Personal Imports Choices

[shibuya]

Hello to all,

Now residing in Japan, I own:

- 2007 Audi RS4 wagon (RHD), fully stock

- 2005 Honda S2000 type V, fully stock, very low mileage

- 1994 Mazda RX-7 touringX with MazdaSpeed SportSound2 muffler, otherwise fully stock, 70k km

- 124cc Suzuki scooter, fully stock

Planning on moving to Australia (NSW) in summer 2012 with wife and kid.

Can you confirm my understanding:

1. I can bring under Personal Import just 2 of my 4 vehicles (one per adult)

2. None of them could be imported under SEV, so I will have to leave behind the other 2

3. Those I choose to bring in, might require some modifications for registration

Assuming a large enough budget, would you recommend I bring in instead a high value RHD car (Aston, Ferrari...) such as:

http://www.gooworld....4003472001.html (F430 12.6M¥)

http://www.gooworld....4005976002.html (DB9 11.2M¥)

and sell it upon arrival ?

Cheers,

Nic

[DRIFTT]

Planning on moving to Australia (NSW) in summer 2012 with wife and kid.

Can you confirm my understanding:

1. I can bring under Personal Import just 2 of my 4 vehicles (one per adult)

2. None of them could be imported under SEV, so I will have to leave behind the other 2

3. Those I choose to bring in, might require some modifications for registration

Assuming a large enough budget, would you recommend I bring in instead a high value RHD car (Aston, Ferrari...) and sell it upon arrival ?

Cheers,

Nic

Your cars will require barely any mods, RX7 will require Child Restraints as JDM ones are not fitted but a trained monkey can fit them to an RX7 they are that easy. Audi should have "facilities" to fit Child Restraints which is the minimum requirement rest is nothing, Honda isnt a issue at all as no rear seats. Look on websites like www.carpoint.com.au to see retail value of your cars when it comes time to choose, or look now as you might find something worth buying.

For high end stuff people I know doing it are buying out of the UK as people dont seem to trust the servicing standards in Japan, Ferrari's are bad enough especially when not looked after.

One thing to remember there is a push to make a requirement for Personal Imports to be owned for a minimum of 2 years, not saying it will happen just keep it in the back of your mind.

Same people pushing that one car to be imported every 2 years under SEVS by non dealers, dont know why two years but that is what they tell the government.

Edited May 4, 2011 by DRIFTT

[Mr Eps]

will require Child Restraints as JDM ones are not fitted but a trained monkey can fit them

^^^ i think that with many RAWS - employing trained monkeys IS the case... that would explain why so many compliance things get "forgotten" about!!

Edited May 5, 2011 by Mr Eps

[DRIFTT]

^^^ i think that with many RAWS - employing trained monkeys IS the case... that would explain why so many compliance things get "forgotten" about!!

So these days $2,200 must me the going rate for a bag of peanuts.

It is still always repeated "you pay for what you get".

[Truffles]

also, to my knowledge, when bringing a car in as a personal import, you cannot sell it for a certain time period after bringing it into the country. I think this might be 12 months.

[Iron Chef]

If you're coming back permanently with the car, then there's no restriction on when you sell it.

[shibuya]

Thank you for the answers. My Audi already has Isofix hooks for the rear window seats.

Will I have to pay GST and possibly the Luxury Car Tax on my personnal import ? If so, based on what value, since I purchased the cars years ago ?

Indeed I plan on selling the cars before I eventually leave Australia but that should be years away.

[DRIFTT]

Thank you for the answers. My Audi already has Isofix hooks for the rear window seats.

Will I have to pay GST and possibly the Luxury Car Tax on my personal import ? If so, based on what value, since I purchased the cars years ago ?

Indeed I plan on selling the cars before I eventually leave Australia but that should be years away.

The correct way on working out a valuation of a vehicle for the purpose of a landed costs value is based on the cost of the vehicle at time of purchase and exchange rate at time of purchase, insurance and shipping plus other incurred costs getting the vehicle here.

This is how I valued a few personal imports this year as per the GUIDE TO THE VALUATION OF IMPORTED ROAD VEHICLES.

[Beer Baron]

and yes you do have to pay import duty, GST and LCT (if car value inc shipping etc is over $57,000, or there abouts). So most likely you'll be up for just duty and GST. also any LCT is 25% but only on the portion of the value that is over the LCT threshold.

[Nee-san]

That's what you call f**king robbery kids.

[Rekin]

Honda boys go crazy over japanese integra type-r or Honda NSX in Australia.

[PhilKenSebben]

Out of curiosity, why the hell do you want to sell the rs4?

Are you planning on upgrading to the rs6 or are you just mad?

I would give my left nut to own one.

Seriously, one left nut

Good condition

One careful owner

No STDs

Only used to ride girls from church on Sundays

[shibuya]

I'll sell the RS4 when/if I move out of Australia back to Europe, as I will probably be in a LHD country then, and when that happens a B8 or B9 chassis based RS4 might exist for replacement. Otherwise you are correct: there is nothing an RS4 could be replaced with today of the same nature.

[fungoolie]

The correct way on working out a valuation of a vehicle for the purpose of a landed costs value is based on the cost of the vehicle at time of purchase and exchange rate at time of purchase, insurance and shipping plus other incurred costs getting the vehicle here.

This is how I valued a few personal imports this year as per the GUIDE TO THE VALUATION OF IMPORTED ROAD VEHICLES.

What if the purchase price of the vehicle overseas is still cheaper than the valuation over here after taking depreciation into account? Can you still choose to use the lesser of the two?

[Iron Chef]

Nope, with personal imports, the valuation is what it is.

[DRIFTT]

What if the purchase price of the vehicle overseas is still cheaper than the valuation over here after taking depreciation into account? Can you still choose to use the lesser of the two?

The purchase price of the vehicle is the base of the valuation, depreciation isn't a factor now when working the price out for customs.

The use of depreciation was suppose to cease over 2 years ago officially according to customs.