Jag Imports from the UK
#21
09-28-2013, 10:48 PM
#24
10-14-2013, 09:44 PM
Well Foibles probably isn't coming back & in any case he's imported the cars illegally so it's best not to get your hopes up of doing the same...
So let me tell you about how I legaly & legitimately imported my XJR from the UK, to Switzerland, and finally to Sydney, via the Personal Imports Scheme (PIS).
I had been living in Switzerland since 2005. When my wife decided we were moving back to Australia I had to act fast, because of the 1 year ownership & use requirement of the PIS. You must have owned the car for at least 12 months while living abroad, and it must be registered and "available for use" for this period. This means it must be registered, road legal, and garaged at your address.
You can't buy a car & leave it stored, unregistered in another country, for example.
So I bought the XJR over the phone, flew to London & drove it back to Switzerland. I had to import the car to Switzerland, and get it registered there. That's a story in itself, but not so relevant to the PIS.
Fast forward 10 months, I filed the Application for a Personal Import, and provided the required supporting documents;
- Purchase invoice for the car, showing the date I became the owner
- Registration papers in my name, showing that the car was available for my use.
- Copy of my passports (all pages, showing entry/exit stamps)
- Some evidence that I was moving back to Australia
- A "statement of travel" basically a declaration saying where I had been & intended to be for the 12 months leading up to the date of import.
The Import Approval was granted 11 months into ownership of the car, based on a "moving date" 12 months from when I bought it.
Shipping was organised from Zeebrugge (Belgium) via Willenius Wilhelmson shipping. It was on a Roll-On-Roll-Off ship with new cars destined for South Africa & Australia.
Shipping was €1250 + €200 insurance.
I drove the car to Belgium, dropped it off at the dock, got a train to Amsterdam & flew to Sydney.
35 days later the ship arrived in Pt Kembla & then the costs started to pile up.
Here is a breakdown of the import costs;
Duty $769.71
GST Amount $1777.27
AQIS Processing Charge $14.00
Declaration Processing Charge $50.00
Wharfage Charge $181.82
Cartage $225.00
Customs Clearance / Agency Fees $250.00
Cargo management Reengineering Fee $25.00
AQIS Fees $229.00
Wharf Handling Fee $65.00
Quarantine Processing $40.00
Quarantine Cleaning Charge $280.00
DEH Ozone Clearance $65.00
Customs Document Retention Fee $25.00
Valuation Fee $300.00
Total $4296.80
Add GST $145.68
Grand Total $4442.48
That was just to get it off the dock to the workshop doing the compliance.
Compliance costs were an additonal $720, basically for a stamp & signature on a bit of paper, and a Blue Slip. There was an additonal $80 for the compliance sticker.
On top of that;
$400 for number plates, plus $69 annual fee
$562 for a Green Slip (compulsory 3rd party insurance)
$946 in Stamp Duty and 12 months registration
Comprehensive insurance with Shannons is $1800 per year, for agreed value of $50K with listed modifications. That's the discounted price with 65% no claim bonus, Multi-Car discount and another 10% discount because I have CAMS and ANDRA licences.
And after all that, the XJR is now parked in my garage in Sydney.
I used a broker www.ironladyimports.com they organised the shipping, the customs clearance and the compliancing. For a fee of course, but it saved me having to mess around & deal with all the different parties involved.
So let me tell you about how I legaly & legitimately imported my XJR from the UK, to Switzerland, and finally to Sydney, via the Personal Imports Scheme (PIS).
I had been living in Switzerland since 2005. When my wife decided we were moving back to Australia I had to act fast, because of the 1 year ownership & use requirement of the PIS. You must have owned the car for at least 12 months while living abroad, and it must be registered and "available for use" for this period. This means it must be registered, road legal, and garaged at your address.
You can't buy a car & leave it stored, unregistered in another country, for example.
So I bought the XJR over the phone, flew to London & drove it back to Switzerland. I had to import the car to Switzerland, and get it registered there. That's a story in itself, but not so relevant to the PIS.
Fast forward 10 months, I filed the Application for a Personal Import, and provided the required supporting documents;
- Purchase invoice for the car, showing the date I became the owner
- Registration papers in my name, showing that the car was available for my use.
- Copy of my passports (all pages, showing entry/exit stamps)
- Some evidence that I was moving back to Australia
- A "statement of travel" basically a declaration saying where I had been & intended to be for the 12 months leading up to the date of import.
The Import Approval was granted 11 months into ownership of the car, based on a "moving date" 12 months from when I bought it.
Shipping was organised from Zeebrugge (Belgium) via Willenius Wilhelmson shipping. It was on a Roll-On-Roll-Off ship with new cars destined for South Africa & Australia.
Shipping was €1250 + €200 insurance.
I drove the car to Belgium, dropped it off at the dock, got a train to Amsterdam & flew to Sydney.
35 days later the ship arrived in Pt Kembla & then the costs started to pile up.
Here is a breakdown of the import costs;
Duty $769.71
GST Amount $1777.27
AQIS Processing Charge $14.00
Declaration Processing Charge $50.00
Wharfage Charge $181.82
Cartage $225.00
Customs Clearance / Agency Fees $250.00
Cargo management Reengineering Fee $25.00
AQIS Fees $229.00
Wharf Handling Fee $65.00
Quarantine Processing $40.00
Quarantine Cleaning Charge $280.00
DEH Ozone Clearance $65.00
Customs Document Retention Fee $25.00
Valuation Fee $300.00
Total $4296.80
Add GST $145.68
Grand Total $4442.48
That was just to get it off the dock to the workshop doing the compliance.
Compliance costs were an additonal $720, basically for a stamp & signature on a bit of paper, and a Blue Slip. There was an additonal $80 for the compliance sticker.
On top of that;
$400 for number plates, plus $69 annual fee
$562 for a Green Slip (compulsory 3rd party insurance)
$946 in Stamp Duty and 12 months registration
Comprehensive insurance with Shannons is $1800 per year, for agreed value of $50K with listed modifications. That's the discounted price with 65% no claim bonus, Multi-Car discount and another 10% discount because I have CAMS and ANDRA licences.
And after all that, the XJR is now parked in my garage in Sydney.
I used a broker www.ironladyimports.com they organised the shipping, the customs clearance and the compliancing. For a fee of course, but it saved me having to mess around & deal with all the different parties involved.
#26
10-15-2013, 08:34 AM
European bureaucracy can be pedantic but the Australian regs takes it to a whole new level!
Now I see why used car values are so high in Australia.
Graham
#27
10-15-2013, 10:46 AM
Oh ye of little faith. Whilst I wish I'd had the opportunity to respond earlier....regrettably I've been busy with work.....cutover for half a million customer records over the weekend kept me busy. Cambo...should I take offense to your assertion that I've acted illegally? Well, I'll be the bigger man, had hoped to get you photos of the sov...but what's say I start by uploading the vehicle import approval....you know, like the one you also got from dotars! But to answer jagents question...what was special about my sov.....well, not a heap, but it is a genuine one owner....has all books and tools......fsh....is the 4ltr not the 3.2.... So from what I can see I've landed a car that was 165k in 1999 for.....well, it will be about 11k on road. And it is lervely.....a wonderful car. Hold your horses, will get onto that import approval.
The following users liked this post:
Slocs (10-16-2013)
#28
10-15-2013, 10:59 AM
I always enjoy following threads on personal importing/exporting to understand the difficulties and the financial viability or penalty.
European bureaucracy can be pedantic but the Australian regs takes it to a whole new level!
Now I see why used car values are so high in Australia.
Graham
European bureaucracy can be pedantic but the Australian regs takes it to a whole new level!
Now I see why used car values are so high in Australia.
Graham
On the whole, if one does their research, the personal import scheme can be quite rewarding. My partner and I are yet to utilise the pis, but are considering either a uk or us stint in which case we'd do this for sure. One of the cars I have in mind if we go uk is the 2011 xj supersport. This was a 360k aud car, which would be possible to get on the road here for circa 75k. However, people doing this must be cognisant of the fact that their car will not fetch the same resale price here....for the simple reason that it is not an australian delivered example. Still....beats paying 175k for it here!
#29
10-15-2013, 03:58 PM
I didnt think you were coming back, since that was your first post here on the forum. I certainly meant no offence, for you to have imported those cars without living overseas that was the only logical conclusion.
I am genuinely interested in how you did it. Via NZ?
I am genuinely interested in how you did it. Via NZ?
Last edited by Cambo; 10-15-2013 at 04:01 PM.
#30
10-15-2013, 06:00 PM
Veteran Member
Graham, compared with Europe & the U.S. in particular, our used car prices are comparatively high for number of reasons. For us it is all relative providing a car is bought here and sold here ie. buying a new euro model (ie. Aust delivered distributor import) carries an obvious premium for the sheer distance of transportation, however the taxes are not as onerous as they used to be. Therefore many new euro models aren't that much more expensive in local showrooms than they are in their home markets (although sadly, Jags always seem to be an exception). This is despite our much smaller market where the economies of scale for importers aren't that great to start with.
Depreciation on cars is generally slower here, meaning the used values on imports remain significantly higher than you would typically experience in the UK. I think the depreciation over 5-10 years is huge over there, so we probably gain a bit by forking out less when changing over to a new model.
In a relatively dry & ice-free climate with salt-free roads, cars of 10-20 years commonly show no signs of rust - at all. Exceptions may be fairly superficial rust on older vehicles living in the open close to the sea. I often read (with a certain envy I will confess!) many ad's for seemingly excellent used cars in the UK for give away prices. When you look into the detail though, there is very often associated body deterioration ranging from paint issues to full-on rot. In contrast I picked up my Aust. delivered X300 when it was 15 years old, with zero paint or body issues. Bodily it is literally like new and I figure that the price I paid for it here (average in our market) might begin to even out when compared with the cost of fixing up a car of similar age in the UK. A lot of generalization perhaps, but hopefully a fairly rational view.
Finally, successive Australian govts. have obsessed about protecting local car manufacturing, even to the extent of propping them up with public funding (although that's more about containing unemployment numbers than it is about the viability of manufacturing) and although tariffs on formal imports are less of an issue, the deliberate tactic of making personal importing as difficult, expensive & tax ridden as possible has been alive and well for many, many years.
I was curious as to why Foibles went through the pain to import an everyday X308. For the work involved to achieve a marginal gain on a model readily available over here wouldn't be something I'd want to bother with. To me, it's really only worth considering personal importing to get hold of something a bit more exotic such as the models he is talking about in the future, or truly unique, rare and/or collectible at a snap-up price which would ultimately sell for a bomb in the Aus. market.
Depreciation on cars is generally slower here, meaning the used values on imports remain significantly higher than you would typically experience in the UK. I think the depreciation over 5-10 years is huge over there, so we probably gain a bit by forking out less when changing over to a new model.
In a relatively dry & ice-free climate with salt-free roads, cars of 10-20 years commonly show no signs of rust - at all. Exceptions may be fairly superficial rust on older vehicles living in the open close to the sea. I often read (with a certain envy I will confess!) many ad's for seemingly excellent used cars in the UK for give away prices. When you look into the detail though, there is very often associated body deterioration ranging from paint issues to full-on rot. In contrast I picked up my Aust. delivered X300 when it was 15 years old, with zero paint or body issues. Bodily it is literally like new and I figure that the price I paid for it here (average in our market) might begin to even out when compared with the cost of fixing up a car of similar age in the UK. A lot of generalization perhaps, but hopefully a fairly rational view.
Finally, successive Australian govts. have obsessed about protecting local car manufacturing, even to the extent of propping them up with public funding (although that's more about containing unemployment numbers than it is about the viability of manufacturing) and although tariffs on formal imports are less of an issue, the deliberate tactic of making personal importing as difficult, expensive & tax ridden as possible has been alive and well for many, many years.
I was curious as to why Foibles went through the pain to import an everyday X308. For the work involved to achieve a marginal gain on a model readily available over here wouldn't be something I'd want to bother with. To me, it's really only worth considering personal importing to get hold of something a bit more exotic such as the models he is talking about in the future, or truly unique, rare and/or collectible at a snap-up price which would ultimately sell for a bomb in the Aus. market.
The following users liked this post:
GGG (10-15-2013)
#31
10-15-2013, 11:08 PM
Graham, compared with Europe & the U.S. in particular, our used car prices are comparatively high for number of reasons. For us it is all relative providing a car is bought here and sold here ie. buying a new euro model (ie. Aust delivered distributor import) carries an obvious premium for the sheer distance of transportation, however the taxes are not as onerous as they used to be. Therefore many new euro models aren't that much more expensive in local showrooms than they are in their home markets (although sadly, Jags always seem to be an exception). This is despite our much smaller market where the economies of scale for importers aren't that great to start with.
Depreciation on cars is generally slower here, meaning the used values on imports remain significantly higher than you would typically experience in the UK. I think the depreciation over 5-10 years is huge over there, so we probably gain a bit by forking out less when changing over to a new model.
In a relatively dry & ice-free climate with salt-free roads, cars of 10-20 years commonly show no signs of rust - at all. Exceptions may be fairly superficial rust on older vehicles living in the open close to the sea. I often read (with a certain envy I will confess!) many ad's for seemingly excellent used cars in the UK for give away prices. When you look into the detail though, there is very often associated body deterioration ranging from paint issues to full-on rot. In contrast I picked up my Aust. delivered X300 when it was 15 years old, with zero paint or body issues. Bodily it is literally like new and I figure that the price I paid for it here (average in our market) might begin to even out when compared with the cost of fixing up a car of similar age in the UK. A lot of generalization perhaps, but hopefully a fairly rational view.
Finally, successive Australian govts. have obsessed about protecting local car manufacturing, even to the extent of propping them up with public funding (although that's more about containing unemployment numbers than it is about the viability of manufacturing) and although tariffs on formal imports are less of an issue, the deliberate tactic of making personal importing as difficult, expensive & tax ridden as possible has been alive and well for many, many years.
I was curious as to why Foibles went through the pain to import an everyday X308. For the work involved to achieve a marginal gain on a model readily available over here wouldn't be something I'd want to bother with. To me, it's really only worth considering personal importing to get hold of something a bit more exotic such as the models he is talking about in the future, or truly unique, rare and/or collectible at a snap-up price which would ultimately sell for a bomb in the Aus. market.
Depreciation on cars is generally slower here, meaning the used values on imports remain significantly higher than you would typically experience in the UK. I think the depreciation over 5-10 years is huge over there, so we probably gain a bit by forking out less when changing over to a new model.
In a relatively dry & ice-free climate with salt-free roads, cars of 10-20 years commonly show no signs of rust - at all. Exceptions may be fairly superficial rust on older vehicles living in the open close to the sea. I often read (with a certain envy I will confess!) many ad's for seemingly excellent used cars in the UK for give away prices. When you look into the detail though, there is very often associated body deterioration ranging from paint issues to full-on rot. In contrast I picked up my Aust. delivered X300 when it was 15 years old, with zero paint or body issues. Bodily it is literally like new and I figure that the price I paid for it here (average in our market) might begin to even out when compared with the cost of fixing up a car of similar age in the UK. A lot of generalization perhaps, but hopefully a fairly rational view.
Finally, successive Australian govts. have obsessed about protecting local car manufacturing, even to the extent of propping them up with public funding (although that's more about containing unemployment numbers than it is about the viability of manufacturing) and although tariffs on formal imports are less of an issue, the deliberate tactic of making personal importing as difficult, expensive & tax ridden as possible has been alive and well for many, many years.
I was curious as to why Foibles went through the pain to import an everyday X308. For the work involved to achieve a marginal gain on a model readily available over here wouldn't be something I'd want to bother with. To me, it's really only worth considering personal importing to get hold of something a bit more exotic such as the models he is talking about in the future, or truly unique, rare and/or collectible at a snap-up price which would ultimately sell for a bomb in the Aus. market.
But i do agree with the rust comment. Yes, it can be quite savage on cars from the UK. Which is why people who do NOT know what they are doing usually get caught out. Fortunately, my methods limit this risk. Another advantage I have found with these cars...and Porsches fall into a similar category...is that because parts and servicing are soooo much cheaper over there (as Cambo's recent post attests..on brake replacement parts)...you'll usually find that cars over there have had 'no expense spared' - whereas cars here have been given the penny pinching treatment.
So I guess 1500GBP for my one owner almost mint 4.0 Sovereign with no rust (come and look if you like - eastern suburbs Vic) is something of a 'relatively painless bargain'? Now, I'll try to figure out uploading attachments////
#32
10-16-2013, 01:22 AM
import approval
pretty rough copy i know...sure to cause lots of consternation.
anyway, you can see the year of manufacture (1999), the letters Ja (i'm not sure of any other manufacturers starting with this), you can even see the VIN starting with SA..(something) - plus the approval was issued 2 months ago...so hopefully this settles the matter.
Car is to be getting paint touch up (bonnet stone chips) and detail in the next 1-2 weeks - will post more photos then....
anyway, you can see the year of manufacture (1999), the letters Ja (i'm not sure of any other manufacturers starting with this), you can even see the VIN starting with SA..(something) - plus the approval was issued 2 months ago...so hopefully this settles the matter.
Car is to be getting paint touch up (bonnet stone chips) and detail in the next 1-2 weeks - will post more photos then....
#33
10-16-2013, 04:09 AM
Foibles, Isn't a 17a application for cars that are already fitted with an Australian Compliance Plate or has a letter of compliance?
I.e. the car has been here before, has a compliance plate of interesting origin, or has a letter of compliance from the manufacturer...
Rgds
Rob
I.e. the car has been here before, has a compliance plate of interesting origin, or has a letter of compliance from the manufacturer...
Rgds
Rob
Last edited by Slocs; 10-16-2013 at 04:16 AM.
#34
10-16-2013, 09:47 PM
#35
10-17-2013, 04:50 AM
Hello rob,
I think they've changed the verbage earlier this year as part of an ops transformation in at dotars....including making all apps via their web based systems, rather than previously submitting by fax or email.
My porsche 928 was approved last month and looks a bit different to yours, so I think they've just changed the content.
How is the 911 going? Still got it? Porsche bills are not fun....my first one is on the wrong side of 10k!
I think they've changed the verbage earlier this year as part of an ops transformation in at dotars....including making all apps via their web based systems, rather than previously submitting by fax or email.
My porsche 928 was approved last month and looks a bit different to yours, so I think they've just changed the content.
How is the 911 going? Still got it? Porsche bills are not fun....my first one is on the wrong side of 10k!
#36
10-29-2013, 02:38 AM
here tis
well, turns out I was wrong. I think I may have said 150K klms, it is actually 210K (forgot the conversion to miles).
but as it stands, and all forum negativity aside - this has turned out to be a real cracker. Genuine 2 owners, full service history (mostly genuine jag - but others from jag workshops), only been in the UK for 3.5 years - some of which in dry storage...not enough to get a spec of rust on her.
Had $8000 spent on servicing in the past 4 years - so she is in good nick.
All I have to worry about are some nuisance paint chips, a cracked windscreen and minor fix up to the interior trim. Drivers seat and steering wheel are showing the love, that's for sure.
Given I know a fella who just sold his (not as nice mind you) for $19900, I'm pretty happy with this.....
but as it stands, and all forum negativity aside - this has turned out to be a real cracker. Genuine 2 owners, full service history (mostly genuine jag - but others from jag workshops), only been in the UK for 3.5 years - some of which in dry storage...not enough to get a spec of rust on her.
Had $8000 spent on servicing in the past 4 years - so she is in good nick.
All I have to worry about are some nuisance paint chips, a cracked windscreen and minor fix up to the interior trim. Drivers seat and steering wheel are showing the love, that's for sure.
Given I know a fella who just sold his (not as nice mind you) for $19900, I'm pretty happy with this.....
#38
10-29-2013, 03:30 AM
I'm assuming that is the original UK registration and not the replacement Australian one?
If so, S128 TNG will be a Norfolk registration. A flat county which doesn't get blitzed with road salt during the Winter.
Provided the car has spent its life in that part of the UK, rust won't be as much of an issue as it is in areas like mine.
Graham
If so, S128 TNG will be a Norfolk registration. A flat county which doesn't get blitzed with road salt during the Winter.
Provided the car has spent its life in that part of the UK, rust won't be as much of an issue as it is in areas like mine.
Graham
#39
10-29-2013, 04:47 AM
#40
11-14-2013, 11:02 PM
Well it's a lovely car Foibles.
I find it incredible that someone would have gone to all the expense & trouble of buying the car in Oz, shipping it back to England, and then selling it off for just £1500. I don't need to tell you that car would have been $170'000 when it was new in '99, and probably would have sold for $40'000 just 3-1/2 years ago.
But there you go.
How did you manage to find it? Was it advertised as an import? Can't imagine there would be that many that were shipped back to the UK...
I find it incredible that someone would have gone to all the expense & trouble of buying the car in Oz, shipping it back to England, and then selling it off for just £1500. I don't need to tell you that car would have been $170'000 when it was new in '99, and probably would have sold for $40'000 just 3-1/2 years ago.
But there you go.
How did you manage to find it? Was it advertised as an import? Can't imagine there would be that many that were shipped back to the UK...