Importing an XJ-S to Australia
 

Hi, I am due to Land in Australia on 1st April 2015 for my (and my families) new life in Adelaide.

Here in the UK i am a serial Jaguar owner - However i sold my Jaguar XJR earlier in the year and i wont have owned my current S-type long enough for it to be eligible as a personal import. Not that i think it would be worth taking anyway as it really is just a daily run around.

I was talking to a colleague the other day and mentioned that (apart from friends and family) the only two things i will miss about the UK are 'Arundel' - A local town to me. And the fact that i never owned an XJ-S.
This led me to look into the prices and availability of XJ-S's in Australia - Particularly my favorite (1988 to 1990) variants.

The selection seems slim and 1988-1990 coupes even slimmer... Not to mention that a nice one looks to be anything from $15000 upwards?

I have been investigating the 'pre 89' import rules, and that looks like an option - but i need to investigate the associated costs a little further.
And i have found this car: JAGUAR XJS for sale from TA Classics that looks like a potential candidate.

Does anyone have any advice on this rule and associated costs (South Australia) and how are imported cars viewed in Australia - both from an insurance point of view and re sale)?

Richard,

Welcome to OZ, eventually.

Importing cars to OZ from anywhere is involved and costly, and compliance to ADR (Australian Design Rules) is mostly not easy. Then when they know its a UK car, the inspections for rust are daunting.

SA does not have emission testing that I am aware of, so maybe a tad easier.

A lot of our club members looked into it many years ago, and a specialist came to a meeting (he imported cars from anywhere), and the bottom line at that time was "unless its something REAL special dont bother".

Resale value, mostly, the "private imports", get cane seriously. No idea why, they just do.

If you are bringing a REAL Walkinshaw or similar, that did not sell here thru the dealer networks, may be a viable thought, but a stock XJ-S V12, its hard to say, but NAH.

I remember a Pom about 12 years ago that shipped an XJ-S Cabriolet 3.6ltr here for himself, via his father in the UK, and the nightmare he went thru to "try" and get it complied, saw it eventually approved, but he could NOT sell it, coz the approval was for HIM only.

Hey Richard,

When I imported my XJR back to Australia, I used these guys ==>> Iron Lady Imports I suggest you get in touch with them, the boss is called Kristian, but there is another guy there called Marv.

They can answer all your questions, and sort out the whole import process for you.

It's a pity you haven't got more time before the move, if you've owner a vehicle for more than 12 months before you move to Australia you can use the Personal Imports Scheme which is much simpler than the pre 89 scheme, and it means you can basically import anything you want (so long as RHD).

Talk to the guys at Iron Lady, as I recall Kristian is actually in South Oz, somewhere around Adelaide.

EDIT

Also, think long & hard about what you will be bringing here...

1. The import costs $6000-$8000, so keep that in mind when looking at the cost of local cars vs. imports
2. UK cars are full of rust. The Aussie cars are generally much cleaner & nowhere near as rusty as the UK ones. Salted roads....

If I were in your shoes, i'd push back your moving plans 3 months, go out & buy something special, hold it for the 12 months and then to the Personal Import.

If you're doing this, i'll transfer you the money to buy me an XF Sportbrake, they don't sell them here in Oz :(

Thanks for the feedback and advice gents - I will be bare it all in mind before making a decision.

I guess worse case scenario is that i buy the car, enjoy it for a few months and sell it on before i move to Australia.

By the way, am i right in thinking that fuel prices over there, make running a V12 a little more palatable than here in the UK?

This is the car i am going to view:

JAGUAR XJS for sale from TA Classics

Also, i have contacted Iron lady and this company:

http://www.cars2australia.co.uk/?gcl...Fc3HtAodsjEAUg

Hopefully i will get some feedback come Monday.

Yep, premium unleaded today is $1.68/ltr, and at the bottom of the cheap cycle, soooo any day now it will go up about 20c/ltr, and then 1c at a time come down to this low again, and so on.

Pulp (premium un leaded petrol) in Brisbane today. $1.47/l took my 2x 20ltr jerry cans to the servo twice to fill the XJ6 and Jeep since both are laid up this weekend.

Fuel is cheaper, distances are greater..

Good advice that. Our last trip to UK had our hosts (we love B&B) fainting at the daily distances we would drive ... like from the Black Isle on the east coast outside Inverness to take breakfast on the west coast, then out onto the Isle of Skye for the day, until winding back to bed after evening meal beside Loch Ness ... all places that our host had been to once throughout her long life. I recall a signpost in the Lakes District that read "Keswick 1 and 1/4" (I mean, why bother) and another between Tibooburra and Maree in SA that simply says "HS 180" ... warning that it's 180Km to the nearest homestead! That's not 180 to phone or fuel, just the closest living soul. You will be advised quickly that SA could swallow all of UK and Ireland ... and not burp.

For me, it's either a 1200Km round trip south to Sydney or 1000Km if I choose Brisbane. Driving everyday for work back in the early 70s on the grey Mk1 in my avatar, I racked up a quarter of a million miles, and that was mirrored by several medicos who were also as reluctant as me to fly.

So Richard, welcome aboard ... life in Adelaide can be intoxicating ... and you are getting advice from some of our gurus who have trod the path you are weighing up. My 2c will perhaps add nothing new ... in the 80s we filled and brought in a few containers filled with all the expensive and hard to find parts off early E-Types; they need to be pristine (Arizona/SoCal ... never UK); largest piece no more than an unpowered tub. So, if you have a S1 E-Type; Eagle Speedster; genuine XJ13 that nobody else knows is missing ... GO FOR IT!!! For the rest, don't bother. Yes, Aussie prices might appear sharp, but you wait until you see some of the quality on offer.

Best wishes for a safe arrival for you and family ...
and do keep us posted, :icon_beerchug:
Ken

Hi Ken, thank you (and everyone else) for your words of advice.

As it goes, i found that (having driven a couple recently) I dont quite 'fit' into an XJ-S... I just couldn't get comfortable at all. And my two young children were especially compromised!!

Two things have happened, as a result:

Firstly, having had several generations of XJ. I have never had a Series III - This is the car I am going to save and search for, once settled in SA. I'm not bothered what age, specification or engine size.

Secondly, knowing that it could be a while before i am in something 'classic' again. I decided to sell the S-Type and enjoy and XJ40 for the next 6/7 months..... She is a beautiful 93 car with only 57K and 2 owners - Everything works and there is no rust.

Here she is:

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And now, if you chaps will indulge me in some shameless 'pic whoring' - Here are my previous Jaguars....

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Nice XJ40, it will be hard to leave that behind. thanks for the pics(they are in my screen saver now)

"I did but glimpse her passing by . . . "
 

Richard, Richard ... oh, Richard, how could you?

Yes, the XJ40 looks stunning ... and my advice is aimed to be fair and honest in believing that your XJ is of a quality obtainable at many of our larger Australian dealerships - and with the benefit of never negotiating ice, snow, or salted roads. Oz Jags suffer one curse ... sun fading ... and the richer reds more than most. Llike those in say Arizona/SoCal, the perils of sun fading need special attention so you will see many here using polishes or waxes containing "sunblocker for duco".

The second concession is that, at any given time, your "must have" Jaguar may be in Sydney, Melbourne, or Gold Coast. Compared to the value of cars you have posted as "past owned", cost of relocation by car-tainer is peanuts and a well oiled and practiced Oz necessity. My daughter found her best deal on a new VW Tiguan was online from Melbourne, 1600Km away ... the dealer threw in delivery as final sales concession ... arrived at her Coffs Harbour home with 2.1Km on it!

So, back to my intro ... oh, Richard, how could you?

Please tell me the gorgeous Daimler was stolen from under your nose! You couldn't possibly have sold it. Are you that heartless? What a breathtaking interior! Have you touched base with [Grant Francis] who is Regional Co-ordinator for SA&NT and lives in Adelaide? The nurses allow him visitors if he has his medications but please don't let him see those particular pics ... blokes our age suffer broken hearts at such beauty out on the prowl ... and drooling is still uncouth (LOL).

You have certainly made my day Richard. That Daimler has rekindled happy memories of days past with my wife in our Series2 Daimler V12 VanDenPlas. We often drove between Sydney and Adelaide and loved every moment. Your pics take that experience to a new level. What sheer bloody opulence ... tell me ... did yours have neat little 'D' embossed purses so that you and your passengers could throw occasional coins to the poor people lined up to bow and wave as you glided by?
Whaddayamean ... I can't say that ... I just did! :icon_flamethrow:
Best wishes,
Ken

Thanks for the advice Ken - I had considered that cars might be in other states and realise that i will have to adjust my mentality to what is a 'long way to travel' But the main reason i guess i keep thinking i am limited to cars in SA. Is that i don't how easy it is to register a car from a different state to be legal in SA - Or am over complicating things?

As for the Daimler - She really was a lovely car. The chap i bought her off, had a collection of 20 Daimlers and needed to get the number down to 10. As he had an identical (in every way) Double Six, he decided to sell the 4.0litre.

And the chap i sold the car to, simply walked around her, sat in the rear seat, pulled down the picnic table and said "Sold"......... His chauffeur then had a better nose around the car.

How could i sell her? Well, it was a tough choice but i was using the car as a daily driver and i had a rare Macau Blue BMW E30 325i 'Motorsport Edition' Convertible as a 'toy' - I decided that both were to nice to use daily and put them both up for sale and whichever sold first would be replaced with something more practical..........The Daimler sold first.

And i bought an estate!!! But not any old estate :-)
1998 Alpina B10T 3.2 Manual

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Richard,

As long as the car you purchase is registered, or permitted (if from a dealer) the SA Mob just do an ID check, and if it does not flag write off/stolen/whatever, lighten your wallet, pat you on the head and send you on your way.

Basically if it looks like a Jag, sounds like a Jag, leaks like a Jag OOPS HAHA, then it must be a Jag, so off you go.

Not complicated at all. YET.

But watch out for the stamp duty if you buy a car from interstate, bring it to SA and then register it in SA. I got caught with this on my XFS, I bought it from a Queensland dealer 'drive away no more to pay', and then when I registered it in SA I was told "That will be $2,400 stamp duty thank you sir".

Was the car transferred to your name in Qld? Or left in the dealers name until you got SA rego.(if this is the case the dealer charged you stamp duty and transfer fee but never did the transfer so pocketed your money. Therefore he would have got a refund for any rego left on the car too). Dealers up here have to advertise cars "drive away,no more to pay",so whatever change over price you agree on it includes stamp duty.
Up here you have pay the stamp duty no matter which state you buy the car in unless you can produce an interstate registration certificate proving you have previously had the car registered in your name(even if it has been unregistered for a long time). If the car has never been registered in your name then it is assumed you just purchased it.

Update: I just had read of the SA stamp duty Rules.......you got charged stamp duty in both states, I would be trying to get it back from the Qld dealer.

Interstate purchase and/or transfer of rego
 

Ditto Richard ... most of what Grant and Clarke have advised applies in NSW also.

Even if I purchase my NSW next door neighbour's spanking new XJ220R (she and I both wish), I would still be liable to pay the transfer fee to change the registered owner into my name. Same whether local or interstate. This is a "one-off" for you as the new registered owner, and if I remember correctly runs out here at about 3% of your declared purchase price or market value. Beware outlandish fudging ... not an issue for motor reg, but the OSR (Office of State Revenue) is reputed to come around in dark of night, kick your door down, hijack your kids, drown the cat ... and generally leaving your life somewhat worse for wear.

But, as Clarke has pointed out, it is worth checking to see if it has already been paid, or payable, in the state in which you purchase coz ...

• (a) it may be a legal requirement in that state;
• (b) it may be cheaper to first transfer reg in that state;
• (c) in any event, you are not required to pay twice.

As for the rest, interstate purchase is a doddle. With QLD adopting technology by installing electricity ... and SA only a decade and half an hour behind us here in NSW ... can't remember whether VIC & Tas are still attached to rest of Australia ... it's a breeze.

:icon_download: :icon_omg: :icon_flamethrow::icon_lolsign:

In the words of Spike Milligan ... "DUCK!!!" To which Neddy Seagoon replies ... "QUACK!!!" Some of my really good friends live interstate ... ALL of my really GREAT friends drive Jaguars or Daimlers ... at which point, nothing else matters. (Whew!).

Best wishes,
Ken