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Thread: Taking cars to Auckland

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Posts
    20

    Smile Taking cars to Auckland

    Hi All

    I will be taking our two cars to Auckland from Milton Keynes - a BMW and a Mini. Before you ask yes it is worth taking it to NZ as they are both relatively newish cars.

    Reading through the advice on Land Transport website, it makes it clear that the vehicles imported in NZ must have a Statement of Compliance that includes an approved frontal impact standard for New Zealand from an approved representative. Fortunately, both cars comply with the regulations.

    On contacting the approved representative - a BMW dealer in Auckland for this letter, I received a reply back as follows:

    "We can produce statements of compliance for both your cars and fax / send as directed below. The compliance certificate normally takes 5 days to produce from the time payment is received. The fee for producing a compliance certificate is $506.25 (inc. gst) per car. If you would like to advise me of your credit card details, we can charge againsts this and start the process immediately."

    I was horrified at the cost of $506.25 per car - thats almost £220 per car for a piece of paper (almost a cost of servicing a car!!!) ...... sounds more like a rip off to me .

    Anyway, I've written an email back asking for justification in charging an extortionate amount and will let you know once I have a reply.

    In the meantime, has anybody had any experience on taking the cars to NZ and how or what they did to meet the Statement of Compliance and Frontal Impact? I remember reading on this forum about a similar thing but cant seem to locate it now.

    Any help would be appreciated.

    Incidentally, for those of you interested, the website which gives an indepth details on importing motor vehicles from Europe is as follows:

    http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/publications...13-europe.html

    Kind regards

    Ish

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    UK>Welly>Boonies>where next?
    Posts
    3,756

    Default

    SCAM!

    Ishi see my thread here, is this the one you were thinking of?

    http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread....ght=compliance

    The answer is on the VTNZ/LTNZwebsite but our tester said he

    a/ didn't understand it so asked for this anyway as a matter of course

    b/ he had no internet access to the VTNZ/LTZNZ site!

    The only wrong decision we made in coming to NZ was bringing our car and bikes.

    PM me if you need any help.

    Deborah

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Pukekohe
    Posts
    16

    Default

    Welcome to New Zealand!
    Alot of businesses here Will try to ripe you off!
    thats what we found, been here 6 months love the ppl
    hate immigration dept they have mess us up but thats another story.
    Its a beautifully country we have fallen for it
    BTW We are in Auckland too!
    Qui

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Rotorua
    Posts
    108

    Default

    If your cars are quite new built after 2000 then I suspect you will not need a statment of compliance!!!!
    Do not part with any cash or credit card details for them.

    if the cars are listed on the LTNZ website as being frontal impact compliant then that is OK, as I suspect that both vehicles are built for the UK market in Europe then they will have somewhere on the body (under bonnet or door shut) a compliance plate, it will say something like " ECE 13/9867 " if both cars have this and meet the frontal impact list on the web site then no further statment of complaince is required!

    Make sure you keep your UK deregistration papers, shipping documents, bill of lading (if put in a container make sure they are listed as contents by the vehicles VIN number) and also ensure the shippers give you the MAF clearence papers (shipping companys do not like parting with these but they are yours so demand them)

    make sure all paper work has your name on it aswell.

    Steve

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Posts
    20

    Default

    Thanks Debs and Steve - really appreciate it.

    I have since established that both cars comply with the regulations.

    In fact, I received a nice email back from Wally of AA New Zealand who was the most helpful person - here is his reply:

    "It is likely that your vehicles will have a Whole Vehicle Approval Plate attached to them ( Refer Appendix 2 in Infosheet 2.13 )
    If so then a Statement of Compliance (Soc) is not required because the Whole Vehicle Approval Plate confirms compliance with all the required standards with the exception of frontal impact and you will see that they both a meet frontal impact (see link below)
    http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/importing/fr...w-20050617.pdf
    If you email me Pictures of the Whole vehicle plate I will confirm that they contain all the relevant information
    If you also give me the port of entry ,I can give you the contact for the local AA Certification Facility where they can both certify and register the cars on your behalf
    Allow Approx $800 (GST incl) each to inspect,certify,issue WOF ,fit new number plates and licence on the road for one year (the government takes about half in Road tax)".


    ...... NOW thats what I call service!!!!


    Continuing with the saga with BMW, I received this email back from NZ:

    "It is not just a matter of writing a letter to say that the car complies. The way the NZ regs are written regarding Statements of Compliance, we need to work out each specific standard that the car meets. This involves checking each model code and the vehicles production date against approx. 30 different NZ standards requirements. Just because a vehicle complies with the regulations of one market does not mean that it complies in all markets. Each country has its own list of requirements.

    There is also the legal responsibility associated with the statement we provide - we have to stand behind the information in a court of law.
    Unfortunately, this compliance certificate price is an unavoidable cost associated with importing a used motor vehicle to New Zealand.

    Please let me know if you want to continue with the process."

    *******************************

    MY FOOT!!!! ...... Here is my reply:

    "Thank you for your email the contents of which I have noted but I still cannot accept your justification for charging an exorbitant amount for the reasons as follows:

    1) Both vehicles have an EC Whole Vehicle Approval Plate in accordance with Land and Transport regulations (Refer Appendix 2 in Land and Transport: Infosheet 2.13) - therefore it is compliant. So by definition, Statement of Compliance is not required because the Whole Vehicle Approval Plate confirms compliance with all the required standards with the exception of frontal impact.

    2) With regards to frontal impact, both vehicles also meet this requirement (see link below)

    http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/importing/fr...w-20050617.pdf

    Both of the above information was obtained within 15 minutes. A confirmation of this from BMW Head Office in UK also confirmed this by email within a few minutes of my sending the email. I therefore fail to understand how you can justify the exorbitant charge NZ$506.25 per car for which information is readily available without you having to do any extra work as suggested in your email – indeed the car documents which I forwarded to you has the appropriate VIN number which as you know from your own list that both vehicles comply with the regulations?

    Please reconsider your charges to a more realistic level - I look forward to receiving your reply."

    **********************************

    I will let you know of his reply.

    Thanks once again.

    Regards

    Ish

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Posts
    20

    Smile

    Hi again - following on from my last email, here is the latest reply from BMW which at least is more positive than earlier emails.


    "Thank you for your email.

    Yes, you are correct - the cars do not need a statement of compliance as they are both fitted with EC whole vehicle approval plates. Unfortunately, you failed to tell us this on your first email. I had made the assumption that you had read all the information regarding imports to NZ and were applying for a statement of compliance because the cars DIDN'T have the EC whole vehicle approval plates. We have no way of telling from the chassis number whether this plate is fitted to a particular car or not. As for the Forntal Impact compliance, you will note from the website that both the vehicles you are importing comply.

    For the sake of your shipping company, could you please send me a digital photo of the EC whole vehicle approval plates for both vehicles. Once I have sighted these, I can confirm that both the cars comply to NZ standards including Frontal Impact which will be sufficient evidence for your shipping company.

    Looking forward to your reply."


    *************************

    Change of tune or what???? Caught them with their pants down...maybe???

    Interesting about "...Unfortunately, you failed to tell us this on your first email.." - cant think why considering that I sent them a copy of the registration document which had al the information that it needed especially the VIN number. I guess it must there way of saving face!!!

    Anyway, moral of the story - dont take everything at face value - challenge where appropriate and keep us all posted on this Forum which is the best in the world.

    Regards

    Ishi

    PS. Apologies for the lengthy posting but I thought this would help everyone here.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    UK>Welly>Boonies>where next?
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    3,756

    Default

    Good news eh? Just goes to show that patience and perseverance pays off.

    Wally from the AA and Richard ( forum member) from CC are my hero's too.

    Well done for hanging in there.

    D x

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Posts
    20

    Default

    Thanks D

    More importantly, it has saved me considerable dosh - NZ$1,012.50 (approx £425) to be precise - now what can I use this on?????

    Thanks once again to all.

    Regards

    Ishi

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    QLD(NZ-Greenhills-E Linc-UK)
    Posts
    1,515

    Default Cheers Guys....this will come in handy for Rob

    Hi thanks to all for info on Car importing - I have printed off and will let OH decide wether he wants to ship 'his' car.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Shropshire, UK
    Posts
    272

    Default

    Hi Ishi,

    thanks for your thread about moving BMW's to NZ.

    We have 2 newish BMW's and are thinking of taking them.

    I can't decide wether or not to put them in a container or send them RORO to Auckland and then pick-em up.

    From what I have read there is no RORO to Wellington.

    As I will initially only have a work permit, rather than full PR I am wondering if I will get stung for VAT (GST)?

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