It appears I have just sold a car to a guy in Australia He has bank transfered a deposit and is flying to Canada in a few weeks to see the car in person. He wants to ship the car from Los Angeles California to Australia. I told him I would bring the car into the U.S to a shipping company to take it from Buffalo N.Y. to L.A. Has anyone done this before ? Are we going to have problems at U.S. Customs ? Is he going to have any issues in L.A. ? I want to make this as easy for him as possible as the freight chages alone I'm sure are outrageous. I know there's a lot of Aussie members here that someone may have been through this. Car title will still be in my name until it reaches Australia. Not a lot of info on the net with current owner taking the car into the U.S. (Aussie will be with me at the U.S. border)
Have you checked with a shipping company? It may be cheaper by rail to Vancouver thence to Australia but what do I know. It might even be easier to send by way of Montreal then by ship via the Atlantic. You are so far from Australia, if he went any farther he's be on his way back.
As long as there is a title with the car, it's easy to ship from LA to Australia. Contact Steve at Kiwi shipping 562 295-1350 (now owned by Mainfreight)- he is very helpful and incredibly competitive on pricing. Oh, and I know that a 'Kiwi' is not an Aussie, but he ships to both. So long as the person who picks the car up at the boarder has a bill of lading from the overseas shipper, it will be a freight-forwarding contract and therefore there should not be a customs cost at the US border. I would contact Marcy on here (I forget her HAMB name). She is very helpful and we've shipped a ton of cars with her without a problem. I hope that helps!
It's not that hard - I've bought six cars from the US (yeah, from eBay). We picked up my 64 Galaxie with an O/T Vette in Alabama and drove them across the US to LA where we dropped them off at the shipper's. My wife drove the Vette, and our boys shared themselves between us along the way. The use of a shipper is vital to navigate through the US Customs hoops - no drama if they know their stuff, and the guy who did mine and who also does just about everyone's shipping for them (basically all the people in Oz who are advertising their services to transport a car from the US to Australia) (his name is Al Montana) is a good guy. Helpful and easy to deal with. The amount he charges is really quite small compared to the pain you could suffer trying to work it out for yourself. After you've dropped the car off with him for loading, transport to the wharf, etc, it's basically all on auto-pilot until the car gets to Oz. Make sure you've got the Aust Govt approval permit to import the car and all the paperwork relating to the car and the sale. When the car gets to Australia, you will really benefit from using an import agent who knows their way around the Australian Customs, Quarantine Service and Port requirements. Again, the fee you (or he) will pay an agent is small - the Customs, AQIS, GST, etc costs won't change - there's no getting aorund those, same with the same local costs getting the car out of the US. One thing of note - if the car's got air-con, it will need to be de-charged properly. You can find stuff on the AU Gov't website at the dotars website. http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/vehicles/imports/ Quite a bit of typical mumbo-jumbo, but you can find out everything there - you just need to be able to translate from 'government wanker to 'normal human'. BTW, I assume the vehicle is over 30 years old - that makes life SOOOOOOOOO much easier. Anyway, I hope this helps soothe your worries a little. Cheers.
Oh yeah, I also shipped a couple fo cars from Newark, NJ - it was super easy, and virtually no difference in cost - a shipload cheaper than shipping the thing across the US, but if you're planning a road trip...........................
I would be tempted to load it in a container in Canada and then the shipping company can route it anyway they want-it is in transit and not being imported into the USA.
Thanks guys, the car is a 54 Chevy convertible The purchaser is arranging the freight and he has said it was going through L.A. I want to make everything as easy on this end as possible for him. Just not sure with it being a Canadian titled car passing through the U.S. if it would cause any problems. I thought if I brought the car into the U.S for him it would make things easier
Yep. It will cause problems. As a Canadian, you drive up to the border and tell them what you doing, they'll turn you around. You need to fill out a crap load of paper work ($$$$$) to export a car. For him to take it out is a whole nother ball game. Not sure why he wants to ship from LA?
Actually, it doesn't matter coming into Australia where the car comes from - US, Canadia, UK, etc. I know that lots of cars come out of LA, but if shipping across the good old USA adds much $$$$, it'll still probably be cheaper sending it from north of the border. Cheers.
Yep, crossing the border to the US is only going to make things infinitely harder and more expensive. Ship directly from Canada to Australia or expect headaches and possibly months of red tape.
I would call US customs and ask the experts. Rules change with the times,,I just imported a truck over 20 years old from the US and did not require a appraisal to register the vehicle in Ontario...meanwhile "experts" told me not possible
If you get the car picked up in Canada and shipped directly to a shipper in the states you can get away without paying all of the taxes. The person crossing the Canada/ USA border will need to be a licensed freight forwarder and all of the arrangements at the port will need to be figured out in advance so there will already be a bill of lading and a bill of forwarding.
I did just that a month ago. I sold a T Bucket to a guy from Indiana.He couldnt come into Canada,so I trailered the car to a Warehouse in Buffalo. I crossed at Lewiston,told the guard I was going to Buffalo,which I was.Then I left the car at the warehouse in Buffalo,and returned back thru at the Rainbow bridge in Niagra Falls. I had no problems what so ever,either going into the States or coming home.The warehouse is part of the Kinek system,the owner's name is Nate,and he's a car guy too. Roger
Thanks again guys Just trying to help the Aussie guy out as the shipping is up to him But I told him if it made things easier I would deliver the car to Buffalo NY The cars is not being imported to the US, it's just passing through on it's way to a container to Austrailia . There isn't a lot of information on this anywhere so I guess I should talk to US Customs Just thought someone on here might have actually done it.
Warn the buyer that Australian customs have taken the c#^t level up a notch or two. They are under instructions to 'hold anything you can back' to get more money out of us. If that car is a little dirty or not reasonably stock, they will to town on it. This is not just grape vine stuff. I recently had some stuff come in from my recent trip over there and the cost was OUT OF CONTROL, it would have been cheaper to send it by air.......no jokes.
I forwarded Steve at Kiwi Shippings number to the buyer The car is bone stock and very clean so hopefully he doesn't have any big issues when it gets to Austrailia I've got some time to help him sort things out, he's not flying here until Oct 16th Can't wait to meet a guy that would travel this far to buy a car
Hey Wolfman1, I'm him.....the guy that's buying your car !!!!!! I get into Buffalo now on the 15th, can't wait to meet you guys. I've shipped cars before myself, and always from Los Angeles, it just seems to be the preferred way to do things from this end (Australia). I'll email Al a phone number I have for the shipper in Los Angeles, I spoke to them and they were VERY helpful with information. Can't wait for the 54 !
I second Al at Montana Exports. A few friends have been importing US cars for years and can't speak highly enough about his services. He's an Ozzie and also has great contacts with road freight and can source out a good deal for you as well. One stop shop.
DDD442 You might want to check with US Customs, I have heard you may need a US Title to export via the US, the Canadian Title may not be recognised. Do some more homework.
I hope he has import approval from Australian Customs,..they will send it back if he doesnt. Mine took a few months to come through and I was also bent over a barrel by Customs and charged $900 for a pest spray!! Worth the effort though
It's great to see you on here David, We want to make this purchase as easy as we can. We're excited to have you visit us and hang out for a few days. Dress warm, mid October can cool down pretty good here And don't worry you will love this car. One thing though, you better do an introduction on this site or you will get flamed. Howie
call kiwi shipping or main frieght they only do shipping of cars to australia and nz ask for steve curly the ems guy
I have done this for a customer, he owned the car and drove it across the border, basically he had to fill in a form at the border but other then that was pretty simple, rolled into L.A. and we exported it on the Canada title paperwork, pretty simple. Ex NY I have a couple of compaines I could recomend who load directly into Aussie.
Hi I ship cars every three weeks from Indianapolis IN USA , where my container depot is , I go to Canada and bring them back I also meet custmores at the border , Cheetah exports LLC , also my Depot in Melbourne is a quarantine and customs bonded warehouse witch I own and is run by my daughter, Its Cheetah Imports . I am available on cell no 317 695 9501 USA I can help you very easily . Thanks Kevin
CLASSIC U.S.A. IMPORTS in Melb,ships S/Fran and NewYork,he does it all,IMO the cheapest and best I've used,not a scratch,good luck,Gaz!
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