Importing a car from the UK ? Be very careful !
Discussion
I have just been through the exercise of planning to import a 1984 Ferrari Mondial from the UK. A beautiful looking car, great duco, low mileage etc, but thought I had better get an independent assessment before I spent all the money. The car was fifteen thousand pounds sterling, which by the time I actually got behind the wheel in Oz would have ben about $35ooo , but such a great looking car.....or so I thought...until I saw the photographs of the underneath of the car and read the report. Tryes were stuffed, rust in the sills and extensive rust underneath apart from various things that needed attention.Probably would not have received Australian compliance when it got here. I may have been out of pocket some $600 but better than $35000 !I have since purchased a 308 GTS in NSW admittedly at twice the price but the car has been checked and I wil have a great car and peace of mind. So if you're thinking of importing get someone to check the car for you ....it may save you many thousands of dollars. Still waiting for my import license !!!!!
I'm afraid a 28 year old car without rust is pretty rare in the UK. The climate and salted roads kill them fairly fast and Italians were always particularly susceptible with little regard for breeding.
I'm told Germany can be pretty grim too as their winters can get worse than ours..
I'm told Germany can be pretty grim too as their winters can get worse than ours..
vetrof....yes the Ferrari I was all set to import was similar....fantastic on the outside, buy underneath the photographs wer a nightmare....rust ! rust ! and more rust. I don't know if it would have passed Australian compliance, but I do know it would have cost many more thousands of dollars to bring it uo to scratch to the point where it was financially unviable.
rotorheadcase said:
The guy who looks after my Maserati has seen a number of UK imported cars Maserati, Ferrari, where the entire sub frame is rotten despite an otherwise reasonable looking exterior. The question begs, how are these complianced by the RAWS workshops?
Neil
they dont usually get past customs on the dock and have to be exported or destroyed. Neil
If pre-1989 there are no regulations on state of vehicles (projects etc) and then its down to the RAWS shops themselves.. as alot of RAWS shops import their own vehicles ...............
Hi Colin, just picked up this thread, was this the blue Mondial in Devon? I was thinking of going to look at it then it showed up as reserved, I guess by yourself? So the report was less than favourable, just shows how hard it is to judge a car from photo's, but at least you found out first. Not so keen to view it now...
Gassing Station | Australia | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff