A day at the track - aussie style

[obrut]

"relatively inexpensive conversions (L-R)."

you often hear about au$10k quoted for a good quality conversion

"cars older than 15 years can be brought in"

by anyone!

[chekov]

Thanks-I was just giving advice-but since"you often hear"-well I'll just shut up then. Using a low-volume importer saves the average person from a lot of red tape and mind-numbing logistics (customs,shipping etc)-but you already knew that.

[obrut]

no offense intended chekov - i only said "you often hear" because i have not done a conversion myself but have spoken to others who have.

[tshih]

Thanks all for the info,

I assume these low volume importers are registered agents that source and imports cars for you from LHD countries. You pay them a fee to handle the paper work and logistics, then pay for the shipping.

So which is the correct time 15 or 30 years for exemption of LHD conversion. I wouldn't want to convert these cars since I'm use to shifting with my right hand and the feel of LHD.

[obrut]

i'm pretty sure the rules are:

you can buy and import cars that are older than 15 years.

cars older than 30 years can be reg'd in LHD form (whether imported or local)

you can also bring in any car that you have owned overseas for more than 12 months (but if its LHD and newer than 30 years you will need to convert to it RHD to register it)

clear as mud, the official website for all this is:

http://www.dotars.gov.au/transreg/str_imp-cert.htm

[tshih]

Ryan,
thanks for the link. I checked it out and curiously even though the 911 is mentioned as a qualified candidate for import under the hobbyist and recreational import law change which supercedes the 15 year rule, I couldn't find it on the approved lists of the dot in the link. Ferrari and Lotus as well as Lamborghini are on the approved list. Just no Porsche!!

[tshih]

Also,

What are the duties like and any taxes for importation? How much is annual registration costs and MOT? What is the best brand of gasoline (octane ) and costs of running for a typical 911?

[chekov]

With the free- trade agreement with you (US) import duties will probably fall, but at the moment the import duty is 15%. This is then added to the value of the car and a Goods and Services Tax (GST) is then applied.(10%). The reason for the omission of Porsche in the hobbyist and recreational category is that Porsche Australia has the sole right to import(cars less than 15 years old),whereas Ferrari and Lotus,Lamborgini are imported by small independant dealers and so are not 'protected'Annual registration costs are(New South Wales): Registration Fee $47,Motor Vehicle Tax $200 Compulsory Third Party Personal Injury Insurance (called a "Green Slip") it lessens the older you get until a point. I'm 41 and its $313. Porsche recommend that cars should use Shell "Optimax" which is 98 Octane.

[gavinlit]

I found my car ran like a pos on optimax - spitting, hesitating and carrying on. Runs like a charm on BP ultimate. Don't know if it's the same for younger vehicles.

[chekov]

Gavinlit,

What about roofracks?-Seriously though thats what the service manager told me at Parramatta Porsche(use Optimax). I have a 996 coupe,but now that you say that my idle does jump around a bit-maybe I should try some ultimate or vortex?

P.S. Who is Jack Norris? Chucks father?

[tshih]

Chekov,

If my math is correct my RSA will be valued at say $40K US then I'm looking at 15% of 40 =$600 + 10% of 46000=4600 or $5200 in duty and GST for a $40000 car? Of course it may be taxed in aussie dollars which may or may not be equivalent to US$ by that time!

[tshih]

Actually it is incorrect , total should be $600+$4060 (10% of 40600)=$4660 in duty +GST total.

Thanks mate for the info.

[Fred999]

My understanding is that American cars import duty is 5%, but if the car is made other than the states (ie Porsche), and even if it is exported from there, the 10% applies.

[lisa_spyder]

Originally posted by gavinlit
I found my car ran like a pos on optimax - spitting, hesitating and carrying on. Runs like a charm on BP ultimate. Don't know if it's the same for younger vehicles.

Gavin,

Thought I should chime in here as we have had this discussion (you and I) before...

Shell technical department themselves advised us against using Optimax in earlier Porsches several years ago. We have found it works well in 3.2 Carrera models onwards, but fouls plugs etc in anything earlier. It all comes down to ignition system design. Optimax is a very dense fuel (a lot of detergent in it too) and the ignition systems of pre 3.2 models just can't burn it. By far the best results we have had across the board have been with BP Ultimate, followed by Synergy 8000. Some cars are behaving very well using Vortex, but not all. Optimax has caused the same problems in motorbike engines; this was widely publicised a couple of years ago.

Cheers,
Lisa

[chekov]

TSIH,

My math: Vehicle value= $40,000+15%= 40,000+6,000=46,000
+10% of 46,000=46,000+4,600=$50,600 (remember the GST is applied on the total after the import duty is applied)

This represents a cost of $10,600 not including shipping.This would be less with the currency exchange, but still, as we say here "Big Bikkies".

Regards-Jason

[Fred999]

Originally posted by chekov
TSIH,

My math: Vehicle value= $40,000+15%= 40,000+6,000=46,000

Wrong - customs duty on cars is now 10% - has been since 1st January.

Australian Customs booklet link

[morganb]

You can also get the car valued in Australia sight unseen by a recongized valuer. He will value the car according to Aust valuations and normally an imported car is less than a locally delivered one in Aust the value may be less than you paid for it over seas

[tshih]

Thanks for the math lesson, yes I misplaced a zero. About $10600 is the correct number if it's not less according to Fred999. I was more concerned that new Porsches in Australia are going for about double that in the US (dollar for dollar regardless of exchange rates) so that when one does try to get a bargain in purchase price by going abroad the duty will even it out to make it prohibitive to import. I didn't know till now that it was prohibited anyway by Porsche being a protected brand.

[Mothy]

Just did my first trackday in 23 years and my first time to Wakefield - was a guest of the MX-5 Club.

Interesting to see the photo's of the 911R earlier in the post - Paul Shacklady had it there on Sunday and it looks and sounds fabulous.

And what a nice guy - he was assigned to me as instructor for the first timers session and his suggestions and tips all day made it such a memorable day for me. I don't know if he lurks on this board but I hope he does.

Here are some shots of his car from yesterday - few small changes from the earlier ones.

Tim

[lonewolf]

what can you tell us about the supercharged 3.0 looks like a nice setup