does this look right?

[Frank70]

Hi Kerry.

I didn't want to hijack this thread with my issues - save to say my advice to anyone looking at importing a car is to try and find one locally. Even a cheap project car, like the one I am importing is going to cost $5000 in shipping, charges and taxes by the time it is in my hands.

I will reserve my final judgement until I get the car, but I am not sure it is worth it.

Cheers,
Frank.

[ozbilt]

Any car you import will be at least AU$5K in shipping at the moment + duty (GST, whatever), depending on the value of the car.

It is the space they take up in the container, not the value.

BTW, I can only see this price going up with all the new gov charges/taxes in most countries + oil prices. Airfares for example, will go up at least 50% on current prices for international travel. Most industries (including shipping) have now got themselves in a position where they have full loads & can therefore charge appropriately.

[Frank70]

That's what I am saying ... if you are looking to bring in a cheaper project car, then look locally first as the price will double or more by the time it is landed.

A more expensive car would be a more attractive option , but then taxes need to be considered.

Cheers,
Frank.

BTW, I dont have the exact date my car was shipped, but I think it was 3 or 4 weeks before I got the import approval. I only got the approval 2 weeks ago, and my car is due this week, so do the math.

[ozbilt]

21 days on the water, so it was probably shipped once they had approval.

[Frank70]

Sorry Kerry I dont understand ...

I got the approval in the mail on 29th June.

I got an email from Ken saying the container was packed 6th June, then another email saying the car was shipped about a week later.

So not sure what you mean when you say it was shipped after they had approval. Not possible.

Cheers,
Frank.

[ozbilt]

Sorry Kerry I dont understand ...

I got the approval in the mail on 29th June.

I got an email from Ken saying the container was packed 6th June, then another email saying the car was shipped about a week later.

So not sure what you mean when you say it was shipped after they had approval. Not possible.

Cheers,
Frank.

Well I was going off what you said. If you had written what you just did here, that would change my response.

Question; When you got the email to say the container was packed (around the 6th June) did you respond that you still did not have the VIA? If so it should not have been sent on that ship. You need to keep all the emails in a file for proof (I do & still have all mine for every car & part I have bought in).

That is a big no no to ship without VIA to Australia. I have seen it happen (couple of times) & with a good agent you can get around it, but it can become very expensive & possible loss of the car.

Something to consider here seeing we are discussing Ken.

He is a neat guy, very busy but relying on others to do the more complex work. The warehouse is very large & full of cars, so I would not think it unreasonable to find the occasional stuff up in the wrong car (pre VIA) being loaded. He is basically an agent working with an established shipping firm in Hayward. Sometimes I feel he may not have the control over what happens there, but if you were dealing through him, then it should have been stopped. Probably the one that got away.

[Frank70]

Question; When you got the email to say the container was packed (around the 6th June) did you respond that you still did not have the VIA? If so it should not have been sent on that ship. You need to keep all the emails in a file for proof (I do & still have all mine for every car & part I have bought in).

Kerry, I got an email on the 6th saying the container was being packed.
Even if there up to a week between packing and shipping, as far as I am concerned, the car was effectively "shipped" when the container was packed. That was the 6th according to Kens email.
He sent me the papers including the the title etc. on the 30th May so only 6 days before, so there is no way I could have had the VIA.
I did send Ken an email saying I was concerned about it, but was told not to worry. And yes, I have all the copies of the emails.

That is a big no no to ship without VIA to Australia. I have seen it happen (couple of times) & with a good agent you can get around it, but it can become very expensive & possible loss of the car.

Something to consider here seeing we are discussing Ken.

He is a neat guy, very busy but relying on others to do the more complex work. The warehouse is very large & full of cars, so I would not think it unreasonable to find the occasional stuff up in the wrong car (pre VIA) being loaded. He is basically an agent working with an established shipping firm in Hayward. Sometimes I feel he may not have the control over what happens there, but if you were dealing through him, then it should have been stopped. Probably the one that got away.

I dont believe this is "one that got away" - I know of others.

My advice to others is to do your homework before you pull the trigger.
I jumped in a bit too soon.

My costs will be about $1000 more than I expected, which may not seem much, but on a $6000 car, it is a large portion of the cost. Plus a sweetener for me was being able to ship some large parts with the car and save some money there, but now I am shipping them seperately at extra expense since the car was shipped earlier than I thought and I was not able to get the parts to Ken in time.

Cheers,
Frank.

[tceddia]

Frank I got a 1966 ford mustang hardtop project car. We are probably in the same container, it was packed on the 6th of June and was shipped on the 10th of June. It was about 33 days on water due to it going to a few places in china first. I found that Ken is very busy at times and emails sometimes don't get responded, having said that, he was extreamly helpful to me. I was also hoping for that charges to be around 1000 to 1500 dollars to get the car out of customs and AQIS. Ken definately told me that my car would land at around 6 thousand dollars which was in my price range, I don't remember him saying that once it landed, the cost would exceed over 2000 dollars to get the car out of port. I would have put more money aside if that was the case. However I don't care. I just want the car in my garage now hahhahaha.

To clarify, Ken has been good to work with and so has midlife crisis imports. Frank if you want to track the ship it's called hanjin duesseldorf. I wish I knew you were importing sooner, I would of been able to get into contact with you

[ozbilt]

Note to all that are reading this thread.

You are the customer & when you ship is up to you, not the shipper. You can set the date as to the earliest it can leave US shores (IE; after VIA approval), then the shipper makes the arrangement for the next most suitable ship. You never ship before a VIA & while it may incur extra expense at the US end for storage, it is better than the alternative (car returned to port of export, you fined or car crushed).

[Cruzn65]

communication is key, no matter how busy if the customer asks a question its important to give a response even if it is to suggest contacting someone else. It can be particularly frustrating not to get a response in a day and age when there are so many easily accessible forms of communication.

[ken123]

WOW!!!!!! im amazed im getting crucified over exporting too early usually its the other way round guys pay me for shipping then expect the car to leave a and be landed within days!!

I have always told people that I am not responsible for the Au charges and cannot give solid price only guide from my experiance when living in Au.

As ozbilt has kindly mentioned the warehouse has over 200 hundred cars goin through it franks car was shipped at that time no denying that but because of it being standard not messed with i knew it would get approval well in time im sorry guys i may be alot of things but stupid im not I dont intentinally go out my way to give myself headaches!! any cars that are modified or could raise a red flag are held till approval is issued!!

parts are shipped as a "courtesy" when shipping cars through me please remeber that!it is not fair on either my shipper to hold up a booked container or to my other clients that their cars cannot leave because we are waiting for parts!

Frank please remembr that we had trouble with your emails being bounced back to me also ,proof of that was even emailed to you !!

Tristan I have emailed you everytime you have a asked me question no matter how big or small!!

Frank please remember the project car you did want me to veiw comapered to the one you purchased no feeor tow charges etc and by miles a better car,and as mentioned to you any parts could go to you in the next container at NO charge!

I now consider the matter aired from both sides,regards ken

[ken123]

One last thing in my defense my broker that i use for all around Australia is GIVEN by myself and my shipper ALL contact information on each and everyones car and owners details,its his job to contact the people concerned near to the time of arrival which he clearly has in this case along with all others,thats what he gets paid to do.

[dalex]

For what it is worth, I have brought in three cars now and all have been about $7,000 before even getting it registered. This cost includes every penny from garage to garage including US and local shipping, sea costs, all port costs, insurance, air-conditioner de-gas, cleaning, taxes etc.
I am sure if you decline insurance, deliver and pick up at docks yourself, buy in California, understate the value etc., you could do this cheaper, however I would suggest a $7k budget on sub $20k car is a good benchmark.

[mustang_joe]

"Shipper cannot tell you what ship it is on until it leaves the port"

I am in the Import / Export Industry, and we can advise what vessel the bookings are made for. Sometimes up to 2 weeks in advance. In rare occasions the vessel booking may be rolled due to shipping / port delays, but 95% of the time this info is available. I have a container on the water at the moment, and knew of the vessel 5 days prior to departure from the USA. It maybe dealing directly with the shipping line rather than dealing with a middle man... just by 2 bob's worth. Those charges look pretty much inline to what we pay up here in Brisbane...

[ken123]

Again wow!!!old habits are hard to break!! have I logged into that "other 'forum??In fact no problem Im done here,to all the true die hards you know my email,regards ken.