Getting my UK 110 into Aus for 6 - 12 months

[neill.bird]

I want to drive round the world and i've been planning this for almost a year. I hear the customs process for getting a vehicle in Aus is very harsh. Having been through as a foot passenger i can imagine. Does anyone have any advice on what we should do to the vehicle before putting it on/in the ship/container. We might be arriving directly from Asia or the UK. Any advice at all will be helpful, however small.

Thanks Neill

[JDNSW]

Have a talk to the local High Commission. They will give you the requirements.

It should be emphasised that the vehicle must be spotlessly clean inside and out (including inside the chassis). Australian Quarantine and inspection service is a bit paranoid about the possibility of importing foreign mud with some pest or disease incorporated. From the UK a major concern would be Foot and Mouth Disease.

John

[neill.bird]

Thanks for that.

My 110 is 15 years old so i'm not sure it could ever be spotless. I'd love to hear if anyone has any experience of the cleaning process and if i need to get it done before leaving or do they insist on doing it again when you land in Aus. I read somewhere they charge $400aus and may want to do it more than once :o

[juddy]

Hi Neil

Iam soon to ship a Land Rover from, would you belive it Yorkshire, to here.

I have been doing lots of research into this, and have even spoken to customs, and AQIS, i dont think theres alot you can do other than to have your vehicle cleaned well in the UK, and then hope you dont get some evil person here, who thinks your land rover needs more of a clean, and spraying it with some more water, believes it will be now sterile, i total believe in the quarantine rules we have here, but i also believe the agents that may clean your car, are doing so just to make a fast buck, i even talked about this to AQIS, who of course say such things never happen.. You can walk of a plane here with any number of super bugs inside you, no one cares about that!!!

You can meet with your agent once customs have cleared your container, and then at least be with them while they open and inspect things, and argue the toss if needs be. If i were you contact AQIS ( like i have ) tell them all about the awful stories of people being ripped off by the cleaning people, and ask them to put something in writing, covering there requirements. at least then you have some back up.. but do make sure you have cleaned everything, to a standard, you would get when purchasing a new/second hand car, ie a full detail....

I did ask the question as to why they dont have a authorised agent in the UK, to do the approved cleaning??? you work out why that is!!!!!

[neill.bird]

thanks thats very helpful info. I'd love to hear what happens when it arrives so please post in the thread again if you get some more details later.

I'm not actually sure if we will ship from here or ship from some other country whilst on the trip. I suppose we could start there and do it the opposite way round meaning we can clean it in the UK.

Thanks Again.

[juddy]

I think you just have to make sure its clean regardless of which port you are coming from, i know of someone who purchased some brand new tyres from the US, never been on the road, and they had to have them cleaned for over $600.... work that one out.......

[Xtreme]

There is no guarantee that it will pass inspection, even if it has been cleaned/fumigated after arrival. And if it doesn't pass inspection then it must be shipped back to where it came from - at your expense of course.

I know a French couple who shipped their Defender to Aus for a 12 month trip. Passed inspection OK and so it should have after they spent 2 weeks cleaning it (even to the extent of using a toothbrush in places) however, it was damaged beyond repair on the return trip due to not being loaded correctly in container. In hindsight they declared that the cost and hassels involved (even without counting the damage) was not worth it and if they ever come to Aus again they will buy a Land Rover here, use it for the duration of their trip and then sell it when they return home.

It wouldn't be too difficult to buy a reliable, well equipped used Landy which would serve the purpose and if treated properly during your trip, depreciation over the six month period would not be significant.

[juddy]

There is no guarantee that it will pass inspection, even if it has been cleaned/fumigated after arrival. And if it doesn't pass inspection then it must be shipped back to where it came from - at your expense of course.

I know a French couple who shipped their Defender to Aus for a 12 month trip. Passed inspection OK and so it should have after they spent 2 weeks cleaning it (even to the extent of using a toothbrush in places) however, it was damaged beyond repair on the return trip due to not being loaded correctly in container. In hindsight they declared that the cost and hassels involved (even without counting the damage) was not worth it and if they ever come to Aus again they will buy a Land Rover here, use it for the duration of their trip and then sell it when they return home.

It wouldn't be too difficult to buy a reliable, well equipped used Landy which would serve the purpose and if treated properly during your trip, depreciation over the six month period would not be significant.

I think thats a great idea if you are only just coming here, but if you are on a world trip, then you have no option....

It must be so difficullt, kind of fingers crossed will they let it in or not, you could adopt the African/South American/Burma/Cambodia/Thailand. method, and pay a bribe..Lol.....

[101RRS]

I imported a car from the UK many years ago and had it cleaned meticulously before it left - it had to be done again here - with me driving the car from Darling Harbour (a port then) to AQIS at the airport to be cleaned again. They are so anal about it that I think you should assume it will have to be cleaned when it arrives no matter what you do so budget for it - but make sure it is clean before you come here.

Plenty of people bring their car here when travelling around the world - you might want to PM Camel Landy (Mark) who was here a couple of years ago and used his own car from the UK and took it back.

Garry

[neill.bird]

Surely there must be people each week arriving to do the same. A bit more investigation is needed me thinks. I completely believe the horror stories but for every one of those are there 10 happy campers? I'd like to think so but then again i want to come in.....

[neill.bird]

I imported a car from the UK many years ago and had it cleaned meticulously before it left - it had to be done again here - with me driving the car from Darling Harbour (a port then) to AQIS at the airport to be cleaned again. They are so anal about it that I think you should assume it will have to be cleaned when it arrives no matter what you do so budget for it - but make sure it is clean before you come here.

Plenty of people bring their car here when travelling around the world - you might want to PM Camel Landy (Mark) who was here a couple of years ago and used his own car from the UK and took it back.

Garry

Thanks will do....we get your border patrol program here so i know how stupid it all is. When all is told its the government thats imported all the nasties not the public. although my chassi is full of wheat from driving through a field....so that certainly needs removing.

[Yorkie]

send a private message to "leeds" and "yorkshire_jon" both did this in the last 2 years so will have plenty of info i'm sure.
safe travels.
:)

[neill.bird]

thanks. I wonder where leeds is from........if hes the same leeds as LR4x4 i might already know him.

[kowanyamakid]

Neill,
I brought an old Mercedes from PNG to Aust a few years ago. I did it without an agent because I'm a tight bugga so had to do a fair bit of research questioning the guys over there who had done it a few times.

The biggest issue seems to be quarantine (apart from getting the VIN slightly wrong ;)) and some would avoid certain ports/inspectors because of this. The advice given to me was to strip the vehicle of any internal carpets and stuff. If the inspector can then see bare floor pan and no junk in there,it will make his life easier. Then clean, clean, clean.

I spent a whole day with the vehicle on a car ramp pressure spraying the underbody. Its amazing how much crud accumulates after 20 years. At the end of the day someone made the comment that it was so clean it would be a shame not to appy fresh underbody paint. I shipped the floor mats, tools and stuff separately in my luggage

I got through fine, however is it feasable for you to empty the vehicle?

cheers

Hugh

1964 GS109

[ugu80]

If I may add my bit, besides clean, clean, clean; double check that the car is firmly secured in the container. I know a couple of people who have shipped cars from Europe (one being an Aston Martin with 10,000 miles on the speedo). When they opened the container the cars were somewhat shorter, having spent the trip rolling from one end of the container to the other.

[philco]

Talk to "psimpson7" peter, from the Gold Coast Club, he did it 2 years ago, brought his defender 90 into Aussie from the UK.

[spudboy]

We have had quite a few 'foreigners' stay with us, on their way around Aust/The World in a Landy (including "Leeds"), and most of them have had hassles getting their vehicles in to some degree. Most hassle seems to be with the Quarantine people and the degree to which they want the vehicle cleaned.

Still -they all got through in the end, and it just slowed them down for a couple of days and a few hundred dollars. Not the end of the world - just psyche yourself up for it and be happily surprised if things go better than that.

If you are planning to go through Egypt, then Australia will be a walk in the park by comparison. Egypt seems to win all the customs/importing/delayed/confusion stories I have ever heard.

If you need a spot to stay when you get to Adelaide look us up!

Cheers
David

[sashadidi]

I did this 10 years ago so my info will be very old .
Brought my 2 year old 110 in to sydney in a container from memory $500 (bllody watersider mafia) to cross the wharf, $250 to transport to a customs yard, customs guy inspected it and It was steam cleaned somewhere $200? worse part was took it to a place ( roadworthy inspection place) to get rego etc in NSW and they fussed all over it even though the same car was sold in Ozzie
cannot remember any real fuss over cleaning although I had really cleaned it myself , from memoery was told if I was more than 3 months in another state I should re register in that state??
After trip it was overed in red bulldust / clay etc etc, I cleaned it, took back to NZand they did not even look!!! still has red stains from the dust on the chassis today from this that could never be removed
washard to get vechile insurance I remember
Lots of people ship camper vans from NZ so cannot be too difficult
Good Luck

[sashadidi]

If I may add my bit, besides clean, clean, clean; double check that the car is firmly secured in the container. I know a couple of people who have shipped cars from Europe (one being an Aston Martin with 10,000 miles on the speedo). When they opened the container the cars were somewhat shorter, having spent the trip rolling from one end of the container to the other.
Yes get Marine insurance for when you are shipping it!!!

see this link:

http://dreamers1.com/russia/Practicalities/Shipping_Pictures.htm

[neill.bird]

Thanks very much guys. Thats all good info and all from experience rather than rumour. I'm pepared for the hassle,,,, its the money factor that annoys me.

clean clean clean seems to be the order of the day. :wallbash:

@kowanyamakid
Unfortunatly we can't empty the 110 as we'll be living in it and we can hardly put 1000kg of bits in our checked luggage :D but the bits about the carpets is understood. They're coming out as soon as, i've just put it on the to-do list.

This is a work in progress and i'm just off out to replace part of the fuel system so we can't imagine we'll be in Aus till 2011 or 2012 and thats depending it we come there first or part way through the trip. The logistics of doing this trip is mind boggling. The places like Aus with carnet and visa waivers is relatively simple to get to. The other places were visas are $1000's and you have to wait 6 months are a real pain in the arris. Thats if they aren't trying to kill you when you get there. Europe to India....is a nightmare to do. So many routes and so many are almost impossible to take for one reason or another. China too expensive, afganistan too dangerous, north pakistan again dangerous, Iran southern route is looking like the only way and thats if they give us a visa.

oh, if i don't say thanks for you individual post don't think i've not read it and arn't greatful. I am. THANKS.

[100inch]

I have send LR`s twice to AUS and other places. I also organised the shipping for a few friends worldwide. My tips for you are the following...
-most important, don t ship into Sydney! Nothing wrong with the NSW members here:DBut, there are some (port-)politics, which may not work in your favour.
-take pictures of all your equipment and write a list. Include pics, where to find VIN and engine number. Send this list to your customs agent in advance....
-steam clean the car several times, let it dry and go over again and again. Use some tyre products and don t forget to clean your camping stuff as well! They may check!!
-check with your shipping agent about a solution to replace the wooden blocks with some other material.
- I never drained the fuel tank complete.....
- get TAC cover ( I had different types of TAC cover, depending where I went)
- 6 5to ratched straps should do the trick, even for a heavy 110.
This sounds after a lot and there is more for sure. But, it is definitly worth the troubles. Nothing better than opening the doors and see your car again.......https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/08/642.jpg marc

[camel_landy]

Hi There,

I brought my Camel 110 over from the UK to travel around Oz a few years back and sailed through the Customs & Quarantine checks. If you want to ask any questions, feel free to drop me a PM.

Cheers,

M

PS - I'll probably be at Stoneleigh on the bank holiday weekend if you want to chat over a beer.

[juddy]

I have send LR`s twice to AUS and other places. I also organised the shipping for a few friends worldwide. My tips for you are the following...
-most important, don t ship into Sydney! Nothing wrong with the NSW members here:DBut, there are some (port-)politics, which may not work in your favour.
-take pictures of all your equipment and write a list. Include pics, where to find VIN and engine number. Send this list to your customs agent in advance....
-steam clean the car several times, let it dry and go over again and again. Use some tyre products and don t forget to clean your camping stuff as well! They may check!!
-check with your shipping agent about a solution to replace the wooden blocks with some other material.
- I never drained the fuel tank complete.....
- get TAC cover ( I had different types of TAC cover, depending where I went)
- 6 5to ratched straps should do the trick, even for a heavy 110.
This sounds after a lot and there is more for sure. But, it is definitly worth the troubles. Nothing better than opening the doors and see your car again.......https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/08/642.jpg marc

Out of interest, what size container is this, and what was the height of your Land rover...????