Moving to NZ - should I bring the transport?

[Ewan Oozarmy]

Hello NZ PH'ers! I am from London and will next year at some point be moving to Auckland with my Kiwi missus and baby and was after some advice. Basically I'm not sure whether or not to bring my 993TT and have a couple of questions if that's OK :

1. What would the insurance costs be?
2. What are the cops/speed cameras like, as in are they everywhere?
3. What would it be worth over there ('97 model)?
4. Can you still only get 95 octane petrol generally?

Any advise would be much appreciated. Cheers! Deano

[peterpsg]

I'm a Kiwi in the UK, so I can answer a few of those questions...

>What are the cops/speed cameras like
Well, when they say 'hidden cameras', they actually mean it, what some of them do to catch people borders on actual entrapment... there are no nice web sites telling you where the camera man is today, and no GPS alerts either...

>Can you still only get 95 octane petrol generally?
You can 98 octane unleaded, or avgas if you know the right people ;-)

There are a number of Porsche's in NZ, not sure how many 993Turbos... but have a look on the following websites...

www.te.co.nz
www.trademe.co.nz

I'm sure you'll find something under Porsche there...

Also, you could perhaps email a chap who goes by the moniker, "Racing Ray Williams", do a google to find his website... he races some older Porsches and could probably steer you right... nice guy too...

Cheers,
Peter

[Esprit]

Ewan Oozarmy said:

Hello NZ PH'ers! I am from London and will next year at some point be moving to Auckland with my Kiwi missus and baby and was after some advice. Basically I'm not sure whether or not to bring my 993TT and have a couple of questions if that's OK : 1. What would the insurance costs be? 2. What are the cops/speed cameras like, as in are they everywhere? 3. What would it be worth over there ('97 model)? 4. Can you still only get 95 octane petrol generally? Any advise would be much appreciated. Cheers! Deano

Hello and welcome!

Firstly, the insurance depends very much on our history etc, but generally insurance is much cheaper than the UK...insuranceisn't cmopulsary here remember.

Cops and speed ameras are less volumnius here than in the UK but their mandate is to catch speeders at all costs, no discretion at all..... if you speed, pretty much you WILL get caught..... Basically, NZ has a road safety policy that says "if you don't speed, you're a safe driver" and people believe it

We have 3 grades of fuel here.... 91 Octane, 96 Octane and 98 Octane (in selected areas... but almost everywhere in Auckland.

As for importing your car, check wit the LTSA (Land transport safety authority of nZ (LTSA.govt.nz) to check whether your car is legal to import.... You can't bring in anything older than '96 and I think that's rolling.... so next year it'll be '97..... unless it's older than 20 years old...... it's an effort to keep NZ's fleet newer and up to current safety standards.... it's arse, but you'll find (search the threads on this forum) that the LTSA are firmly trying to make all fun motoring in NZ obsolete..... y can't bring TVRs here at all

[Izza]

Here's a bit of a guide I found as to what you can and cannot bring in:

www.ltsa.govt.nz/importing/frontal-impact-compliance-status.html

[Esprit]

Izza said:

Here's a bit of a guide I found as to what you can and cannot bring in: www.ltsa.govt.nz/importing/frontal-impact-compliance-status.html

Shot Izza

[kylie]

Hi there, I say no and leave the car there, it will be more trouble than its worth, just because of its age and the complications of getting it on the road here. Unless you want to bring a newish one back, which could be very worthwhile.

There is quite a big Porsche Club here in Auckland and others throughout NZ. Am sure you could pick-up another similar car here no problems.

As mentioned, try the contacts above.

96 and 98 is plentiful here too.

[Ewan Oozarmy]

Thanks for all your input everyone - there's plenty for me to think about over the coming months.

I've actually been to NZ 6 or so times now and on my last visit I popped in to a large Porsche Centre in Auckland and got the impression that they sold loads of the things but never actually saw any tearing around the motorways (or should I say motorway) the way I do here everyday, which is what got me wondering if I should bring mine over.

Maybe I'll just bring the bike instead

[Esprit]

There are a LOT of Porsches over here.... take a look around any of the "rich" suburbs and you'll see far more porsches than any other prestige brand..... Parnell Rise at Lunchtime on a friday is wall-to-wall Boxsters sometimes.... having said that, 993 Turbos are VERY rare..... compared to 996 turbos which seem to be far more common. If you want exclusivity and rarity over here, get something like a Noble... can be bought here new through the dealership or brought with you (think the LTSA thinks they still build less than 200 per year), but you'd have one of only a couple in the country.

[nztrev]

There's a 2000 993 (yes 2000) ruf turbo for sale here for 140/150k,pumping out 450kw's or something silly like that at the wheels.
I think its the supercar deal of the decade,i'd snap it up tommorrow,if I didn't have this frecken racecar bleeding me dry...

[jamieheasman]

Depending on what bike you've got I'd leave that behind too. If it's Jappa or you would like a Jappa, buy one here, they're much cheaper.

If you want to bring the Porker because you love the car and know it's a gooden then do it. If you are hoping to bring it over and making a profit, forget it!

[jamieheasman]

If you read the Porsche frontal-impact list it implies that cars built from '86 onwards could comply with the necessary standards! I don't know if the vin number could ever contain WPO at the start AND a G in the tenth position though.

[gtivr4]

I heard somewhere that NZ buys more Porsches per capita than any other country (although the highest concentration is in California I think).

[robdickinson]

Well I'm selling my RX8 before I leave

Cost a couple of K to ship it and some more to register/licence it or whatever, I can sell it here and buy a new one for little more, not that I'll be doing that, its not IMo the right car for me in ChCh when I land.

[pawsmcgraw]

according to this months mta members magazine, 151 Porsches sold this year to date in NZ!
Most in Auckland i'm guessing.I was quite suprised!

[dejoux]

robdickinson said:

Well I'm selling my RX8 before I leave Cost a couple of K to ship it and some more to register/licence it or whatever, I can sell it here and buy a new one for little more, not that I'll be doing that, its not IMo the right car for me in ChCh when I land.

I find that unusual
if an RX8 was the right car for you over there why not here.
Theyre most probably cheaper, most of the UK alternatives arnt available and those that are are far more expensive.

Will be good to see some more members down here though

[robdickinson]

Well the RX8 cant go more than 250mile son a tank of fuel , cant tow anything, wouldnt be that great for going camping, skiing or surfing with etc.


Honestly its a great single car solution for our lifestyle here, in NZ I think were likely to need two cars so one can be a load lugger/tow car (4x4 wagon type) and the 2nd can be a two seater or something.

[Matt ATR]

Interesting thread - as I've just sold my Clio 182 I was thinking about a bringing a new car with me when we move to NZ in October (99% Welly, but might be Auckland yet!), we're shipping a big container in any case and GST is less than VAT, so it shouldn't cost too much - was thinking either a Clio V6 or a VX220 Turbo?

Looking at the LTSA site, both of these should be ok to bring in?

[jamieheasman]

There are examples of both already in the country. In fact you should check out prices of said cars here before you take the leap.

On top of shipping costs you've also got GST (as you've already mentioned), MAF inspection / cleaning, any certification issues, registration etc etc. It can all add up and from what I've been told it can be a real pain in the awse! You'll also still be taking a hit on depreciation if it's new too.

I would only consider bringing something exceptionally rare or an example of a car I'd owned and known to be a good one (or one I'd spent millions upgrading!).

[robdickinson]

You avoid GST if you've owned the vehicle for one year previous to export and keep it 2 years when importing as you emigrate.

Looked like £1-2k shipping and £1k paperwork minimum to me tho, just didnt seem worht it.

[Matt ATR]

Thanks - guess I need to do some more research on NZ Clio V6 prices in particular - although new ones appear to be NZ$20k more than they are here!