Car Shipping – Overseas Shipping

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If you are relocating to another country that drives on the left such as Australia, Japan or the UK, you can use personal shipping services to deliver your vehicle to your new home. But before you start preparing your car for overseas shipping, you need to do a little homework. Every country has different regulations about importing cars for personal use, and these are subject to change.

Start with the official government website of the country where you are moving and make sure it is legal to import your vehicle there. You also need to know if your car needs to meet particular standards and what sort of import tax would be relevant. If anything is unclear, it is best to contact the nearest embassy for that country and discuss the matter with them to ensure you are doing everything correctly to ship your car there.

Next, you will want to get some shipping quotes to find the best deal. Overseas shipping for cars is not like other personal shipping services. An automobile will be going by sea or by land, and it must be secured appropriately en route. Not all companies offer overseas shipping for cars, and it is important to pick one with experience, such as Spratt, to ensure your automobile arrives safely.

Preparing Your Car for Overseas Shipping

Once you have figured out all the red tape for your destination country and selected the right company from the shipping quotes you got, it is time to make sure your car is ready to go. This checklist will help make sure you don’t miss any of the important steps to ensure your car travels safely. Personal shipping services will not prepare your car for you. That is your responsibility.

  •         Take your car to your mechanic and ensure it is free of any type of leak such as wiper fluid, transmission fluid, brake fluid or steering fluid. It is good to make sure your car is generally in good condition, but a leak of any type can be a disaster en route. Your battery should be well charged and a have a lot of its life ahead of it because it won’t be started up during its journey. The tyres should also be properly inflated. 
  •         Remove anything that isn’t factory installed such as child seats, sat nav, gate or garage door opener,  roadside emergency or first aid kit, electronic tags for tolls; even that box of tissues and assortment of snacks in the glove box. These items could be damaged in transit or cause confusion at customs upon arrival. 
  •         Clean your car thoroughly. This is a good time to have it valeted. Remember, your car will be travelling for a while and even a small bit of dropped food under a seat will be pretty nasty by the time it arrives. Any dampness inside the car can also lead to mildew.

Do not fill your petrol tank before you take your car to the personal shipping services for overseas shipping. It’s tempting, and it seems like a good idea at first. For safety reasons,  however, your tank should not be more than a quarter full when your car is transported.

If you are considering it, ask each company you contact for a shipping quote if they offer car shipping services and what kind of experience they have shipping cars. Spratt has extensive experience shipping personal vehicles, race cars and new cars between Ireland and a vast range of destinations around the world.

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