Importing canadian vehicles into australia

[calgarymale86]

hello all,

we're planning on moving to australia in the next few years if all goes well with our visas and we have a few questions to ask. if anyone has any answers or knows who we can contact to find these answers we would be very grateful since i've been going from site to site with no luck.

1. i was concidering importing my truck into australia since i'm a welder and need a truck for my day to day job. does anyone know of the procedures and costs i would have to endure in order to do so?

2. are there any certain emmision laws or mechanical adjustments in australia we should be aware of?

3. is it worth bringing gas guzzling vehicle there?

4. what is the current cost of petrol/diesel? can you get diesel at local pumps?

5. and lastly would you happen to know of any companies that do move vehicles over seas and how much would this cost? i have so far only found international house movers but cant seem to find any numbers or websites who deal with vehicle moves.

once again i appreciate any and all the help that can be offered.

we can't wait to begin our journey into the land down under

-- Mon Apr 20, 2009 9:58 pm --

sorry, one more...

is it mandatory to have a right hand steering wheel or can i import and drive a left hand drive vehicle?

-- Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:11 pm --

and what are the average vehicle insurance rates in australia. are they compareable to here in canada with a average of about $200

[CharR]

I really cannot imagine that it's cheaper to import your truck than it would be to just sell it and buy a new one here. I can't see why anyone would ever do that. Also you'll find that no one drives those huge gas guzzlers here.. the roads and parking spaces aren't big enough. I also can't imagine trying to drive a vehicle, that's too big for the road, from the wrong side of the car. I don't know about fees or emissions tests (although the car would need to get a roadworthy certificate). Petrol is a bit more expensive here than Canada, insurance is maybe a bit more but comparable.

But I would STRONGLY recommend you don't attempt to bring a truck over here. Just get one here.

[possums]

I agree, it's not worth it at all. We looked into sending a classic car over which we might still do one day. The prices we were coming up with were $3500 to send the vehicle, around $7000!!! to change the steering wheel over. Then when you send it over the vehicle MUST be totally empty, our car has a soft top with it and we weren't allowed to include it in the trunk.

I am pretty sure you have to get a special insurance/registration if you want to keep the wheel on the other side. It's mainly for hobby and classic cars to be only driven on weekends.

There are plently of big utes, trucks and suvs here, there are also thousands of welders here so they get by with Aussie vehicles! Good luck with your decision.

[comet555]

It's generally not worth it. Here's a discussion that has some really great info and links to a calculator to help figure out the costs.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthre ... port+costs

[cdnexpat]

Just a little pet peeve for mine re: gas/petrol prices

You do realise that in Canada the lowest Octane you can get is 89, whereas in most of Australia it's 92/95? That is actually the highest Octane you can get in most parts of Canada, so when you compare gas prices you have to compare them at the equivalent Octanes. If you do that you'll see the prices are actually quite similar.

89 Octane in general burns dirtier (therefore more pollution) and gives you worse milage then higher grade Octanes.

[AAJ]

I immigrated to Australia from Ottawa and my family of 4 moved everything over in a container, minus the car. It was estimated that buying everything again would have cost around the same amount as sending it overseas, and you don't have to wait like 2 months in travel time and quarrintine to finally receive your items.

I would think that you'd be much much better off buying a new truck here as you have to pay an insane importing fee plus the hassel of coverting your steering wheel over to the other side. Also I used to work in insurance and even though we may have the same car makers, not all models may have been brought to Australia so most insurers might choose not to cover you at all or you'll have to go through an insurance broker and pay an inflated price.

[misterbig]

Just a little pet peeve for mine re: gas/petrol prices

You do realise that in Canada the lowest Octane you can get is 89, whereas in most of Australia it's 92/95? That is actually the highest Octane you can get in most parts of Canada, so when you compare gas prices you have to compare them at the equivalent Octanes. If you do that you'll see the prices are actually quite similar.

89 Octane in general burns dirtier (therefore more pollution) and gives you worse milage then higher grade Octanes.

Not quite accurate. Octane rating is different in Canada (AKI) vs Australia (RON), check the units on the side of the pump. 89 octane in Canada is equivalent to 93/94 in Australia (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating).

Gas is more expensive in Australia.

[CharR]

Gas is more expensive in Australia.

Only it isn't called "gas" it's called petrol My friends still make fun of me when I slip up and say gas.