Import advice and other questions

Hi All,

We are edging towards our move from the uk to Melbourne and I am still planning to bring my mk2 golf with us, we have just finalised the shipping company and it is all coming together. I have a couple of questions if anyone can help then thank you in advance. Apologies if they've been covered before I could not find answers after a search-

-Any advice on what modifications the car will need to become road worthy for Australia?
-Recommendations of people/companies in Melbourne who can carry out this work and certify it?
-My second set of wheels have Toyo 888's fitted although these will need replacement before it all goes in the container, I'm assuming these tyres are road legal in Aus? Although I may go for a fast road tyre for more longevity and all round performance next time, I see the car being used on the road more once there.
-I have a carbon bonnet as well as the standard metal panel are composite body panels legal on the road?
-I have a collection of parts to keep the car going for a while but as others have hinted parts can be harder to source the in Europe is there anything I should put in which is hard to get for the car down there?
-Lastly our place in Melbourne does not have a garage. How readily available are garages/workshops (ideally double car size) to rent long term in the city and where is the best place to keep an eye out for one?

Again thank you for any help and info..

HAF

First thing is you will need an import licence BEFORE it leaves UK If you arrive without one they may crush it or return it to UK at your expense

https://infrastructure.gov.au/vehicles/imports/

Hi yes thanks all that is in hand, thanks for the info though!

-Any advice on what modifications the car will need to become road worthy for Australia?

Send a PM to Golf Loon, he's an expat Pom in Sydney and runs Camden GTI. He has helped lots of guys with imported cars and will know what you need to do to get it registered here. There are a few VR6 conversions here so that shouldn't be too much of an issue when you bring yours.

-Recommendations of people/companies in Melbourne who can carry out this work and certify it?

One of the Melbourne forum members should be able to advise who they use.

-My second set of wheels have Toyo 888's fitted although these will need replacement before it all goes in the container, I'm assuming these tyres are road legal in Aus? Although I may go for a fast road tyre for more longevity and all round performance next time, I see the car being used on the road more once there.

No problem with any tyre as long as it doesn't have markings on the side which say "not for normal road use" or "race tyre only".

-I have a carbon bonnet as well as the standard metal panel are composite body panels legal on the road?

No problem

-I have a collection of parts to keep the car going for a while but as others have hinted parts can be harder to source the in Europe is there anything I should put in which is hard to get for the car down there?

We have hundreds of MK3's sitting in wreckers and back yards across the country. We never got the MK3 GTI but the MK3 2.0 and VR6 are a great source of parts locally. If you need anything mechanical it can be easily sourced but MK2 trim and body parts are worth their weight in gold. Lots of guys here order from VW Heritage but I've recently found out that China has thousands of MK2 Jettas as taxis and there is a growing infrastructure there to help keep these cars on the road.

-Lastly our place in Melbourne does not have a garage. How readily available are garages/workshops (ideally double car size) to rent long term in the city and where is the best place to keep an eye out for one?

Another question for one of the Melbourne forum members.

Cheers

Paul

Hi Mate,

I brought my MK1 across a few years ago so have detailed what I learnt below.

-Any advice on what modifications the car will need to become road worthy for Australia?
You will need to have the car certified as ADR (Australian Design Rules) compliant. Bill at Talktorque automotive is a registered engineer via vic roads to give you the advice on what work will be needed. Then you need to find a garage to carryout the work. I have to fit side intrusion bars and child anchor points to my mk1. Bill will also print the Australian tyre labels required, now you will have a compliance date so you can gain a road worth cert (MOT). once this has passed then you can register it. Its fairly simple but long winded. Make sure the car is stock when gaining any of the above certs.

-Recommendations of people/companies in Melbourne who can carry out this work and certify it?
Talktorque automotive and I used Daley prestige repairs in Mentone for my mechanical work. Expect $$$$. Also contact the VW Club of Victoria for info, you can also use the club permit scheme if you dont want to use it daily.

-My second set of wheels have Toyo 888's fitted although these will need replacement before it all goes in the container, I'm assuming these tyres are road legal in Aus? Although I may go for a fast road tyre for more longevity and all round performance next time, I see the car being used on the road more once there.
Take the tyres off and do not replace them. depending on build code of the tyres ect they might not be able to be used on aus roads, i have to replace all my 4 with new.

-I have a carbon bonnet as well as the standard metal panel are composite body panels legal on the road?
Dont know about road legal but once you have ADR clearance, Roadworthy cert and registered you can change it back.

-I have a collection of parts to keep the car going for a while but as others have hinted parts can be harder to source the in Europe is there anything I should put in which is hard to get for the car down there?
Before you load your car or container with car parts check the rules and regs, when shipping my car i wasn't permit to load the car with spares and if you do you run the risk of both taxation on import and quarantine for cleaning - if used parts.

-Lastly our place in Melbourne does not have a garage. How readily available are garages/workshops (ideally double car size) to rent long term in the city and where is the best place to keep an eye out for one?
I am in the real estate industry (Not an Agent) but best thing to do it contact a few agency's and ask them to find something for you. Garages are available in multiple storey basement buildings in the city but are not cheap, a car space just for parking can be $500 per month. you better looking in the suburbs or for self storage solutions.

Good luck