Hey everyone..

well i just wanted to know what is involved in importing a car from NZ.. I thought about Subaru Impreza, Lexus IS200 or even a BMW and looked at the models that are driven in australia so there be no extra charge or insurance if i get a different model not driven in australia..

But yeh, how much would freight cost, and how would the insurance company go about insuring the car?.. What else is involved in the importation process?.. Cause i don't know all the costs and want to make sure before i get the car..


Cheers, Ash

You can't just import any car, there are plenty of restrictions, especially on newer models that you seem to be interested in.

For a start, if a car has been sold here locally, you cannot import the equivalent overseas version unless you have owned it yourself overseas for more than 12 months.

If you want to give me some more details on what model/year car you are interested in importing I can give you some more details, if it's an allowed model or not.

Importing a car is fairly painless process if you understand it. Generally it would be something like this:

Arrange import approval with DOTARS.
Arrange shipping
Ship car
When car is landed, arrange payment of customs, GST duties, wharf fees, customs/quarantine inspection. Pay for shipping too!
Obtain vehicle compliance for state/national requirements (depends on the car).
Register car.

its not just owning the car for a year oversea's, you cant just buy it and garage it there for a year, you also have to prove you were in the counrty for the year. a rough cost id say maybe 5 grand to get it over here, if the cars more the $au 57009 then your up for luxery car tax as well.

Bit hard to put a price on the cost, especially since there's so many variables.