Shipping a Car to Australia

02.11.2020 , aw@emigrateaustralia.com , Australia Immigration 0

How to Ship a Car to Australia

Process for importing cars into Australia

Emigrate Australia has successfully assisted countless individuals and families start a new life in Australia. The process for shipping a car to Australia is one of the most frequently asked questions of our Australian Immigration Experts.

Firstly, you are going to require a 20 foot sea container arranged via the moving company or the company may suggest ‘groupage’ which is where you share a sea container. There are options where you can drive on, drive off with the car although we’ve seen a number of people have some issues with damage about drive on, drive off. We don’t really like to share a container because then we’re not responsible for the other items that are in the container and they’re equally then not responsible for any damage that happens to our clients cars.

Emigrate Australia as a Partnership has its roots in Corporate Relocation, and we retain high level connections with all the major Shipping Companies. This ensures our private clients enjoy corporate levels of service. All the sea container and export paperwork with regard to the shipping company will be done by the shipping company

Cost of Shipping a Car to Australia

Normally the 20 foot container that normally costs around three thousand US dollars for the 20 foot container from UK to Perth, Western Australia. It’s around four and a half thousand Australian dollars. The price of shipping a car to Australia is easy to calculate and if you require an import permit and it is very important to get your import permit early. Do not ship your car without your import permit because when you haven’t got your import permit approved and your car is on a boat, you do risk the chance there that your car is either seized, crushed or impounded when the car arrives. So don’t take that risk. Do it early. It is a simple process. You can do it online here.

In total it costs around $7500 AUD to ship a car to Australia

Import Permit to Ship a Car to Australia

An import permit to ship a car to Australia only costs fifty Australian dollars. You may have to provide additional information, photos and some detailed explanation about what modifications had been done on the car before the permit was granted though we do find the Department of Transport very easy to deal with due to our extensive network of contacts.

Insurance to Ship a Car to Australia

We recommend taking out shipping insurance and it’s normally one percent of the car’s value and the insurance value doesn’t have any association with the import value that you’re declaring for either your GST or your import duty in tax, so there’s not a link between the two.

Costs of Customs clearance in Australia

Quarantine clearance and vehicle checks are of the utmost importance in Australia and they are done a little bit differently than anywhere else in the world. For instance, there’s a process for opening the container, getting the cars inspected, and then what cars have to go through before they’re actually released and delivered to their owner.

Standard administration fees or taxes: $45
Car unpacking: $700
Quarantine assessment: $85
Quarantine cleaning fee: $120
Moving the car to Quarantine: $560
Quarantine fees: $90
Returning the sea container to the ship: $165

Is it worth shipping my car to Australia?

Shipping your car to Australia usually saves money because the Australian market is expensive. If you do sell it and then try to replace it in Australia, the same vehicle will often be priced higher in Australia, because of the restrictions on imported cars. Making the local market inflated compared to most other countries.

What tax is levied on imported cars to Australia?

Vehicles over 30 years old are not required to pay duty, however 10% GST is payable. Vehicles that are under 30 years will have to pay 5% Duty and 10% GST.