Hi Ghost,
As an Import Vehicle Financier, I can say you've answered your question in the your post.
If the vehicle is currently overseas, then a personal loan or credit card is the best option for you. Most banks / credit unions will have a minimum of 12 months for the loan period (although you need to show capacity to service). It pays to shop around for interest ratesss, although if your looking for a short term loan, don't look so much at the interest rate, but any early payout fees etc.
With most consumer financing, you are in control of how much interest you repay to the banks.
Unsecured funding in generally a higher risk for banks as there is nothing to recover should the client default, so they can attract a slightly higher rate than car loans.
Credit Cards are most likely going to attract a much higher interest rate if you're transferring funds to an importer in Australia or overseas as these may be seen as a cash withdraw and not a purchase.
Secured funding is a little different in the fact that, yes the vehicle does have to be landed in Australia, have a VIN number and a compliance certificate in order to gain secured funding.
You will find though that most banks and credit unions WILL NOT be able to provide secured funding for imports.
Some reasons are that import vehicles are generally over 5 years of age when purchased, so they fall outside most bank car loan criteria, they're sold new outside of Australia and they carry the 'grey import' classification, so before applying for an import car loan, ask the bank or credit union if they can finance the vehicle as a secured loan otherwise you'll be having unnecessary enquiries placed on your credit file.
