Importing an R56 to WA

[Caledonian]

Hello / G'Day

I am relocating from Scotland to Perth WA in the next couple of months and my wife and I are looking to bring our MCS R56 with us. We have had the car from new in September 2008 and are reluctant to give it away before leaving the UK. (The relative value of currency between Australia and UK at the moment makes it an even less attractive proposition to sell it )

I am more or less up to speed on the shipping, duties and taxes associated with importing the car but can't seem to find anything definite on what alterations may or may not need to be done in order to get a Roadworthy Certificate in WA. Just wondering if anyone can advise on the following;

The UK spec has only MPH marked on the centre speedo, am I correct in saying that the dial /speedo needs to be replaced with one that is marked in KPH only ? (Lockwood do one that I would get fitted before exporting it)

The door mirror glass on UK cars has a blind spot segment which means it is not flat glass. Does this need to be replaced in order to pass the test?

Does anyone know if the Aircon gas is compliant to Australian standards or if it too needs to be re-gassed?

The rear anchorage points are already there under the rear seats so don't expect any issue there.

Any issues with insuring personal imports (even though they are all imported from Oxford !)


Cheers,,,,

[Dave Elliott]

Hi,

I have a feeling that personal imports would not need to comply with all the ADRs. Not 100% sure, but there must be soewhere you can find out more.

Dave

[dsakko]

Best thing to do would be contact Dept of Transport Department of Transport

I know that in South Aus you generally can't do this any more if the car was originally available for sale through official dealerships (they keep changing the rules to make it harder and harder to import) but every state is different. WA is usually the easiest so hopefully they can give you some advice.

[dsakko]

And more specifically:
Vehicle imports and certifications

Looks like you have a shot at it, just need to go through the hoops to get someone to compliance it for you.

[Dave Elliott]

I'm chasing up with a mate who works in Transpot WA...he should be able to help where to find the latest information.

[Dave Elliott]

Import approvals is a Federal matter (Canberra). The following link should be able to help:
Importing Vehicles to Australia

If you are immigrating and have owned the vehicle for more than 12 months (I think) then it should be a Personal Import.

There is also some info on out DoT WA website:
Vehicle imports and certifications

[marks07]

There has been a lot of American cars being imported in WA. Mainly classic cars (which maybe under differing rules).

But there is a lot of car importers now who can pickup, ship & register your car in WA. The have had classifieds in the paper to do so.

Maybe that's a lead.

Cheers.

[Caledonian]

**********Update*********

Car now imported and legally on the road. It wasn't as much fuss as I thought it might be.
1) The car was shipped from Newcastle to Fremantle on one of the large car transporter ships that brings new Nissans etc to Australia.

2)The import agent delivered it straight to the front door after the duties etc were paid.

3) Next, car was taken for a test which was quite basic compared to say even an MOT test in UK. They don't test emissions or headlight alignment or anything else that would render 50% of the cars in WA failures. Car passed with no modifications needing done. No changes to speedo, mirrors, seat belt anchorages for child seats or all the other things that have been suggested. I think the digital speedo being swapped over to KPH means the centre dial in MPH doesn't matter. I bought a new facia plate from Lockwood dials before I came but it is white, not silver, so I don't think I'll bother changing it. The MINI has the necessary anchorages for australia anyway so no issue there either.

4) Paperwork sent to Victoria and plates and personal import label arrived in post from Victoria within the week.

5) Finally, back to the test station to have the personal import label applied and away you go.

6) Now insured fully comprehensive and scooting about the northern suburbs !


Definitely worth doing I think. Yes its a pain paying $5K to import your own fecking car that has been bought and paid for but you have to look at it against the comparative cost of a 3 year old Cooper S in WA with all the options.

[rellik666]

Thanks for that....very interesting especially with the poor exchange at the moment.

How'd you go with insurance?

[lucibles]

Hi Caledonian, I too am in Perth and my mini cooper convertible is on the boat from the UK! Very excited but also worried about the stress of when it arrives. A friend recently imported her 4x4 and she seemed to have nightmare after nightmare. Please would you mind answering a few questions?
1. Number plates - these are a diffferent size no? Did you have any probs with fixings/leaving a mess behind from the old longer plates?
2. Did you have any probs getting insurance? May I please ask who with?
What garage did you take the car too for the test and did you need some sort of permit to be able to drive it there?

Thank you soooo much your help is hugely appreciated!