Hey All

Have many of you imported tyres from the UK/USA?

I am after 4 x 13in x 175 Yoko 048's, they are approximately $100 cheaper per tyre o/s, however once in Oz there are import duties etc

Is it worth it?

Cheers

Have done so several times.

However with the exchange rates etc - local if you can get them is worth checking.
Used to be shipped by size - so 6 tyres cost same as 4 to ship... though these days they seem to charge per tyre.

If cost of tyres (goods) goes over $1000 then 10% customs duty then 10% gst = 21% on top.

I also have been hit once by one courier for clearance fees.

I have also had once a customs inspection ($90) when they opened up the box to check them.

Overall though usually get a good saving over local tyre suppliers.

My tyre place always get a bit shirty when bring them in to fit - then after checking find them can't source them and are ok (a032r in 10 inch)

My experience is not with tyres per se, however....

Its wise to find out how the vendor intends to ship the goods. Some shippers are prone to charging duty/customs clearance fees etc up front. If they have to pay to clear the goods then that's fine. If they don't then that's just extra profit and that's all OK too ..for them.

As Ken pointed out, local prices tend to be on a fitted and balanced basis... so you need to allow for this when comparing the OS price.

You may also find that shipping a tyre costs the same as a tyre + wheel (its calculated on a volume basis). You may be able to then sell the unwanted wheel for a price that partly offsets your shipping costs...

Cheers, Ian

Also, shipping a tyre fitted to a wheel is far cheaper than the two items singly.

I bought a set of tyres from UK a couple of months ago - $137 each landed versus $170 plus freight here, no brainer...

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

awesome, thanks for the info guys, will do some more research

Cheers

UK may be ok, but was under the impression that US tyres were manufactured differently ( basically there is a cross ply/ or diagonal banding that is manufactured into the tyre to make the tyre naturally want to drift to the left, this cross ply is revered for RHD countries).

Not that it would change anything noticeably when driving IMO.

Not at all true. I've had several sets of "US" tyres .... although they don't actually make any (Mini) road tyres in the US.

Maybe you're getting confused with the old bias ply (as opposed to crossply) tyre that was common in the US before they were eventually converted to radials....

In any case, if you want a car to drift a certain way to counter act road camber then you adjust the caster angle to suit.

Cheers, Ian

just another reminder

the TOTAL of goods imported , INCLUDING postage has to be under $1000

I bought a bunch of bits just under $1k AU - didn't factor in the postage and wondered why my goods were held and wouldn't be released until i paid $180.00 ontop !

not always
it depends on how its invoiced, I've moved things duty free through customs that the item and freight came to $1500. however the freight was astronomical compared to the item.

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The combined cost is often confused.....

Shipping should NOT be included in value but often is...

http://www.border.gov.au/Importingandbu ... 011web.pdf

You may come up against some barriers if you try and buy Yokies from the US. I have regularly bought Yokies for other cars through Tyrerack US at greatly reduced prices compared to Aus suppliers. However I recently tried to buy a set of tyres that are not even available in Aus but Tyrerack apologetically advised that they were under strict instructions not to supply offshore. You may need to source a third party in US if you want Yokies from there.

Cheers Ian as i said just what i heard , my uncles some sort of tyre expert (in tyre manufacturung) and was trying to explain it to me one day.

I purchased tyres on Minilite rims and disc brakes and some other bits while in the UK -paid for them on the spot and freight on a separate invoice - all up came in $1100 less than getting local with freight (at the time freight from UK was cheaper than freight from SA- go figure) and the exchange rate was good.

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

The loss will be incurred if you need a tyre shop to remove and replace the tyres on your behalf, balance and dispose of the old tyres. I think that easily crawls up over 100 dollars without a sweat being raised.

It does say something that tyres manufactured in Japan, dragged by freighter across the top of Australia, through the Suez, landed, charged customs in the UK, transported to warehouses, distributed to retailers, package and express freighted around the world ends up being cheaper than from the tyre shop at the end of my street.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.