Moving from USA to Queensland

[Jonathan Allyn]

Hi Prime Australia! I’m going to be moving to Queensland next year and will be bringing my NSX but am also considering importing a second as well. From my research it looks like my wife (Australian citizen) and I can both bring a car and avoid some of the taxes if we own it for at least 12 months prior to moving but know there is a lot more involved... I have a couple questions and was hoping someone here could provide some recent guidance as what I’ve found on Prime is a little dated but I’m sure still relevant.

1) What is needed to import a LHD NSX into Australia?

2) Is there interest in LHD manual NSX’s in Australia?

Thanks so much!
- Jonathan



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[MLCNsx]

Hi Jonathan,

I am not 100-percent sure on the import regulations, but my understanding is that you can bring a car in as a personal import without too many dramas. You might need to pay for compliance, but I suspect you could get that done for a few grand.

There is plenty of interest in manual NSX's, however, I can't imagine there would be too much interest in a LHD vehicle, unless it was very cheap. There was a left hand drive converted manual NSX for sale some time back and from memory it was on carsales.com.au for a long time and even with a significantly lower price tag than comparative vehicles it did not sell in a hurry. I have noticed there has been a couple of RHD NSX's advertised in America in the past year or so. If you could pick one of those up at the right price, especially a late model 2002-2004 vehicle, I suspect you would do very well out of it.

There has not been a good quality manual NSX with reasonably low kilometres/miles advertised on carsales.com.au for some time. As you will see from the autos that are currently available, they are asking for much higher prices than you can purchase then for in the US, even after adjust for the Aussie dollar!!!

I hope that helps.

Cheers,

David

Hi Prime Australia! I’m going to be moving to Queensland next year and will be bringing my NSX but am also considering importing a second as well. From my research it looks like my wife (Australian citizen) and I can both bring a car and avoid some of the taxes if we own it for at least 12 months prior to moving but know there is a lot more involved... I have a couple questions and was hoping someone here could provide some recent guidance as what I’ve found on Prime is a little dated but I’m sure still relevant.

1) What is needed to import a LHD NSX into Australia?

2) Is there interest in LHD manual NSX’s in Australia?

Thanks so much!
- Jonathan




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[NZNick]

Have a look at the Pistonheads threads on Australia - there is comprehensive discussion regarding the importation of vehicles there.
Good luck with the move.

 

[MR2QIK]

I'm pretty up to speed with importing these days. Can say with relative certainty, you're best to sell your LHD as its value will be low in AU as mentioned, along with the fact most states wouldnt allow it on the road without conversion due to its relative youth (compared to LHD muscle cars which are generally allowed). Your 2 best options:

1) Buy a RHD NSX over there & own it for the minimum 1yr (believe you need to demonstrate it was used/registered).

2) Import a 25yr old NSX from Japan to AU. New laws permit this as of Dec 2019. I recommend hunting one down via a broker beforehand & storing it till its legal, as demand & therefore prices will shoot up further as more time passes.