15 year rule is officially... OVER!

[funkymonkey]

I've already seen that sort of system abused in the initial days of the degassing issues, where they said you don't need to degas your car if its the only import for the year that you'll bring in. Suddenly we were getting import approvals under the names of brothers and sisters and parents and cousins... so lets see 50 relatives applying for approvals on behalf of a dealer per year... not bad hey?

The government has made a decision and its in not at all inconsiderate. You're still allowed to import under SEVS. Boo hoo you can't get a car that's modified off its tits, what sort of enthusiast needs to have his or her car modified by someone else anyways? In the last week I know of 3 more RAWS that have applied for R32 compliance. There's a company in Cheltenham that can already comply S13's. If you REALLY wanted a car that's highly modified, you'd either import one in the next few weeks or import a bone stock one in the future and do all the hard work yourself.

Even then, lets say you need a car for drift use or for the track that's already been modified aptly... and you absolutely must have the one built by Garage Kazama or a ex Calsonic race car. The onus is on you to get off your arse and join a CAMS affiliated club like SAU, work your way up to a level 3 CAMS license (easy as) and then apply to import the car as a race car. Our government is leniant enough to let you do that. Its so leniant its even recognised Drift as an official motorsport, so you can apply to import a car for Drift use if you must.

[slow13dude]

I've already seen that sort of system abused in the initial days of the degassing issues, where they said you don't need to degas your car if its the only import for the year that you'll bring in. Suddenly we were getting import approvals under the names of brothers and sisters and parents and cousins... so lets see 50 relatives applying for approvals on behalf of a dealer per year... not bad hey?

I'm sure they could cross-reference a few systems to prevent that sort of shit. That's why I said 1 IA per 5 years, or even 10 years. If you're a true enthusiast you won't be to perturbed by only getting to import 1 15 year car every 5 years.

And as for your 50 relatives, over 5 years that's only 10 cars a year. Hardly a flood. Over ten years it's only 5 cars a year.

There's plenty of ways they could have tried to preserve the scheme for true enthusiasts, but they didn't.

[funkymonkey]

and you don't think someone will have a whinge why they're limited 1 every 10 years? Face it, no matter how you look at your solution there's a workaround.

I reckon people should stop being whinging little girls about it and just work with it. If their business plan dosen't take into consideration law changes and is based solely on 15 year old imports, its their own fault for being shortsighted.

Speaking of which, I've been adviced by a government email that the Motor Vehicles Standards Act on file was changed on the 23rd of Feb. I'll let you know once I find out exactly what was changed and if it affects anyone.

[funkymonkey]

Looks like the documents on file were updated to be able to be accessed as Word, PDF and HTML, so false alarm

[DSKYLINE2C]

I know its a pessamistic approach, but seriously it is simply a waste of time contesting the new regulations. I am sympathetic to various people who will be out of employment and whos businesses are in jeapordy. But there is no longer such thing as people power. You can barely contest a parking infringement even if your claim is ligitimate, how in the world are you going to overturn the governments decision?

[Savman]

We should stop sitting on our arses and start protesting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, anything from writing, faxing,,, (what i would like to do) block the city with imports.

some details of who to write too,,,,,,, U want the car???????? work for it....

Or u can be buying mine off me for $35,000 after if have finished with it!!!!!!!!!!

sloppy seconds

Well, so far the people we have provided contact details for (Jim Lloyd et al) have not been very responsive. They want to push through the changes without listening to all those who will be affected. Jim Lloyd's Office staff claim he is "out" whenever you phone, and they are deleting all e-mail complaints relating to this issue WITHOUT EVEN READING THEM, see below:

Subject: Not read: 15 yr Rule

Your message

To: [email protected]

Subject:

was deleted without being read on 17/02/2005 7:28 AM.

Not altogether surprising since it is clear that Jim does not care what the great majority of Australians think, instead he is more concerned about protecting the profits of the large car manufacturers who lobby the Govt. intensely for no apparent reason other than to maintain their unfair monopoly of the marketplace.

2004 saw a record number of new car sales of nearly 1 MILLION CARS. According to DOTARS, "grey" imports at their peak under the old import scheme reached about 17,000 cars per year. The introduction of SEVS dropped import numbers to virtually zero for many months, and the number now coming in even given the 15 year rule is certainly substantially less than the peak a few years ago. So import numbers would be less than about 0.5% compared to new car sales. Note that in 2004 Holden sold 79,170 Commodores alone. Ford Falcon, 65,384. Nissan Pulsar, 19,531. Even Toyota sold 17,879 of their Echos in 2004 !

Remember of course that those enthusiasts importing secondhand vehicles under the 15 year rule are never in the market for a new car anyway ! And what's more, imports are nearly always more efficient and have higher safety and emissions standards than the local options IN THE SAME PRICE RANGE and / or of the same year.

We have been advised that the following people will be much more receptive to your thoughts on this matter than our poor friend Jim who doesn't want to listen to the people that voted him in. If sufficient public response gets to the right Politicians, the issue may be raised to their awareness and this will at least give Jim some difficult questions to answer in Parliament if not postpone the changes. At this point, most of the people that matter still seem unaware of the issue. We are seeking to change that, with your help, and to make this issue a political hot potato. But there is not much time left so if you feel strongly about this issue then please make your thoughts known to the following, in particular to Kim Beazley. Don't forget to point out how many small businesses will be affected by these changes and how many people will be put out of work.

Kim Beazley - Member for Brand

Federal Labor Leader

Parliament House:

Tel: (02) 6277 4022

Fax: (02) 6277 8495

Email: [email protected]

Brand Electorate Office:

1/18 Council Avenue

Rockingham, WA, 6168

Toll Free: 1800 016 023

Tel: (08) 9527 9377

Fax: (08) 9592 1361

http://www.alp.org.au/people/wa/beazley_kim.php

Tony Burke - Member for Watson

Shadow Minister for Small Business

Parliament House:

House of Representatives

Parliament House

Canberra ACT 2600

Tel: (02) 6277 4548

Fax: (02) 6277 8417

Electorate Office:

Suite 204

1-5 Commercial Road

Kingsgrove NSW 2208

Tel: (02) 9554 3808

Fax: (02) 9554 3504

Email: [email protected]

Postal Address:

PO Box 324

Kingsgrove NSW 1480

http://www.alp.org.au/people/nsw/burke_tony.php

Kerry O'Brien - Senator for Tasmania

Shadow Minister for Regional Services, Local Government and Territories

(Jim Lloyd's opposite number)

Parliament House:

Tel: (02) 6277 3842

Fax: (02) 6277 3780

Email: [email protected]

Electorate Office:

44 Charles Street

Launceston, TAS, 7250

Tel: (03) 6334 9366

Fax: (03) 6334 9369

Postal Address:

PO Box 1193

Launceston, TAS, 7250

[Duncan]

where were all of you when they were asking for our feedbak, *before* the changes were made.

How many people in this thread responded originally?

[shodo]

SO basically in a nut shell, the new law is the same as the one in Canada. Am I correct on this one?

[funkymonkey]

How many people in this thread responded originally?

:wavey:

shodo, no its not... here are the basic rules once the new laws come into effect:

any car manufactured before 1/1/1989 can be brought into the country and does not require a compliance plate to be fitted.

any car manufactured after 1/1/1989 that is on the SEVS list can be brought in and HAS to have a compliance plate fitted to it.

no other car can be imported into the country except if its a personal import, or if the minister approves it due to it being an aid to disability, for research purposes etc.

For some reason people seem to think that means no more skylines, silvias, gtos etc. But in fact they are allowed to come in under SEVS, as they always have. It just increases the price of the cars by about $4000 to bring into the country, and to get a compliance plate, the car must meet a lot stricter emmissions and safety standards than they did under the 15 year rule.

[pentae]

Shan: Everybody knows compliance under SEVS is complete bollocks

[NXTIME]

And the cars must be stock standard. Goodbye to any modified vehicles.

[pentae]

If SEVS compliance was as lax as 15 year rule compliance, then I would have absolutely no problem with the abolishment of the 15 year rule. The fact is, bringing in cars under the 15 year rule means it costs less and I can bring in modified cars.

And whoever said enthusiasts dont want to bring in modified cars.. well my friend just picked up a toyota celsior with a 2jz conversion, 18" mag wheels, aftermarket suspension, aftermarket computer, blow off valve.. the thing truly kicks ass. Anyone who says this is not an enthusiast vehicle is smoking too much herb. Sure, the LS430 was delivered locally but so what?

I think Australia would be better off taking advantage of the japanese used car market.. if it means less shitbox australian cars on the road then I'm all for it.

SEVS compliance is absolutely retarded, and blatant government red tape designed to increase the cost of importing vehicles. Its unaustralian and all of the issues on importing cars go against civil liberties and freedom of trade.

I'm not saying we should open the floodgates on used vehicles from japan, but something seriously needs to be done instead of this red tape bullshit.

I can buy a CD from amazon.com in the USA and import it, I can do the same with a 32" widescreen lcd, car stereo, furniture.. ANYTHING. I just pay shipping, customs, duties + GST.

Cars are the ONLY market that is being protected and nobody is doing anything about it.

Instead, Australians sit around like a bunch of whinging sissies who blindly believe the propoganda the government spurts out in the interest of the big car suppliers. If DOTARS had their way everyone would be driving a commodore, ford or a locally delivered toyota.

[funkymonkey]

And whoever said enthusiasts dont want to bring in modified cars.. well my friend just picked up a toyota celsior with a 2jz conversion, 18" mag wheels, aftermarket suspension, aftermarket computer, blow off valve.. the thing truly kicks ass. Anyone who says this is not an enthusiast vehicle is smoking too much herb. Sure, the LS430 was delivered locally but so what?

I think the reasoning behind it is that if you were a true enthusiast, even if you weren't able to import a highly modified one, you can go out buy a local variant and modify it to suit. Or you can import a bog stock R32 GTR and then modify it to your hearts content. Don't tell me that you can't do it, because the aftermarket parts are readily available. If you want to be a tight arse and take advantage of the stupid depreciation cars have in japan, then I don't think you should be pointing the finger at a very reasonable system, havin a cry. If you think Australia has a restrictive import law, maybe you should move to the USA and see how you go.

[predator]

well the thing is it just makes anything from about 89 till about 94 a waste of time..

$14k onroad for a stock S13.. I know everybody would be itching to go import one of them under SEVS..

$15k onroad for a stock R32 GTS-T.. you have to be pretty keen!

It'll do what they want it to do and stop the importation of older vehicles.. they know that, they have thought about that, and they are happy about that.

[pentae]

If you want to be a tight arse and take advantage of the stupid depreciation cars have in japan, then I don't think you should be pointing the finger at a very reasonable system, havin a cry. If you think Australia has a restrictive import law, maybe you should move to the USA and see how you go.

This is that "attitude" I'm talking about. The whole "You shouldnt be able to get something really good for little money" attitude.. Why not?

I am completely a tight arse who wants to take advantage of the realistic depreciation cars have in japan. Why? Because i'm getting ripped off on local cars. Why not take advantage of this?

The USA? THE USA! Mate, why would I import a car into the USA when I can pick up a used porsche boxster there for $23k? What about a Lexus? $25k.. Mercedes SLK? $30k.. '98 BMW M3? $28k.. shall I continue?

See the pattern here? Aussies get a bum deal on cars. We categorically pay way more than Japan, USA, UK etc for a lot less car.

And I wish everyone would stop giving me this "We're a small market and geographically isolated" rubbish.. If the Australian government actually had a brain we'd take advantage of the high quality, low cost cars Japan offers like any real business would do.

[predator]

:werd: to being a tightass!!

So is most of australia, and that is why we have some of the oldest vehicles in the Western world..

Thing is we could follow the NZ model, but there would be too much outcry over loss of jobs, and many manufacturers would be the first ones to "blame" the import of cheap overseas vechicles for their downfall.

However, in about 10 years the local industry will be dead anyhow, so it won't really matter too much will it? We *will* be following the NZ model, and allowing cheaper imports

Because of the strong housing market, propped up by interest rates (which should be a lot higher than they are) and an uncertain overseas situation.. our dollar is some of the highest it's been for nearly 20 years... making the export on items such as vehicles, very poor right now - and that is the only hope the local manufacturers really have of staying in the local market long-term. Mitsu is practically gone.. Ford is probably next..and somewhere after that Holden and Toyota might have to cave. We're talking 10-20 years, but the likelihood is quite high.

The economics is very interesting (even though my knowledge is vague these days)

[funkymonkey]

pentae... its not that you shouldn't get something good cheaply, by all means I encourage guys to make hay while the sun shines (before the rules change). But I just think the whole doom and gloom attitude of the rule changes are a tad counter productive.

One of my mates just picked up a 1994 SR20DET 180sx for 9k landed with free compliance as its a test vehicle for a RAWS. Talking to the compliancers, they expect compliance for the vehicle under SEVS to be $3500, so for $12500 you can still pick up a nice late model 180sx. Surely you can spend the remaining change from $20,000 (which is the average price you'd pay for a sporty car sold in Australia) on mods.

The point I'm trying to make is that even though cars with lots of mods are unavailable under the new laws, the bases are still available, and if you're a true enthusiast I'm sure saving up a few extra grand and doing the modding yourself won't be an issue.

As gordo said in regards to economics, there's a lot more to it than a minorities point of view. And certainly a lot more to it than sendin out emails and annoying pollies with faxes The time to react has past, and I think its time people started preparing to work with the new system than cry over spilt milk.

[lwells]

So, have the changes actually been Gazetted yet or what?

LW.

[pentae]

Not yet

[The_Paladin]

australians do get ripped off with car prices. specially 2nd hand ones. the prices of 2nd hand cars here in the UK is amazing compaired to OZ..........but that's partially due to the 'drive till the explode' habits of aussies........and we dont have mandatory road worthy tests every 2 years for cars over 4 years old like they do in the uk. that helps drive prices down.........

still.................the government is just protecting aussie interests, which is rich cause companies like ford, holden are not owned by aussies anyway. profits end up overeseas each way.