Returning to Melbourne with my Model S

[Rotorbow]

Has anybody had any experience returning to Australia with their Model S purchased overseas. I've lived in Hong Kong (RHD) for several years and waited patiently (like many of you) for my 2014 Model S Signature P85+.
It's now time to return home and I'd like to ship my car back. Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Zoltrix77]

Has anybody had any experience returning to Australia with their Model S purchased overseas. I've lived in Hong Kong (RHD) for several years and waited patiently (like many of you) for my 2014 Model S Signature P85+.
It's now time to return home and I'd like to ship my car back. Any advice would be much appreciated.

You would probably be advised to speak with Tesla and see if there will be any issues. You are obviously able to import into Australia under the Personal import rule (you must have had it registered in your name overseas for at least 12months), however, you may find difficulty gaining comprehensive car insurance for a Personal Import. You can only import a car under this rule once every 5 years.

Personally imported cars that are otherwise available via full volume import also tend to have much lower resale values. So it might be worth checking how much it would cost you to sell it in Hong Kong and purchase another Tesla new or used in Australia. Don't forget to calculate the import duties, GST, shipping, engineering fees etc etc.

Personally, IMHO, you would have to save a fair chunk of money before it would be worth the hassle. It is really only worth it for specialist collector/performance vehicles.

Adam.

 

[Rotorbow]

You would probably be advised to speak with Tesla and see if there will be any issues. You are obviously able to import into Australia under the Personal import rule (you must have had it registered in your name overseas for at least 12months), however, you may find difficulty gaining comprehensive car insurance for a Personal Import. You can only import a car under this rule once every 5 years.

Personally imported cars that are otherwise available via full volume import also tend to have much lower resale values. So it might be worth checking how much it would cost you to sell it in Hong Kong and purchase another Tesla new or used in Australia. Don't forget to calculate the import duties, GST, shipping, engineering fees etc etc.

Personally, IMHO, you would have to save a fair chunk of money before it would be worth the hassle. It is really only worth it for specialist collector/performance vehicles.

Adam.

Thank you for taking the time to respond Adam. Your points are well taken and understood. For me it's a little emotional having waited so long for the car originally (never waited for a car before) and now with only 14K kms on the clock, it seems almost impossible to give it up.....but you're probably right. Thanks again.

 

[mrpseudonym]

+1 Adams comments are right on the money. I was buying a different (but similar value) car and personal imports were trading at about a 30% discount, and that is if they got sold. Some people just wouldn't touch them unless they were a complete bargain. You'll have too many issues when you eventually try to sell, so I'd sell locally and get another one when you get here.

 

[Mark E]

I'd talk to Tesla and get their view on it.
The things that make a personal import much less desirable is generally service history and the fact that it's not an Australian model.
With the Tesla things might be a bit different since you'd actually need Tesla to agree to support you. I'm not sure of the differences with the HK models, but from a software standpoint you might be able to get Tesla to update the code to being Aus spec.

Worth the conversation at least.

 

[Burnt Toast]

Does it have the same supercharger connection?

 

[Blue heaven]

I haven't kept up with recent news on the Hong Kong Tax waiver on EVs but the last I read it was no longer as favourable to new high priced electric vehicles, is this the case? Would that work in favour in the sale price of a second hand Model S? Maybe selling in Hong Kong then starting afresh in Australia wouldn't be so bad, it then comes down to a choice of vehicle, the P85+ is no longer available new and probably rare second hand in Australia, there's a few quality low kilometre vehicles on carsales but I doubt many are keen to part with their Signature Model S after waiting so long for it.

 

[meloccom]

Initially, before Tesla had developed charge connectors for Australia, they supplied Hong Kong versions.
So this would indicate that the two specs are closely related.
In addition second hand imports get a bad name from all the UK delivered cars that suffer from salted roads in Winter, none of which apply to a HK delivered vehicle. A long time ago I worked for a European second hand car dealer and HK delivered cars were considered a cut above UK delivered and sold at higher prices albeit lower than local delivered cars. It's also true that many buyers would consider nothing other than Australian delivered.
So I wouldn't give up immediately, and assuming Tesla is accomodating and you intend to keep the car for a long time it could work.

 

[Rotorbow]

I'd talk to Tesla and get their view on it.
The things that make a personal import much less desirable is generally service history and the fact that it's not an Australian model.
With the Tesla things might be a bit different since you'd actually need Tesla to agree to support you. I'm not sure of the differences with the HK models, but from a software standpoint you might be able to get Tesla to update the code to being Aus spec.

Worth the conversation at least.

Tesla seem supportive, however issues such as warranty do not transcend borders. Not sure about connectivity and updating to Aus spec.

 

[Rotorbow]

Does it have the same supercharger connection?

Yes, identical in that respect.

 

[Rotorbow]

Initially, before Tesla had developed charge connectors for Australia, they supplied Hong Kong versions.
So this would indicate that the two specs are closely related.
In addition second hand imports get a bad name from all the UK delivered cars that suffer from salted roads in Winter, none of which apply to a HK delivered vehicle. A long time ago I worked for a European second hand car dealer and HK delivered cars were considered a cut above UK delivered and sold at higher prices albeit lower than local delivered cars. It's also true that many buyers would consider nothing other than Australian delivered.
So I wouldn't give up immediately, and assuming Tesla is accomodating and you intend to keep the car for a long time it could work.

Thank you Meloccom. This is not a financial decision, and it's always been a car to keep. Why not, there's not much to go wrong.

 

[joninmelbourne]

Also the SIM card would need to be changed to an Australian Testra one. That would not be free as Testra would want money for the lifetime 3G connection to their network which is normally built into the local cost of the Model S. Good luck, let us know what you do!

 

[baillies]

I am sure you have checked but if you bought in HK with low tax and need to replace with a similar car in Aus, the luxury car tax and change in exchange rate here since launch would probably make it much more expensive.

Not sure if anyone in NZ with a HK car can comment on the local Tesla support, slightly different but at least it gives an idea of precedent. Also I have been in a 85 in HK and autopilot is not so important there (except in traffic jams) but possibly more so in Au if you want to drive towards Sydney/Adelaide or other long distance trips.

 

[Candleflame]

Also the SIM card would need to be changed to an Australian Testra one. That would not be free as Testra would want money for the lifetime 3G connection to their network which is normally built into the local cost of the Model S. Good luck, let us know what you do!

shouldn't his chinese sim card be roaming? I thought Teslas work abroad. I.e. if you drive USA to Canada or USA to Mexico?

 

[meloccom]

shouldn't his chinese sim card be roaming? I thought Teslas work abroad. I.e. if you drive USA to Canada or USA to Mexico?

Can't find them at the moment but I have read threads that Indicate that US cars data access stops beyond the Canadian border although Canadian cars seem to work fine in the USA. So it's dependant on the deal struck by Tesla with the internet service provider.
A number of NZ cars were purchased in Australia and Europe and the SIM is not valid there so the internet based features stop working. The OP will need to purchase a SIM and have Tesla fit it to his car, it does not need to be a Telstra SIM just one with a valid data service in Australia.

 

[Rotorbow]

Post repeated from another thread for completeness.

I've just had it confirmed in the last hour that whilst Tesla Australia will work on the car, there will be no map or OTA update support. Warranty, of course was never going to be supported, quite reasonably so.
I guess I'll tear up the government import permit, cancel the shipping arrangements and begin selling my dream car. Gutted.

My thanks to TMC members for your interest and support.

 

[meloccom]

Reasonable 2nd hand Model S are starting to appear on Carsales.
You missed the white one for AU$85K but it was an ex-limo with 135,000KM.
There is this multi-coat red\tan one available now though for AU$100K.
Edit:
From the position of the Car on the map of the 17" screen in one of the pictures, that looks like Tesla Richmond is advertising it.

 

[cityslick1]

does anyone have an update to this pls... in 2022 are Tesla still not allowing software updates (my vehicle is japanese), along with warranty allowances etc....

Many thanks

 

[RichardV]

does anyone have an update to this pls... in 2022 are Tesla still not allowing software updates (my vehicle is japanese), along with warranty allowances etc....

Many thanks

Would connecting the cars WiFi to a Japanese VPN connected hotpsot at least allow Japanese OTA updates to occur? Navigation may be a sticking point as the data appears to be location specific from the version numbering but I can at least see Japan on the Tesla navigation maps and I would assume the inverse to be true. Routing data is harder to test.

 

[meloccom]

Member @Jansy123 has a Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) Tesla Model S in New Zealand, so can probably fill you in on his experience. In this thread we discussed his home charging options.
If you choose to bring your JDM Tesla to Australia, I can tell you that you cannot use Tesla Superchargers as the plug type is different on your car, however if you purchase a CHADEMO adapter before you leave Japan then you can use Third party DC chargers as most include a CHADEMO connector.