Importing a car from the UK

munday1609, Sep 29, 7:31am
Hi All,I'm sure this has been covered before,I searched for related posts but didn't find anything specific,only imports from the US.

My father has a 2002 Audi TT that he's getting rid of back in the UK for a pittance,I'd be keen to import it over as it would be 70% cheaper to buy his than buy the same car here.

Can anyone recommend a decent freight company to get the job done with minimal hassle!

Thanks

intrade, Sep 29, 7:38am
euro 4 minumum now for any petrol and diesel . do your research befor any attempt. shipping i would guess at 5 grand from uk inside shipping container . i useddanzas ,cosco shipping agent if you can drive to port its probably the best option , Someone might have cheaper options to have it maybe shipped with other cars on a special car only fraighter. dont know if theyexist but would pay to check . I think they exist from japan to nz

stevo2, Sep 29, 6:56pm
It is becoming quite common now for dealers to import from the UK. As long as they are late model and havent spent to much time on their salted roads I think it will be a good thing for NZ.

kimbo88, Sep 29, 7:53pm
The 2002 Audi will not meet our emissions standards, and so is unable to be complied here.The only possible way around it may have been if you had been living over there yourself and already owned the car and were importing a personal effect.Even then, I'm not sure whether they exempt the emissions requirement (haven't had time or need to do the research), but it definitely cannot be complied here as just another import.Have a good look through the information on the NZTA website.

munday1609, Sep 29, 10:49pm
Interesting comments,thank you for your suggestions.Kimbo - thank you for your advice,I will check before importing.

kimbo88, Sep 30, 9:11am
Be particularly mindful of the emissions coding - it has to be the 3 letter code, and not the old 2 letter code.It appears that most of the Audis did not comply to our current import requirements until some time in the 2006 year, where they eventually had the 3 letter designation ABA.The older code (GH) is non compliable here in NZ, and it would seem that most of them were still GH coding in both 2005 and into the early parts of 2006 by the looks of it.The last thing you want to do is to get it all the way here and find out that it's just an expensive paperweight on arrival, suitable only for breaking up for parts.

zak1998, Oct 1, 3:11am
Can't to old to bring into NZ you won't get a rego or wof because of the age of the car

andrewph, Oct 1, 4:53am
Also they still salt the roads over there during winter to break up the ice. So a rust check is very important. Ive had to replace a full set of brake lines on a 5yr old range rover.

nzfatie, Oct 1, 5:00am
Waste of time importing a used car from the UK, as anything older than 5 years won't meet emissions standards and a newer car will cost $500 plus to transport to the ship in Southampton, then $2500 ocean freight, 15% GST, $1500 unloading and $1000 compliance/rego.IF nothing needs to be done. You can't claim any purchase GST (VAT) from the UK either as no VAT on used cars there.

bentleyboy, Oct 1, 7:00am
Everything that's been said is correct, it's not a cheap exercise to import a used car from UK, probably enough (with this car) to make the one in your local dealer's yard look cheap - if you were allowed to register it (which you won't be YET).Can you wait ten years! Once a car is twenty years old, you can import and register whatever you like.

nzfatie, Oct 1, 8:14am
Then you hit the rust nightmare!
With their salty winter roads, just about every 20 year old car has had rust repairs done underneath.
Then when the car gets to NZ an engineers report is necessary and usually re-welding and re-patching is required for compliance = big $$$ hence seeing non-complied classic UK cars being listed on TM.