I am interested in importing a Volvo from the UK. These and audi are almost like holdens and falcons here. The cheap work horse. I have a mate that can buy one on my behalf. What is the likely expense to freight it over and get it on the road here. Any advice appreciated.
Have done a search for importing cars on old threads but they are largelyaround Japan and the US.
grangies,
May 19, 9:35pm
Have you looked into how many cheap secondhand Volvo's are here in NZ already!
franc123,
May 19, 9:41pm
If you do that you also need your mate to be jacking up a parts supply for it as well, Volvo parts here have always been shockingly expensive and hard to get because these vehicles have never been popular here generally speaking and nobody provides decent backup for them.
jenny188,
May 19, 10:13pm
Rust in english cars is still a problem, as some are run on salted roads over winter. Buy wisely. Cost about the same as Japan. Boat travels nearly same distance and same costs here for landing and certs.
kazbanz,
May 19, 10:18pm
Hi Salbern- Heres some real life figures for you I've simplified a bit but itll give you an idea. Freight$3500-$4000 GST$15% of origonal purchase price Compliance $450.00 First rego$350.00 (based on 2.5l ish engine)
Other costs you may encounter. 1) speedo conversion mph-km/h)$1500.00--It MAY be cheaper to have it done in the UK 2) underbody rust treatment$750.00 --$5000.00 (more likely to be the $750.00)
If this is a one off purchase you MAY be best served going to the UK yourself The rental companies of course run volvo's as do many fleetsbut the REAL deals are the elderly couple who simply cannot afford to run a big car anymore.To get those deals you need to actually be there in the uk. Nothing screams to old folk SCAMlike a call from the other side of the world. I must add that it doesn't "work" usually if you are concidering anything older than 4 years old AND do be aware that the local NEW car dealerships are aware of these "grey" imports from europe and are starting to adjust pricing to suit.
kazbanz,
May 19, 10:21pm
I want YOUR freight companies phone number
salbern,
May 19, 10:49pm
Thanks very much everybody. A mate will purchase and arrange freight. I am aware of the salted roads but he lives in the South where it does not get as cold - therefore less salt.
The price of 2nd hand volvos here is still all over the place - there does not seem to be much sense - some are significantly more expensive than others for very little difference.
Is it compulsory that they are converted to KPH instead of MPH!
clark20,
May 19, 11:40pm
Neighbor just purchased a 330D 2009 from a dealer, fresh from lease in the UK. Real nice, goes well (had better diesel over there). The speedo could be changed from mph to kmh by getting into the engineering mode on the ecu, Volvo may do the same
edit remember those old decals we (my parents) had to put on MPH speedos with kmh markings!
kazbanz,
May 19, 11:44pm
Nope its not .But from the pov of convenience and resale it makes sense to do it.
kazbanz,
May 19, 11:46pm
MMM not to my knowledge.Theres a bit of a trade in MPH/KM!H speedo's in uk/europe so that suggests its not changeable
mugenb20b,
May 19, 11:48pm
Japan is much much closer to NZ than UK is.
esprit,
May 20, 12:04am
All UK card will be more rusty than NZ new equivalents, the UK environment is far harsher on cars than the NZ climate. Rough comparison would be with northern Japan where most of the Jap rustbuckets come from.
kazbanz,
May 20, 1:01am
WHY!--Uk cars have SS exhausts and extra rust treatment underneath. So YES there is a higher risk but often they are perfect. Also southern english cars are less exposed to road salting
martin11,
May 20, 1:07am
As from 1/1/2012 the car must comply with the new emmision standard EURO 4
martin11,
May 20, 1:10am
Copy of some info I found .
Everything on car or every system is manufactured to a certain individual standard. Tyres, brakes, lights, glazing, mirrors, seats, seatbelts. Seatbelt anchorages, emissions, frontal impact, external projections, etc.etc has its own standard. The importer must provide evidence of these standards. A Statement of Compliance is a document issued by the homologation department of the manufacturer that lists all these standards individually. They are very time consuming to produce, so the cost quite a bit.
Good luck you will need to check it out carefully
kazbanz,
May 20, 1:21am
nahh thats not an issue unless bringing in certain high end sports cars. Then the Austalasian branch of the company seems to be "unable" to find the information needed. I've never had issues with anything mainstream
kazbanz,
May 20, 1:23am
Euro4 is old hat for newer cars. -ie less than 5 years old and IMO its not economical to bring over anything any older
tgray,
May 20, 1:55am
As someone who imports the odd car from the states, I would rather pay a bit more and buy one locally if available, than try and save a bit by importing from overseas. For most cars, it simply makes no economic sense, and even when it does, it is often not worth the risk and stress involved. Unless it's a high end car, I seriously wouldn't bother.
kazbanz,
May 20, 2:12am
Salberna small alaem bell is ringing--what year and model volvo are you looking at!
nzeva,
May 20, 3:29am
If it's less than 20 years old, it has to comply with our latest emissions and frontal crash protection laws, meaning you'll need a certificate of compliance from the local Volvo agent = big $$ even if it complies! Better to buy one here. Shipping isn't so expensive, been quoted 1300 pounds by shipit.co.uk, roll on, roll off Southampton to Ak, so importing a classic car can be viable, For example you can buy a TR7 for $2500 in England (NZ new ones are $10,000+ on TradeMe!) but then you can run into rust problems with the imports.
mr_bond,
May 20, 3:41am
I've just done exactly this with 2008 VW, Kazbanz costs are about right.
I had a good look under my car with a mechanic (had it serviced properly when it got here) and there is a little bit or surface style rust on some of the suspension/exhaust bits but the body itself looks pretty well perfect.I'm looking to having these bits repaired at some stage in the next 12 months and costs don't look too serious at this stage.
My car has a digital odometre and a speedo that shows miles and kms.A VW is a german car and in europe they uses kms so makes sense to have both.VW place plugged in their computer and switched the odometer to display kms in less than a minute.I do have an issue that it came into the country displaying miles, so customs noted the mileage at the border and now carjam looks like I did lots of kms before registering it!Would get it done in UK if you can.
I brought through a dealer, and would happily do it again.Would probably go for a main-ish dealer though as my guy just felt a bit dodgy and I was a little worried he was going to rip me off (he didn't).
Good luck!
tgray,
May 20, 4:12am
well done. Do you think you saved money on bringing it in!
kazbanz,
May 20, 5:27am
hey mr bond--how did it stack up price wise compared to a kiwi new one!
thejazzpianoma,
May 20, 5:35am
European cars are pretty much all galvanised in terms of the bodywork. What corrosion you get is generally confined to ancillary parts, brackets, bolts etc.
Its worth considering a brand new vehicle from the U.K as well. Those sometimes work out surprisingly cheap.
Diesel is also generally the way to go. Sought after here in terms of resale and in most cases much cheaper to run. Driving experience from a modern diesel is usually equal or sometimes even better than the petrol equivalent.
mgmad,
May 20, 6:24am
Having done this recently, I would only bring a car in if it was hard/impossible to find in NZ, and do all your homework regarding compliancing and impact standards etc first.
Kaz is right on most stuff, but I'm pretty certain the UK market cars don't get SS exhausts or extra rust protection underneath, it's no different to Europe in that respect. Plenty of cars get SS systems fitted aftermarket, once the factory system has rotted away.
I would say it is less likely than 5 or 10 years ago that you will be importing a rust bucket, but can still have real problems. The car we brought in had done 11,500 miles in 5 years, and still had quite a bit of surface rust on subframes, suspension etc which I spent about 10 hours with a rotary wire brush removing.
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