Before importing a vehicle
We strongly advise you to check whether your vehicle is subject to a safety recall. It is your legal responsibility to ensure that vehicles you import are cleared of any recalls before arriving in New Zealand.
Why check for safety recalls before you import?
Checking will help you avoid:
- the possibility of a death or injury occurring as a result of a defect not being remedied
- the cost and inconvenience to you if we require you to have the defect rectified before the vehicle is registered
- the cost and inconvenience to you if we order your vehicle off the road and/or revoke its warrant of fitness (WoF) or certificate of fitness (CoF) until the defect is remedied
- the cost and inconvenience to you of having to repair, or pay for the repair, of any vehicle defects. If you sell the vehicle in New Zealand, you may have an obligation to do this under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993.
Ways to check for safety recalls
Ban flags
Sometimes vehicles entered on our LANDATA system are tagged with a 'ban flag'. This means you must repair the recall fault before the vehicle can get a WoF or CoF. Contact us to check for ban flags.
Recall websites
Recalls are posted on websites in Japan, Australia, the United States and Europe. These websites:
- tell you whether your vehicle model is subject to a recall
- give you information on the type of defect
- usually provide a vehicle identification number (VIN) or chassis number range, indicating which vehicles are subject to the recall.
Check these websites:
- Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT). (This site is in the Japanese language only).
- Australia's Department of Transport and Regional Services (DOTARS).
- the United States' National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
- the United Kingdom's Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA).
Manufacturers' international website
Some manufacturers post recall information on their websites. Often you'll need to know the vehicle identification number (VIN) to check whether your vehicle is subject to a recall.
Information on New Zealand vehicles
For recalls issued by manufacturers' New Zealand representatives, check:
- our Vehicle safety recalls website (external link)
- the Motor Industry Association of New Zealand website (external link).
How do you know if the defect has been repaired?
If your vehicle is listed for recall on one of these recall websites, you need to get written confirmation of the repair from the manufacturer directly, or a franchise dealer in the country of export.
You'll not be able to get this information from a New Zealand franchise dealer or vehicle manufacturers' representatives.
Ready to import?
You can move onto step four of the importing process - importing your vehicle.
