Modern Buddy

Hey there,

I'm a California based Buddy owner who is looking to move to NZ (South Island) with my Kiwi wife. Just looking for info about any import issues I should be aware of if I try to bring my 2009 Buddy 125 with me to NZ. Its up-to-date, clear title, and runs (4 stroke) with added running light (the old BOB dead-light adapter).

Any info you can throw my way would help.

Cheers,
Christopher

I'm pretty new here, but isn't the Buddy only sold in the US?

I have no idea if NZ is as strict about vehicle imports as the US is, but bringing in an unapproved vehicle into the US is virtually impossible unless the vehicle is at least 20 years old.

And "unapproved" means the specific vehicle model.

This is why there are almost no Piaggio Apes here.

eggsalad wrote:I'm pretty new here, but isn't the Buddy only sold in the US?

That is literally true as the Buddy name belongs to Genuine Scooters which is the US importer. The manufacturer is PGO in Taiwan and they sell that model under several names in various other markets. I believe it is marketed in Australia and New Zealand as the Ligero.

New Zealand is pretty loose about vehicle imports because they don't have any domestic manufacturers to protect. They are like the main recipient of used Japanese market cars.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotiv ... e_vehicles