My Importing Journey

[rtune]

1. Identify a skyline I want to buy .. May 24th

2. Email an importer and discuss options .. May 25th thru May 29th

3. $1200 (inc gst) Payment made for importer fees .. May 26th

4. 500,000 yen deposit paid by importer to hold car .. May 29th

5. Wired full payment in yen @ current exchange rate .. May 30th

6. Funds received in Japan by intermediary .. May 31st

7. Discuss shipping options, Decide on container from Nagoya on APL .. Jun 1st thru 5th

8. Car purchased, and moved to ship (unknown dates) .. Jun 1st thru 25th

9. Loaded onto Seaway ship .. Jun 26th

10. Manuals for car arrives in australia .. Jul 11th

11. Container arrived in Brisbane .. Jul 24th

12. Got a call from APL saying they have a container languishing on the docks .. Jul 29th

13. Seaway gets container .. Unknown date

14. Seaway in Brisbane advise me storage and container fee charges building .. Aug 11th

15. Import papers arrive at seaway .. Aug 14th

16. Waiting for customs/quarantine and seaway to unpack .. Aug 14th to 24th

17. Container is unpacked etc, inspected, ready for shipment to compliance .. Aug 24th

18. Got Bill from Seaway .. Aug 25th

The bill is: LCT/Duty (not gonna disclose that), $1698 shipping, and $2068 in many fees, and $195 in GST (10%)

The biggest of the fees is $231 "storage at wharf", and $423 in "wharfage" fees, unpacking $265, 9 days "storage at depo" $180

(see attached picture)

19. Paid bill to seaway, car is shipped to compliance shop in brisbane .. Aug 27th

20. Compliance shop advise battery is flat but looks fine otherwise, they are having trouble with car alarm and

can't pop hood as its on a solenoid .. Aug 27th

21. Yet to be paid: compliance fees, shipping to sydney from brisbane, any RTA costs here to get it registered.

Total Duration: 3 months (assuming it gets here in a week). 1 month to get to ship, 1 month in transit, 1 month to get to compliance

Total Fees without import duty and LCT: $6163 (1100 importer fee, 2068 brissy wharf fees, 1698 container shipping, 195 GST, 2500 compliance, 300 to get it to sydney)..

Obviously this importation process was slower than it had to be in Japan (paying for and getting the car

into a container) and slower in brisbane (where it sat on the docks and then in the depot waiting for import

papers). It was also slower than a direct ship, to save money on the container shipping costs.

The brisbane port handling fees (see screenshot) were also like getting pecked to death. A RoRo would have

less fees. I'm hoping the compliance process will be swift and capable.. they sound like good guys.. (crosses

fingers).

Conclusion: Not worth the headache unless you can get the car no other way.

Edited August 27, 2008 by r34nur

[Ry34]

It sure does take time!

I was told today that I can't get my car on a vessel until next month, I paid for it on the 18th of July...

[hanyou]

+1 to your conclusion lol i so would not do it again haha.. no fault to my importer or compliance shop though they have been great.

UNLESS it was another rare limited edition model. (which is why i choose to import in the first place!), you should buy locally especially if your not a patient person lol. lucky for me time wasnt an issue.

what car did you end up getting anyway? hopefully your compliance job goes smoothly

[rtune]

what car did you end up getting anyway? hopefully your compliance job goes smoothly

It isn't a regular R34, but I'm not going to jinx anything by bragging.. not until at least I have it

registered and insured and safely tucked away for the night.. there are too many things that

can go wrong still.

[Iron Chef]

Your username is giving it away lol

[rtune]

Your username is giving it away lol

It isn't a nur I picked that name before the car.

[Beer Baron]

well it would have to be something special for you to be paying LCT on it.

[mxfly]

I've been going through your fees r34nur and some of them are a rort imo.

Here's mine

Duty - $2949

Sea freight - $1058

GST on import - $3337

Port charges - $142

Misc custom charges - $57

AQIS inspection fee- $196

Quarantine cleaning - $242

Customs agency fee - $160

Local towing to workshop - $132

Compliancing - $3500

Rego, CTP, custom plate - $1100

New battery - $340

[rtune]

I've been going through your fees r34nur and some of them are a rort imo.

I have no doubt ... but was your import a container?

[mxfly]

I have no doubt ... but was your import a container?

Ahh nah mine was drive on-drive off.

[rtune]

Ahh nah mine was drive on-drive off.

roll on roll off is definitely cheaper fees & charges wise. But I still feel like some of my

charges are taking the mickey.

[Chris Rogers]

Your username is giving it away lol

its not a nur..

I have been told something else. I get to see it on monday anyway.

[Guest]

The list of charges from the docks are all normal but R35 GTR's come in roll on roll off so it is strange to use containers these days.

I was at the docks the other week and a vehicle was being unloaded out of a container and the roof didn't clear the lip of the container so a very large forklift (5 to 6 ton) was used to push the roof down but they did put a tyre on the roof to protect it.

It seemed taking some air out of the tyres was to hard for them so a forklift was used.

[rtune]

nm

Edited August 29, 2008 by r34nur

[mxfly]

The list of charges from the docks are all normal but R35 GTR's come in roll on roll off so it is strange to use containers these days.

I was at the docks the other week and a vehicle was being unloaded out of a container and the roof didn't clear the lip of the container so a very large forklift (5 to 6 ton) was used to push the roof down but they did put a tyre on the roof to protect it.

It seemed taking some air out of the tyres was to hard for them so a forklift was used.

Back in the early nineties, my boss imported one of the first Dodge Vipers into the county. He wanted to make sure the car was 100% protected so a container was used. But on top of that, a wooden frame was built when the car was already inside the container.

when it arrived, we went to the docks and unloaded the car, but before that, it took us half a day to remove the frame. I thought it was a bit excessive but at least it did the job.

The car was later sold to Rene Rivkin.

[Chris Rogers]

I have actually worked on that car. (was in SCR kingsford in 98.) had an alarm issue at that time.

[mxfly]

I have actually worked on that car. (was in SCR kingsford in 98.) had an alarm issue at that time.

That car had a whole load of problems when my boss had it, and it was the main reason why he sold it. Since it was one of the first in the country, it was a "guinea pig" car for conversion. The mould of the dash was not so great so you could see alignment issues. Also had a while heap of electrical problems.

And to fork out $30,000 for the conversion, you think they would do a better job.

[rtune]

I'm not sure a typical dash in a LHD viper looks in that great a shape either.. like the vette, and the

GT40, interiors aren't their strong point.