurances are still quite high!! Especially after a hit on the armco at the race track in the 911 - and this was covered by insurance as I was not "racing, time trialling - and something else"
Also I was driving home a few years ago when an uninsured driver drove stright into the side of my car from a stop sign. Insurance company paid out immediately, no loss of no claims bonus for me (it was her fault)- and they make whatever arrangements they like with her. I had something similar happen again when a truck backed into me. I would hate to try to get money out of those people myself.
Good luck

[wedgepilot]

That doesn't sound too bad then, at least you don't lose your no-claims if it's not your fault (unlike the UK).

400 bhp in a TR7...mmmmm....