How not to ship a vehicle to New Zealand

How not to ship a vehicle to New Zealand.

DON’T let this happen to you.

We have recently assisted with the return shipping from Auckland to Cape Town, clearing and re-licensing a BMW motor vehicle that was rejected by NZTA for use on New Zealand roads.

The reason? Nothing short of poor / wrong advice from the client’s initial shipping agent, a local competitor who’s name is not relevant for the purpose of this post. For concessionary entry of personal vehicles into New Zealand by migrants the following 4 main criteria must be met ( per the FiDi customs guide ) the owner must:

• Have arrived and on the date the motor vehicle is imported, hold a document authorizing residence in New Zealand, and
• Have resided outside of NZ for the whole of 21 months before the date of arrival in NZ; and
• Have owned and used the vehicle for at least 12 months before the date of departure to NZ or the date on which the vehicle is surrendered for shipping, whichever is earlier; and
• Agree not to sell the vehicle within 24 months of importation

Unbelievably, the initial shipping agent seemed completely oblivious to these criteria when specifically queried by the client before shipment, most notably, point 3 – as well as the need for general compliance requirements.

After paying the initial shipping costs to Auckland, plus clearing, plus taxes due to the lack of ownership period, the client was informed that as this vehicle did not meet the criteria as a “migrant’s vehicle” due to the lack of 12 months ownership, and therefor the emissions standards enforcement – and the vehicle had to be returned to Cape Town. And so the return shipping process began, again all at the client’s expense.

Very fortunately, this client had the means to finance this situation, one which may well have financially wiped out many first time migrants to New Zealand.