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The Price of vehicles in Australia (bikes and cars) - outpricing importing UK to Oz The Price of vehicles in Australia (bikes and cars) - outpricing importing UK to Oz
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  #1  
Old 21 May 2007
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The Price of vehicles in Australia (bikes and cars) - outpricing importing UK to Oz
Am I missing something here?

I have been trawling Trading Post - Buying and Selling Goods Online Australia wide to price cars in Oz (I am moving over there in a couple of months), but have to keep my eyes from popping out my head every time I do the conversions - vehicles are a LOT more expensive than the equivalent ones in the UK. So much so that I may end up saving a few grand by buying a car here and sending it over to Oz (?).

I have read through the customs website and done the sums. On a car picked up in the UK for under £2000, even after customs duties and shipping, I could save myself over £1000 compared to buying an equivalent vehicle in Australia.

This doesn't seem right.
Added to this is the fact that, in most cases, the milage on a UK car will be a lot lower than the 100s of kms that are clocked up on Auzzie ones.

Another option that jumped out at me from the import documentation, is possibly sending over an Australian made car, which will make customs even less!! (let the researching begin - it's a long shot, but it will make work a lot easier these last few months)

What am I missing here?
Why are vehicles so expensive in Australia??! :confused1:
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Old 22 May 2007
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I think what you are missing is the fact that unless you have owned and used the vehicle for at least 12 months before shipping it, you won't be able to import it into Australia. Vehicles are more expensive there because of protection given to the car industry by the government.In the last few years they have banned Japanese imports on the pretext that they were unsafe. The real reason is that the prices were much better than the local dealers could offer.
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Old 22 May 2007
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Depends on what your after, I looked at the TTR250, in ausand ship to UK or but over there, at the time I was going to be $2,000 AUS in front to buy here and ship over, with insurance etc for 3 months in the UK.. (about 2 years ago),
The other side is Australia only has around 20 million people, with lots of land in between everyone, so the supply demand side is limited, and the cost of just getting stuff here, then aound to everyone is higher...
The pound is soooo much higher as well when your coming this way, also Carne etc, again it all depends on what you want to do.
another 2 site to google, Bikepoint and Bikesales, there ok as well.
cheers al
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Old 26 May 2007
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Exclamation private vehicle import
If you do decide to purchase a vehicle overseas and import it to Australia you should also make sure that it complies with ADR (Australian Design Rules, I think). Some vehicles, especially motorcycles, can be expensive, too difficult, or both, to modifiy and get that all important compliance plate.

I know a couple of guys who imported secondhand bikes from Japan and found that the cost of obtaining compliance was in excess of what they would have paid for an equivalent secondhand vehicle over here.
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Old 27 May 2007
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We thought exactly the same when we arrived here in Oz a couple of years ago, the prices are outrageous compared to the UK and worse if you are used to mainland European prices. All we could get for an ancient Fiesta was 100 euros, then had to part with $4000 for an aging Hyundi!!

Not sure I would go through the hassle of importing a car - was bad enough with 2 bikes, but if you do, make sure whatever you choose is available here. We nearly shipped a Ford Focus estate, they don't exist here, so would have been a bad idea!

Good luck with whatever you do,

Sian..
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Old 27 May 2007
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Instead of shipping the vehicle you want, why not ship something easier. I am thinking maybe a vintage model. It would be much easier to import a vintage vehicle into europe, maybe it is the same for australia. Then swap it there for what you want. So you need to choose something popular in OZ. You will have to research the numbers yourself to see if this could work.
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