Australian imports.....worth the effort??

[lfallgti 12]

Hey guys, 

I've Been away from this forum for a good few years now, mainly due to some big life changes, moving to australia being one of them.

I've had a few 205's here and still own a series 3 (ph2.5 in uk) low km white 1.9 gti. Despite never really driving it (i've kind of fell into the vw scene and have devoted most of my time and expense in maintaining the proverbial membership of owning a splitscreen) and only covering about 1800kms in nearly 5 years of owning it, its just one of those cars that i cant part with.

 

Being away for so long, and not really paying much attention to the appreciating costs of buying a decent gti i'm quite suprised at how prices have risen.  Is it possible to even get a good driving, no/low maintenance car anymore? I've had a quick look and as far as i can tell theres a lot of chancers asking good money for rough cars....is that the norm now? I'm sure theres genuine original  cars still but they really seem few and far between.

 

This leads me to the main question.....old vw's have been bought over from oz to uk for years, the main reason being they held up to the sun better than rain and salted roads but seemingly, the way prices are going, is it an option to consider importing decent RHD (or even LHD) cars to the UK? 

 

I'm just curious as to whether its viable and whether anyone sees the 'scene' going in that direction? 

My thoughts are that theres still alot of uk cars about, regardless of condition that have potential in the long run....thoughts?

 

Sorry for the long post, i'm sat drinking some of Western Australias finest ale and thought it about time to pop my head in on the forum. 

 

Oh and Happy new year!

 

 

[Leslie green 81]

Id say there are no shortage of Uk cars at the minute to justify importing cars ,unlike most other cars of the era 205's with their galvanized bodies have survived in big numbers and most rough cars are still solid and very restoreable with mostly only minor rot to contend with .I can't see that changing anytime soon . If you could send us a few container loads of genuine wings though that would be great !

Edited January 5, 2018 by Leslie green

[petert 549]

Wow. That's an interesting view on rust. All the pics I see of UK cars are full of rust, whereas Oz cars are generally rust free. I'm not encouraging poms pinching all our cars, but surely importing a rust free shell is cheaper than fixing a rust bucket?

[welshpug 1,621]

not with the costs of importing a shell.

[petert 549]

Thank goodness. However, plenty of Escorts make the journey. It's only a matter of time with 205's.

Edited January 6, 2018 by petert

[Leslie green 81]

You haven't see rust until you have seen old fords though , ford owners would laugh at the rust we have on 205's ! plus mk2 escort shells can now be bought brand new again so I can't see importing them being as popular as it has been . At 27 years old my gti needed 2 rear bumper mounts welding in and one of those would still have lasted a few more mot's . 

At 30 years old my fiesta xr2 needed:

complete floor,1 inner sill , 2 outer sills ,both rear arches, front panel , front crossmember , inner wings ,A pillars welded , bonnet , 2 wings , 2 doors and many small repairs .....Galvanising on 205's works but it doesn't last forever  !

Edited January 6, 2018 by Leslie green

[welshpug 1,621]

or a 20 year old landrover, needed boot floor, both inner wheel tubs, both front footwells, 4 outriggers, front wheel tubs, front panel assembly, also the chassis is shot.

 

oh and the roof is rusty so it leaks.

[Mikey S 29 1 Cars]

16 hours ago, petert said:

Wow. That's an interesting view on rust. All the pics I see of UK cars are full of rust, whereas Oz cars are generally rust free. I'm not encouraging poms pinching all our cars, but surely importing a rust free shell is cheaper than fixing a rust bucket?

205's are pretty good, you wanna see my other halfs mini. 5 years younger than my 205 with a genuine 70k on the clock and it's had.......... inner and outer sills, floor repairs, inner archs on the rear. It also wants A panels, inner flitchs, boot floor repair, probably a scuttle panel and front inner arch repairs.........

 

What sort of prices are 205 gti's out there? 

[petert 549]

Typically $1K-$5K. A few have sold for a bit more in recent times. Best sale recently was a very clean late model GTi with GTI6 conversion for $14K.

[lfallgti 12]

I picked my late gti up for around $2500 in 2013. Needed a new engine which i sourced from a crashed italian car that had around 80k km on the clock for $500 + $250 for matching gearbox, all up 170k km shell and 80k km engine and box for $3250. 

 

Car is clean and original, but not mint, no rust anywhere and pulls as you'd expect from a low mileage engine.

 

I understand sourcing cars isnt a problem in uk, but surely nice late model cars from aus with the full late spec and motronic would have a market in the uk? 

 

By the way, i'm not trying to drum up interest on mine. As i said earlier, its not being sold!

 

[SootySport 23]

There's more and more Classics being brought back to the UK the last couple of years.    You just need to find out what you can buy a good 205 for and make enquiries as to shipping costs.   Rust free samples are in demand here, myself included.

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

@2-Pugs brought a 205 GTI Classic from Australia to the UK

John Rodgers took a Dimma from the UK to Australia 

So they go both ways