Personal importing a car outside of Australia

[AE112R]

I'm in the plan to import a rare KP61 Starlet from New Zealand. Can someone that has done the same point me some direction or what needs to be done?
It will not be road registered and will mainly lives its life on track.
Any constructive inputs are welcome.

Cheers

[oldcorollas]

if importing as a race car, do you have appropriate CAMS licence?? history of racing?

race car import (or shell for makign race car) is different proess to personal import.
I did personal import from japan, but many more hoops for that

you can start by checking DOTARS website, or just calling them and asking dumb questions

from japan, you need things like proof of purchase and ownership for more than 12 months, proof of parking space, proof of rego and de-rego etc etc

[dnegative]

Personal imports for road use need to of been owned for 12 months overseas, if thats the case sweet as
For race and off road.......... not sure but it cant be hard at all.

[oldcorollas]

8. Racing Vehicles - Part 10 of the Application Form
Rally Use/ Closed Circuit Racing
Before approving an application, the Administrator needs to be satisfied that the
vehicle will be only used for rally/race purposes
Import applications for rally/race use will only be considered where the vehicle will
be used in serious competition, generally at professional level. Where a particular
vehicle model is readily available in the Australian market, an import approval will
not be granted unless there are compelling reasons to justify why it is necessary to
import a vehicle to compete in events in Australia. The fact that a vehicle may be on
an eligibility list for an event is not, of itself, a reason to justify the granting of an
import approval.
14
At a minimum, the following criteria must be met:
• Eligible vehicles for rally/race use are those homologated by the
Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA). These vehicle models
can be found listed at www.fia.com/homologations/Voit_Pays.html.
• Under normal circumstances, applicants will be restricted to importing a
single vehicle and acceptable reasons will need to be provided to import
another vehicle for rally/race use.
• Road vehicles for rally use are imported on the condition that they will
only be used in the course of competition, practice associated with
competition and transport to and from a rally location.
• The applicant must lodge with their application a statement that the vehicle
will only be used for rally purposes together with a copy of a current
CAMS R3 or higher-grade licence. For closed circuit racing the applicant
must lodge with their application a statement that the vehicle will only be
used for closed circuit racing purposes together with a copy of a current
CAMS C3 or higher grade licence.
In addition, the applicant will need to provide evidence of a professional or high-level
involvement in rally/race sport, including:
• details of events in which the applicant has driven a rally/race car;
• details of specific events in which the applicant proposes to compete in the
car for which the import application is submitted;
• details of the rally/race club or organisation of which the applicant is a
member and the length of membership; and
• if the vehicle is a model available in the Australian vehicle market,
justification for the need to import the vehicle (cost of the vehicle in the
domestic market will not generally be considered an acceptable
justification).
Documents required to be submitted with the application form:
$50.00 application fee, purchase documents, copy of CAMS R3 or higher licence or
CAMS C3 or higher, evidence of participation in rallying or closed circuit racing and
evidence of vehicles homologation, certified picture ID of the importer or responsible
officer if a company (if you have not imported in the last 12 months you will need to
provide your ID again)

from here http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roa...oads_vsb10.pdf

this link will help
http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/veh...ions/rrvs.aspx

The purpose of the scheme

This scheme allows vehicles for race or rally use to be imported into Australia.

Where a particular vehicle model is readily available in the Australian market, a Vehicle Import Approval will not be granted unless there are compelling reasons to justify why it is necessary.

What criteria are required for race and rally vehicles?

Any vehicle may be eligible for a race or rally import approval. Applicants must provide evidence demonstrating that the vehicle will be used for racing or rallying. This may include the entry of the vehicle into a particular event or sponsorship for a race series or evidence that the vehicle has been modified to be suitable only for racing.

How to apply

To apply for a Vehicle Import Approval for a race or rally car, you should provide to the Department of Infrastructure and Transport:
•A completed IO2—general application form. Ensure you include the year, make, model and vehicle identification number (VIN).
•A $50 application fee. Payment options are set out in the application form (credit card, cheque or money order are accepted).
•Picture ID of the importer or responsible officer, if a company is applying. If you have not imported in the last 12 months you will need to provide your ID.
•Purchase document (invoice or receipt).
•Copy of appropriate race rally licence or equivalent documentation.
•A statement that the vehicle will only be used in rallying or closed circuit racing.
•Evidence of participation in rallying or closed circuit racing, including: ◦details of events in which the applicant has driven a race or rally car;
◦details of specific events in which the applicant proposes to compete in the car for which the import application is submitted; and
◦details of the race/rally club or organisation of which the applicant is a member and the length of membership.

[oldcorollas]

personal import.
you have to have lived overseas for 12 months with car
http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/veh...tions/pis.aspx

[AE112R]

Thanks for the tips.. Well looking at those rules, it seems like its impossible to import it in then...
Then this raise up my other question. If it was just a bare shell with glasses, door, hatch but not with engine, transmission, seats bla bla bla.. just the bare shell. Do you all think I can declare it as parts only?

I've seen a few toymods member importing the rare TE71 from US. Thought it would be easy and hopefully it doesn't cost gazillion dollars..

[oldcorollas]

no longer parts only.. they will assume you have all the other bits in another container, even if you don't.

the other option is through SEVS,

OR, "older than 1989" actually, this is probably your best bet
http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/veh...989scheme.aspx

you could even bring in more than one car, under the pre-1989 scheme... easy to sell a KP61 here methinks

[Hen]

I'm repeating a bit what others have said above, but I think there are three main options you have:
- Personal import. Must have lived abroad and owned the car for over 12 months.
- Race/rally import. Can never be road registered. Must have CAMS license and show previous/planned race/rally use.
- Pre-89 (used to be 15 year rule). It's easier to import a pre-89 car. Still need to do various compliance things and jump through hoops, but it can then be registered.

Just make sure you have your paperwork sorted out BEFORE shipping it. I've been screwed before on storage waiting for import approval for an Australian bought and registered vehicle being imported back into Australia.

[Dan_k36]

+1 for a kp61 tho, dam fine cars shame nit many here tho

[4th surf]

I have looked into this before while not to purchase and import a vehicle but to bring one over that I already owned, Now where things got a little difficult was the vehicle while a project (1995 VZN130 Surf SSR-G (gold) with partially completed 1UZ conversion) was de-registered (it came to my ownership like that) so there was no supporting documentation to say that I owned it for whatever length of time. Now I was able to import it but it had to be cut in half (i.e front cut and rear cut) and imported as parts. This obviously defeated the purpose so I sold it and started again.

Now using the pre 1989 rule you must be a member of a car club to be deemed as an "Enthusiast" or "hobby owner" and I would think that being a fully paid up member of Toymods should suffice. When the vehicle leaves NZ for Oz it must have a current NZ Rego and WOF no less than 28 days old (Unless you want to cut it up). So for all the hassle that you are going to go thru you may as well rego it here so if you want to go for a cruise you can. Using the link that OC has provided contact them and tell them what you want to do and they in turn will tell you what you need to do. This is the easy part

The hard part will be finding a KP61 that isn't full of bog or rust repairs as "Scab rust" was a really big problem for Toyotas of the era in NZ. I mean mum had a KP61 which she bought when it was 6 months old in 1983 (ex Cable Price managers car, now King Toyota in Lower Hutt Welly NZ). Within 2 years we were cutting rot out of the windscreen and door pillars (I also learnt to drive in it too). It was traded in on a later model Starlet which in turn had the same problem and got traded again for a Starlet (Mum continued to own Starlets until dad got this thing for a Honda Jazz). So your market will be limited to one that comes from Christchurch or the greater Canterbury area and has spent its life there. Cars from that area didn't seem to have problems with "The dreaded Car cancer" due to a fairly mild climate. Trademe or "mates in the know" are probably going to be really good friends there

[oldcorollas]

Just make sure you have your paperwork sorted out BEFORE shipping it. I've been screwed before on storage waiting for import approval for an Australian bought and registered vehicle being imported back into Australia.

Amen to that. I was lucky to get free storage, but it was a few months(2?3?) before getting approval for my application..

4th, sure it needs to be currently regoed in NZ?
it says Purchase Docs (which is obvious )
but then just
"◦Registration papers where these are available (registration papers are an accurate source to verify the make, model and Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) for the vehicle)."

ie, it helps to identify the car.. so old rego papers are probably ok...

ring the DOTARS ppl, they were pretty helpful.

edit: and be aware that you might be up for $2-3K+ in costs to get it here (to WA)... most of which occurs on the docks (gotta grease the right palms )
you also need to either find a boat that goes from NZ to WA, or from NZ to NSW/QLD and get it trucked across.
be easier to find an import agent near where it will come "in" to Aus,
i used one in QLD (where my car came in) and got it trucked down to NSW.
I can find their details if you need, they were very god at making process smooth... ie "pay this, pay that"

[masterofsinanju]

http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/vehicles/imports/

Go here.

And don't say DOTARS, that's soooo 2007. Have to keep up with your machinery of government you know old chaps.

[4th surf]

4th, sure it needs to be currently regoed in NZ?
it says Purchase Docs (which is obvious )
but then just
"◦Registration papers where these are available (registration papers are an accurate source to verify the make, model and Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) for the vehicle)."

OC this is what DOTARS told me when I've investigated similar and two were very recent (Import factory V8 215 series Surf and also recently looked into getting an intercooled 185 Surf as they're a lot cheaper than a Prado, same car different panels). Also in NZ if you purchase a vehilce by private sale the rego papers are the sale documents. Shipping to WA? Hey if it's in good order and you get it shipped to Bris, Syd or even Melb.. Go have a bit of an adventure and drive the thing back

[oldcorollas]

were they pre'89 veehickles?

when i was lookin at shipping, some went straight to WA, and some went bris-PK-melb-perf or something?

[4th surf]

The most recent two Surfs weren't 2004 for the V8 and 2002 for the TDi but had to try