[UK Neil]

Not sure if this is in the right forum ill take my chances:

This is a bit of a strange one. Anyone have any experience of importing a car. We want to bring a camper with us. I know cars are reasonably priced out there but we are thinking of buying a new vw camper, 1970s style as they still make them in Brazil, and having it shipped direct from Brazil to NZ but i need to find out about import tax or any other costs i will be in for to make sure its viable.

Cheers for any help.

[Nienke]

Apart from shipping costs, if you bring a new vehicle then you have to pay GST on it. Then there's the MAF inspection, but that's just a couple of hundred dollars.
This website is very useful:landtransport (http://www.landtransport.govt.nz/factsheets/44.html)

[SteveR]

be very carefull if thinking of importing direct from brazil an "new VW" i suspect that these are LHD so you will need to live in Brazil for a min of 90 consecutive days, you will need to show entry and exit visas in your passport to prove this, you will not be able to sell the vehicle for 5 years and you will need to be a NZ resident or citizen, work visa is not enough. the vehicle will also need to be built to a recognised standard FMVSS-USA, ECE-Europe JIS-japan, ADR-Australia. All the trouble you would need to go thru would almost not make this viable, there are loads of campers here from 70's VW to the latest coach conversions.

[UK Neil]

Cheers for the replies.
Its a british company that fits them out to british standards and it looks like that would be good enough for nz as well, its right hand drive. We would have residency as well, and would not sell it for at least 5 years. Steve, why would i have to live in Brazil for 90 days? that could be a show stopper.

The uk company would ship it to uk first but not take it out of customs and therefore avoid the vat on it. I would not actually pick it up until it gets to NZ.
What is the rate of GST you have to pay when importing?