Has anyone else shipped a car to NZ from USA?

[Fretraer]

We are currently looking at whether it's worth it to ship our car or buy one there etc etc. At the moment it looks like it's worth it to ship the car.
Has anyone else done it from USA?

I see that you need a certificate of origin and/or FMVSS plate.
We do have an FMVSS plate on the inside of our car but it states the car was manufactured in Canada not here so i'm trying to figure out if this is going to give us issues when the car reaches NZ.

any help would be great

[baboonworld]

we brought a motorbike over (from UK) and after all the hassle we said at the time that we were glad we didnt bring a car over. - dont know if that helps but i remember definately feeling quite strongly that way. also my car didnt have aircon - so it wouldnt be much use here!

The hassles were at this end rather than in UK.

[IanW99]

I assume that it is LHD? If so then you want to read Factsheet 12 - Importing a left hand drive vehicle first. If not then follow the link to Factsheet 44 - Importing a motor vehicle.

Possibly the most important point will be:-

Are there restrictions on LHD vehicles?
Yes. Most left-hand drive vehicles have to be converted to right-hand drive (RHD) before they can be driven on New Zealand roads.

Ian

[Fretraer]

I assume that it is LHD? If so then you want to read Factsheet 12 - Importing a left hand drive vehicle first. If not then follow the link to Factsheet 44 - Importing a motor vehicle.

Possibly the most important point will be:-



Ian

thanks, we have already looked into that and our car doesn't have to be converted

[Fretraer]

we brought a motorbike over (from UK) and after all the hassle we said at the time that we were glad we didnt bring a car over. - dont know if that helps but i remember definately feeling quite strongly that way. also my car didnt have aircon - so it wouldnt be much use here!

The hassles were at this end rather than in UK.

what were the biggest hassles you had ??

thanks!!

[JandM]

There have been a lot of discussions on importing cars on the site in the past - you might find it useful to use the Google Advanced search to call some up (because our own Search on the blue bar above doesn't like little words like 'car'!).

One thought - have you looked at the nature of the roads near where you will be living? You haven't said what kind of vehicle you have, but you might want to 'see' yourself in it, on them, e.g. on Google StreetView.

[72andsunny]

Are there restrictions on LHD vehicles?
Yes. Most left-hand drive vehicles have to be converted to right-hand drive (RHD) before they can be driven on New Zealand roads.

http://www.landtransport.govt.nz/factsheets/12.html
A motor car or goods service vehicle that meets all of the following criteria:
A gross vehicle mass of not more than 3500 kg.
Imported by you, for your own personal use.
Manufactured less than 20 years before the date it was imported.
You have registered, owned and operated the vehicle overseas, for 90 days or more.
In a five-year period, you can only register one such vehicle in New Zealand.
The vehicle must be registered in the importer's name (ie your name) for at least five years after it's first registration in New Zealand unless the vehicle is 20 years old or more.

I'm a little confused here--this is just 1 of (the 6) categories for exception to the "right hand rule". It seems to me that most cars do not need to be converted...unless the link above was written for used car importers.

I was pretty sure I'd have to say goodbye to my beloved GT Cruiser...now I'm thinking: "How hard can it possibly be to drive it on the left?"

[dharder]

http://www.landtransport.govt.nz/factsheets/12.html

I would think it is safe to assume that if you import your own car for personal use, it's absolutely fine. Not sure why they say 'most cars.'

I was pretty sure I'd have to say goodbye to my beloved GT Cruiser...now I'm thinking: "How hard can it possibly be to drive it on the left?"

It really isn't a big deal.

Daniela

[72andsunny]

Just wanted to post an update to this thread for anyone else contemplating bringing a car from the US:

According to AA, the law changed on April 1st; left handed drive cars (under 20 years old) can only be imported if they are exotic/collectible. I'm hoping for an exemption, as our car has been on its way for almost 2 months...

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/app-cat-a-lhd-permit/

[IanW99]

Factsheet 12 hasn't been updated to say you must get a permit?

Surely in your case you just need to get a Left Hand Drive Exemption

Ian