Thread: Rear seats and import inspection

if the seats were factory fit you'll be fine.

if they weren't and the dataplate doesnt list the vehicle as being rated for the number of seats you have in the vehicle you may need to get an engineers inspection done on it to get a blue plate but other than that you should be fine.

if the seats weren't factory fit and the vehicles already got a suitable engineers plate they might eyeball the anchor points and tell you to go see an engineer to get the plate converted.

Hopefully what happened to me won't happen to you but just be prepared for all sorts of requests. I brought in a '96 Discovery from NZ several years ago, and had to:
1. Prove air-con gas was R134a (sticker under bonnet on aircon system was not enough). It didn't need degassing.
2. Prove the market value in AU$
3. Declare Australian residential address
4. Send certified copy of entry stamp from passport
5. Make a declaration to DIPE (Environment) that this is the only 4wd that I'd ever bring into Australia.

I was in NT and vehicle in Adelaide so as each request came separately it took weeks to clear it.

Just smile and comply.

Trevor

All seat belts are good with 'e' markings, the vehicle was factory fitted with the rear seats so everything is standard. For the cost of a regas I might as well have the aircon changed and get a certificate to prove it has R134a in it, I'll try and pre-empt anything. Has its MOT and full service as well next month so hopefully anything will be spotted and rectified before it gets shipped.

All will pan out fine. I brought an old Porsche in last year and did the lit myself... it was an interesting insight in to the workings of dumb bureaucracy protecting inefficient local import businesses and the tax man.

The cleaning thing is beer money for the union boys at the docks... you are literally being "taken to the cleaners"!!! Bear in mind it is cheaper to have them do it at the shipping yard if possible.

I Imported my 90 last November. Which state are you getting it registered in!?

Here in Melbourne VIC it was all straight forward up untill 'Road Worthy'! I didnt employ an agent to handle the import, done it myself and saved a few bob. Customs office was dead, no que - so they were helpful. Going to the docks and dealing with quarantine, shipping folk was ok - they charged me something like $80 for an escort though! I gave the quarantine guys the tour around the rover, chatting to them seemed to help - they gave it a pass. They even let me use their fax machine/email to get my approval and payment details back to the customs office so I didnt have to leave the docs and pay another $80 to get back in. Customs then approved my import on their systems and it took about 2 hours before it could be verified on the systems at the docks.. at that point I could drive it out.

Compliance was simple too.. they gave a quick look around, asked a couple of questions and that was that. Only thing they really looked at were the seatbelts... any nicks or fray on your seatbelts and you will need to get new ones. Mine had been chewed by the door catch, so a slight set back.. ordered in fairly cheap from the UK - went back and got the pass.

ROADWORTHY!! grrrr... pure hell. Started with a land rover specialist and received two pages of fails, including - wrong steering wheel for model, bottom door seals not full length, seat rails not original, corrosion in battery box.. etc etc etc. When I saw the list I couldnt beleive it - the car had been rebuilt on a new chassis and passed uk MOT so I was not expecting such a huge list.

I decided to go for another test at a place that does not know land rovers well. Went to two places, both did not want anything to do with it. It seems like quite a few of them do not want to deal with imports or if they do they go super strict on it - perhaps because they think vicroads or compliance will do an inspection and find something they missed which will get them in trouble... I dunno.

The fourth place took it in saying no probs should be all good. This mob failed it with a smaller list, interestingly most of the fails didnt match the previous test. The car was at this garage for a week, very slow progress so I ended up doing half the work myself.. even after it was all sorted out they didnt want to give me a roadworthy because I did not have an import plate! I told them you cant get an import plate until you have compliance and roadworthy to show vic roads!!! In the end it turned out the garage was taking it to another mechanic around the block who was authorised to do the inspections... so I went direct to him and had it sorted out in a day.

If your getting a roadworthy in VIC, I hope your land rover is truely stock! Do not get the roadworthy done at a land rover specialist, make sure you get it done at a well reviewed garage that will do the inspection themselves.

Good luck.

Some really good reply's here. The main thing is as stated, each state has different rego procedures and requirements.
Give them a call and speak to them about what is required in that state.
RMS (previously RTA in NSW) is usually very good , depending who you are talking to ( I guess), I have imported a Jaguar XJS previously which was not to painful once I understood the system and what was required.
The main thing that they where concerned with was the car stlolen / written off, and safety items ie, seatbelts , seat anchors , battery tray, brakes, tyres, etc.
Allow time, usually the process will take longer than anticipated in the first place for what ever reason.

Allan

Some good info, thanks for the time to post your experiences, what is apparent is if there's a hard way to do something Government agency's will find it and if there's a way to squeeze money out of you they will find that as well. There is a few extra's on the 90 that weren't standard but they're all just bolt on's for a bit of extra protection i.e diff guards and steering guards, all can be removed if anyone takes exception to them. Looking forward to getting over there, you may have as much bureaucracy as us but at least it isn't raining 12 months of the year
Oh and we'll be in Perth if there's anyone that know a decent vehicle inspector in WA?

Well latest update and bringing a thread back from the dead!

The Landie landed OK, didn't need to be cleaned by AQIS and they were happy with the air con gas.
Next step is Friday and it's over the pits

Fingers crossed