Had a quick troll around and couldn't find anything up to date about this so am posting the question in the hope of finding someone with some expertise in this area.

Looking at the value of the Aussie dollar (go you good thing) against the pound, it would almost make sense to look at importing a used sport. There are some amazing prices in the UK for a fully decked out TDV8 and I was wondering about the pros and cons of shipping one out here.

Anyone done this in the last year or two and know what kind of costs/time would be involved in the process? 'Black Betty' Java Black RRS 07 TDV6

There are some posts in this Aus/NZ section about this already....

My layman's understanding is that you can only import cars that are deemed 'low volume' by the government. Land Rover/Range Rover is not low volume - but Lambos and the like are..

Otherwise you have to have owned them for a period (something like 12 or 18 months) before importing them - this is designed for those emigrating into Aus.

I looked at the last option when I came out back in 2002 (for my Boxster S), but all the import and luxury taxes made it not worth doing. Dollar was 2.8 to the pound back then, so the stronger dollar may work now.

Never mind the Range Rover Sport, have a look at what you can get a used FFRR Vogue diesel for!!

I don't think that you would find the overall experience worth it in $ terms Jimmy. Certainly as 2R says, you would have to own it for 12-24 months to import it free of taxes. The scheme is designed for those immigrating.

I would also be careful importing from the UK, lots of salt and corrosion there from winter road conditions and snow.

When I lived in the USA, I only ever bought cars which had spent their life in the very southern states where they don't really have snow and ice. Gone - 2008 Stornoway Grey RRS 2.7 TDV6
Gone - 2009 Buckingham Blue RRS 2.7 TDV6
Gone - 2010 Alaska White RRS 5.0 V8 Aspirated
Gone - 2017 Chawton White RRS 5.0 V8 Supercharged
Current - 2010 Java Black RRS 5.0 V8 Aspirated
Current- 2024 RRS P400 SE Dynamic

So if say I owned it and registered at a mates place in London for a year (leased it to him cheaply to make up for not having it for a year) would I then be able to bring it out without the taxes? 'Black Betty' Java Black RRS 07 TDV6

No Idea, you'd have to investigate how particular the ownerhip test is!

Jimmy Salsa wrote:

So if say I owned it and registered at a mates place in London for a year (leased it to him cheaply to make up for not having it for a year) would I then be able to bring it out without the taxes?

garrycol wrote:

Jimmy Salsa wrote:

So if say I owned it and registered at a mates place in London for a year (leased it to him cheaply to make up for not having it for a year) would I then be able to bring it out without the taxes?

No - you have owned and used the vehicle personally for the required time period - you will have to show proof of residency in the UK, produce your passport so your movements can be authenticated, also show use of vehicle - ie MOT, services etc.

You need to be physically living in the UK - the basic rules have not changed since the early 80s when I imported a car from the UK - I had to produce all of the above.

Garry

All that ^^^^

I looked into it about 18 months ago when there was a chance I'd end up in Sydney with work, I'd not owned my car long enough to qualify so the duties had to be paid. It's not an issue now, but the opportunity's gone anyway

FWIW, an ex-colleague took his D3 with him to Melbourne last year, cost to ship was £1500 and that included the necessary work to have it registered once it arrived. Ex-G4 Challenge RRS HSE, BV55 YZE. Subtle shade of orange ! Now registered YZE481 G4RRS in Melbourne.