I just paid $480 NSW caravan registration, $1300 CIL caravan insurance, $850 for another 6 months storage fee and I opted not to put the van in for it's 12 monthly service when I only just paid $400 for a 6 monthly service and it hasn't been anywhere. Why does it annoy me because I have been out of the country since July and I won't be back in OZ permanently until March next year. I am currently back on 10 days R&R so yesterday I sold my Pajero Sport just so it wouldn't be sitting in the garage devaluing, consuming the registration and insurance.
At the end of the day it was my choice to go OS it's just that it irks me paying out so much money for little in return including income tax at the top marginal rate when I'm living in another country. Actually it's worth the money just knowing that I have an Aussie passport and can come home to a place that is both safe and stable. Oman is only a stones throw away from Iran, Syria, Iraq Yemen, Saudi, Israel etc. every now and then I get this feeling that these guys don't actually like each other that much.
It could be worse, try and pick up stick and move lock stock and barrel interstate, We have just moved from N/W Victoria over to Tasmania. With agent fees, stamp duty,and two lots of conveyancing fees and then to have all of our furniture trucked over. This on top of going over on the boat with cars ( 3 ) and caravan + 2 small dogs.
Then to add to the cost, add in more money to have our new house fuse board up graded, paint and new carpet and you don't have much change out of $40,000, and to top it off we also have to have the reg changed over on the cars and caravan. Thank god for the health care card, with cheaper reg etc.
We have been over several times on holidays with the caravan over the last few years and decided to move over while we were still fit and able to. The cost of coming over and testing the water as to the price of the housing and trying to see what meets our needs, with 3 cars and caravan and also in our price range.
Now to wait while the weather starts to improve and do a lot more exploring of Tasmania.
My old man had a saying.......If it's got t*ts or wheels....it's going to cost you money. How right he was.!!
-- Edited by valiant81 on Saturday 4th of November 2017 05:25:58 PM
No Aussie, as good as the Sport is for shorter trips I decided to bite the bullet and buy something that didn't have to work as hard to pull the 2.7T van so today I ordered a 3ltr Grand Cherokee Limited with delivery due in March when I get back. That's basically why I decided to go and do this project to finance the tug upgrade, I have to agree with Rocket though I am fortunate that I'm still young enough to be able to do this sort of thing, although being over 60 and working in 50deg temperatures in Bahrain in the middle of summer nearly killed me. I was just having a whinge about sharing money with a government who does absolutely nothing for self funded retirees but then quickly demand a share even when it's money earnt OS...I guess I can thank Julia Gillard for changing the way that expat earnings are treated. It may sound attractive living OS for 8 months but believe me being away from your family for that long is pretty hard I stay motivated by keeping in mind the big lap that we are planning to do once we are set up with a suitable rig.
That Sport is still in the same condition as when you saw it Aussie but it's now 18 mths old with only 8600kms on the clock, it's fully set up for towing including the air bags that I fitted to the rear coils, even has 18 months manufacturers warranty and roadside assist left on it. I couldn't be bothered selling it privately so I traded it in besides they offered me a pretty good price. Anyone towing something up to 2.5T and in the market for a Sport it's probably 12K less that what you would pay to set up a new one the same way, it's also a 5 seater GLS that you couldn't get after mid 2016 (they only came as a 7 seater) - keep your eye on Cessnock Mitsubishi in the next 2 weeks because I know that's where they intend to put it.
BB,
2 Friends have the older style Pajero, to me they seem more solid/chunkier and I think they can tow 3t although their vans are 2.5t, and I like the old look also, (I drive a LCruiser and not intending to change)
Why does it annoy me because I have been out of the country since July and I won't be back in OZ permanently until March next year.
BB
Looks like you got your footwork wrong. If you were over there a bit longer you could have purchased an Oz spec vehicle, used it over there, had it shipped back and save heaps on the deal. Years ago Citroen were doing a deal where you could purchase a new model of their vehicles, have it shipped to Oz after the qualifying time and the saving in cost would pay for your long holiday in Europe.
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PeterD Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top Retired radio and electronics technician. NSW Central Coast.
Peterinsa the only problem with the older style Pajero was that the ball weight dropped to 180kg once the load was over 2.5T where the Montero Sport (called that in Oman) stayed at 310kg up to 3.1T otherwise I probably would have bought one. I would have been happier with the Pajero because I also preferred their appearnce but I didn't want to take the risk. The old style may look more solid and chunkier but apparently it doesn't have the same capability in the back end as the Sport thats why the ballload drops or so I believe.
Peter D when I lived in Mozambique about 10 years ago a friend of mine bought a new South African built LandRover which was half the price of what he would have paid for one back in his native NZ, he intended to ship it back when the contract was finished. He contacted the NZ motor registry and they told him that he would have to practically rebuild it then have it passed by an engineer to bring it up to Aus/NZ standards and that included things like replacing all the window glass - with the mods and the shipping the end cost made it not worth his while. It may be different in the middle east because they don't build them there they import them from somewhere else but they are all left hand drive. I actually asked an Omani guy how much he had paid for his 200 series Landcruser and when I did the conversion to AUD it was around half what you would pay over here. There are many more choices in big tugs than what we have in Oz especially luxury SUVs and all the big American trucks etc. all with similar savings so if I went that way I probably wouldn't settle for a LC I would go more upmarket and make it worth my while..
cheers BB
-- Edited by The Belmont Bear on Sunday 5th of November 2017 04:33:37 PM
