The Official CDN Importing A Car Thread! www.riv.ca

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You could see this coming. I imagine other OEM's will follow suite. A friend just last week brought in a brand new Subie, purchased at a Seattle dealer, and saved 10K cdn, when the dust cleared.

Rick

 

Warranties are private company matters while the RIV required compliance letter is for CDN customs. It shouldn't effect non-warranty cars imho.

I cross-posted your post (with credit given) to Pelican Parts BBS - Marketplace

Ian

 

Hey guys, I'm a total newbie to the site as I just registered a few minutes ago and this is my first post. I found this post looking for information about importing a 1989 Testarossa into Canada from the U.S. I read this post, but I am looking for reassurance on a couple of specific things- if anybody can help with their insight, it is greatly appreciated.

First of all, I am assuming that because the vehicle is over 15 years old, it does not need to enter the RIV program and Canadian Customs will let it across the border. I have called Transport Canada and RIV 4 times to confirm this, but you can understand my hesitation to trust them completely. Can anybody verify that this is the case from past experience?

Secondly, assuming the car is imported without a problem, will it pass the Ontario safety (SSC) as long as it is in proper running order? I know everything has to work properly. But, is there any chance that the MTO will not license it without running lights, or because it has motorized seatbelts, or anything else? Or, am I correct to assume that all of those restrictions are handled at the federal level (and hence the RIV program) and that the safety (SSC) is just to make sure the parts all work properly.

Thanks for reading. Any help is very appreciated as I need to pull the trigger on the purchase in the next couple of days if it is going to happen. This looks like a great forum btw. I look forward to reading more posts.

 

I was actually wondering aloud what age restriction Porsche would put on the compliance side of the issue.........would it be only on cars within the last 4-5-6 years like Ferrari did and outlaw everything else.....or the full 15 years like MB........and make you bend over at the dealer to certify the car to CAD standards.

 

So, if I'm understanding correctly...
If you buy a Porsche in the US of A, then move it northward, the warranty is voided?

 

This is just the first of many.

 

Sounds like the warranty is toast, you could always buy aftermarket. Legally, there is no way they can stop you from importing. They just make it difficult. This is the same thing that Honda does and RIV is accomodative.


You can get a recall letter from the US Porsche dealer or have the seller get it for you.


From Riv,



A recall clearance letter is a letter received from the manufacturer of your vehicle. It states whether or not there are any outstanding recalls/defects on your vehicle. Generally a defect is a problem that exists in a motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment that will pose a risk to motor vehicle safety.

The recall letter must come from either the manufacturers head office or an American dealer. If you obtain the letter from an American dealer, please ensure that they are an authorized dealer and not a re-seller. You can confirm this by calling the head office of the manufacturer and providing them with the location of the dealership in question.

The letter must be on company letterhead. If the manufacturer's logo is not on the letter the RIV will not accept it. If the letter is from an American dealership, the address of the dealership must be included as well as the manager's name and signature. The VIN (17 digit vehicle identification number) must be included in the letter.

If you are importing a Motor home, Bus, Truck, Conversion Van or Limousine, it is possible that you will require 2 recall letters. For example if you have a motor home where the manufacturer of the chassis is not the same as the manufacturer of the body, you will need 2 letters. In this case the recall letter from the manufacturer of the body will say "Please contact the chassis manufacturer for recall information". It is your responsibility to determine the number of recall letters that are necessary. The manufacturer of your vehicle can assist with this.

If your vehicle does not have any outstanding recalls then the letter should say "this vehicle has no outstanding recalls".

If the vehicle has an outstanding recall(s), then the letter must state what the recall is, along with the work order number so that the vehicle can be taken to an authorized dealer for repair. Once the repairs have been completed, the dealer will provide you with an invoice that contains the same work order number as your recall letter. You will then take the recall letter with the invoice from the dealer to your federal inspection as proof that the outstanding recall has been completed.

 

Interesting. I'm glad I live within an hour of fire city.

The compliance letter was required when I brought my car in last fall.

 

Here's an update..........

My source just told me that there is a conference call between PCNA and it's Canadian dealers scheduled for Monday.

Since I posted this here and on Rennlist, PCNA has been inundated with phone calls in the hundreds from Canadian owners. Something has to give......either the dealers keep pushing back hard......or PCNA get's it's pricing act together.

I'll let you know what I find out next week........as it is now......on July 1 signs go into dealership service and sales department windows announcing the new policy (which is coming from the Canadian dealers of their own accord) or something gives............

Stay tuned.............

 

any news yet?

 

Yeah.........apparently PCNA must have read the dealers the riot act, because legalities were said to have stopped it........what I have now been told is going to happen is that if you want warranty on your US car you'll be given an appointment......30 days down the road at a minimum.

 

Hmm, I wonder if they will create a sort of "surcharge" US owners have the option of paying in order bypass the 30 day minimal wait? I can sort of see this happening.

 

Solution: Dont buy a porsche!

 

Car for car USA market Porsche 997 base model is $25,000 cheaper expressed in CDN dollars; than a Canada market destination 997 base model. This figure would be based on a 90 Cent loonie. Paying a 6.1% duty makes only a small dent in the large increase in price demanded by Canadian dealers. Is the dealer pocketing all those extra loonies or sending them back to Germany? Either way the playing field is not level. Porsche is not the only offender. The base model Corvette coupe is $17,000 CDN dollars more costly in Canada than in the USA for the same model...
horse fan

 

Are there just so few cars in Canada?

Jason

 

I've noticed that almost every other Ferrari is cheaper inthe US, i.e. 355, 348, 360, but I have been told that a 430, is a better buy in Canada..

is this really true in people's actual experiences, or is this all talk?

I haven't seen many 430's for sale, but a whole wack of 360's.....

 

Hello Everyone!

Just wondering about opinions and comments on purchasing a swiss Ferrari 348. I'm not thinking importing a car myself but purchasing from ZR auto or Exoticaronline.com who seem to stock a number of Ferraris from Switzerland.

I talked to a service guy at FMoV who said that it was very hard to get parts for a Euro-car as Ferrari did not take kindly to imported cars. So, its a bit of a risk. In terms of Air-Care emissions requirements, he didn't feel that it is an issue as long as the car had cats.

Please let me know what you guys think of euro ferraris for use in BC.

Thanks.

Fred

 

Welcome to Fchat Fred!

Personally, I wouldn't risk it. But - that said, there can be some advantages to a Euro 348 (lighter, maybe a bit more power, maybe some cost savings up front).

From my perspective, the risks are:
1) what happens if it doesn't get through aircare? There's only a few places to go for help: FMoV (likely very expensive), Miro (Maserati specialist), Joseph (maybe - he's very busy), other independents with less knowledge. The nut is yours if you fail, at the end of the day.
2) resale - you're closing the door on probably 3/4 of the target audience, and 348's can be a tough sell. FMoV sure isn't going to take it on a trade
3) the parts unique to the Euro/Swiss model would be tough to find over here
4) tough to verify the history of the car: collisions, maintenance history, ownership trail.

One post a few months ago mentioned that the Euro cars had cats, just smaller ones than the NA market. At least a tb/ts wouldn't have the US mouse seatbelts.

Other than that - go for it, 348's are a lot of fun and love to be driven and driven hard.

I ended up importing my 348 from Toronto - FoO. The cost was "competitive" and the car's been great. Don't limit yourself to Zahir and Steve (Exoticaronline), although they could have some interesting cars too.

 

Fred welcome aboard.

I am of old school thinking when it comes to these cars.....should always buy local...my reasoning.....you can follow the history best.

If you are talking about an F40, Boxer........cars of this nature that were not allowed into Canada then this would be the only option then of course you have too import. Once again, always do you're due diligence.....regardless of where the car is from.

The 348 is a great car....nothing wrong with a Euro model here ..... but the resale ( i feel) just raises too many eye lids. With the CDN dollar being strong now i think alot of the US and Euro cars will start to find there ways here, if you look into the US for example a 348 with the exchange will be less expensive than a local car....really its up to you and how you feel about the purchase. Good luck in you're purchase !! happy motoring when you make the plunge, and please post pics !!

 

Hey Fred, Welcome!

If you buy a 348 that is 15years or older, you will not need to worry about legalizing fees, I can see you saveing a lot of money, like others have said, resale might be a challenge.

that being said, were not talking about 100,000 dollar cars anymore, so maybe you don't care to much about resale, a good place to look for a euro 348 would be with ZR, Steve M (Exoticaronline) or James at Auto forum, I am always in the market for 348s, so if you have any questions please feel free to email me at [email protected] good luck with your search and once you get it, let's all go for a drive.

 

I bought a 348 tb from Switzerland from Steve Maman (Prancing Horse, Exoticcaronline) perfectly happy with it, no major changes. A friend of mine has a Canadian spec 348 of the same year, no difference, most parts are the same, some small added features on the euro I like, exhaust, little faster, added side lights, small and little changes. I disagree with the value being less for the euro cars. I would definitely buy Euro before US, seatbelt mouse, restricted exhaust and other small diffs. Dont forget it is still a Ferrari no matter where it comes from, most major parts are identical.
Just buy a Ferrari and enjoy!

 

Thanks for all the great responses and welcomes to FChat. I've been checking out this site for a while RE: maintenance and quirks associated with 348s/355s.

I think the resale and maintenance issues pretty well answers my question. I guess I'll be hounding the Fo(V)(O)(Q) sites for Canadian 348s.

The US cars are soooo tempting with the exchange rates the way they are. I can't believe the 355 price differentials between the US and Canada (1997 355 at ZRauto = 139000, 1998 355 at ferrariads - 88K (usd), 100K (Cdn))

And I cannot believe the sheer lack of inventory at FoV. Vancouver is home to many wealthy car enthusiasts and yet, there is never any new or decent stock there. Do vancouver ferrari owners just keep their cars forever??? I can't believe that

 

i can proudly say that i import over 75 cars a year and sell them to zr auto and autoforum , and locally in quebec.

12 years of intensive u.s.a buying,europe....

over 475 ferraris alone ! i've seen it all.

most comments in response to your question are untrue and completely wrong.

- usa cars are driven 12 months per year thanks to the great weather in the usa.

swiss cars: 4 -5 moths a year at the most.

mileages much smaller...therefore better cars.


swiss cars have every 12 months mandatory stringent emmissions and mechanical inspections. cars are always kept perfect. they have no choice.

emmisions are 100% pass in ontario and b.c etc... they have the same cats and emmissions as usa/cad cars...

same engines, same everything..same parts.

cars are identical exept for side markers,3rd brake light.....and those garabge active seat belts...

now,usa cars are always sun-burned..clear coat flacking or dull...rubber seals on every part of the car are shrunk,burnt,dried out...

swiss cars are la creme de la creme !

leather interiors are shot on usa cars..sun kills them... swiss cars never bake in the sun as 4-5 months only & never very hot !

canadian cars drive on salt...yes, even summertime. the salt stays in the pavement....when it rains, it hits the undercarriagle..eats away the cad plating...

swiss cars, undercarriage are always incredible new...all cad plating stilll there..spotless.

i pick and choose the cars... zr auto buys the best only...i can say he gets the best cars i get.

all cars are documented,books,tools,records,.... zero accident tolerance in any of our cars..

and yes, full history,since day one... bill of sales of every owners..tel #'s....

value: a better car is worth more..wether swiss or cad or usa, the car's condition dictates the value. u can buy a decent 348 for 50 k usd. = 57 cad + 6.1% = 60k + transport and fees = 62-63 k... then, you start making the car nice and serviced to bring it to our swiss car standard... 70k + is what your usa car costed you .... and , it is a REDONE car... my cars are original 100 points cars....or as close as possible to it...

no one in canada moves 100 ferraris a year,... between zr auto and i , i believe we do more than that....

ferrari qc,ont,bc ..all 3 together dont do what we do .....we have smaller operations,structures... no brand name... and still,we make the market...

there is a reason for that...just maybe we are doing something right ????

swiss cars makes it for us... the cars are pristine.. they sell. usa cars and cad cars most of the time dont come close to the swiss cars... they are harder sale...i sold 15 348's till january. zr auto sold maybe 10 or more... why did ferrari of quebec not sell their ts and tb they have in stock since last year ???

now,explain that to me....

my friend frederic, go to zr auto, or come to me...i believe you are the fellow with the boxter on trade in... makes no difference... he is next door to you.. better u buy from him. he has currently a 1991 348 tb x 2 and 348 ts which will land in 5 days... those cars are perfect or very close to it...they are priced right... u will sell it back or upgrade and sell it as easlily if you keep the car the way you bought it...

note: swiss people take car of their cars... usa people dont usually on older cars unless they are very ferrari-like people/... but then, they want 60 k usd for their cars..same with canadian cars...when they are creampuffs, they are 90k cad... so, my creampuffs are 79900!!!!! zr is the same...make a trip and see for yourself.

same parts,same cars,same emmision....all history...better cars... ALL POSITIVE POINTS.