Thread: Importing defender 90 from uk

I have owned (and still own) cars imported from the UK. Bloody rusted out piles of crap they usually are. Very pretty on the outside.... unbelievably rusty underneath. I watched an import range rover classic LSE that looked immaculate sit on carsales from months a year or so back. Being an import it was near unsalable. Even though it was lovely out the outside, anyone that looked underneath ran away screaming "Rusty"..... well by pommy standards it would have been a "good one" by aussie standards it was very sad.

Back in 1995 my parents lived in the UK for a year. It took my father 6months to find two cars worth bring back .... everything was just so rotten. He was looking at 8 -> 10 year old citroen 2cvs and CX GTi Turbos. They were so rotten by 8 years of age, they were even worth bothering with.

Unless you have owned and used the cars in the UK for an extended period of time and know they aren't rotten junk underneath. THere is no way I'd bother to import them. Especially if you can buy them locally and know they have never smelt a salted road

They just rust in such weird place. eg: I bought my wife a Citroen XM turbo diesel a few years back. Though it was imported quite young, and galvanised at the factory. Stuff like the wiper motor under the skuttle was rusty as buggery. The ball joints were almost impossible to unscrew as the threads were rusty .... etc.... that's without worrying about aluminium and metal chassis mixing together on salty roads like un-galvanised land rovers !

seeya,
Shane L.

I bought my 2013 Defender in Malaysia brand new 4+ yrs ago and last year brought it to Australia. My situation a whole lot different to yours, Australian returning home, personal import, etc.

My point in writing is that the guy who did the work needed to bring my barge over may well have clear and accurate information on what you would need to do in your situation. PM me for contact details if you like.

I elected for a completely managed process. i.e. I handed over the keys in Kuala Lumpur. He handed back the keys to my vehicle in Sydney complete with compliance plate. I just had to do local registration and insurance. Cost me close to A$10k including GST (other taxes and duties exempt as personal import).