Australia is about as far as a car can travel to reach the UK, and that distance is usually the first worry. It sounds like months of not knowing where your car is. In practice the route is well worn, the car stays right-hand drive, and plenty of people shipping from Australia are moving to the UK and bringing their own car with them.
- Time at sea
- 6 to 10 weeks
- Usual method
- Shared container
- Guide shipping price
- From £3,200
- Collection to registration
- 10 to 16 weeks
- Moving home
- Often tax free
Moving home with your car
A lot of the Australian cars we handle belong to people moving back to the UK, or moving here for the first time. If that is you, Transfer of Residence is the thing to look at first. If you have lived outside the UK for at least 12 months and owned the car for at least 6, it can come in with no import VAT and no duty.
You apply to HMRC online with form ToR1 before the car ships, showing where you have been living, where you will live in the UK, and that the car is yours. HMRC gives you a reference, and we use it to clear the car through customs tax free. Our Transfer of Residence guide covers the claim in full.
If the car was UK registered before it went out to Australia, it may come back tax free as well, as long as you still have the original UK purchase invoice and the old V5C logbook. More on that in bringing a UK car back home.
Collection and the sea crossing
Our partner hauliers collect from anywhere in Australia and take the car to the nearest major port, where our handpicked specialists load it. You do not need to drive it across the country yourself.
From Australia the car goes in a container. Most travel in a shared container alongside other customers' cars, which keeps the price down. If you would rather have a container to yourself, we can book a dedicated 20ft container instead. The sea crossing takes around 6 to 10 weeks.
Moving house at the same time? You can ship some of your belongings inside the car, as long as you give us a valued inventory of what is in there. Customs will want to see it.
Your Australia paperwork
0 of 6 done
How long the whole thing takes
From the day the car is collected to the day it is registered, allow around 10 to 16 weeks. The sea crossing is the biggest part. What happens after that depends on what the car needs to be road legal here.
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Week 1
Collection
Our partner haulier collects the car and takes it to the nearest major port in Australia.
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6 to 10 weeks
At sea
The car crosses in a shared container, or a dedicated 20ft container if you asked for one.
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On arrival
Customs
As HMRC CDS authorised agents, we clear the car through customs promptly, so it does not sit at the port running up storage fees.
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At our site
Unloading and changes
Our own team unloads the car and makes any changes it needs, usually a rear fog light and a speedo conversion.
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At our site
Testing
An IVA test or MOT on our own lanes, depending on the age of the car.
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Around 10 working days
Registration
We apply to the DVLA, fit your plates, and you collect the car or we deliver it.
Making it UK road legal
Australian cars are right-hand drive, so the list of changes is short. The two we fit most often are:
- A rear fog light, if the car does not already have one
- A speedometer that reads in mph, on cars under 10 years old
Which test the car takes depends on its age. A car under 10 years old needs an Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) test. A car between 10 and 40 years old takes an MOT, and a car over 40 does not need an MOT at all.
Shipping a Car is part of My Car Import, and every test happens on our site in Castle Donington. We are one of only seven privately operated IVA centres in Great Britain, and we run MOT and MSVA testing in the same building, so your car never has to be taken anywhere else. The My Car Import IVA page has more detail on the test itself.
What it costs
As a guide, built from a year of real jobs, shipping a car from Australia starts from around £3,200. That is shipping only. It does not include registration, testing, other services, import tax or any work the car needs.
If you are not moving home under Transfer of Residence, a car bought in Australia pays 20% import VAT and 10% import duty, worked out on the price of the car plus the cost of getting it here. A car over 30 years old pays 5% VAT and no duty. If the purchase invoice is more than 3 months old, a valuation is used instead.
Apply for Transfer of Residence before the car ships. The relief is not automatic. Without your HMRC reference, VAT and duty are due when the car arrives. Tell us on the quote form that you are moving home and we will send you our guide to the application.
Questions people ask
How long does it take to ship a car from Australia to the UK?
The sea crossing takes around 6 to 10 weeks. From collection to DVLA registration, allow around 10 to 16 weeks in total, depending on what the car needs.
How much does it cost to ship a car from Australia to the UK?
As a guide, built from a year of real jobs, shipping starts from around £3,200. That excludes registration, other services, import tax and any work the car needs to be road legal.
Do I pay import tax if I am moving back to the UK from Australia?
Not if you qualify for Transfer of Residence. You need to have lived outside the UK for at least 12 months and owned the car for at least 6 months. Otherwise it is usually 20% import VAT and 10% duty.
Can I put my belongings in the car?
Yes, as long as you give us a valued inventory of what is inside the car, because customs will want to see it.
Does an Australian car need much work to be UK road legal?
Usually not much, because it is already right-hand drive. The common changes are a rear fog light and, on cars under 10 years old, a speedometer that reads in mph.
Planning the move? Tell us about the car and your dates on the quote form, and we will price the whole job, from your driveway in Australia to your plates in the UK.
