Getting a car into OZ
 

After more advice!?!

We are just about to ship our Land Rover to Perth and I wondered if anyone has advice on how clean the car has to be, or if anyone knows a place in Bangkok to clean a car to the correct standards?

We have wooden shelving in the back of the Landy (treated and painted), does anyone know if this is ok??

How clean is clean?

Thanks

Simon
Trek to Oz

Hi Simon, we shipped from East Timor to Darwin and got through the AQUIS inspection on the first go (according to the shipping company not many people do). If you fail the inspection you have to hire a cleaning bay at the port of entry and don't expect it to be cheap. If the vechicle is too bad it will be sent back to where it came from at your expense. There was a few CAT heavy buldozers being sent back to Singapore from the quarantine area we were in. I've also heard of someone being sent back to India with a landrover. The treated timber should be fine, we had a good few bits which were fine even some untreated plywood which they were OK with. As for how clean, officialy I think its "as new" but in practical terms seeds is what they are most worried about (but seeds can be very small). For us that was about 150hours of cleaning, including removing the air filter and radiator, all trim pannels (dash, door cards etc.) we hired some space in a garage where we had access to a ramp, power washer etc. The container also had to be cleaned and the vechicle put straight inside from the ramp. A complete pain in the arse. maybe we over did it but at least we didn't have to re do it. Talking to other people, they got in a lot easier from South America through Brisbane with a camper. Apparently there are some plants in Timor that AQUIS are particularily worried about, so you might have an easier time.

Good luck

Mal

No water and no food inside the vehicle is a good start.
No visible signs of dust or seeds, they wont pull trims unless they think something is sus - drug dogs get agitated!! Put a couple of bug strips inside as well.
Exterior - clean - means no caked on mud or dust, oil or grease with caked on mud around the swivels or at grease points. Top of chassis rails blasted clean. Take off mudflaps and clean the clamps.
Engine bay - empty the washer resevoir of water, no mud or dust, reverse wash the radiator to make sure seeds are flushed out.
Wood is not a good idea - plywood is ok because the phenolic glues kill anything trying to bore in.
4x4s attract more attention underneath - chassis drain holes need to run clean if the stick a hose inside the chassis - very hard to clean as mud can dry in transit and then gets flushed out.

Thailand is foot and mouth disease endemic so you may still get a disenfectant wash and pay for it - $125 to $250.

Costs can pile up rapidly especially if your vehicle has to be transported to and from AQIS inspection and cleaning sites. Find out the arrangements that you have with the shipping company to have AQIS inspections - containers are often removed to an off port warehouse and if it fails inspection then you go back to the port for cleaning. RoRo wharves always have cleaning stations and you get away with a short drive and high pressure clean.

Always be present at inspections - you know what you are paying for and that the job has been done. There are commercial pressures to make use of the cleaning stations operated by the stevedores, dishonest clearing agents will charge for cleans/transport that has not been done.

Goto the AQIS website and read up on all the things that are not allowed into Aus. then make sure the vehicle does not have any.

going into Perth(Fremantle) dont worry to much about how clean your vehicle is they will want it cleaned anyway , cost me Aus$150 a good few years ago for my 110 csw and they didnt clean it very well but issued the certificate which was the main thing from my point of view . They transported it about 5 miles to clean it ? I shiiped a Unimog in a few years later same carryon but was aus$220 . That was clean as a whistle having been steam cleaned before leaving UK .

Bangkok shipping/car cleaning
 

Many thanks for all the help, We spent a total of 96 man hrs cleaning so we will see what the customs guys say. We ran out of time really, could of spent another week to be honest.

Anyone wanting to do this in Thailand should give Tim (details below) a bell as he was very helpfully organising our shipping and giving us a garage to clean the car for a week for free!!

Expat Motors
Mobile: 081 870 6364
Office: 02 398 6747


Thanks

Simon
Trek to Oz

Dont forget to post your experiences with the customs and AQIS clearing process. It will help others by providing up to date experiences.

No extra cleaning required! A miracle, think it’s just the luck of the draw. The car was transported to our agents yard and inspected there. We were not present as the sun was shining and were enjoying the beach so can’t really explain why we got such a good result. The 96 hours cleaning in Bangkok clearly were worth doing.

Once you get the car back you have to get it checked by the South Australian Government at a testing centre and then registered, it all cost about $200. 3rd party insurance is included in the registration and we were told this covers all of Australia, not 100% sure on that but we are going to wing it and play dumb if we get asked.

Good luck to anyone trying to get their car/bike cleared in Fremantle, Craig at c.rowan@iosa.com.au is a great agent and sorted everything very easily.

Good news on the clearance.

The States have reciprocal acceptance of reg and third party - just make sure you have the paperwork with you at all times.