I hope I've posted this in the right section!! Hello Australians, I'm an Australian living in Los Angeles, been here 11 years. I'm moving back home in a few months and am bringing a car and all my ****. I'm looking at also bringing a project in, so hopefully you can help answer a few of my questions. I don't have all that much coin, but the guy across the street from me has a 65 Mercury Comet Caliente, 289 auto and 9 inch. He's the second owner, had it about 20 years, but 15 years ago he pulled it off the road and started to strip it to restore it. For whatever reason he lost interest and it's sat covered since then. The thing is LASER straight, no rust, never been wrecked, but it needs paint and interior a**** other things. It has all the trim and bits and pieces, it's only missing the front seats and obviously needs to be put back together. It'll likely cost me somewhere between $4000-$7000 to get home with the 2 cars, so I really want to have this thing pay for that if I can sell it in Australia. A good runner here can go from about 7 to 9 grand, and a restored one can go up to 26. So I would need to get about 8 Grand AUSD to make it worth my while. I would put the car back together and get it running and in the best possible condition for whomever would buy it. Hopefully someone can advise me on this things value or desireability back home. Thanks!!
You can look at the Just Cars and Unique Cars websites in AU and look at what ask prices are like. As far as I can tell, Mercury is a bit of an orphan brand here, along with Olds, Buick etc. What really sells are Mustangs, Camaros, 55-57 Chevs. If it's Ford or Chev, the plonkers know about them, outside that you are restricting yourself market and $ wise. That's my 2 cents.
I would guess that it would barely be worth the effort. The transportation and custom fees would probably eat up most of the apparent profit. I was told at one time that the custom fees to import a used car there were very high.
thanks Guys, being that I've lived here for so long, customs fees are next to nothing. I checked out unique cars and just cars and there are no mercury's. I do have a hookup on a nice driver fully loaded 65 Thunderbird, I saw plenty of those for sale anywhere from 20-30K, and that I can get real cheap. I'm almost tempted to just buy that and drive it for a while, hell I might even keep it.
Can't really answer for Australia, but I saw somewhere recently that it costs as little as $1350 kiwi to get a car to NZ. That's a tad farther than Aussy. As for resale, a car like that could easily fetch 20gs here. I'm sure yourd get a very tidy profit.
Hmm, interesting. I've seen car shipping cheap too, but I think that you get in a container with 4 other cars, 2 top and 2 bottom. I would do that but I have all my other personal stuff, a few guitars and amps, tool boxes and other things. I can share a 40 footer with someone else, but then it gets opened on the wharf in Melbourne and the ***** wharfies go through it to unload it. Heard too many horror stories about them ****holes stealing your stuff to want to risk it. If I buy the whole container they'll ship it wherever I tell em to and only I open it.
Yeah, got to watch out for those guys on the wharf. Here's the ad I saw. Maybe no help, but there's several ads in the NZ Petrol head for shippers. Aussy no doubt has similar guys. Shop around, yourll figure it out.
You may be lucky And get your 8-10 G if it is totally complete, eg All the trim, lenses, etc, as repro Merc bits are sometimes non existent. They did share A lot of mechanicAl bits with Falcon, so you can till find those common pArts. As someone sAid, Mercs Are A bit of An oddbAll make (unless it's a Cougar or A '49) Sometimes you cAn win in situations like yours if you finish the cAr without too much work and register it here, making it easier to sell, And you may get A good price for it. The T-bird may be A better bet, if your trying to flip it when you get here. Do your homework first before importing. There's lots of "***ociated costs " they don't mention in those Ads. It costs a lot more to bring a cAr here thAn to N.Z. Al Montana in L.A. Ships lots of stuff down here, and a few I know hAve used himAnd said he's OK.
aren't there import restrictions on non complete vehicles, non original? don't you have to have owned the vehicle for at least 12 months? good that you can use one application to import two vehicles and save some cash
no restrictions I know of for incomplete cars (modified cars are a bit of an issue), try and find something unusual ie not a Mustang, but something that is common for parts, Chev bubble top, Dodge muscle, early F truck, Chev pick ups..... look at Ebay Oz Completed(!) sold listings to get an idea of a price you can shift for , don't even look at asking prices, there are a lot of people dreaming on Ebay
I don't have to pay fees on the pontiac as I've owned it for years. Another car I will have to pay import duties based on the value of the car, I've pretty much decided on the t-bird as it's 100% complete and running. I can't get all my stuff and the pontiac in a 20 footer so that's why I've decided to throw another car in a 40 footer. all up the pontiac and a t-bird measure out at 35.5 feet touching bumpers. I've been recommended a shipper, I just have to fill out a few forms and pay a few small fees here (plus the shipping/packing cost) and it's all ready to go. Parts are a non issue, you can import a car as a parts car but I believe to register it it needs some kind of compliance/engineers certificate. Fortunately it won't get opened at the wharf, but the company that ships it have to unpack the container at their yard for a customs officer to inspect. The container also has to go through a fumigation process because I'm also bringing in solid wood, but they do that once it's all packed, worst case is the car may need a steam clean underneath if I din't clean it up well enough for their liking.
You can bring in a car older than 30 years but not modified and the only import costs are 10% Goods and Services Tax(GST). There may be other costs such as fumigation etc on top of container cost. Doesn't matter if it is incomplete or not running. That old rule about 12 months ownership went out years ago.
I believe that the 12mth rule applies to personal imports that require compliance plating ( Up to 15yrs old), no restrictions on other cars provided that they comply with Motor Vehicles Standards Act 1989; ie not modified. Cars over 30yrs old mostly don't require RHD conversion. However you'd still require an import approval as a complete car. A pre-75 enthusiasts car can be built from parts, I have a Commonwealth import bulletin that I need to locate that authorises it.
I just brought my 32 back after living there for three years. Had to be completely stock to get it in, fenders on etc but not restored. Customs will require photos of the car in its current condition and must look the same on arrival at the wharves. The cost was mostly at this end in fees but the shipping was 25% of the cost before feed and GST. My first car I brought in was in pieces but that was 20 years ago so things have changed. As for modified cars, if you can provide irrefutable proof that the car was modified before 1989 you MAY get approval. I had to sell my 29 coupe as due to its modifications it was denied ( 5 inch chop, 32 frame, merc flathead). Before you do anything send an application and roll the dice! If it gets approved then organise purchase and payment if you know the neighbour. Beware of dodgy people who claim they can get anything in. I know of guys who have spent everything on a purchase and shipping and were broke when they had to pay to shop the car back or forfeit it to customs. It is a real thing. I used a broker who has been doing this for 30 years and he was at the docks when my car was unloaded. It then was released with him present and delivered to me the same day. PM me for detail if you want his contact info.
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