British Alfa 156 GTA Sportswagon Import

[Justin Hydes]

Hi,

I'm brand new to this forum. I've a 156 3.2 V6 Sportswagon which I currently bumble along my congested commute. So... although it breaks my heart I've decided to sell it.

I understand it's a desirable car in Australia and, even though I don't want it to leave the UK (only 98 left here), I'm keen to see it go to a good home.

Anyone any experience or advice on selling in Australia from abroad and importing?

Thanks


Justin

[AndrewR]

This will not be that easy as it will have to conform yo our ADR's ( design regulations )if the owner has owned it in the UK for twelve months and can prove they and the car have been together all that time it cann came in as a private import and won't have to conform,, if the car was more than 30 years old you could bring it in without even hogging to the Uk. In all cases you must have lodged the nesessery forms with the Australiann government before importation begins. They can tell you if it gets here without the paperwork toi scrap it or return whenst it came!

[Craig_m67]

Having brought our 156 1.9JTD Sportwagon from the UK back with us as a personal import I can attest that it's very, very simple for anybody who can read and follow instructions.

The only part of the car that doesn't comply with ADR in Australia is the rear child seat mounts. You can either have them fitted (holes drilled in floor) as we did when you land, or put in an Australian rear seat (as I did later) with the ADR approved fittings. Just blots in.

Otherwise, using the personal import scheme is a completely straight forward process, just follow the paper work, do as much of it yourself as possible.  However, if your hoping to sell the car to an Australian to import themselves, ie. without you moving to Aust. and importing it, then no. It's not allowable unless they have resided, owned and operated the vehicle OS for 12 months or more.


LONDON


BRISBANE


If the car is AR442 Brilliant Blue I will buy it off you before you land. Bonus points for me if it's a sele-speed (yes).

My car is (probably) the only 156 JTD Sportwagon in Australia/NZ.  Your GTA will likely be too as the GTA Sportwagon was similarly never brought in. Cost me about A$6.5k door to registered and insured door.  The car will be considered worth less here as it's an import, it's also harder to mainstream insure although not impossible (Shannon's).

Bring it if you love it - not for profit.

[Brad M]

Having brought our 156 1.9JTD Sportwagon from the UK back with us as a personal import I can attest that it's very, very simple for anybody who can read and follow instructions.

Glad you chimed in here, having had first hand experience.

Your GTA will likely be too as the GTA Sportwagon was similarly never brought in.

To my knowledge, it would be number 2. There is one getting around here at the southern part of the mainland. Never seen it, but the some folks on the AusAlfa board know of it.

[LukeC]

There are a few schemes for bringing in cars from OS. Pre 1989 (Motor Vehicle Standards Act), Private imports as Craig stated, or the RAWS (Registered Automotive Workshop) scheme as would apply in this instance.

While this vehicle whould be quite a simple vehicle to demonstate compliance under the concessional arrangements compare to US sourced vehicles (ECE approvals, full volume comparisons etc), the vehicle would have to be entered onto the SEVS (Specialist and Enthusiests Vehicle Scheme) register by application, then comparison to certain criteria to demonstrate compliance to the ADRs. The RAWS workshop has to compile this documentation to demonstrate compliance (usually by a consultant engineer). This is a fair outlay in time, effort and cost (Among which will be an emissions test to show that if they are replacing the cat which a non-genuine one.. ~$10,000 it will meet ADR 79/--). The workshop earns the outlay back in their "Compliancing Fees" by amortising this investment by compliancing many cars.

While the early RAWS type vehicles were mainly performance cars from Japan, the focus has shifted more to much more mundane vehicles that the importers can get in large enough numbers to make the initial compilation of technical evidence worthwhile. As such, I cant see anyone wanting to take on this effort for what is a variant of a vehicle that was sold here. Unique, but not that desirable that people will pay a big premium over the cars that were officially brought into this country (IMO).