Thread: Importing Series 3 to Australia

Originally Posted by dullbird

I dont understand why when anyone asks this.....people instantly say dont bother.

he is obviously very attached to the vehicle and already stated he doesn't want to leave it behind.

When we brought our 90 over Graeme coopers said the same thing "why would you bother" WTF! we realised that it was a heart over financial matter.

but I say if you love your vehicle, you have already spent a lot of time and money on it that your not going to recop and your prepared to pay despite people telling you how many are over here already bring it over!

Better the devil you know eh Lou?

Been there, done that.....got all the permits sorted before loading it, spent 2 Days with a high pressure steam cleaner removing every speck of dirt,on, in and underneath the Landy. Flushed out every hole on the chassis (untill the water ran clear) cleaned and degreased the engine bay and drive line, cleaned and dressed the tyres (both sides and the tread, including the spare) pushed it into the container, the rest of our stuff was loaded, around, under and inside the Landy and shipped it. When shipping by container you pay for the square meters of the container foot print, so fill it as full as you can to get the best value for your Euro's.
When the Landy was ready to be picked up, some petty, money grabbing Goverment beaurocrat decided that It was worth $5000.00 and as such I had to pay $500.00 GST on property I had owned for some years(inspite of the vehicle being almost 40 years old). That done, "The all knowing, all seeing Oricle of REMLR (Uncle Ho) helped me get it rego'ed here in QLD and the rest as they say "is history"

Peter

BINGO! The simplest solution is to take the S111 apart as you are doing the rebuild anyway, buy your new chassis , ship it all over here to australia as parts (this will be cheaper and it will take up less room in a container leaving more for your goods), go to a local wreckers/farmer get a VIN/chasis no. off a wrecked +rusted out series 3 and put it on your new chassis. Re-ASSEMBLE your wagon here and welcome to aus! Legally wise it may be much easier to get a blue+ pink slip for a "restored" landy than to import and rego.Remeber to be honest about the cost of the parts(or vehicle) as customs will confiscate/ hold items if they are false declarations.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

WA require an engine imobilizer, WA or NT would be the easiest places to get registered. Once it's been registered here it's not a major drama to transfer to another state.

Only for vehicles <20 (or maybe <25) years old. So either way a 1974 landie is fine.

As mentioned - Immigration will want the vehicle completely clean - and from what I have heard will clean and fumigate the vehicle with bromide(or similar) - and charge you for it.

As JDNSW said, a few minor items may need changing - such as headlights and seat belts.

As a guide on prices here, a SIII station wagon that is in very good condition and completely rust free would probably sell for <$5000AUD in my experience. For that price you could also get the SIII Stage 1 model - which in Australia had a 3.9L diesel option as well as the 3.5L V8. As long as they haven't been near the beach, vehicles over here don't rust much compared to Europe.

Firstly where are you going to be living? You say you contacted some authority in WA - is that where you'll end up or will you be in NSW / SA / QLD?

I can only speak about NSW with confidence... Having recently brought my 2006 110 Double Cab out here.

I can highly recommend a few people here in NSW to help you out on the import and complience side of things.

Also (again in NSW at least), if your landy is registered as manufactured before 1st Jan 1989 (clearly yours is) then under Regulation 17 it is exempt from needing to meet Australian design standards complience... For you this is a good thing!!

You will hear a LOT about cleanliness, this is not un-justified. It MUST be spotless inside and out, otherwise you will end up with a big quarentine bill for steam cleaning! Each steam clean is currently $275 (from memory) - My 110 was spotless and fortunately only needed to go through once!

Id also recommend using an agent to bring the car into the country for you - Take it from me you will have A LOT of other things to think about when you get here. Knowing that someone else is handling the Landy is a welcome relief!

Before you ship it you must have an IMPORT APPROVAL from DoTRAS (Australian equivelent of DVLA) - This will need to be done online when your still in the UK. Its a pain in the ass because they ask for proof of residency etc etc But persivere and the approval comes through... for $50.

If you really like the car then its worth every penny to get it here... Ive not one regret about bringing the 110 out...

Hope that helps,
Jon

Hi all, thanks for all your replies!

Since we already need a container for shipping some of our other stuff, the cost of shipping is OK'ish (around 3000$ in total).

We're not pretty sure if we're going to live in Sydney or in Perth (depends on the job).

The only 2 modifications:
- the 2.25l diesel engine was replaced in the years with a 2.5l diesel (early defender)
- the leaf springs were replaced with the ones from rocky mountain

Do you think these might cause trouble?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by flecxie

Hi all, thanks for all your replies!

Since we already need a container for shipping some of our other stuff, the cost of shipping is OK'ish (around 3000$ in total).

We're not pretty sure if we're going to live in Sydney or in Perth (depends on the job).

The only 2 modifications:
- the 2.25l diesel engine was replaced in the years with a 2.5l diesel (early defender)
- the leaf springs were replaced with the ones from rocky mountain

Do you think these might cause trouble?

Thanks!

Springs won't be a problem. It is unlikely that the engine will be a problem, but you should be aware that this engine was never sold in Australia and there is a possibility that it may prompt questions - in light of the age I doubt there would be problems. Not to do with import, but you should be aware that the in general parts for this engine are not available in Australia except where they fit other engines, so you may have to import any you need in the future.

John

What JD said above. No issue with the springs, and they won't notice the engine is different unless you tell them - however if you do that, also don't tell them it is a 2.5 as they will only have the options 2.25P, 2.25D, 3.5V8 and 3.9D in the system.

However if you tell them you would technically need to get an engineers certificate in NSW or apply for modification approval in WA.

You can find the appropriate form here: Vehicle modifications. Since it is a bolt-in conversion it would be a mere formality.

I have only ever seen a couple of 2.5(T)Ds in Australia, both were personal imports from the UK.