Will my car be allowed into NZ?

December 27, 2009 2:52 PM

Does anyone have any experience bringing a car to New Zealand from Australia? I'm particularly interested in how rigorous the inspection will be.

I'm moving to New Zealand from Perth this coming February. I'll be living in a small coastal town, and I'm pretty sure I'll need a car. I'd rather buy one before I leave, as there are more options here than there will be there. The cost of transporting the car will be covered by my work, so that's not an issue.

I'd like to know how thorough the inspection will be to get a car through. I just found a 48 year old car for a great price and I love it to bits, but I don't want to buy it only to have it defected at the border. It's a 1961 Rover 100, it runs very well and has no rust. It does leak a little bit of oil, has a squeak when it runs, has a semi-dodgy paint job on close inspection, and the rubber window liners are starting to get old and cracked.

Apparently it went over the pits to get into WA a few years ago and had a bunch of work done to get passed that test, so I'm hoping it should be all set for a NZ trip. I know you can't tell me anything specific about this car, but I was hoping someone may have experience with the inspection to get a car over there, especially something vintage.

posted by twirlypen to travel & transportation around New Zealand (6 answers total)

It's a 1961 Rover 100

If you can get it in as a classic it may be fine, otherwise it's going to fail seatbelt, airbag, and emissions rules, at a minimum.

I assume you've looked here, and more specifically here?

If you're looking for classic cars you should probably have a squizz at TradeMe's car section, as well, to make sure you're comparing costs accurately.
posted by rodgerd at 3:10 PM on December 27, 2009

(Sorry, should have included a link to the exceptions you'd want for this car.)
posted by rodgerd at 3:13 PM on December 27, 2009

I don't know squat about cars, but I do live in NZ, and find it hard to believe it's worth the effort of bringing this car over, or that there's less choice here in buying cars. Sure, there's less of them, but a quick look at Trademe tells me there's a few classic Rovers listed (1900-1970) if that's what you specifically want.

It seems a waste of money and effort to bring a car here.
posted by girlgeeknz at 4:11 PM on December 27, 2009 [1 favorite]

Thanks rodgerd, those are very informative links. It has seatbelts installed, and from the looks of that site if it's older than 20 years it doesn't need to pass the front impact test (which means airbags aren't a problem), I'll keep looking into the emissions test.

Judging from that site, it can't be considered a classic as it only meets two out of the four criteria.

girlgeeknz, thanks for the link to Trademe. The 'less choice' I was referring to was in Waihi, the town I'll be moving to, not in New Zealand in general, though I'm starting to consider a trip up to Auckland to get a car. The move would be paid for, so the money isn't an issue for me, and if I could get this car over there the effort would definitely be worth it.

Thanks for the input!
posted by twirlypen at 5:41 PM on December 27, 2009

You're a braver man than I to rely on an old English car in the back blocks 8)
posted by rodgerd at 6:03 PM on December 27, 2009

Given that it doesn't even sound like a particularly special example of its ilk, I really think you're nuts to put any more thought into moving the car. Just buy here. It certainly used to be true that cars over here were far cheaper to buy than in Aussie, though I'm not sure if that's still the case.

It's not particularly far to drive between Auckland & Waihi, I mean I've been down about that far for day trips to go to the beach. It's a lovely part of the country up and down the coast there, though Waihi town itself is nothing particularly special.
posted by The Monkey at 6:35 AM on December 28, 2009