Advice needed on importing car to NZ
Discussion
Hi guys, I'm after some advice on importing a classic car to New Zealand. I have recently got Residence Visas and have been thinking of taking my Jensen with me to NZ but after doing some research I'm afraid that the compliance testing may be too strict to allow a car with some small areas of rust etc through, although it passes its MOT easily enough here. I am happy that the car would pass other criteria (frontal impact, emissions etc) since it is over 20 years old and I have owned it for more than one year (exempt GST). What worries me is spending the £1500 plus to ship it there and then have a tester say it isn't good enough to get through compliance and end up at the mercy of some garage or other. Can anyone who has experience of the import system help me with some advice? Thank you.
Several of us have imported cars from the UK but I don't think any of us had rust problems.
For an ordinary WoF rust is a big problem anywhere near the chassis, door hinges, pillars etc.
Can't quite think what to suggest at this point, but a few pics are always a good start.
Where will you be living?
For an ordinary WoF rust is a big problem anywhere near the chassis, door hinges, pillars etc.
Can't quite think what to suggest at this point, but a few pics are always a good start.
Where will you be living?
Thanks for the reply. There isn't much rust as the car was restored in 2001 but as with all British classic cars there's always some rust lurking. I think I'll probably shy away from bringing it as there'll be enough cost and agro with the emigration process anyway.
I'll be living in or around Dunedin with my family as a first look see. Don't know much about NZ and not really sure where to live really. Chose the SI as we'd like to get as nice a house as we can and it seems houses in the south are cheaper-ish, however still quite surprised at the high prices considering the low population density. Schools also important. We're looking for a rental place at the moment for a few months to give us a base to start from.
I'll be living in or around Dunedin with my family as a first look see. Don't know much about NZ and not really sure where to live really. Chose the SI as we'd like to get as nice a house as we can and it seems houses in the south are cheaper-ish, however still quite surprised at the high prices considering the low population density. Schools also important. We're looking for a rental place at the moment for a few months to give us a base to start from.
However I will be looking for a suitable car for a family of four, not really clear on the types of vehicles available and what is considered good for general driving; estate, 4x4 etc. Quite fancy a Subaru Forrester, Hyundai Santa Fe, Mitsubishi Outlander or something similar. What's the reason for all the cars being automatic? Don't people like manuals? Same with diesels are they not popular for a reason?
I would leave it behind with a good friend or family member. Decide if you like it here and are going to stay. Sounds like your testing the water a little and chances are you'll like it here but you also may not. Shame if you decide to return home and have to pay to ship it back. You could then bring photo's an info of it over with you and discuss in person with the relative places here in NZ. If you decide to stay then just arrange for it to go into a container and be sent over.
Kiwi XTR2 said:
The South Island is cheaper for housing than Auckland. Anywhere is cheaper than Auckland !!!
Queenstown is well worth a look.
If Auckland is ruled out on the basis of house prices Id suggest Queenstown will be too. If Queenstown isnt dearer than Auckland itll be pretty close to it.Queenstown is well worth a look.
Depends what your into where is the best place to be. If your into Outdoorsey stuff like skiing, tramping etc its better in the south island. As youve said houses are generally cheaper (and from my experience other things like food is too). The north island is generally better business wise (dependent on the industry but in general), its also better if you like track days etc.
If your interested in Dunedin my parents house will be on the market there soon. Good area, 5 car garage etc...
Hi there, I just recently imported a car as per in my profile, arrived in Dec 07. My car is still getting complianced as it failed on rusty worn disc rotors and some quite bad rust underneath on suspension parts and rusty brake lines. So if you think your car has minimal rust and looks quite good theres no reason why you cant bring it in just give it a really thorough clean. Also if your rotors are almost new you should be fine, otherwise be preparred to fork out for new ones. My car should be home finally in a couple of weeks.
I second kiwi carguys comments about coming out for a look first. Do the full rounds of North Island & South Island. I am afraid Queenstown is priced the same as Auckland
and Wanaka is steep too. There are so many lovely citys and towns, just come over for a month or two and have a really good look.
Fire ahead with questions :-)
I second kiwi carguys comments about coming out for a look first. Do the full rounds of North Island & South Island. I am afraid Queenstown is priced the same as Auckland
and Wanaka is steep too. There are so many lovely citys and towns, just come over for a month or two and have a really good look.Fire ahead with questions :-)
It would help matters if all testing places followed similar rules, but they don't. Some places are staffed by people who are grade 1 arseholes - one place wanted a VW van from the UK stripped to its individual body panels to get the rid of "rust". Then it would have to be welded back together and repainted!
Fortunately the owners ended up at a VW specialist who passed the bodyshell without any work. Naturally it needed new disks despite the fact they wern't very old and the UK MOT was still valid.
We cheated on the latest UK car put onto the road here, used a New Zealand identity. Much easier.
Fortunately the owners ended up at a VW specialist who passed the bodyshell without any work. Naturally it needed new disks despite the fact they wern't very old and the UK MOT was still valid.
We cheated on the latest UK car put onto the road here, used a New Zealand identity. Much easier.
My 1985 TVR 350i needed the high level brake light for compliance and a new glass for a cracked driving light. Other than those, it passed. Advisory comments every WOF have been surface chassis rust and a leaky sump plug. I clean off any oil and as there are no chassis rust holes the tester is happy and it passes. So far...finger crossed.
You can read up on whats required, LTNZ website, and you can probably tick all the boxes but as I found it the rules are ambiguous and the authorities are unlikely to read it the same as you!
Most cars I suspect are auto's because they are used stock from the Japanese market.
Will you miss the Jensen if you don't bring it?
You can read up on whats required, LTNZ website, and you can probably tick all the boxes but as I found it the rules are ambiguous and the authorities are unlikely to read it the same as you!
Most cars I suspect are auto's because they are used stock from the Japanese market.
Will you miss the Jensen if you don't bring it?
Mark387mw yes I will miss it more than my family members!! However judging by some of the experiences I've had having various cars MOT'd and TUV tested it can be a very subjective area. To have the car fail and require any body work would be frightening (new immigrant ripe for the plucking). Most of the car is renewed, brakes, suspension etc but there area one or two more boarderline areas that my MOT tester said didn't matter. However if another tester thinks they can earn cash out of you then who knows. I'd feel like a lamb in the slaughter house - been there done that and paid the price.
One thing that does concern me is housing in NZ. I don't understand how the prices can be so high in a country with so much space. Do New Zealanders not resent cashed up immigrants arriving with there housing equity and driving up prices? Or do they like the fact that they can benefit from the house price virus spreading from the UK to there country. And what about the younger generation of Kiwis how will they ever hope to buy a place when competing with loaded foreigners? What will happen when the NZ market starts to go over like the UK market is now?
As to where to live I just don't know. That will be driven in part by prices and also not wanting to live in a city or an 'up and coming' area. Had enough of that crap here. One of the reasons I want to leave the UK is that the obsession with housing over the last 10 years has destroyed the futures of millions of younger people. If you could see the utterly crap rabbit boxes they're building and the obscene prices that they want for them you'd be flabbergasted. The level of personnel debt in the UK is staggering and peoples acceptance of high levels of debt as being the norm I find amazing and very sad. So I think I'd like a rural area with a bit of land around me to have some space to breath and spread out a bit. Not too concerned about the climate, weather is weather, so the SI appeals.
One thing that does concern me is housing in NZ. I don't understand how the prices can be so high in a country with so much space. Do New Zealanders not resent cashed up immigrants arriving with there housing equity and driving up prices? Or do they like the fact that they can benefit from the house price virus spreading from the UK to there country. And what about the younger generation of Kiwis how will they ever hope to buy a place when competing with loaded foreigners? What will happen when the NZ market starts to go over like the UK market is now?
As to where to live I just don't know. That will be driven in part by prices and also not wanting to live in a city or an 'up and coming' area. Had enough of that crap here. One of the reasons I want to leave the UK is that the obsession with housing over the last 10 years has destroyed the futures of millions of younger people. If you could see the utterly crap rabbit boxes they're building and the obscene prices that they want for them you'd be flabbergasted. The level of personnel debt in the UK is staggering and peoples acceptance of high levels of debt as being the norm I find amazing and very sad. So I think I'd like a rural area with a bit of land around me to have some space to breath and spread out a bit. Not too concerned about the climate, weather is weather, so the SI appeals.
Housing prices like anything else are set by what the market is prepared to pay. Right now we're coming of the back of a peak in the housing cycle and without the benefit of a crystal ball and broadly speaking property is likely to be getting cheaper or standing still going forward. The general quality of NZ housing is imho pretty poor. It has come a long way, but by European standards it falls a long way short - double glazing is rare, central heating is nearly unheard of. In saying that if you don't need to live in a main centre then prices can be reasonable.
With all due respect to those from the deep south, Dunedin is probably not where I'd chose to start out. The weather is o.k if you like short summers and long winters - I guess the Scots who founded Dunedin did... Best bet would be to rent and take some time to get out the see the country. It really is a country of contrasts so no doubt you'll find a spot that gels with you.
As far as the car goes, I don't really see the problem unless there are structural issues. Even if it needs some work, labour rates are a lot less here than the UK. I needed a reasonable amount of work done on my car when I bought it in but I don't recall that there was a deadline for getting it done. You'll find plenty of good advice in any case on reputable garages.
With all due respect to those from the deep south, Dunedin is probably not where I'd chose to start out. The weather is o.k if you like short summers and long winters - I guess the Scots who founded Dunedin did... Best bet would be to rent and take some time to get out the see the country. It really is a country of contrasts so no doubt you'll find a spot that gels with you.
As far as the car goes, I don't really see the problem unless there are structural issues. Even if it needs some work, labour rates are a lot less here than the UK. I needed a reasonable amount of work done on my car when I bought it in but I don't recall that there was a deadline for getting it done. You'll find plenty of good advice in any case on reputable garages.
iwilson thanks for that considered reply. You make some really good points. I might have to look again at our destination. I originally thought of SI and Dunedin in paticular because of cheaper housing but it really doesn't look that cheap against some other areas in the NI. If there is suitable housing in the NI then we could head there. We are running out of time though and are planning on arriving in NZ in April. It's a big move and much of the plan is still flexible at the moment.
The car doesn't have any structural problems but when I consider the costs involved in bringing such a car that only does 12 mpg on a good day, it's causing me to do some difficult soul searching!
The car doesn't have any structural problems but when I consider the costs involved in bringing such a car that only does 12 mpg on a good day, it's causing me to do some difficult soul searching!
Housing - I echo all mr wilson said above in terms of housing quality. Be prepared to see some pretty appalling houses (cold, damp, one wood burner for heating etc). Average house temperatures in NZ fall below World Health Organisaion minimum reccomendations. Immigration is only one aspect of house prices - cashed up immigrants only drive certain sectors of the market - whilst there's lots of land, most of it is too far away from the centres of population to be attractive and transportation is poor, so supply of good quality housing in good locations has been keeping prices strong. We've had several years of double digit house price inflation, and that is now coming to an end. Housing affordability for many Kiwis is still a dream with personal house ownership falling year on year, the balance being bought up by property investors either to rent, or to do up and flick on (which also pushed up prices). Unemployment, however is low, and more people fix their mortgages here than elsewhere (75% are fixed if I recall), so increasing interest rates have yet to hit mortage payers as much as countries with high % of variable mortgages.
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