CJ5 from the US coming to New Zealand..Good idea or Bad idea

[ctrevillyan]

Hello everyone. I am moving to NZ from California. I plan on doing a lot of backcountry driving. I have a 1974 Jeep CJ5 with a 304 v8. I am wondering your opinions on if I should ship it overseas with me or should I get rid of it here...or would it be worth anything to bring it and sell it in NZ? I searched on trade me and couldnt find any CJ5s to compare to. Any help would be great. Thanks so much and Im looking forward to the trip:)

[yeti]

welcom to the site mate........leve it there and buy my jeep when ya get here

what part of nz ya moving to...

[ctrevillyan]

Landing in Auckland and driving south until I find a job or an apartment....hopefully both.

[yeti]

plenty of work down here fella.........don't think it be worth bringing in the cj.....others will know what needs to be done re;paperwork and such....
good luck and gives a yell if ya head into christchurch,,,,


ps .....
bring jeep parts with ya if ya wanna make some coin.....worth there weight in gold down here..

cheers
wayne

[coxsy]

No, bring it over you can drive a leftdrive car over here, something differant than anybody has,
great to help met people over here if you had it for a few years

[ctrevillyan]

Absolutely....christchurch is our tentative destination. I have heard so many amazing things about NZ, I cannot wait. I have lots of jeep parts available I may be able to have shipped over when I get there. Thanks for the advise about my rig. ill get rid of it asap and look into one down there. Thanks again. Ill post an update on the forum as my relocation gets closer.

[ctrevillyan]

No, bring it over you can drive a leftdrive car over here, something differant than anybody has,
great to help met people over here if you had it for a few years

Thats why I wanted to bring it...Something different...But looks like it will cost too much. Maybe after Im there for a while, Ill have my brother send me one. I love it because I can rebuild anything on it with my eyes closed. Now I have to get used to something totally different and on the other side of the road.

[coxsy]

what cost me 6k to ship my 66 GT fastback over. but that was a few years ago with buy it it and shipping 16k all up,did think it would cost more, on the plus side stick all your gear in the container with it to save transport costs

[L-andy]

Not sure about importing lhd vehicles, think rules may have changed. Mate brought in a dodge ram and it had to be converted to rhd before it was allowed on road. Cost $16k for conversion. May be an allowance for older stuff but I would check.

I imported my defender 110 and first hurdle is "compliace check". not too bad as 110 was available new here so it complied with nz requirements from the factory. if its something that was never available new in nz then it will be a different story unless there have been a few brought in and a president has been set. If its something completley new to nz then you may end up getting every bit of it independly checked for compliance with nz requirements. a friend of a mate got into this with a Marcos sports car from uk and gave up last i heard.

With my landy there were a few extra hoops to jump through because it was modified (different seats and suspension lift etc). Had to get low volume cert before it could be registered.

But hey, you won't have to pay any import duty as long as you can prove you owned it for at least six months before immigration and you don't sell it for two years. If you sell it before two years you will be hit for all the import duty and tax etc.

Hope that helps

Cheers

Andy

[ctrevillyan]

Not sure about importing lhd vehicles, think rules may have changed. Mate brought in a dodge ram and it had to be converted to rhd before it was allowed on road. Cost $16k for conversion. May be an allowance for older stuff but I would check.

I imported my defender 110 and first hurdle is "compliace check". not too bad as 110 was available new here so it complied with nz requirements from the factory. if its something that was never available new in nz then it will be a different story unless there have been a few brought in and a president has been set. If its something completley new to nz then you may end up getting every bit of it independly checked for compliance with nz requirements. a friend of a mate got into this with a Marcos sports car from uk and gave up last i heard.

With my landy there were a few extra hoops to jump through because it was modified (different seats and suspension lift etc). Had to get low volume cert before it could be registered.

But hey, you won't have to pay any import duty as long as you can prove you owned it for at least six months before immigration and you don't sell it for two years. If you sell it before two years you will be hit for all the import duty and tax etc.

Hope that helps

Cheers

Andy

Hmmmm.... If I dont get taxed because I owned it for over 6 months and I dont expect to sell it, I may ship it over later. I have a quote of 1600USD to have it shipped to Auckland. The compliance check is what Im worried about. Because it is so old, I have keep it lhd but it has a massive engine and it has straight pipes. No muffler or supressors of any kind for exhaust. I will keep it here for now. I think it would be a cool vehicle to drive around there because I have not seen any. I also have a 1965 mustang. I know this is a 4x4 forum but what do you guys know about the older mustangs there? Its worth about 6000USD here but Im seeing some on trade me for 25000+NZD. Is this accurate? Anyways. Ill have some cool vehicles back here to bring over once I get settled. BTW...The most expensive thing to bring over so far is my dog:( So far its up to 5000USD to have him meet us there, and thats after a 6 month wait here in the states.

[Jerry]

another option is to buy a stock jeep here and bring all the add on bits with you

have a look a www.lvvta.org.nz for modifying a vehicle over here also www.trademe.co.nz (like ebay) will give you an idea on whats avaliable over here and what you can expect to pay for stuff what others have said as well bring parts with you, bring extra stuff as well to help fund new toy or help pay to bring yours over (plenty of toyotas over here if its too hard to get the jeep over )

maybe people can put orders in for parts they are wanting

[DaveM]

Best to look into the rules, and make calls/emails to find what the actual rules are. Used to be that you could import LHD, but had to keep ownership for X amount of years, otherwise it had to be converted.
Mates brother brought in a 2008 Shelby Mustang no problem at all, but as said, you'd be best to check the facts with shipping/on road costs etc

[datsunsafari]

for shipping try this guy, steve curle phone number in us 001 818 324 1767. steve.curle@mainfreightusa.com should be able to do you a good deal.

[coxsy]

had mustangs for 13 years rebuilt two of them both were national show winners the GT was a rough thing but fun and fast and i could sit on the hood at shows an piss people off

[sidestep]

Hey if you've never resided in NZ or have been out for a while you get a once only 'immigrant vehicle' import deal, avoids emissions, impact rules... You have to ship them when you immigrate to qualify, can't bring them in later.
Start with 'factsheet 44a' on the NZTA website. http://www.nzta.govt.nz
My wife & I officially relocated back to NZ a couple years ago - we'd been coming & going for years - & took a couple of our toys. Stuffed 2 trucks & everything else in a 40' container. Had to jump through hoops to get the modifications engineer certified, anything that didn't look stock - lifts, tires/rims, drivetrain mods, even headers had to be certed & a special i.d. plate riveted to the trucks. The Low Volume Certifier was good - a hotrod guy- and as it was all done properly had no problems. Be aware that brake & steering mods (things like hydroboost systems) are hard to cert. Take that stuff off before VINning & put it back on in NZ.
Having said all that it might not be worth taking your Jeep.
LHD can suck on rural NZ roads. They're often narrow & winding & you're sitting on the curb side of the vehicle unable to see past the logging truck you're trying to pass.. My wife just couldn't drive them there - And for older V8's gas get expensive - $200NZ each time we filled up - so we sold them after the 18 month compulsary holding time for immigrant imports.
You can build up a good little offroader with RHD NZ vehicles. Old 90's Cherokees can be found dirt cheap & there are plenty of Jap 4x4's to modify into hardy offroaders. Your mustang might be worth taking though, if you're attached to it.. for a fun Sunny Sunday driver.

[tycho]

A local in the Jeep Club here in Christchurch drives a 1988 YJ which is a left hand drive out of the States. Very capable vehicle, very light with the little 2.5 litre four cylinder engine.

[Smurf]

Bring your Jeep over, then buy a decent tow vehicle and a trailer to get it to the trails.

[yeti]

A local in the Jeep Club here in Christchurch drives a 1988 YJ which is a left hand drive out of the States. Very capable vehicle, very light with the little 2.5 litre four cylinder engine.

[doddzee]

You can apply for a left hand drive exemption as a category B left hand vehicle as the jeep is over 20 years old

See fact sheet here http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/facts ... hicle.html

You will also need exemptions from the vehicle emissions and frontal impact rules. You can apply for these exemptions as it can be classified as a special interest vehicle due to its age. If you can proove that this model was not manufactured in RHD it would go a long way to helping your applicaiton.

Another factsheet
http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/facts ... icles.html

[coxsy]

nothing wrong with not seeing to overtake makes your more careful where passing

[ctrevillyan]

A local in the Jeep Club here in Christchurch drives a 1988 YJ which is a left hand drive out of the States. Very capable vehicle, very light with the little 2.5 litre four cylinder engine.[/quote]




[/quote]

I guess it all comes down to $$. Yeti, is there a way to get ahold of the person with the 88yj and find out what he had to go through and what he might have paid in taxes and shipping..etc? Thanks. Im still torn either way.

[yeti]

pm sent