Importing from the UK

[Anta]

Hi Guys,

I still haven't brought my Porsche . Can't find exactly what I want yet. I have been looking at 996's and 997's in the UK, that seem pretty good value for money.

Has anyone here ever imported a Porsche from UK?

Pro's and Con's of doing this?

It does seem very involved, but i think it would be worth it. Paying 5% Duty and 10% GST on the cost of the Porsche and getting it here, would be still cheaper than buying one here. I don't think Im missing anything, hence why Im posting this because Im not 100% sure.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

Anta

[JustJames]

AFAIK, unless you've owned the car in the UK for at least 12 months, 1989 is the cutoff date for importing a car.

Happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.

[Anta]

Really.... ok Ill have to do some more investigating....

[Anta]

Yep you are right, just been on the Aus Govt website, and I can only import pre-89 cars.

[Doish13]

Nothing wrong with pre 89.... Or pre 79 for that matter.

[sydr]

You may want to think about the salt on the roads every winter in the UK, have a look at impact bumpers - http://www.impactbumpers.com/forum/index.php?

Join the forum, run some searches on rebuilds or rust and see how many cars are afflicted. IMHO, would not want a UK car and would rather pay a little more for one from our sunny clime with a known pedigree that you can verify.

[Anta]

I know there is nothing wrong with pre-89 porsches, just personal preference I guess. I just like the 996's and 997's. Might just have to save more dollars. Saying that though, I have found some nice 87 and 88 models. What to do...

[Anta]

Ive found a 78 911SC Coupe. Its been converted to r/h drive, 105,000 kms. He only wants 20K for it, with RWC and REG. It has a really nice interior, sunroof, paint isnt perfect but its ok. The only issue is A/C doesn't work. He has owned it for 5 years, the previous owner had the conversion done. Not sure how many owners though or where it originally came from.

2 questions is I thought 20K was a bit cheap??

How would I find out history of the car?

Cheers

[randall]

I know there is nothing wrong with pre-89 porsches, just personal preference I guess. I just like the 996's and 997's. Might just have to save more dollars. Saying that though, I have found some nice 87 and 88 models. What to do...

Have you driven any 911s? Old cars (pre '89) feel very different to later (996,997) cars.

Ive found a 78 911SC Coupe. Its been converted to r/h drive, 105,000 kms. He only wants 20K for it, with RWC and REG. It has a really nice interior, sunroof, paint isnt perfect but its ok. The only issue is A/C doesn't work. He has owned it for 5 years, the previous owner had the conversion done. Not sure how many owners though or where it originally came from.

2 questions is I thought 20K was a bit cheap??

How would I find out history of the car?

Cheers

Is the car advertised online? Link?

A/C systems are known to not work very well on these cars, personally I would not be worried about that.

EDIT: I see you received good advice in the other thread.

[Coastr]

If you want the lowdown on importing cars for the uk, here it is:

- all cars must have import approval from dotars in Canberra before it gets on a boat.

- cars manufactured up until 1jan 1989 may be imported subject to said import approval

- cars manufactured after 1jan 1989 may only be imported under either a manufacturer letter of consent (used for brining in testing and promotional vehicles, you have zero chance of getting this) OR may be imported as a personal import provided that you have lived overseas with the vehicle and have used it for the twelve months. You are required to submit copies of your passport and rego/insurance records to prove continuous residence and use of the vehicle. You also have to submit bill of sale and other ownership records.

- import duties, gst and luxury car tax must be paid based on the import valuation. A lot of people misunderstand this and get it wrong. The important thing to know is that dotars approval is not approval for registration, So a vehicle straight off the boat should be valued much less than a registered vehicle with a compliance plate and a rwc. So you get a customs valuation based on that. Effectively it's worth even less than you paid for it, because it is no longer in the country where you bought it, and was able to be registered. I know a guy who effectively bragged how much he thought his newly imported mustang was worth on the import from, and ended up at least a thousand dollars poorer for it. ( not true sharpest tool in the shed, that guy, he already lost $5k toa scammer beforehand)

- import approvals can take up to about 6weeks, of you're leaving it pays to keep the car with someone who can store and transport it to the docks for you.

- once cleared through Australian quarantine and customs at the port of arrival, you have a non-registered vehicle on your hands, and you need to go through the applicable state registration hassles. This will include getting an import specialist to pass your vehicle for compliance, and they will have to send off to dotars for the actual yellow personal import plate which will be fitted under the bonnet somewhere.

- once you have done all that )which will probably include some mods like child safety harnesses) you can pay your registration, get your plates and start driving.

I would estimate for a mid,80's Porsche you would spend up to about 10k for the entire process from the uk - including your first 12 months rego. It ca vary widely from there. If you knew people and got things done cheap $5k would be possible.

There is nothing inherently wrong with a uk car, any more than there is anything inherently better than an aust delivered car. However, uk cars may have been 'driven hard and put away wet' - with all the nooks and crannies underneath a Porsche, road grime and cold wet winters can destroy a car, even if they never get driven on salted roads, even if they are galvanized cars. Unlike Australia, the majority of cars are not garaged, both because they have very small houses, and because the concept of a hot car are pretty foreign. So unless your 30 year old Porsche has been passed through the hands of wealthy owners in the country with a spare barn, and have treated the Porsche as a summer car, this will always be an issue. On the plus side there are far more examples around... And summer-driven Porsches do exist (although, this claim, like it's sister the 'California car', need to be taken with a grain of salt).

So I would say, if you want to take the gamble on a pre -1989, then domyourresearch and go for it. There are many used Porsche specialists in the uk, and good cars do come up, and due to the exchange rate are very reasonably priced. Ifmyou're planning on going to the uk for a working holiday or similar, buy yourself a 996 gt3 or turbo the day after you get off the plane, ad don't leave it too late in case the weather gets to you and you want to bail early. Or, if you have a son/daughter in the uk on a working holiday, it's a great chance to take a holiday, buy a great car in their name, go over to the continent of a bit of autobahning, the put the car back in storage for 12 months, and have your offspring sign the paperwork to send it back home again. Don't treat it as a money ,asking venture- it's unlikely you will, because the market reflects the costs and risks of importing already, but it can be a good way to get a car you Iike. And if you personally go there to choose, the nurburgring is but a days drive away from the uk.

Ask me how I know

[dwae01]

If you want the lowdown on importing cars for the uk, here it is:

- all cars must have import approval from dotars in Canberra before it gets on a boat.

- cars manufactured up until 1jan 1989 may be imported subject to said import approval

- cars manufactured after 1jan 1989 may only be imported under either a manufacturer letter of consent (used for brining in testing and promotional vehicles, you have zero chance of getting this) OR may be imported as a personal import provided that you have lived overseas with the vehicle and have used it for the twelve months. You are required to submit copies of your passport and rego/insurance records to prove continuous residence and use of the vehicle. You also have to submit bill of sale and other ownership records.

- import duties, gst and luxury car tax must be paid based on the import valuation. A lot of people misunderstand this and get it wrong. The important thing to know is that dotars approval is not approval for registration, So a vehicle straight off the boat should be valued much less than a registered vehicle with a compliance plate and a rwc. So you get a customs valuation based on that. Effectively it's worth even less than you paid for it, because it is no longer in the country where you bought it, and was able to be registered. I know a guy who effectively bragged how much he thought his newly imported mustang was worth on the import from, and ended up at least a thousand dollars poorer for it. ( not true sharpest tool in the shed, that guy, he already lost $5k toa scammer beforehand)

- import approvals can take up to about 6weeks, of you're leaving it pays to keep the car with someone who can store and transport it to the docks for you.

- once cleared through Australian quarantine and customs at the port of arrival, you have a non-registered vehicle on your hands, and you need to go through the applicable state registration hassles. This will include getting an import specialist to pass your vehicle for compliance, and they will have to send off to dotars for the actual yellow personal import plate which will be fitted under the bonnet somewhere.

- once you have done all that )which will probably include some mods like child safety harnesses) you can pay your registration, get your plates and start driving.

I would estimate for a mid,80's Porsche you would spend up to about 10k for the entire process from the uk - including your first 12 months rego. It ca vary widely from there. If you knew people and got things done cheap $5k would be possible.

There is nothing inherently wrong with a uk car, any more than there is anything inherently better than an aust delivered car. However, uk cars may have been 'driven hard and put away wet' - with all the nooks and crannies underneath a Porsche, road grime and cold wet winters can destroy a car, even if they never get driven on salted roads, even if they are galvanized cars. Unlike Australia, the majority of cars are not garaged, both because they have very small houses, and because the concept of a hot car are pretty foreign. So unless your 30 year old Porsche has been passed through the hands of wealthy owners in the country with a spare barn, and have treated the Porsche as a summer car, this will always be an issue. On the plus side there are far more examples around... And summer-driven Porsches do exist (although, this claim, like it's sister the 'California car', need to be taken with a grain of salt).

So I would say, if you want to take the gamble on a pre -1989, then domyourresearch and go for it. There are many used Porsche specialists in the uk, and good cars do come up, and due to the exchange rate are very reasonably priced. Ifmyou're planning on going to the uk for a working holiday or similar, buy yourself a 996 gt3 or turbo the day after you get off the plane, ad don't leave it too late in case the weather gets to you and you want to bail early. Or, if you have a son/daughter in the uk on a working holiday, it's a great chance to take a holiday, buy a great car in their name, go over to the continent of a bit of autobahning, the put the car back in storage for 12 months, and have your offspring sign the paperwork to send it back home again. Don't treat it as a money ,asking venture- it's unlikely you will, because the market reflects the costs and risks of importing already, but it can be a good way to get a car you Iike. And if you personally go there to choose, the nurburgring is but a days drive away from the uk.

Ask me how I know

Very useful information for someone considering an import.  I am still a bit confused as to the method used to determine the import duties.  Is it the value of the car in the UK or the value of the car in Australia?  There could be a big difference.

[Coastr]

Very useful information for someone considering an import.  I am still a bit confused as to the method used to determine the import duties.  Is it the value of the car in the UK or the value of the car in Australia?  There could be a big difference.

If your customs clearance agent is worth their salt, it will be neither. It will be the value you say it is, and you should say its low. The agent will know what you can get away with.

You have to remember the value of an unregisterable car in Australia. This is less than the market value of a registered, complianced car, and less than the value of the car in the uk. Until you get it approved for registration, it can't be driven on the road so isn't worth much. You have to remember that registration and import are two totally different govt authorities.

In short, the import value is whatever you think you can get away with.

[Rick62]

Hi, I was going to post this very question, so thanks for the advice. I have an additional question, has anyone tried to import a post-89 car under the "special vehicle" register method, perhaps a specific model or variant not released in Australia. I'd like to get a manual 993 and was wondering if there was a special variant for it, say a RSR clubsport or targa, for example, not released here. Hence you'd have some chance of getting it approved and added to the register.

[Coastr]

Hi, I was going to post this very question, so thanks for the advice. I have an additional question, has anyone tried to import a post-89 car under the "special vehicle" register method, perhaps a specific model or variant not released in Australia. I'd like to get a manual 993 and was wondering if there was a special variant for it, say a RSR clubsport or targa, for example, not released here. Hence you'd have some chance of getting it approved and added to the register.

 

You have no hope.

 

This loophole is for the grey import industry (think skylines and things like that) - a model variant like a targa is no chance at all.  You have to have a workshop that has taken the time to get type approval for the specific vehicle in question.  There is zero chance of this happening with porsche.

 

You can also forget the exemption for gettting manufacturer approval to bring a vehicle in - this is something the manufacturers themselves use to bring in demo and testing vehicles.

 

You have two options:

1) Buy a post 1989 car and live with it for a year (or find a close friend who can do this for you)

2) Buy a pre 1989 car

 

Forget everything else.  Sorry to be blunt but I wasted lots of online and phone hours trying to find a way around, and there is none.

[wasserkuhl]

Here is the positive.

 

It keeps all the Post 89 Values far more stable.

 

Not that I have a Post 89 Porsche anymore.

[Rick62]

Blunt works for me !  Thanks for the reply.  I do have a brother living in England, I could buy it for him, he drives it for a year, but how do I then get it over here ? Unfortunately he's not planning on coming back to Oz for quite some years, by then, a 997 will be a classic !

[Coastr]

Blunt works for me !  Thanks for the reply.  I do have a brother living in England, I could buy it for him, he drives it for a year, but how do I then get it over here ? Unfortunately he's not planning on coming back to Oz for quite some years, by then, a 997 will be a classic !

 

As long as your brother is Australian it would be easy enough.  He just has to move back to oz - if he decides to re-move back to the UK straight after he gets back, not much that customs can do about that.  You're free to sell a car as soon as it lands in the country if you import it.

 

So your brother buys the car.  He drives the car (they want to see evidence of mileage, though how much is never specified).  He gets an import approval and ships the car to australia.  He registers the car.  At some point in the future he sells it to you.  All totally legal as long as it is his paperwork.

 

What the smart thing to do in this situation is to fly to the UK for a holiday, buy a porsche, take it for an extended driving holiday - the nordschleife is a popular choice - then return the car to the UK.  Put it in long term storage - plenty of people who can do this.  Wait for the 12 months to be up, fill in the paperwork, get the import approval, get your storage guy to ship it to the docks and get it shipped.  Pick it up from the docks, get the import plate, get it registered, get it insured, drive it around.

 

Note this plan takes lots of spare time and spare cash to put into a car you're not going to see for 14-15 months, plus a relative or trustworthy friend.

[Rick62]

thanks, much appreciated. Don't think the bro' will mind driving it around the block (?) once a week.......

[Kelly]

As far as moving back is concerned you have to prove that your going to be resuming residence in Australia. I.e. letter from new employer, lease on a new property etc.