Companies that import boats from the USA?

I'm chasing a list of companies that import boats into Oz from the USA. Please list the ones you know of or have used and what your boat importing experience was like - good or bad.

Doesn't have to be only in Perth. I spoke to a guy at Woodies who used a company in Queensland to bring his over but he couldn't remember the name.

The ones I have found on the net are:

http://www.boatservicesaustralia.com.au/

http://www.westcoastboatsales.com.au/index.php

http://www.dbimports.com.au/

 

 

 

 

 


Posts: 9358

Date Joined: 21/02/08

Some guys do it themselves,

Sat, 2010-12-04 07:50

Some guys do it themselves, and keep in mind you can also engage the services of a remote company to do the work as well, ie a US boat exporter.

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Rod P's picture

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Buyer beware.

Sat, 2010-12-04 12:03

Buyer beware.

Lamby's picture

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Yep looked long and hard at

Sat, 2010-12-04 15:10

Yep looked long and hard at this but decided against it

Paj man's picture

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yep

Tue, 2016-10-25 15:42

me too!

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aka Nick

menopaul's picture

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Date Joined: 21/03/08

importing your boat

Sun, 2010-12-05 09:20

hi groovy the company i used was importa boat from queensland they arranged everything and it went so smoothly i imported a sea pro walk around 7m long from south carolina and it cost roughly $20,000 for shipping  landed at freo port, the boat is fantastic and cost $20.000 so for $40.000 i had a boat worth around $100.000 on my drive. the guys name at importa boat is ian ian@import-a-boat.com.au

his mobile number is 0404056363

Rod P's picture

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It does make for a cheap

Mon, 2010-12-06 15:19

It does make for a cheap boat your right. But its not worth $100000 like you think. Becuase people know what imported boats cost and sadly when it comes to re sale you will find that out. Having said that you do get to have a boat that is maybe worth more to use. Just don't be disapointed when sale time comes..

 

 

Salmo's picture

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buyer beware

Mon, 2010-12-06 06:34

http://www.marinebusiness.com.au/news/warnings-about-stolen-us-boats-hitting-local-market

 

plus US boats are wired differently.....and dont meet Aus Standards.....no insurance if something goes wrong

 

dont do it unless you have money to burn

Rod P's picture

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Salmo that is not true.

Mon, 2010-12-06 15:22

Salmo that is not true. Imported boats can be insured with out changing a single thing. AT THE MOMENT. Soon they may take it into consideration becuase a few claims have hurt the market and change is on the horizon.

You would be supprised by how many imported boats at the moment are ending up with claims after they have sunk..

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Must be a lot of stolen

Mon, 2010-12-06 06:58

Must be a lot of stolen boats there. They all seem too good to be true. Even counting a full re wire I would save at least 30 grand on what I'm after.

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Man Overboard's picture

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In all honesty, how can a

Mon, 2010-12-06 15:56

In all honesty, how can a boat be valued at 100k sell for 20k.

 

Too good to be true, is screaming there

menopaul's picture

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Date Joined: 21/03/08

different values

Mon, 2010-12-06 21:04

the reason you can buy good boats cheap from the states is that they are a boating nation with more boats than you can poke a stick at. untill the g f c most americans upgraded their boats every couple of years that means there is a lot of second hand boats for sale that means lower prices, the boat i brought has the same hull as the boston whaler,it is made by the same company. why would you pay over $100.000 for a boston whaler here when you can get one for half over there, and as for resale value there is plenty of people willing to buy a good boat cheap. my advice is do it

Rod P's picture

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Just did another hin last

Tue, 2010-12-07 16:04

Just did another hin last night for a guy who bought a 2007 model Seafox. 225 Suzuki targa but very little as far as electrics. This is his third boat. First one he bought through a broker/agent (actually one of the guys listed above) and he was very unhappy with that one. SO he sold it and bought in another. On his own and actually was happy but wanted a newer one so he sold it and did okay made a few dollars. Third boat just arrived and very unhappy. 

Very hit and miss.

Possibly the biggest story i always hear is it was more than quoted. Often by many thousands. Even when you use an agent they make a decent dollar out of it and you risk it all by putting up the money..

As i said buyer beware..

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Date Joined: 07/03/10

inspect before we buy

Tue, 2010-12-07 22:00

Rod,

You make some interesting comments.

If we are spending 60k or so, having some extra in the kitty for a trip to inspect on US soil would be money well spent.

maybe even pay for your ticket to come as our "consultant" and ensure we make a good decision.

Cheers

PG

fisho-ron's picture

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stay away from

Tue, 2010-12-07 22:06

stay away from import-a-boat, they will rip into you and they dont inform you along the way either.

been there done that,see you in court outcome

dodgy dodgy

Paul G's picture

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As Meno paul said he got a

Wed, 2010-12-08 14:03

As Meno paul said he got a great boat for little outlay but he did his research and made sure all was good before buying. He could keep it for another 5 years and would still get his $40k back. I personally am not a big fan of the american boats, I don't like the way they are set up. I would check out all the american stuff at the boatshows so you can see the boat youre thinking of buying. at least you have an idea what your getting.

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Braxi's picture

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USA2OZ have been great

Mon, 2011-08-22 02:09

I have used Darren's service from USA2OZ and the service has been excellent. The communication has been good the whole way through the process and the costings have remained the same as first quoted except for some wrong measurements but that was the sellers fault and Darren had strongly warned me about that previously. My boat is going to cost almost half of what it would here nad that included the shipping. And if you spend them time searching out the right boat or have an agent search for one for you. Most of the good shipping agents will have a list of companies or websites that you or they can search through to find what you are after. If you are looking for a good agent, give Darren a call or flick him an email. Highly recommended. I had a mate use Import USA Boat and was not too happy with them. He could never get hold of them, they charged him him over $1000 more than the quote. My importing experience has been relatively stress free and it is arriving in Australia in another 50 or so hours...not that Im counting. Cant wait.

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 Cant fish from home...

dkonig82's picture

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My advice to anyone looking

Mon, 2011-08-22 09:22

My advice to anyone looking to import a boat is to go over there and look at the thing.

If the $2k it costs you in airfares and accom is too much such that it would make the import proposition uneconomic, then the boat isn't a good enough buy to worry about importing it in the first place.

 

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pelagicyachts's picture

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real cost

Mon, 2011-08-22 10:07

just my 2 cents worth...

20k purchase price + 20k shipping will not = 40 landed here - talking from a little experience it would be closer to 50k (not suggesting 50 is a bad price!)

gst applies to the total cost of the boat -that is purchase price and shipping =  another 4k - if they want to be pr 1 cks they can actually levy you gst on the fuel in the tank

inroad transport in the US is not cheap -so place of purchase to wharf

trailers are great but at best you will be looking at 2-5k to convert to WA spec

customs and fumigation -you had better pray they dont find a single leaf or bit of mould in it when it gets here!! ($ pick a number - mine was 1100)

you cannot pick your boat up from the wharf unless you have a "ticket"  -you will have to pay someone circa 2-300 to move it from one side of the fence to another ! (extortion!)

I would argue some of the real bargains are here in Oz - have a look at some of the boats (US imports) for sale in QLD and NSW....

 

good luck with your search either way :-)

 

 

 

 

Posts: 46

Date Joined: 05/06/11

on the customs front.......A

Mon, 2011-08-22 20:15

on the customs front.......A single leaf or a bit of mould.....try half the guys garden litter in the spare boat cover.  Dont mind paying an 'inpsection fee' as long as they do a worthy job.

 

Importing has its pros and cons.....the pro for me was getting a style of boat no oz dealer makes or sells, unless they import themselves.

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Buy local

Mon, 2011-08-22 20:19

I've just picked up a great second hand local boat by looking at www.boatsonline.com.au

 

Recommend the site.

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Fish! HARD!

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import-usa-boats

Tue, 2016-10-18 15:55

I don't recommend import-usa-boats, they don't deliver and blame their sub-contractors when things don't go right in my case, im the client I shouldn't be dealing with their contractors fighting for documentation , in my case the boat never was shipped and now they want me to pay cancellation costs.
Very bad service stay away

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Date Joined: 24/07/11

.

Tue, 2016-10-25 12:43

 .

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Can’t agree more with this

Tue, 2017-06-06 10:55

Can’t agree more with this post about Import-USA-Boat and Ian Mcindoe. Once they have your money bogus invoices start coming in from “their warehouse sub-contractor” that keeps adding to the costs and once you kick back they threaten you. There is nothing you can do since they already have your money. Stay away, you have been warned!

bunfish's picture

Posts: 42

Date Joined: 18/04/17

AUD vs USD

Tue, 2017-06-06 15:19

Importing from US was a lot more prevelant when the AUD & USD were at parody, I work in the Shipping industry and have noticed on our own vessels this trend.

same case for imported US vehicles, although due to be some changes with Customs legislations to alow easier importation of vehicles in years to come.

 

heard reports of many boats that weren't surveyed prior to transfer which were actually caught in Hurrican Katrina (excuse improper spelling) which were water logged & low priced.

when they went to export the USA they had to be cleaned & usually in an absolute state.

 

 

bunfish's picture

Posts: 42

Date Joined: 18/04/17

AUD vs USD

Tue, 2017-06-06 15:19

Importing from US was a lot more prevelant when the AUD & USD were at parody, I work in the Shipping industry and have noticed on our own vessels this trend.

same case for imported US vehicles, although due to be some changes with Customs legislations to alow easier importation of vehicles in years to come.

 

heard reports of many boats that weren't surveyed prior to transfer which were actually caught in Hurrican Katrina (excuse improper spelling) which were water logged & low priced.

when they went to export the USA they had to be cleaned & usually in an absolute state.