Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Then you think "**** it, im going for a spin round the block"

Cherish the fuel you get with the car...Dont waste it..

More like "oh ****, the tires are bald, the clutch is shagged, the battery is flat, all lubricants need replacing, etc, etc, etc". Remind me: why do we go through this pain again? :)

LW.

  • Replies 250
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Never again... and I have only had to wait a bit over 12 weeks (I'm impatient...BAD) I seriously do not know how a person could wait 6+ months.

I have been waiting since early July (date I transferred FOB $$$$$) for my car to get to OZ. One more hurdel to jump (or 2 or 3 and compliance) I have made my final payment today to Seaway for ocean freight and GST and all that jazz, have been advised that the car will be droped off on Thurs - Friday (so going by past experience that will probably be next Mon - Tues.)

Top five worst things about importing...

1. Living on another planet to people in this industry because there is obviously 50 days per month on that planet.

2. Friends / Family asking how long now just so they can see you flip out.

3. Constantly buying things for your new car you don't even have yet.

4. Constantly thinking of things to buy for the car you don't even have yet.

5. Messing around on the net all day because you can't drive your import...

But I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel, that light could be a train that's about to rape my wallet sideways but that just adds to the joys of importing, kind'a like a lucky dip prize draw. And Insurance, the Jacks... should have done a top 10

Better be better than... well alot of things.

HAHA i ticked those 5 for myself..

The wait is a killer i know..

i think if i was ever importing again. i would not buy 1 thing till its here. tell noone about it. save every CENT. And hope for the best.

Never again... and I have only had to wait a bit over 12 weeks (I'm impatient...BAD) I seriously do not know how a person could wait 6+ months.  

I have been waiting since early July (date I transferred FOB $$$$$) for my car to get to OZ. One more hurdel to jump (or 2 or 3 and compliance) I have made my final payment today to Seaway for ocean freight and GST and all that jazz, have been advised that the car will be droped off on Thurs - Friday (so going by past experience that will probably be next Mon - Tues.)

Top five worst things about importing...

1. Living on another planet to people in this industry because there is obviously 50 days per month on that planet.

2. Friends / Family asking how long now just so they can see you flip out.

3. Constantly buying things for your new car you don't even have yet.

4. Constantly thinking of things to buy for the car you don't even have yet.

5. Messing around on the net all day because you can't drive your import...

But I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel, that light could be a train that's about to rape my wallet sideways but that just adds to the joys of importing, kind'a like a lucky dip prize draw. And Insurance, the Jacks... should have done a top 10

Better be better than... well alot of things.

Top five worst things about importing...

1. Living on another planet to people in this industry because there is obviously 50 days per month on that planet.

Check. Luckily I am using a customs agent, so hoping most of this hassle is up to them.

2. Friends / Family asking how long now just so they can see you flip out.

Check. Bastards.

3. Constantly buying things for your new car you don't even have yet.

Check: $5k and counting.

4. Constantly thinking of things to buy for the car you don't even have yet.

Check: R34 N1 Turbos, PowerFC, RB30DETT conversion..... *sigh*

5. Messing around on the net all day because you can't drive your import...

Check (although I do this anyway :D ).

I seriously do not know how a person could wait 6+ months.

Purchased my GT-R 4/03/2004. Import approval form sent in last week :headspin:

LW.

I know how you feel. Waiting is the worst part. I have a lot of money tied up in a car which i haven't even seen yet!

My RAWS applied for Import Approval yesterday so the stopwatch has begun ticking. Car ships on the 20th of September.

Guys I would like to know how much things are costing you, little hidden fees and charges that they slip in, especially customs and customs agents fees.

So far the little things no-one really tells you about for me are:

- The difference between the ACTUAL exchange rate and the BANKS exchange rate - cost me almost $1000 - even after negotiating the best rate they could

- Telegraphic Transfer fee - $28 - ok i was ready for that one and 28 bucks aint bad

- Import Application fee - $165 for me because i got my RAWS to do it - expensive but not bothered because they saved me the hassle

- Stamp duty and solicitors fees - loans above 35k attract stamp duty and your bank must charge you to file the necessary paperwork - $50 + 0.4% of the loan - Didnt bother me as the amount was so minor but was a suprise

- Luxury Car Tax - if the price of the car (including FOB price, freight, duty and GST) exceeds $57009 you will be liable for this - its a bastard

- MORE Stamp duty - All cars are subject to 3% stamp duty in NSW - but did you know that cars in excess of $45,000 must pay 5% stamp duty on the value in excess of $45,000!!! BASTARDS! This is different in each state, QLD is the best at 2% flat

- The difference between the ACTUAL exchange rate and the BANKS exchange rate - cost me almost $1000 - even after negotiating the best rate they could

- Telegraphic Transfer fee - $28 - ok i was ready for that one and 28 bucks aint bad

Banks will screw you over at the best of times. Better to use a foreign exchange service like:

http://www.ozforex.com.au/

In my case the transfer to Japan was absolutely free :) because the transaction value was relatively small (:P )

Another catch to keep in mind is that the import duty and GST charged when the car gets here is based on the official exchange rate at the date the car is exported from Japan using the FOB value shown on you invoice. The more the Oz Peso drops against the Yen before your car ships, the more its going to cost you when the car gets here.....

I posted a link to the FAQ sticky at the top of this page that helps you work out import duty and GST.

sewid: Depends what you're buying... but the majority of costs aren't as high as those unless you are importing a fairly expensive vehicle to begin with..

And QLD probably does get the best deal.. lower stamp duty, most of the ships apparently come through Brisbane first so slightly less shipping costs.. and in the end we pay less on the roads for petrol. If you're in NSW or VIC you get screwed on everything.

SteveL .. i checked out ozforex. But when i checked the rate, things it was pretty much identical to CBA in the final figure, or not enough to worry about. My vehicle was relatively tight-ass though so the FOB amount was only a few thousand over here which probably negated any difference. I found CBA wasn't too difficult to deal with, as long as the chick has done one before.. Just say, "this into this, here is my money.. go do".

SteveL .. i checked out ozforex. But when i checked the rate, things it was pretty much identical to CBA in the final figure, or not enough to worry about. My vehicle was relatively tight-ass though so the FOB amount was only a few thousand over here which probably negated any difference. I found CBA wasn't too difficult to deal with, as long as the chick has done one before.. Just say, "this into this, here is my money.. go do".

From memory it was about a 1yen diff...every little bit helps :P As for the CBA...I have money in a few different investment accounts but you wouldn't have known it was MINE with the amount of stuffing around I got before even getting to the TT stage. On top of that I got contradictory information about the process....in the end, the ability to use BPay and Ozforex made it so simple.

im gonna be sending the forms in, in about 2 weeks. but i plan on faxing them through and hoping they get proccessed quicker.

anyone else fax them?

steve

How are you going to fax through the authorised copy of your ID (eg. license, passport)? For it to be authorised, the signature and details of the person (JP, lawyer, etc) must be on the back of the photocopy...

Unless of course you have imported before and they already have an authorised copy of some form of ID?

LW.

dunno? the document says you can fax them?

steve

I would imagine that's only if they already have an authorised photocopy of some form of ID, but check the form (I only have the electronic version) and perhaps call DOTARS?

LW.

Hidden charges...watch out for trying to clear quarratine...I paid for steam cleaning (I think most do)....but an extra surprise for me was bromide treatment to kill off some hitchhiking spiders.

And, if you can't clear quarantine in 3 days you have to pay dock storage fees as well

If anyone is interested...

Charges you can expect to pay on a FOB $1,130,000 YEN car from Japan. ($15,500 AUS)

Custom Duty and GST $2945.55

Quarantine Attendance $15.00

Quarantine Charges $243.50

Customs Brokerage Fee $150.00

Ocean Freight $970.94

Import APSC $85.17

Bulk Inspection $40.00

Import Documentation Fee $35.00

Some items attract GST and some not.

TOTAL bill was $4485.16 + $32.52 GST = $4517.68

I was expecting to pay $5500+ so was very happy when I received this bill... extra $1K to spend on car :rofl:

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Lucky man, who owns it in the family? Any pics? 
    • The engine stuff is Greg Autism to the Max. I contacted Tony Mamo previously from AFR who went off to make his own company to further refine AFR heads. He is a wizard in US LS world. Pretty much the best person on earth who will sell you things he's done weird wizard magic to. The cam spec is not too different. I have a 232/234 .600/603 lift, 114LSA cam currently. The new one is 227/233 .638 .634. The 1.8 ratio roller rockers will effectively push this cam into the ~.670 range. These also get Mamo'ified to be drilled out and tapped to use a 10mm bolt over an 8mm for better stability. This is what lead to the cam being specced. The plan is to run it to 6800. (6600 currently). The Johnson lifters are to maintain proper lift at heavy use which is something the LS7's supposedly fail at and lose a bit of pressure, robbing you of lift at higher RPM. Hollow stem valves for better, well everything, Valve train control. I dunno. Hollow is better. The valves are also not on a standard valve angle. Compression ratio is going from 10.6 to 11.3. The cam is smaller, but also not really... The cam was specced when I generated a chart where I counted the frames of a lap video I had and noted how much of the time in % I spent at what RPM while on track at Sandown. The current cam/heads are a bit mismatched, the standard LS1 heads are the restriction to power, which is why everyone CNC's them to get a pretty solid improvement. Most of the difference between LS1->LS2->LS3 is really just better stock heads. The current cam is falling over about 600rpm earlier than it 'should' given the rest of my current setup. CNC'ing heads closes the gap with regards to heads. Aftermarket heads eliminate the gap and go further. The MMS heads go even further than that, and the heads I have in the box could quite easily be bolted to a 7.0 427ci or 454 and not be any restriction at all. Tony Mamo previously worked with AFR, designed new heads from scratch then eventually founded his own business. There he takes the AFR items and performs further wizardry, CNC'ing them and then manually porting the result. He also ports the FAST102 composite manifold: Before and after There's also an improved racing crank scraper and windage tray. Helps to keep oil in the pan. Supposedly gains 2% power. Tony also ports Melling oil pumps, so you get more oil pressure down low at idle, and the same as what you want up top thanks to a suitable relief spring. There's also the timing chain kit with a Torrington bearing to make sure the cam doesn't have any thrust. Yes I'll post a before and after when it all eventually goes together. It'll probably make 2kw more than a setup that would be $15,000 cheaper :p
    • Because the cars wheels are on blocks, you slide under the car.   Pretty much all the bolts you touched should have been put in, but not fully torque up.   Back them off a turn or two, and then tighten them up from under the car with the wheels sitting on the blocks holding car up in the air.
    • Yes. Imagine you have the car on the ground, and you mine away all the ground under and around it, except for the area directly under each individual wheel. That's exactly how it'd look, except the ground will be what ever you make the bit under each wheel from
    • Yes, if you set the "height" right so that it's basically where it would be when sitting on the wheel. It's actually exactly how I tighten bolts that need to be done that way. However....urethane bushes do NOT need to be done that way. The bush slides on both the inner and outer. It's only rubber bushes that are bonded to the outer that need to be clamped to the crush tube in the "home" position. And my car is so full of sphericals now that I have very few that I need to do properly and I sometimes forget and have to go back and fix it afterwards!
×
×
  • Create New...