Topic: Importing

[Guy]

Subaru Canadian sales were down 4% in October. I wonder how much of that is due to private importing.

[Accordingly]

Congrats on the purchase...enjoy the drive back. My wife and I were just in Maine two weeks ago...enjoyed the visit, but the drive was trying, as it rained steadily there AND back.

Good info on the tax situation...at least it opens up some more choices beyond NH. I wonder if anyone knows which states offer the tax exemption, as buying in NY state would be much more convenient (for me, anyway).

[pickles]

Have my new US Legacy 2.5i Limited Wagon in driveway now. With a little effort and some paperwork I was just shy above $34000.  The local Subie dealer did the daytime running lights today for a cost of $78. Canadian Tire is doing the federal inspection this friday and there is no cost and only takes about 10 minutes.  No changes required to the odometer (having kmph as the primary and mph as the secondary) keeping mph as the primary.  Crossed over at Houlton/Woodstock and was in and out of the custom offince in less than 10 minutes.  This once the federal inspection is done, I will consider posting all the paperwork here so others can the ease in what has to be done.

[Benhaze]

Have my new US Legacy 2.5i Limited Wagon in driveway now. With a little effort and some paperwork I was just shy above $34000.  The local Subie dealer did the daytime running lights today for a cost of $78. Canadian Tire is doing the federal inspection this friday and there is no cost and only takes about 10 minutes.  No changes required to the odometer (having kmph as the primary and mph as the secondary) keeping mph as the primary.  Crossed over at Houlton/Woodstock and was in and out of the custom offince in less than 10 minutes.  This once the federal inspection is done, I will consider posting all the paperwork here so others can the ease in what has to be done.

Congratulations Pickles! Glad to see you went through with it.

I think many will greatly appreciate if you post the paperwork required to import a vehicle. There have been several posts to discuss and state what someone needs to do to import a vehicle, but no one has actually posted the paperwork.

I just want to be clear on thing you mentioned. Because your car has a dual scale mph/kph, you don't need to replace the cluster even if the primary scale is mph for both the speed and mileage?

[ghost]

right.
between the www.riv.ca, US Customs website, Canadian Border Services site you can quite easily work out the process. It's not difficult. Just tedious. Patience is key in this endeavour. Some cars require DRLs to be done. Subaru wisely includes DRL on all North American cars. Oh don't forget the bilingual visor stickers....    Quite easy to by-pass as most Canadian Tire federal "inspectors" never notice or you can always remove a set from your friends/relatives car and paste it on.

[Sienna Stylin']

Import paperwork is negligible, I certainly wouldn't call it tedious.

You call the car manufacturer, get a Recall Clearance Letter mailed/faxed to you.

At the border you present your stuff you got from the dealer (title, MSO, invoice, etc), and get your MSO stamped by US customs. Then at Canadian customs, you give it all to them again, and pay the GST with a credit card. Takes about an hour.

In a week, you get a form in the mail, you take that to Canadian Tire, they inspect the vehicle and stamp the forms again. This is where it helps to choose a vehicle that doesn't need modifications, do your research on that first before buying.

You plate your vehicle, give them all the forms you've got again, and pay PST.

In fact, the hardest thing about importing is finding a dealer who'll sell you a car. Most of the dealers are scared witless by the threats of the companies.

[kc567]

Import paperwork is negligible, I certainly wouldn't call it tedious.
....... In fact, the hardest thing about importing is finding a dealer who'll sell you a car. Most of the dealers are scared witless by the threats of the companies.

 “'Sienna Stylin'” what do you charge to import cars? (….just kidding).

That Toyota dealer in the US wasn’t also a Lexus dealer was it?

So, where do you sit with a Toyota Canada warranty …… none? 

Some of the newer Toyotas/Lexus vehicles are coming with “suspect” 6-speed Transmission issues ….. so it might be a big gamble for me to bypass the Canadian Warranty.

[Sienna Stylin']

Yeah, they have about 14 different brands, Lexus, Toyota, Kia, Mazda. They're frickin' huge. They have 114 Lexuses? Lexi? in stock currently to choose from. http://www.darcars.com/ Choose Lexus, then Vehicles / New Inventory.

The web page shows MSRP, which is way higher than end up paying. My Sienna was $4,500 US under the posted MSRP. You have to email/web form them to get the real Internet price. If you're serious, I could ask my Toyota guy who you should contact in the Lexus dept.

Toyota has the full warranty, that's one reason why we chose it. You'd have to contact Lexus to find out what their situation is. I suspect it would be same, since they're an offshoot.

With everything all in, GST, PST, flight to the US, border fees, I still saved nearly $14,000 over what I'd have spent here. Even if I didn't have the full warranty, that's a hell of a lot of repairs I could pay for and *still* be ahead. Lots of folks are buying 3rd party warranties for the guys that don't honour the warranty, Honda etc.

[kc567]

.....
With everything all in, GST, PST, flight to the US, border fees, I still saved nearly $14,000 over what I'd have spent here...........

Did you just meet them at the border(did they ship it or drive it) ..... how did they get their $$$$$ from you?

[Sienna Stylin']

You call or email to do the initial negotiating, same as always. Bit of a hint, might be best to not say you're in Canada while negotiating prices, they do know there aren't a lot of dealers willing to sell to us here, and the price can go a bit higher because of that. It wasn't like I could just go to another dealer. Then after the fact, let them know you're Canadian and will need an MSO, no state sales tax will be collected, etc.

Once you're happy, you put a $500 dollar deposit on the credit card. Payment was done by going to the bank and wiring the funds to their bank.

After that, get your VIN, get insurance, fly down to the dealership (we negotiated them picking us up and driving us to the dealership, instead of paying cab fare etc), takes about an hour to sign the paperwork, get the keys and manuals etc. Drive back to the border, pay the fees, then home.

[rsxca]

Let me get this straight.  If I purchase a car made in USA or Mexico I don't have to pay duties because of free trade??  Wow the money people would save if this got out.  Does anybody know a good subaru dealership in Buffalo that whould sell to us Carzy Canucks???

Better sign up for a line of credit.

[kc567]

.....
After that, get your VIN, get insurance, fly down to the dealership (we negotiated them picking us up and driving us to the dealership, instead of paying cab fare etc), takes about an hour to sign the paperwork, get the keys and manuals etc. Drive back to the border, pay the fees, then home.

Incredible .... did you try the dealer in Syracuse ..... a lot closer to Ottawa?

[Sienna Stylin']

The closer they are to the border, the more scrutiny they're under, and the more unlikely they are to not sell to us.

I made a few inquiries, but after being told no, I just went to the guys I knew would do it.

[kc567]

The closer they are to the border, the more scrutiny they're under, and the more unlikely they are to not sell to us.

I made a few inquiries, but after being told no, I just went to the guys I knew would do it.

Yes, of coarse, I should have expected that.

I am looking at the differences now between the Lexus is250/350 from the CDN vs. US point of view. Doubt I would bother for less than a $5K difference. I have family in Montreal, so i might try to dicker by email to there ..... they know i wouldn't drive to Montreal for the same price ..... some incentive for them to discount I would hope.

Can a Quebec dealer sell into Ontario without any issues??

[supercrip]

Shouldn't be a problem. I live in Orleans just east of Ottawa and remember buying a new vehicle from a dealer in Hull/Gatineau QC without any problems. It may have to do with the fact that QC is just across the river so the dealers just have a little further to go MOT.

[rsxca]

We just got a 2003 BMW Z4 3.0i, savigns of $8000 for a comparable one. The great thing is that it's right in Buffalo across the border, save me shipping fees and got to test the car before buying.

It's made in SC so even shave 6% import duty. The paperwork is not bad at all considering the savings.

Which dealer did you use in Buffalo??

[Benhaze]

Can a Quebec dealer sell into Ontario without any issues??

Be aware you would likely have to pay both GST and the Quebec PST. You will then have to do a safety inspection in Ontario and pay the Ontario PST when you get your registration.

If Quebec tax policy is similar to Ontario, you may be able to request the Quebec sale tax to be refunded by demonstrating the car was quickly registered in Ontario and never registered in Quebec. You need to research and confirm this though.

[Ninjai07]

The savings of importing can definitely be substantial. I imported my car and learned alot about what NOT to do. It really isnt hard if you know what to do and I dont think its worth hiring someone else to do it for you. If you know what to expect before you start though you can save yourself a heck of a lot of time and $$$.

I just brought my VW up and it was a complete nightmare ... but I really cant blame anyone but myself. My biggest recommendation if your thinking about this is to if the car is used get it checked in the states to pass the Canadian Federal Inspection. This alone will save you thousands.

If you are buying the car new it wont be AS big a deal. Canada just wants to make sure you pay tax on it but even with taxes you could save a fortune rather than buying the car in Canada. I think the main reason more people dont do it more often is simply the logistics of importing a car. If you dont know what to do its really quite daunting.

Cheers,

Kawika

[woohoo]

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I have been searching and doing my research before asking away!!;)

Does anyone know of a Honda dealer in Washington State (preferably closer to Bellingham or even Seattle) that is willing to sell to us Canadians?  I am looking to buy a used 2003-2005 Honda Pilot.  With our dollar at nearly 91 cents it's becoming soooo attractive to do this.  Also, if you know of anyone in the lower mainland that will do the process for you, for a fee of course, let me know as well.  I'm sure I could figure it all out myself but if it's a fair price I will let someone else worry about the details.

[sandynw]

I didn't realize that Honda had these "non-NAFTA-No-sell-to-Canadians" issues too.  That's too bad.

We just bought a Subaru this week in WA, and there were no dealer hassles at all.  They were helpful, straightforward, gave us a good price, picked us up, bought us a grande coffee, and we got a good deal on an '07 Subie.

Hope you find a dealer somewhere that'll work with you and take your money!