Importing a VF2 Holden Commodore

[Syndrome280]

Hi folks, I'm hopeful someone has done this and has some words of wisdom. I am going to pose the same question to a couple of specialist importers soon, but wanted to see if anyone here had done it and could give me some advice.

I'm a UK resident and am looking at take a few months trip to Oz next year. While I'm there I'd love to buy and import a 2015-17 VF2 Commodore SS Redline Wagon to replace my very capable but slightly joyless Cupra Estate.
As I understand it you need to import the vehicle and have it converted (MPH clocks and fog light) for UK use and get an IVA; however I'm told that HM customs can be a bit arsey if the vehicle is less than 10 years old or you haven't had the car for a significant period of time in Oz (1 year+) before returning to the UK. I believe a lot of documentation might be required to prove certain safety features of the car are built to the same standard, such as seat belts, airbags etc.

Searching some older threads, I know some contacts at Vauxhall used to import HSV vehicles but as we are talking about a preregistered 2nd hand car and Vauxhall is no longer under GM control I would have thought that door is shut, as well as any helpful documentation they might have provided regarding safety specs before the divorce.

Does anyone have any advice to reduce the amount of headaches I believe I will have trying to import this vehicle into the UK and have it approved for the UK roads?
If anyone has had any experiences with specific importers for similar scenarios I'd be keen to hear them.

[dsmith1990]

I'm sure someone here imported a white ute/Maloo a couple of years ago...unless it was bought via Vauxhall.

Might be worth asking on the facebook group too (VXR8 / Monaro owners with Vx-Enthusiast). A quick search brings up a member on there who imported his Maloo from Aus but it was owned from new. Apparently VOSA accepted the compliance letter from HSV being a 2016 model & euro 5 compliant...

[Nickyboy]

I was looking at exactly the same thing recently, not that i could afford it but out of interest. The main sticking point seemed to be the model report you need from Holden, they are apparently hard to get hold of, more so now that Holden as they were don't exist anymore.

[gareth_r]

IIRC...

If you have lived abroad for at least 12 months, and have owned the car for at least 6 months, then it is a "personal import", and requires the "basic" IVA test, rather than a "normal" IVA test.

If the car is more than 12 months old or has done over a certain mileage, then it requires the "basic" IVA test.

The basic IVA test requires less documentation than the normal test.

The IVA test is not required for vehicles that are at least 10 years old.

There's a lot of information on the Government web site about both the import process and the IVA process.

[vxr2010]

Have a chat with Dave at walkinshaw as i believe they used to import and therefore may have model reports for the iva

[vxr2010]

Have a chat with Dave at walkinshaw as i believe they used to import and therefore may have model reports for the iva

[Syndrome280]

Lots of really good advice, thank very much guys

The part about the basic IVA for a vehicle that had done 3,000km had passed me by I must admit, should reduce some pain if it doesn't need the normal one.

I'll try join the FB group tonight and have a word with Walkinshaw for any info on model reports. The model report is the biggest hurdle from what I can see as Holden customer service wasn't known to be the most verbose from what I'm told, additionally I'm guessing now the VF2 is out of production and everything is changing to European imports they'll be even less inclined to indulge me.

[gareth_r]

I think there's a PDF on the gov site that contains a table comparing the basic IVA requirements with those for the normal IVA.

[hammo19]

My UTE was already here but unregistered. I tried to do it myself but the application kept getting rejected by the DVLA. I had Ship My Car in Milton Keynes help they were most excellent.