Changes To Import Laws - Good Or Bad?

[ShortCircuit]

No.

You can now import cars up to 12 months old with less than 500km.

Cheers. After reading Iron Chef's article I've got a better understanding.

[PranK]

Its for brand new cars only. http://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/462877-australian-owners-can-import-new-cars-from-2018/

[PranK]

Now, will local car sales drop and people get fired?

Or, do local car prices drop sufficiently that importing cars is less cost effective?

I reckon #2. Local new car prices have always been higher than other countries.

[lidz]

Not just new cars, also changing the pre '88 rule to a 25 year rule. Not sure when that comes into affect though.

[GH05T]

i would like to see what actually happens with LCT,

im in the auto industry and lct is a huge player for cars.

at the moment LCT needs to be paid ON NEW CARS, but the grey area which we play, a used car does not pay it but if a "demo car" is registered under a dealer the lct flows down to the first owner, but a used car does not apply, so its the first registered owner of the "new car"

so if a used car (500km 12 month) car comes from japan, i dont know if LCT will be applied or not, big difference if you wanted to buy a $300,000 car for instance.

hopefully the actual effect is not against the dealers but the manufactures. they might need to stop charging the Australian market (the retailers... not the consumers) more for cars that are sold cheaper overseas. its not the dealers fault that we get a higher price, we do not make more money that our overseas counterparts, their are not higher margins, probably lower.

we are the P'platers of the world market, we get what we are given and that is a small part of the available line up and we generally miss allot of the specs given to all ofther countries, Then we are charged the Australia tax because we have no choice.

if a Nissan dealer can finally sell their cars for the same price as japan, im sure they would be happy. it also means that they will give us models we couldn't not get before due to pressure of lost sales from the dealer groups.

i once spoke to a Nissan high up from japan through, we complained that we couldn't get certain models that that Australia should be looked after he response was this.

we can make our entire year of Australian delivered vehicle in one day, if the Australian market became to hard to deal with, we can just take a day off"

as a jap import consumer, its all sorts of giddy good news, but im honestly hoping, from an Australian industry point of view that it dosnt become damaging, because it has the potential to go either way. its defiantly going to cause some adjusting and i hope it does create a free'er more open, consumer driven market. but spare a thought for the businesses behind it which may get damaged.

Ironcheff got back to me and stated that LCT "WILL" be applicable, this f**ks it up a bit but oh well

[rehab2010]

This conversation is way too premature.

Looks like one semi-certainty is the SEVS eligibility criteria change, which may not be tied in with the MVS Act amendments.

I will celebrate an opportunity to buy new car from UK or Japan after Senate approves the Act changes - until that time Senator Xenophon and similar types can torpedo the whole thing just because some crazy Dutch guy wants to buy Elizabeth plant and want to build some cars for export employing a handful of bogans - as if that will ever stand up that idea, what a joke. Auto supplier are all leaving or going bust and he thinks he'll create a viable business selling some aberration of a car.......

[ADP91]

At best you'd save 15K-20K.

I think you'd save a bit more than that lol. 9.6 mill yen is like $120k at today's exchange rate. Landed and complied you'd be looking at $145-150k max. That's probably overestimated.

Brand new here is $187k for the premium and $201k for the black edition (2016 models).

[PranK]

An interesting read on Drive.com.au today; http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/parallel-imports-the-full-story-20160216-gmvyj4?eid=email:nnn-13omn581-ret_newsl-membereng:nnn-04%2F11%2F2013-drive-dom-motoring-nnn-drive-u&campaign_code=13IAU000&promote_channel=edmail&mbnr=MTM3ODQyNjA

[Duncan]

An interesting read on Drive.com.au today; http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/parallel-imports-the-full-story-20160216-gmvyj4?eid=email:nnn-13omn581-ret_newsl-membereng:nnn-04%2F11%2F2013-drive-dom-motoring-nnn-drive-u&campaign_code=13IAU000&promote_channel=edmail&mbnr=MTM3ODQyNjA

That reads exactly like it was written by the Mercedes press department (yep, they guys they rely on for most of their advertising revenue). Very one sided reporting and it repeats totally misleading claims. I strongly doubt the author spoke to even a single person who has imported a car themselves.

[foibles]

I think you'd save a bit more than that lol. 9.6 mill yen is like $120k at today's exchange rate. Landed and complied you'd be looking at $145-150k max. That's probably overestimated.

Brand new here is $187k for the premium and $201k for the black edition (2016 models).

Not sure if I am missing something here....feel free to correct my assumptions however;

* Purchase price of $120K (in AUD terms) - let's assume dealership will freight it and arrange clearance at that end (big ask)

* Duty of 5% (no reason to think duty is being repealed) - so we add $6K to the mix

* Shipping - probably $4K AUD. How do I get that figure (I know everyone wants to undershoot with a RORO FOB figure...but freighting a 94 R33 GTST is one thing, freighting a new R35 entails more risk - so you will likely containerise, and pay far more for insurance. Don't be happy if you go the RORO FOB and they (shipping company) sash it down with chains, and you're up for $10K in respray costs when it arrives.

* Now - I cant remember which comes first - GST or LCT - but they are both 'compounding taxes. Let's assume GST first, so you have 10% x $120K + $4K + $6K = $13K GST

So by now we are at $143K

* LCT is what - circa 30% over 63K or thereabouts? And we are $80K over this amount? So about $24K in LCT.

So by now we are at $167K

* Compliance - supposedly being streamlined. I think it is fair to presume costs may be stripped out here. Perhaps this may come down to $5K or so (but that is a punt)

So by now we are at $172K

In other words......even using your figure of 9.6M as an assumption input figure, I could easily see this ending up at $170-175K, and that is also requiring several other leaps of faith;

* You lose local warranty

* You fork out $120K over the internet to someone you do not know, who may not speak you language, who may disappear to Guam

* Your car could turn up 'kaput!'...or not

* You will lose 6-10 weeks end to end

* Your car may have a reduced re-sell value given it's import background

These are not reasons for avoiding importing....but from what I can see these numbers more closely resemble the likely financial outlay. It certainly won't be for everyone.

As a side note, I have no idea if the 9.6M Yen can be improved upon, by securing a 'demo' used model with under 500 klms. If you could knock (say) 1M Yen off this,you'd shave about $18K off the final price - which becomes far more lucrative.

Cheers.

[Prestige Motorsport]

Hi All, just a couple of quick things to note with this topic.

We have put together some more detail on the proposed vehicle import regulation changes for Australia and will keep this up to date here for you as things progress:

http://prestigemotorsport.com.au/faqs/vehicle-import-regulation-changes/

The latest news is that Govt. has announced a 31 March 2016 meeting date in Canberra to discuss implementation of the reforms to the vehicle import regulations. This is the opportunity for stakeholders to have some say as to how the rules are actually applied -- for example whether cars that have had the odometer changed or modified can be imported at all (NZ blocks them if they fail the independent check in Japan), and whether the R35 GTR and other enthusiast models sold here will be allowed secondhand under SEVS.

This will have a huge bearing on what additional models we will be able to access under SEVS, and could open up a lot of interesting and rare cars that until now have not been viable to import / comply in small numbers or were blocked as a similar low powered version was sold here new.

"* Duty of 5% (no reason to think duty is being repealed)..."

The 5% import duty will be removed with the coming changes (as it should have been when the Free Trade Agreement was signed with Japan last year). Also the silly $12,000 penalty in the Customs Act will be removed which was actually the technical thing blocking claims of the duty free option as it popped up on the Customs Entry and couldn't be circumvented.

LCT should be removed in time I think, but they are staying out of that one for the moment. Being such a high revenue earner it will be a sensitive topic, but once the new rules come into play and settle down, I think the focus will be back on removing LCT as the only thing remaining to bring the cost of new cars back to international levels -- which was the main point made by the Productivity Commission when they reviewed the import regulations.

Will it be possible to import an R35 GTR to Australia ? New yes, and we expect this will save a considerable amount but a lot will depend on exchange rates with a vehicle of this value. Secondhand, we certainly hope so, if not for the regular model we hope SEVS will allow special NISMO and other models secondhand.

Importing a sub 500km car from Japan is not as easy as you might think as Japan requires a vehicle to be first registered then deregistered before export. So an agent needs to handle that process and there will be a cost involved to do it properly. But this is something we will offer and our agents in Japan will be able to order whatever we want from the dealerships including your choice of factory options.

If you're hoping the import regulation changes will make it cheaper to import an R34 or older GTR then think again. The price of these has shot up the last couple of years due to worldwide demand, as they've hit collector status. In the last 12 months we have seen prices increase by $10,000 to $40,000 for some models from Japan and this is also directly reflected in Carsales prices -- just check what R34 GTR's are now listed for. Fewer and fewer are available every year in nice condition, and they are going to more countries than ever before. So prices on these are never coming back to the good old days. Better focus on the new options the changes will open up for us. And if you ever wanted an R32-R34 GTR as a daily driver, better buy one now as with the rapid price increases they're soon to be relegated to the garage as weekend show cars.

Here's something we put together for the R32 GTR which explains the reason for the huge price increases:

http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=785a84e1e4c70bea6ac88ed68&id=4fb57fadb3

What will happen to Australian car prices generally ? Well obviously they will fall if cars become cheaper to import and there is more choice. Yes, the car/s you already own will typically reduce in price, but the replacement cost of another car will also reduce. So how this affects you in dollar terms will ultimately depend on what you own now and what you replace it with in future.

You could sell your car now and buy a worthless old clunker to drive around while you wait for prices to fall in 2 years or so, then pick up a great deal on something newer, but how practical (and sensible) is that for most people ? Not very.

Collector cars like the GTR's mentioned above should hold their value as this is based on world demand rather than restrictive import regulations or taxes. But you'd have to think some potential buyers of these cars will be wooed by newer performance car alternatives available.

Overall, we should be much better off with more choice of newer and safer cars with lower emissions at lower prices. This is the main focus of the changes, and businesses will fit in around them as they always do.

[Prestige Motorsport]

Here's some more detail on importing the R35 GTR under the new import regulations: Import an R35 GTR to Australia - Prestige Motorsport

[No Crust Racing]

All I'm hearing is good news when it comes time for me to sell the 34 and move into a 35

Thanks for the informative post.

Edited March 4, 2016 by ActionDan

[Prestige Motorsport]

No worries Dan. If you picked your R34 up a couple of years ago when prices were (in hindsight) relatively cheap, you should be well placed as that car is one of the few that will hold it's value. Some prices on Carsales now are over $100,000 which seems a bit nuts, but they are collector cars made in limited numbers after all, and very sought-after around the world. Canada is already hot for them with their 15 year rule and in 7 years the US market will be into them as well.

The R35 never had the same appeal as the previous series and being a much newer car they will be relatively cheap and hit their best value buying stage when they are 7 to 9 years old when they run out of rego in Japan the 3rd and 4th time -- still young enough to have lots of nice ones to choose from in Japan yet old enough to have done some large depreciation.

Interestingly, when you go to Japan you don't see many on the roads. When you do see one they appear quite large / wide and given the narrow roads in some areas of Japan you can understand why they're not hugely popular. Still plenty at auction though so maybe they spend a lot of time in the garage being admired instead of driven !

Given that prices start from about 5 million yen at auction for some decent examples, I do hope SEVS allows us to import them secondhand for the sake of everyone that loves them but could never afford the price tag here. At the very least, even if SEVS doesn't allow them secondhand, the price of locally sold R35 GTR's should come down a fair bit since the new price of the same car plus other performance alternative should reduce significantly, putting downward pressure on all secondhand cars.

On average, most people won't be disadvantaged financially since it's the changeover cost that is important to look at, not the reduced value of cars generally. But we will all benefit from access to safer and more efficient cars for lower prices. And that can only help reduce serious road accidents particularly among younger drivers who may now be able to afford to buy their first car with airbags and ABS.

[No Crust Racing]

I only picked it up in October, but I got it cheap (even Shannon's said I basically stole it).

Mine won't hold it's value/appreciate that much given it's a 99 non v-spec. I'm just hoping the Z tune visuals help

I'm most concerned around how lower 35 prices will affect the 34 market, but am hopeful that my low purchase price will help there.

[Prestige Motorsport]

I think you're pretty safe if you got such a good price initially (well done you !) and the car is a genuine clean example. Prices tend to be better with fewer mods as vehicles become more collectible. Either way, the main reason to own one is the enjoyment so I think you're getting that. And you can be sure it won't depreciate wildly like most other cars. At the very least it will retain it's value, and probably appreciate if you look after it.

[No Crust Racing]

I see a lot of hype around cheaper 35s, but it got me wondering about localisation. As in, english buttons, gps, etc.

I imagine importers/compliancers will potentially take on that task for regiona specific mods.

Warranty is the other big one.

While there's no good reason for Nissan Aus to deny warranty on a 500k GT-R just because it came through non official channels, I bet you they will anyway.

[Prestige Motorsport]

Yes, that's a common question with any imports that have TV menus and sat / nav in Japanese. There are people that specialise in modifying them to English around (Chris at Audio Express in Brisbane for example) but the issue is the relatively low numbers of cars which need that work done. Technically the changes are not difficult IMHO and there are plug-in systems that can do the job available for relatively low cost, the main issue is the time it takes to learn how to remove and replace the console parts without damage, and what to do with the wiring when you get in there. With relatively few cars needing this work done, it means there are only a handful of people across Aust specialising in these sorts of conversions and therefore the cost is relatively high.

With regard to spare parts, I know as soon as the Govt started talking about opening up imports that several large overseas companies came across to look at locations to site parts supply businesses in Aust. So you can bet your life that if there is money to be made from servicing and upgrades on a significant number of cars, then someone will set up to provide the service.

My guess is that the cost of converting sat navs and other systems will come down significantly once more cars come in needing that done. Personally though these days, unless you love having the sat nav on the factory TV screen, it doesn't seem good value to sink that into the car (which you'll never get back) when portable systems are so cheap and the iPhone and others have their own systems which are virtually the same and won't cost you a cent.

I always look at the best value and given that the TV menus on these cars usually only have a couple of features you may want to use daily (which you can easily learn), english translation is really not the big deal people like to make it out to be. The V36 for example -- once you work out the two buttons to push for your real time fuel economy, and you've set up your Music Box to copy CD's automatically on insert and bluetoothed your phone using the good english menu translation from Hardtuned.net, there really is nothing else you're going to need on a daily basis.

I would imagine you're right on the warranty issue, the dealers are always quick to cry out about factory recalls and being unable to contact customers and how unsafe that could be, but in this information age I wonder how relevant that really is considering the Govt plans to have a database for imports using the chassis code. I always wonder at the double meaning of those sorts of statements from dealers as well, some of which seem as though their own company's product sold into Japan is inferior to what we are offered here (despite Japan getting traditionally much higher optioned cars compared to our poverty packs). As if we get somehow better and stronger cars sent to Australia for our "tough Australian conditions".

If the import reg changes only make the dealer new prices here comparable to international pricing, then they have done their job. Whether it's cost effective / attractive to import secondhand or "new" yourself will be then decided by the market itself. There will always be those who prefer to pay more for a local car they can see, touch and drive straight away.