Importing of Boats from USA

[Perthy]

Hi there all,

I am looking into the "possibility" of whats required and also the viability of importing a boat say around  the  25-28ft mark from the USA to Perth. I'm doing some research to see if its actually worth while .

 From what i have seen and the people i have spoken to, if you do your research right there are some very nice good value boats you can get from the US.  So my questions is has anyone imported from the USA to  Perth WA?

What are the costs associated, time frames etc or any Brokers in Perth that may deal with the USA.

I understand the exchange rate at the moment isnt great so hence why doing the research. 

Any advice would be great cheers.

 

[blindmullet]

Can be worth while but there has been some night mares. These guys seem to know what they are talking about https://tauruslogistics.com.au/importing-boat/australia?gclid=CjwKCAjw7vraBRBbEiwA4WBOnxqdxQVmh5buHuwWyv9XTMPY1kiVy3tPIzq_L2z2vi6DiByO67oANhoCG3UQAvD_BwE

 

[seacow]

Some of my friends did the maths on this years back around 2012. The compliance differences are apparently a pretty big hurdle and now with the AUD at 73 cents to the USD there is very little incentive after you include the freighting and duty costs.

It seemed like it was a good idea at the time when the AUD was like $1.07 USD and every redneck was getting rid of their boat cause of the market crash. I know there are always kick arse boats for sale over there so I'd like to know how you end up.

[Perthy]

• @ Blindmullet Thanks for the link appreciate it cheers.

[Perthy]

@ Seacow Thanks for that, I totally agree with you. Was just curious to add up all the figures. Ha ha so true with your last comment though gold. 

[Fishop]

Im in a group on facebook called American boat owners australia and they talk alot about importing boats and alot of posts of boats with approximate costs (not sure if its landed in aus or not).  Probably worth checking it out.

[Perthy]

@ Fishop  thanks for that i will have a look cheers for the heads up.

 

[wrxhoon1]

Over the years I imported 5 boats from USA including my current Grady White 228.

When the GFC hit you could buy boats in US very cheap and to top that the AUD was much better than it is now at around 85-95 cents. Boats were cheap for a few years after that and in 2011  ( when I bought my current boat) the AUD went up to $1.09. You had cheap boats in USA plus low USD it was well worth the risk of buying a boat unseen and having it shipped here.

Things have changed since then US economy improved vastly so boats are much dearer and our dollar buys a lot less . Unless you want to buy something that you can't find here it is not worth it.

No issue with boat compliance at all , USA built trailers are the problem because they are 8'6" (2.59 mtrs ) wide, our max width is 2.5 mtrs., some trailers you can narrow easy, others you can't unless you cut axles . If you intend to trailer the boat your best bet is to have a trailer made in USA  to AU specs, even with a 70 cent $ they are cheaper there.

I want to import another boat but it won't happen until our dollar improves substantially, I can't see that for a long time. 

[Scratchie]

9 hours ago, wrxhoon1 said:

Over the years I imported 5 boats from USA including my current Grady White 228.

When the GFC hit you could buy boats in US very cheap and to top that the AUD was much better than it is now at around 85-95 cents. Boats were cheap for a few years after that and in 2011  ( when I bought my current boat) the AUD went up to $1.09. You had cheap boats in USA plus low USD it was well worth the risk of buying a boat unseen and having it shipped here.

Things have changed since then US economy improved vastly so boats are much dearer and our dollar buys a lot less . Unless you want to buy something that you can't find here it is not worth it.

No issue with boat compliance at all , USA built trailers are the problem because they are 8'6" (2.59 mtrs ) wide, our max width is 2.5 mtrs., some trailers you can narrow easy, others you can't unless you cut axles . If you intend to trailer the boat your best bet is to have a trailer made in USA  to AU specs, even with a 70 cent $ they are cheaper there.

I want to import another boat but it won't happen until our dollar improves substantially, I can't see that for a long time. 

That’s great advice there and thank you for taking the time to write it. 

Cheers scratchie!!! 

[JonD]

In that size boat why not just buy a Bertram or Caribbean, I seem to remember the hulls were originally US hulls anyway. As others have mentioned the trailers are often an issue but I doubt you will be trailering a 28ft that much. Two friends of mine locally also bought boats from the US, one being a Grady white, not sure of the other but to me it looks very much like a big formula. Both boats arrived with their fair share of issues, the one had all the high end electronics removed and both had engine dramas. One came with a inboard diesel which had some sort of electronic chip issue, the chip operating system didn't work off the same Aus computer system when trying to analyse the problems. A similar thing with the Grady whites twin Yams had some sort of different diagnostics compatibility to ours. 

I know both parties ended up with so many issues neither seemed very happy. I remember looking on boat sales at similar outfits and couldn't quite work out why they went to all the trouble. The Grady ended up going up in smoke after a fault with an inverter for a pie warmer, this also destroyed much of my mates property, much of which wasn't covered under insurance.

Ive been in both boats and couldn't quite work out what all the fuss was about, they were no better than the boats on offer in this country. Both owners have gone back to smaller 5.5m boats that give far more freedom to tow and cost far less to run.