Cayman S - UK import

[Nick77]

Dear all, I have a 2014 Cayman S which I bought new from Porsche in the UK last year, it has 7,500 miles on the clock. I am in the process (hopefully) of emigrating to Australia and am seriously considering bringing the car with me. I'm aware of the various taxes but it still seems more than worth it to import the car rather than buy the same car in Australia which would cost circa $150,000 - based on the today's exchange rate that's more than I paid for it brand new a year ago! So there is no way I would buy the same car new or used in Australia as the prices are a little bonkers compared to the UK. I'm not having a go at Australia I love the country hence I want to move but a dealer here would pay me circa £45k for my car right now (up to £50k if done privately) which is $90,000 - $100,000 so to pay $150,000 in Oz for the same vehicle is eye watering and a non-starter.

Anyway, what I would like to know is how saleable would the car be if at some point in the future I wanted to sell it in Australia? Inevitably it will get sold in favour of a larger family friendly car at some point so I'm wondering what (if any) sort of discount would be applied due to it being a UK import if I went to a Porsche dealer in Sydney or tried to sell privately? 

Any advice and info would be much appreciated.

Best regards,

Nick

 

[edgy]

There is a bit of hysteria in my opinion about UK cars here. A good car is a good car as is a bad one.

I think it will help that your car has spent little time in the UK since new... it is hard to give a precise value on what the expected discount should be? But based on import 997 Carreras I've seen on the market I guess you could expect 5-10% to be about close to the mark. 

Well worth the import exercise IMO... I think double check the regulations around personal imports too, there could be tax concessions? Forum member Hounddub recently done this from Singapore and another guy with a 993 from HK. 

 

 

[bumble]

G'day Nick,

Welcome aboard.  Firstly the answer to your main question - "what (if any) sort of discount would be applied due to it being a UK import?" - is "not insignificant" but hard to quantify for a nearly new car.  All other things being equal, an Aussie delivered car will always attract a premium.  In the past, the rationale was rooted in Australia's unique Australian Design Rules (ADRs) and the fact we don't salt our roads so don't (generally) suffer the extreme rust problems often associated with UK cars.  Having AC is also important.  Also, it is unusual here to see a P car left out on the street as you often seen in large UK cities- almost everyone here has a garage.   This attitude carries over to much newer cars like yours even though it's unlikely your car has rust issues and it's probably built to the same design rules as an Aussie delivered car.  Then there's the warranty issue - does Porsche carry the warranty over to Australia?  Our dollar has been going the wrong way against the GBP for a while and the longer this continues the less attractive it becomes to import.

Personally I doubt there's much in it given the hassle, bureaucracy, taxes etc. But I don't think you'd lose on the deal.

[spiller]

Any discount you give when you sell the car is offset by the lower price you paid (compared to the same car in Aus) when new. Since you are bringing your car to a different market, the discount is based on the prices of the ADM cars which were considerably more expensive from new. If you still love the car I say go for it.

[BJM]

One way to look at is, if you will only get $100k if you sold in the UK now but to buy the same car in OZ when you get here is $150k, then you can drop $50k when you sell it & still come out even. (Less the cost to import). 

[michel]

You answered your Q yourself

 

you wouldn't buy the same car in OZ - if you sold it in UK and then came here what car would, or could you then consider buying - affording given the big wave surfing going on another matter

so bring it with you - take a king hit on resale unlikely take a hit probable 

but at least you got the car you want 

[Coastr]

Here's what you need to consider

- do you want to keep it? (3 years min, I would say)

- have you owned it for twelve months?

- can you get insurance for it in Oz?

if the answer for all those is yes stick it on a boat.

it will be marked down 10-20% for being an import, if you need to sell.  The older it gets the less this becomes.  Its probably worse for a near-new car than a ten year old one.  The government may change the regulations around imports as well, which would move values around a lot.

As a money making proposition you'll probably lose out.  You will have to pay the import duty, gst and luxury car tax.  This will not be cheap.  If effect you're doubling down on the car rather than waking away and starting again.  

 

Do your our sums and have a think.

 

[Mike D'Silva]

no warranty either.. 

probably doesnt matter anyway.

 

 

[Mike-S]

I brought my Range Rover Sport out with me when we emigrated 3 1/2 years ago, well versed with the process of personal importing that's for sure.

My advice is bring it with you, but research the costs first and only ship it in a container, do not send it the cheaper RORO method as it'll get damaged. I used Karman Shipping in Luton, very professional and incredibly helpful, pointed me in the direction of the right people here in Melbourne to help me sort it out when it arrived. I had it registered inside a week when I finally got it out of the docks.

I know they're cheaper in the UK, but I'm probably still just ahead on value after 3 years, so it was definitely worth it. If you're thinking of selling it soon after arriving then I wouldn't bother, the gains will be negligible given you bought it new. Drop me a message if you need any advice, happy to help if I can.

[Coastr]

I also used Karman and found the process easy.  The advice of the handlers on this end was worth thousands when it came to setting vehicle value for tax purposes.

[Hounddub]

I think I m the most recent to do a personal import so I'll give you some real life facts about this that will probobly sway your decision. My experience was for a 997 that was my personal car while we were in Singapore, the car was 6years old when it arrived in Australia which was important when it came to valuation process.

Ultimately, your financial cost to import such a new car here will be very expensive given that the GST and Luxury Car Tax which will be payable is calculated on "local valuation" and not your invoice/ valuation in the UK. My rough calculations will likely have the local customs value put at around $130K so you'll have $13K of GST and approx $25K in LCT. Thants before you pay shipping and handling as well as the raft of additional charges from everyone who touches your car along the way. And every fee is thn charged based on the customs valuation which occurs when it arrives.

then you will have the pleasure of paying stamp duty in the state of arrival before you can have it registered which is around 3%.

So.......sorry to burst the bubble, but it simply wouldnt be worth it. Sell your car and get a 987 on arrival for around $80K... Much better idea.

 

 

 

 

[Coastr]

Hound dub I know you just did it, but his landed valuation should be much lower than that.  For a start the car is 'unregistered' and 'not roadworthy' when it lands, as well as 'not under warranty'.  Add to that 'not Australian delivered'.  That should push the valuation down below $100k easy.  Valuation is not retail but below auction/wholesale.  That said still deep in LCT territory, so there are taxes to pay as you accurately stated.

 

[Hounddub]

Coatr, what you say is true, but frankly....its so new that the local customs guys will have a easy time to work out wholesale price. Even if you get a great valuation and it's accepted, there is no way it will be as low as $80k ( I just rang my import handler who happens to also be the valuer and his opinion is that being so new it would be very very expensive). The customs guys really do know the late model stuff well I tell you. My valuation was resubmitted 4 times and I only just scraped into no LCT.

The bottom line as you said is that there will be LCT payable and by the time you do that along with the other charges its going to be a solid $30K to land it and register it........IF you get a friendly valuation accepted, and remember that the valuation only takes place after it arrives.

Not worth it in my humble opinion.

[Mike-S]

My Sport was just over 6 years old on arrival here in Melbourne.

The local valuer inspected it at the dock, looked at the trade value in the UK (essentially bottom book value) and converted that at the current exchange rate into AUD. There was no comparison whatsoever to the local wholesale value as it's not a local wholesale car, even customs told me that. Sat on the docks it is unregistered and essentially unroadworthy in their eyes until the rest of the process is undertaken to enable the car to be registered (VASS inspection, roadworthy cert, import plate etc). The customs valuation can then be used when the car is registered at VicRoads as the official value on which stamp duty is paid. Much to the annoyance of the chap doing my registration anyway, he knew the car was worth $70k if it was a locally delivered car but I had a customs certified valuation of $19k upon which I'd paid all the relevant duties to get the car out of the docks, he could only charge me stamp duty on the $19k customs had valued it at. Once registered, it was then worth significantly more, but not until registered.

i think it depends on the valuer and his relationship with customs as well, the chap I used was recommended by Karman shipping and also the customs people I spoke to here in Melbourne. Clearly that would be different in Sydney, so it depends on where you're going and who you're talking to.

[Hounddub]

At the time my 997 got a valuation of $55K.....and it's worth less than a 2014 Cayman S now. 

I'm absolutely certain that the Cayman in question will be valued a lot more than mine so LCT starts to make it silly from there.