Car Shipping Australia to NZ - Shipping Car From NZ to Australia

The cost of car shipping Australia to NZ for a standard vehicle is between $2500 and $3500 AUD. This price is typically for vehicles under 18cbm in size and may include the following services:

• Pick-up within 50km from the loading port (or custom quote available otherwise)
• Pre-export inspection, documentation, and fees
• Ocean Freight and marine insurance
• Landing port inspection and clearance, import fees, and delivery within 50km of the port

These services are packaged together as they are directly part of shipping car from Australia to New Zealand. However, there are other costs that aren’t charged directly from your freight forwarding agent. 

Things typically excluded from the standard price of car shipping Australia to New Zealand, are: 

• GST (calculated on the cost of value of vehicle, freight, and insurance) + $55.71 Entry Fee
• MPI Cleaning (if required)
• Compliance & registration

MPI is the government agency in charge of preventing any foreign animals, insects, soil, and plant materials from entering NZ. You must ensure a clean vehicle before shipping car from Australia to New Zealand to avoid hefty cleaning costs. 

You can think of vehicle compliance in NZ as the first warrant of fitness. It ensures the car meets all NZ road safety standards before being registered. The cost is around $550NZD for the compliance inspection, however, it can be more if repairs are needed to pass.

The Phoenix Shipping team has over 10 years of experience in car shipping Australia to New Zealand. Thus, we’re able to offer the most cost-effective ways while ensuring a smooth and safe shipping journey. 

Ultimately, you will need to weigh up whether shipping a car from Australia to New Zealand is your best option. Whether it’s a family car, a luxury or rare vehicle passed down through generations, it’s a worthwhile consideration.

Why do people ship even if the cost to import car from NZ to Australia is more than buying one?

The taxes and duties related to car shipping NZ to Australia or vice versa, often eliminate the perceived cost-saving incentive. So the question then remains, why do people still proceed with car shipping Australia to NZ and vice versa? 

One great reason for shipping car from NZ to Australia is the reliability and peace of mind you vehicle provides. After many years of ownership, you know exactly what you’re getting out of your vehicle. Therefore, some are happy to pay the cost of importing a car from Australia to NZ or vice versa, irrespectively. 

Another reason is sentimental value being the motivation for shipping a car from Australia to New Zealand. The vehicle could have been passed down through generations or been worked on as a project car. Therefore, the sentimental value is much stronger than the couple of thousand dollars of shipping car from Australia to NZ. 

If you’re only traveling for a short period, shipping car to New Zealand can be an alternative to rental cars. Importing through a Carnet application when car shipping New Zealand to Australia or vice versa can help avoid import taxes. In this case, the cost can work out cheaper than renting a car depending on the length of stay.

Vehicle model availability also plays a role when it comes to reasons for shipping car from Australia to New Zealand. If there is scarcity and high demand for certain makes and models, looking for alternatives across the ditch is smart. As long as the costs of car shipping Australia to New Zealand are still reasonable, it’s a great move. 

As far as the cost of shipping car from NZ to Australia is concerned, taxes are a big factor. If vehicle value is high, they are a big deterrent.

The most common and cost-effective way of car shipping Australia to NZ is via a RORO vessel. The shipping lines normally do not permit any personal items to be stored in the vehicle during transit. Customs may also reject the vehicle on the basis of excess items.

Our longstanding relationships with the shipping lines, enables us to give some leeway when there’s minimal items shipped. However, we cannot guarantee that the shipping line won’t reject additional cargo when RORO car shipping New Zealand to Australia.

MPI has clear guidelines on cleanliness and accessibility to inspect the vehicle when shipping car from Australia to New Zealand. Any associated unloading and inspection costs will add to the cost of import. Thus, we discourage it when shipping via a RORO vessel.

However, if you’re looking at shipping car to New Zealand via a container, you can pack additional items. As long as it can fit, and is safely secure in the vehicle or within the container, it’s possible. Importantly, we highly recommend not packing any items that may cause damage to the vehicle during transit.

The same principle applies when car shipping NZ to Australia. Australian customs are just as strict on personal items transported via RORO vessels. Regardless, you also need to consider security. Most marine insurance will not cover any personal items while shipping a car from Australia to New Zealand and vice-versa. While a container provides security, RORO shipping means your vehicle goes through multiple hands. There’s a heightened chance of Items getting lost in transit or left behind and therefore it is normally not permitted.

Some finance companies do not permit car shipping NZ to Australia or the other way without paying the loan fully. We get asked this frequently and it’s important to address it in the early discussions about shipping a car from Australia to New Zealand. 

The main reason (from their perspective) is the fact that the vehicle is typically the security against the loan. If you were to default on the loan, they would repossess the vehicle. Of course, if you’re shipping car to New Zealand or Australia (export) that removes their ability to repossess.

The ultimate decision before car shipping NZ to Australia or vice-versa rests with your finance company. Some international finance companies have offices in both countries and allow you to transfer the loan over. You should discuss this with them well in advance before shipping car to New Zealand.

You do have 3 options available before shipping car to New Zealand or Australia:

1. Pay the loan off to ensure a hassle-free car shipping NZ to Australia process.
2. Re-finance the loan through a local company that allows you to export your vehicle. 
3. Re-finance the loan with a company at the destination you’re moving to and pay off your existing loan. 

As long as you keep us in the loop in advance of car shipping New Zealand to Australia or vice-versa, we’ll ensure that the transition is hassle-free. By contacting us, we are able to coordinate with your insurance provider to file all the relevant documentation. Thus, enabling the car shipping New Zealand to Australia journey without any unwanted surprises.

Pickles and Manheim are the most established vehicle auction providers in Australia. Being a similar market, many Kiwis look to source rare models or repairable write-offs.

We have multiple regular clients that book car shipping Australia to NZ with us right from the auction yards. You may be a regular looking for better prices or customer service or want to explore more about this opportunity. Phoenix Shipping offers a complete full package door-to-door solution of car shipping Australia to New Zealand from auction yards. 

Australian write-off standards are typically very strict and thus you can find absolute bargains to import to New Zealand. Things such as minor hail damage cars or minor impact accidents can be repaired and registered in NZ. After the cost of repairs and car shipping Australia to New Zealand, you can still come out a winner.

Once you have paid your zero-rated tax invoice, you can forward it to us in order to arrange pick up before shipping car to New Zealand. The auction house gives you a set amount of free storage days for you to pick up your vehicle. Therefore, the sooner you notify us, the quicker we can pick up your vehicle and avoid storage charges.

Sometimes, you may purchase a vehicle without knowing it is a non-starter. This means the vehicle doesn’t drive. Because of the added implications, this typically adds to your cost of shipping a car from Australia to New Zealand. Whether it is a flat battery, or something more serious, the vehicle may need to be forklifted. Phoenix Shipping will notify you as soon as we find out on the condition of the vehicle. It is also highly recommended to arrange pre-transit photos before shipping car from Australia to New Zealand.

The first thing you must do whether you’re car shipping Australia to NZ or the other way is import eligibility. Essentially, you must ensure that your vehicle is eligible to be registered in the country of import before shipping. You don’t want a situation of shipping a vehicle and then being informed that it can’t be registered.

To confirm import and registration for car shipping Australia to NZ you can check the NZ Transport Agency website. On the other hand, before car shipping NZ to Australia, you must apply through the ROVER website.

Next up, you can get in touch with a freight forwarder that specialises in car shipping Australia to New Zealand. The difference between any common provider and a specialised vehicle agent is night and day. This is because the documentation required and the process is different from other cargo. This typically means that common freight forwarders aren’t experienced enough to ensure a smooth moving experience. Phoenix Shipping staff have over 10 years of experience in car shipping New Zealand to Australia and vice versa. Thus, we walk you through every step of the way, ensuring a smooth transition with no unforeseen delays. 

In both countries, you must go through compliance before your vehicle can be road-registered. Thus you must consider this cost before shipping a car from Australia to New Zealand or the opposite way. If the vehicle fails to meet the import country’s road standards, repairs from an approved provider must be undertaken. The most common reasons for a failed compliance inspection are tyre tread depth and brake pads. However, we do advise you to handle any major repairs before shipping car to New Zealand or Australia.

When shipping car to New Zealand or Australia you want to feel confident it can get there in one piece! Whether it’s to protect sentimental or monetary value, moving your vehicle safely and in a timely manner is a priority. In short, yes, it is a safe and common practice.

The process of shipping car to New Zealand and Australia amounts to thousands of vehicles being shipped each month. Phoenix Shipping and its subcontractors ensure we are following the latest and best industry safety practices. There is less than a 1% chance of any damage happening during car shipping NZ to Australia or vice versa.

If you choose to ship via the RoRo method, your vehicle is securely strapped in position throughout the entire journey. You can think of the RoRo vessel as a large multi-story car park. Straps are used at the wheels to ensure the vehicle doesn’t move during transport. The vehicle is driven onto and off the vessel at the loading and discharge ports. 

Shipping car from Australia to New Zealand or vice versa via a container adds another level of safety. This method is typically more expensive. However, it does ensure your vehicle is carefully strapped and untouched inside the container for the entire journey. 

An added layer of safety provided by Phoenix Shipping is our Marine Insurance option. Typically, your private car insurance provider may not cover you during car shipping NZ to Australia or the opposite journey. We offer this option to cover any external damage that can happen during transit. You can get in touch and request a quote for further information on marine insurance.

We understand that the cost of car shipping NZ to Australia or vice-versa plays a role in your decision-making. Weighing up your options to sell and buy or decided to ship can often come down to cost comparison. While new cars are on average cheaper in Australia, used cars are on average cheaper in New Zealand. 

New Cars – Australia has a very competitive new car market with 67 brands and over 350 models available. According to the FCAI, new car price comparison data across different models demonstrates cheaper prices in Australia over New Zealand. It also makes sense as Australia is a bigger market. There are over 1 million new car sales each year compared to a record-breaking 165,287 in NZ in 2021.

Thus, you may consider shipping car from Australia to New Zealand rather than buying a brand new car in NZ.

Used Cars – New Zealand imports over 100,000 used cars predominantly from Japan each year. Meanwhile, the figure for used import cars from Japan to Australia sits around 15,000 each year. Naturally, the sheer difference in supply levels will correlate with the average price of used cars being cheaper in NZ. The main reason for this difference in supply is the Australian import regulations being much stricter than in NZ. According to an NZ Herald article, used cars in Australia can cost 2 to 5 times more than in NZ.

Therefore, you may consider bringing your used vehicle and car shipping NZ to Australia instead of selling and buying again. To check what it’s worth in each country you can find similar models listed on TradeMe and Gumtree. That way, you can make an informed decision before contacting us for car shipping New Zealand to Australia.

As with the majority of imports, car shipping Australia to NZ is also liable for GST payment to clear Customs. The GST is calculated as 15% of the value of the vehicle plus the cost of freight and insurance. 

You may qualify for a GST exemption when car shipping Australia to NZ if you meet certain criteria. NZ Customs has strict requirements that must be met with supporting documents in order to qualify. Here are a few questions to ask yourself in regards to the GST exemption when shipping car to New Zealand:

• Have you owned and used the vehicle privately for more than 12 months?
• Are you returning or coming to New Zealand to live?
• Have you lived outside of New Zealand for more than 21 months?
• Do you have NZ residency or a NZ work permit?

If the answer is yes and you can provide the required supporting documents, you may be eligible for GST exemption. You will need to sign a Deed of Undertaking (DOU) stating you will not sell the vehicle for 2 years. Otherwise, you will have to pay the GST owed. 

The supporting documents for shipping car to New Zealand and qualifying for concessionary entry may include: 

• Your Passport (proof of living outside of NZ for more than 21 months and eligibility to live in NZ).
• Original registration certificate (proof of vehicle ownership for more than 12 months).

Getting in touch with an experienced freight forwarder who specialises in car shipping Australia to New Zealand has its benefits. Oftentimes, a general freight forwarder doesn’t have such in-depth knowledge which can often be a disadvantage to you. You can save thousands of dollars in GST payable by simply being aware of regulations specific to the vehicle industry. 

The answer is no, there is no ferry for shipping car from Australia to New Zealand at the moment. We can only speculate as to why that is, but we suspect it’s got to do with financial viability. A ferry transporting you along with car shipping Australia to NZ will likely cost upwards of $3000 for a ticket. If there aren’t enough people to cover the cost of each ferry trip, then it makes bad economical sense. 

Flights across the Tasman are also relatively cheap. Moreover, hiring the right freight forwarder will make the process of car shipping NZ to Australia or vice versa hassle-free. 

However, shipping a car from Australia to New Zealand is possible and quite common. The same goes for car shipping NZ to Australia. The most common way is through a RoRo vessel, which is essentially a ship built for transporting vehicles. It functions as a multi-level car park where port workers drive cars in and out of the vessel. The RoRo vessel is not designed for passenger transport and you will need to arrange your own transport. 

Alternatively, you can look at shipping car from Australia to New Zealand via container. The option is generally more expensive, however, it is classed as an added layer of security. Unlike RoRo, you can also ship personal items along with your car as long as they can be packaged safely. 

If you want to import car from NZ to Australia, most vessels will go to Japan first and loop back. You can ship directly to Australia but that’s more expensive than the cost to import car from Australia to NZ. 

So what are you waiting for? Get in touch with Phoenix Shipping to safely import car from NZ to Australia or vice versa.

The answer is simple really. Australia has much stricter regulations regarding the import of used vehicles than New Zealand. 

On the other hand, New Zealand has a much more open policy when it comes to used vehicle import. That makes the process of shipping a car from Australia to New Zealand easier and cheaper than the opposite route. 

If you compare NZ Customs regulations with Australian Department of Transport regulations, you can learn about the differences in detail. In short, importing a car from Australia to NZ is relatively straightforward without many restrictions. You will be asked to show proof of ownership and related documents, but the process is generally easy to follow. On the other hand, shipping car form NZ to Australia will generally involve much more red tape. That is of course if you are able to register and clear customs after car shipping New Zealand to Australia. 

We can assume that the predominant reason why shipping car from NZ to Australia is more restricted is industry protection. Australia only recently stopped manufacturing cars which was the main reason for limiting the import of used vehicles. In order to keep alive its vehicle manufacturing industry, there were heavy restrictions on importing. NZ stopped manufacturing long ago and thus the regulations for shipping car from Australia to NZ are more relaxed. We believe that Australia will eventually relax its used vehicle import restrictions and will follow a similar policy as NZ. 

Furthermore, we can’t neglect another reason why car shipping Australia to New Zealand is limited, is due to new-car lobbyists.

As previously mentioned, the cost to import car from Australia to NZ or vice-versa will be around $2100 and $3000. However, you’re likely looking at an additional $500-$700 for freight for ports outside of the Eastern Australia and Auckland regions. 

That means that shipping car from NZ to Australia is cheaper departing from Auckland and arriving in ports located near Brisbane, Sydney, or Melbourne. On the other hand, car shipping NZ to Australia from ports near Christchurch, Nelson, or Wellington into ports like Adelaide and Fremantle is more expensive. The same goes for car shipping Australia to NZ. Shipping from the Eastern ports into Auckland is cheaper than shipping car to New Zealand from Adelaide or Freemantle. 

One might think that the distance between ports is the biggest factor when shipping car from NZ to Australia. In fact, it is more so related to the frequency and shipping space available to certain ports. When you import car from NZ to Australia, the trip from Auckland and the Eastern ports is part of a much wider global network of vehicle transport. Therefore, there are more vessels and space available for that particular journey which makes for more competitive pricing. Fremantle and Adelaide aren’t directly part of that route and thus shipping car to New Zealand or from those ports becomes more expensive.

In fact, when you import car from NZ to Australia, a single vessel stops in Melbourne, Port Kembla, and Brisbane. If the final destination is Freemantle or Adelaide, your vehicle is likely re-routed via another vessel from the Eastern ports. That is what can increase the cost to import car from NZ to Australia into Adelaide and Freemantle.

Look, the shipping industry is like a complex mechanism with lots of moving parts. Unfortunately, delays happen more often than we would all expect, sometimes avoidable and other times not. That’s why you’d choose someone like Phoenix to import car from NZ to Australia or vice versa on your behalf. We have the experience and industry connections to make car shipping NZ to Australia (or vice-versa) as hassle-free as possible. Therefore, the answer to this question would be to let your freight agent handle it. In our case, we’ll do what we can to find alternate or better solutions if possible. Regardless, we’ll keep you informed at every step of the car shipping Australia to NZ journey. If there are any hiccups, we’ll inform you as well as work to resolve them quickly. 

Besides leaving the process of shipping car from NZ to Australia in the hands of your freight agent, there are two more things you can do to avoid further problems. 

Firstly, before shipping a car from Australia to New Zealand, you must make sure that the documents all check out. Both governments are very strict on import regulations and your vehicle can get rejected for import clearance. Thus, it’s crucial that you don’t begin shipping car from Australia to NZ without the right paperwork prepared and filed. 

Secondly, you don’t want to commit to plans on having your vehicle delivered on an exact date without an alternative. As we mentioned, delays in car shipping Australia to New Zealand happen all the time. Make sure you give yourself an alternative, such as a rental car, public transport, or borrowing a friend’s car. While we give out estimated time frames for shipping car to New Zealand or Australia, there are no guarantees.

There are some freight agents that will present you with the cheapest quote and multiple hidden costs. That’s why you should ask for any other costs beyond the car shipping NZ to Australia quote. 

An honest freight agent will tell you about the fixed and variable cost to import car from Australia to NZ. Your fixed costs will be things such as the transport fee, import and export clearances, and local transport. Due to the volatile nature of shipping costs, your quote will usually come with an expiry date. Therefore, ensure that your quote to import car from NZ to Australia is still valid at the time of shipping. 

Variable costs are usually out of the control of the freight agent and include things such as inspection cleaning fees. There is a clear pattern when shipping car from Australia to NZ or vice versa that they require port cleaning. That means that it fails the import country’s bio standards and requires cleaning at the port at your expense. While this is a variable cost of importing a car from Australia to NZ, we can give a typical range.

Most quotes for car shipping Australia to New Zealand will be valid for a running car. That means that if your vehicle fails to start and requires towing or forklifting it will incur additional costs. These costs are set by third parties such as port operators and may come as an unexpected surprise. Our job as your car shipping New Zealand to Australia freight agent is to notify you as soon as possible. In the case of a flat battery, we’ll do our best to jump-start the vehicle where possible. However, ensuring that the vehicle is in running condition when shipping car from Australia to New Zealand is your responsibility.

The quickest answer is that the cost to import car from Australia to NZ significantly increases if it doesn’t run. That is because it involves additional resources or subcontractors than your standard quote for car shipping Australia to NZ includes. The same can be said when you import car from NZ to Australia. 

What we mean by a ‘non-runner’ is a vehicle that can’t be switched on and driven on and off vessels. In that case, there are two options for vessel operators to move your vehicle, a jump start or a forklift. 

Jump starting is used if the battery goes flat during the journey of shipping car from Australia to New Zealand. A jump start pack is sometimes available to revive flat batteries on car shipping Australia to New Zealand vessels. The handling fee is relatively affordable with a cost of around $100 or less. However, it is important to note that this option is not always available or it simply doesn’t work. 

If the jump starter does not get your car switched on, it will have to be forklifted off the vessel. This is often the case with damaged vehicles bought at Pickles or Manheim auctions that get shipped to New Zealand. The cost of shipping car from Australia to NZ is likely to increase by approximately $700 for each forklift use. That means a forklift will likely be used at the loading port in Australia and delivery port in New Zealand. Thus, adding $1,400 to your cost of shipping a car from Australia to New Zealand in this scenario. You should do everything you can to ensure your vehicle is a runner before shipping car to New Zealand. This is to avoid any damage that could be caused by the forklift.