Importing a new car from the U.S

[Nick DC]

With the good exchange rate these days, my folks have been looking at cars in the states and there's a massive price difference between how much they sell them there then here. More or so most of them go around $10000 less at the MSRP level, and their freight is only somewhere around 550$ instead of $1500 here.

Anyways, has anyone ever imported a new car into Canada from the states? I was looking at the riv.ca website for how to import and checked the list of admissible vehicles, and the ones they are looking at (07 CR-V) is in there. so it mentions the necessary bill of sale, recall clearance letter, a $195 fee at the border for inspection in Canada and so forth need to be purchased. I'm assuming as well the GST(+PST?) will need to be paid at the border. They mentioned on riv.ca that some modifications are needed for cars, do all cars need modifications, like i.e running headlights? or is it just after inspection if they do?

Has anyone here ever imported a car from the states? is it worth it for a $10000 difference or too much of a hassle? figure a price could be negotiated at the dealer in NY somewhere, and then you wouldn't have to pay the sales tax there if your exporting it(or get it back?)

Any advice would be great! seems to be some good opportunities for new vehicles.

thx!

[deebz]

I imported a car from North Carolina.
Basically, you need to find your car, figure out if its admissable, work out a deal, and then buy it. All that shit is going to be the same as if you were to buy it here.

You're going to have to make some decisions before you can plan anything. Decide whether you are going to ship the car to Ottawa, or only ship it to the NY border (only applicable if you bought it somewhere else. Be weary to use a shipping company that uses warehouses if you are going this route, so they have somewhere to send the car near the border, closest is usually Syracuse.)

If you are going to ship it right to Ottawa, you will need to find a suitable shipping company, I can recommend a few if you need some, and then you can find yourself a broker if you'd like to. If you use a broker, you contact the broker, and then you contact the shipping company, each will ask you for what paperwork from you that they need, as well as info on who you are buying from. From then on, THEY take care of everything, and once your broker has calculated the following:
-GST
-A/C tax
-Import Duty (6.1% if the vehicle was built outside of North America, 0.03% or something like that if it was built in North America)
-RIV fee (because its stupid and they know they can charge you for it.. I think its about 200 bucks. Cars 15 years and older do not apply for the RIV and wont pay the 200)
-Other small service/application charges
-Brokerage fees (if you use a broker)

If you go that route, once the car is here you take the car to the inspections (not 100% sure about these as my car didn't apply). I know they are contacted out to Canadian Tire so that Mahmouds Garage can't just sign it over without even looking at it, you need DRL's, and child restraints need to be to our specs.

Once you have all the inspections, including ontario safety and emissions test, you take all these papers along with your "big yellow paper" (literally what the MTO called it to me) which is basically a paper that gets stamped at the border by the border patrol people. They will stamp it twice, once for the RIV, and once for... i cant remember the other, but anyway it will be stamped. YOU MUST HAVE THE ORIGINAL OF THIS, dont make that mistake.


Now, if you want to cross the border yourself, you need to tell both the canadian and american border services a minimum of 72 hours in advance that you will be crossing, and there is some other shit to send them such as copies of title etc. This is stressful from what i've heard but I've never done it.

You can also have it shipped here, but not use a broker, and you will recieve you paperwork from the border people then you can make your own trip to the border services place on st. laurent to pay, but you will have to work with the shipping company to make sure the proper paperwork is being passed back and fourth.

On those last two things I'm not 100% sure about the accuracy, seeing as I went with a broker, she was great and I was totally headache free.

Feel free to ask any questions i just skimmed over it all, I just worked for 13 hours so im SURE there are a million mistakes in here.

-Dan

[figo]

I also imported my Toyota from Mississippi. PM if you have any questions, its not complicated.

What car are you looking at getting?

[Nick DC]

thx for the info! I'm not looking to get a car, my folks are looking at getting a the new CR-V.

by the way, you mentioned shipping the car, now, is it possible to driving it back up? you would have to notify the border? and would a dealer know what to-do with respect to temp plates, etc? if bought lets say at the watertown, NY honda which is near the border i'd guess more or less some people from canada go down there to buy cars so perhaps they know better.

Warantee on the new vehicles might be a problem and would have to purchased seperately in canada?

[DevilOnWheelz]

Rod on this board, imported his brand new STi from the US. I am sure he can help you out.

[b18c]

ya its crazy how things in the states so much cheaper. i remember years back when the NSX was selling for $85,000 in the states, and $130,000 in canada....

where did the 50g's go?!?!?! l :lol:

even now if you look at nissans website the 350z is only $35,000 in the states and about $50,000 in canada. fuck.

Goodluck with the purchase and shipping!

[DevilOnWheelz]

ya its crazy how things in the states so much cheaper. i remember years back when the NSX was selling for $85,000 in the states, and $130,000 in canada....

where did the 50g's go?!?!?! l :lol:

even now if you look at nissans website the 350z is only $35,000 in the states and about $50,000 in canada. fuck.

Goodluck with the purchase and shipping!

Years back the exchange rate was as high as 1.68 :roll:

[Trueno]

Nissan.ca = 51,000$ (with transport)

Nissanusa.com = 28,525$ (with transport)


A difference of = 23, 425$ For that amount, you could buy a 350Z AND an a base Altima for the same price as a base canadian 350Z.

Thats fuckin' sad.

I'm sure the new car industry would be BOOMING if the prices would reflect those of the US.


Screw new cars.

*** Edit ***

Armada (LE) (only one offred) CAD = 64 778$

Armada (SE) USA = $35,250

[lurkingknight]

make sure you got cash up front or can secure a loan for financing, otherwise you'll have a hard time bringing a car back.

[Andre]

you'll also probably have a hard time getting it off the dealer's lot. :shock:

[1FSTSRT]

ya its crazy how things in the states so much cheaper. i remember years back when the NSX was selling for $85,000 in the states, and $130,000 in canada....

where did the 50g's go?!?!?! l :lol:

even now if you look at nissans website the 350z is only $35,000 in the states and about $50,000 in canada. fuck.

Goodluck with the purchase and shipping!

Years back the exchange rate was as high as 1.68 :roll:


Exactly!! You beat me to it! :D

[deebz]

thx for the info! I'm not looking to get a car, my folks are looking at getting a the new CR-V.

by the way, you mentioned shipping the car, now, is it possible to driving it back up? you would have to notify the border? and would a dealer know what to-do with respect to temp plates, etc? if bought lets say at the watertown, NY honda which is near the border i'd guess more or less some people from canada go down there to buy cars so perhaps they know better.

Warantee on the new vehicles might be a problem and would have to purchased seperately in canada?
You will need a temporary plate for each state/province you will be driving through if you do it that way. If driving it, you need to notify both countries border services 72 hours in advance, they are extremely picky about the paperwork from what I've heard. There are also designated border crossings for vehicles that are to be exported/imported, research online which ones are the designated ones that are the most convenient for you.

[Mav3rick]

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