Kit Car Electronics Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 Has anyone got any experience of moving abroad with their cars and registering them there? What kind of rules apply - eg. cats, MOT equivalent etc? Are current plates easier than Q's to export? I'm just fishing for info at the moment For starters what about France, US, Australia, New Zealand? Cheers guys, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyBoy Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 NickM has moved to the US for work and taken his westie with him to shame the lardy yanky muscle cars. I looked at canada, but couldnt justify the shipping costs. www.karmanshipping.co.uk www.autoshippers.co.uk these sites have links to the relevant government sites regarding import of vehicles looking at somewhere IRO 3k to ship to vancouver then paying import/tax costs on the cars value etc etc so i decided i'm going to buy a car for that money out there. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steppenwolf Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 France is a no no. After 3 months of living in the country as your permanent residence, the car has to be registered in France but this cannot be done as the froggies do not recognise the UK SVA Test, only full type approval. You could offer to crash test you car of course but this could be counter-productive ........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timd Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 Don't westfields already have low volume type approval though? ISTR a photo of a pukka crash test in the westfield showroom when I was up there choosing kit (ie. a long while ago! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steppenwolf Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 This would only apply to Factory Built cars though wouldn't it? It is an interesting point though and it begs another question - is a factory built car a production car or a kit car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick M Posted May 26, 2003 Share Posted May 26, 2003 Getting a car into the US for 12 months as a temporary personal import is a piece of cake. Registering it Arizona is relatively easy too. But keeping it here for longer (and registering it in another state) might not be so straightforward. The commonly suggested route is to strip it down into major chunks (engine, chassis, suspension, gearbox, wheels, etc.) and classify it as kit for home assembly. But you'd need to meet various local requirements to get it registered and it's easier in some state than others - I've even heard that some states insist on front bumbers being fitted.... There are plenty of new c******ms being sold over here so it's eminently do-able for new kits but not so easy for existing cars I'd say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Car Electronics Posted May 26, 2003 Author Share Posted May 26, 2003 Thanks for the help, guys Hooray for good old Blighty, for once - at least it's fairly easy to register a Westy here (although sounds a bit harder than when I put mine on the road)! I remember the days when you could put an engine in a wheelbarrow and drive it on the road if you wanted... Oh, hang on - that was Reliant wasn't it? Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Lucas Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 Australia appears fairly relaxed, albeit there are differences from state to state, but why would you choose to live anywhere other than Western Australia if you come all this way? Westfield import kits to Perth and there are a bunch of other makes available too. New Zealand also has kit manufacturers eg Leitch, so I presume they are pretty good too. Cost of a basic 7 type kit fully made up seems to be around $22-$30k in both countries depending on spec. That is about 9-12k GBP. I can't comment on the freight or import charges. I am involved in the mining industry here and we have had endless problems getting our equipment through quarantine from overseas. For this reason alone I would be concerned about importing. We have had to cut holes in sealed dump truck chassis, return tyres to the conuntry of origin and various other exciting episodes before allowing gear back into Australia. Life might be easier with a car one would hope ........ Most vehicles use a Toyota 4AGE motor and T50 gearbox, Cortina uprights and Escort MkII rear axle. Parts are reasonably available. Upsides to Australia? The weather is certainly better than the UK hence more driving opportunities. Downsides? Sun burn? The roads are much straighter! Australian drivers...... Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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