Help - How to import car from South Africa and reliable vehicle inspection

[mullep2]

I am looking at purchasing and importing a Porsche 911SC or 911s (2.7L) from South Africa to Australia and need advise/help with the following:

• Does any know a reliable Porsche mechanic in South Africa who I can arrange to inspect the car around Pretoria? 
• What is the safest way to purchase the car and make payment to make sure it don't get ripped off.
• What is the realistic cost of importing a car by the time it's cleared customs - if anyone has a rough breakdown of cost it would appreciated. (dollar amount /percentage after import)
• Can you import an outlaw or do AUS customs make it difficult with the modifications.
• If you have an experienced importer who can assist in South Africa please share contact details.

Any information or help with the above would be appreciated. Thanks, Paul. 

[TwoHeadsTas]

3 minutes ago, mullep2 said:

I am looking at purchasing and importing a Porsche 911SC or 911s (2.7L) from South Africa to Australia and need advise/help with the following:

• Does any know a reliable Porsche mechanic in South Africa who I can arrange to inspect the car around Pretoria? 
• What is the safest way to purchase the car and make payment to make sure it don't get ripped off.
• What is the realistic cost of importing a car by the time it's cleared customs - if anyone has a rough breakdown of cost it would appreciated. (dollar amount /percentage after import)
• Can you import an outlaw or do AUS customs make it difficult with the modifications.
• If you have an experienced importer who can assist in South Africa please share contact details.

Any information or help with the above would be appreciated. Thanks, Paul. 

Greg Bailey BSP Autosport (Melbourne) may be able to assist or make recommendations.  He is South African with family still there in the Porsche / Motorsport world

[OBRUT]

Do your research VERY carefully on the builder if you’re ordering a hotrod from SA.  
 

[Zelrik911]

23 hours ago, TwoHeadsTas said:

Greg Bailey BSP Autosport (Melbourne) may be able to assist or make recommendations.  He is South African with family still there in the Porsche / Motorsport world

Good suggestion on Greg.

For the other parts of your query, talk to this guy in WA about costs etc::

Geoff Risbey  Manager ~ Prestige Motorsport 

Phone:0418 944 253
Email:sales@prestigemotorsport.com.au

 

The import rules are evolving so its hard to keep up with what makes sense to import/or not.

 

 

 

[rafikdous]

I would ask why you want to import from SA? Is it cheaper or you have a specific car in mind? It doesn't sound like you found a specific car. In this case I go back to the first question. 

I ask because I was considering importing a 356 PreA from SA. The car wasn't cheap, it was reasonably priced. There were too many challenges. Transferring the money, shipping but above all peace of mind. After negotiating for weeks, the seller tells me the car didn't have a chassis number and he didn't know why.

Unlike shipping from common routes like USA or Europe, shipping was quite expensive and I believe there are extra steps in SA to obtain export approval to get the car to leave the country. 

I decided to walk away. Wasn't worth all the hassle and risks for me.

[Shedpest]

 I second the above.

I /we imported 7 motorcycles for SA around 6 years ago, it was certainly a little stressful, they did get here but it was an ordeal.

Having imported bikes and cars from all over the world, SA was the definitely the most challenging.