Importing a car from Canada

They must meet all EPA and DOT Regulations, Safety glass, bumper standareds . There should be a decal on them stating if they comply

 

While we have 5 mph bumper regulations here and you have 2.5 mph ones there......you may be required to substitute the lower rated bumpers.

I have exported several cars to the US in the past and this was required on more than one vehicle.

It's stupid....but it had to be done.

 

Aside from the bumpers, what else? I, too, have been eyeing the Canada cars and would like to know of other things like any fees or taxes or tarifs or ??? C'mon people, details!

 

importation duties
taxes
conforming to the different lighting requirements, bumpers, spedo change, s etc...
emission requirements

it can often cost you quite a fortune to move a car from us to canada or canada to us.

 

I have imported a few cars from Canada and it is not that hard and not really expensive. Canada's EPA and DOT regs. are much more intense than the US, so all of that is moot. Speedo does not matter either. The only thing you will have to do is get a letter from FNA saying the car meets US standards, even thought there is a plate in the door jam that says that, you still need the CONRORMANCE LETTER. It is veryeasy. There is also the 2.5% duty tax to pay and you must hire a freight forwarder to do the importing. If you have any questions or need my help to bring it in feel free to call or write. I would be happy to help. The last car I broght in was a 200 kilometer 89 328, I paid $70k US for it and paid $1750 tax and $650 for the FF to import to Detroit. Not a big deal


Wade
Auto Corsa

 

Wade, of course, is spot on. I have imported a 2001 BMW 540 myself. The kicker as Wade mentioned is getting the letter from the manufacturer. I don't know how helpful FNA would be, but BMW got the letter faxed to me in less than 24 hours! Note that the letter must identify the car by it's VIN. Technically, (meaning by law) the speedo MUST read MPH, even in lower case is fine (much like how we have kph in lower case on our cars). In BMW's case, they only read in kph, so this necessitated that the local BMW dealer in Vancouver, BC swap it out for a USA spec one ($800). That the odo reads in kilometers doesn't matter. If you later sell the car (or are importing the car as a dealer), then you are required to make sure that BOTH the odo and speedo read in miles. (but really, when you sell, who is checking?) 2.5% importation tax.

I did have US Customs ask about my speedo when I checked the car through customs. I showed him the paperwork from the BMW dealer, and he commented that was fine, saved him having to walk out to the car and verify.

Email me off list if you have more questions. You can also Google search and find TONS of information.

 

You are incorrect, especially if the car is less than 6 to 8 years old. Canada's requirements are typically more stringent than ours. Example: Canada has daytime running lights...that is fine to leave and import the car with. Example: Canada has 5mph bumper requirements, USA is 2.5mph, so again, no problem.

 

Actually, no decal or sticker is required. You just need a letter from the manufacturer/importer stating the car meets USA specs, or you must use a "registered imported" who will make the necessary changes or attest to the car's compliance.

 

I purchased an FNA car in the States that turned out to have been imported thru Canada. Here are the following issues that might (or might not) be of some concern- they didn't bother me.

1. DOT, EPA- no issues, the car came into the States seamlessly as FNA imported it and had all documentation saying it satisfied US regulations.

2. Instrumentation. When it was imported, the USA owner decided to swap out the Canadian instrumentation for the US pod. That was 1600 USD.

3. Later on, I asked my local mechanic to rewire the lights so that the headlights weren't on in the daytime.

4. Apparently the computer diagnostic system hookup is a slightly different location in the Canadian cars and my mechanic moved it to the US position. Other than those issues, the US and Canadian cars appear to be identical. No problems with warrantees, etc: FNA does not distinguish between the Canadian and US markets in that regard and they have covered all issues.

 

I object. We've only got a handful of these beautiful cars, and we've only got the little bit of time between this winter and last winter to see them in the wild. Don't be stealin our cars! They're endangered. You got the best part of the continent. Isn't that enough?

 

The math dictates that in terms of today's exchange ratios....the cars should be coming up to Canada from the US once again.

The only reason you'd buy here "today" is rarity........and because we have so few cars high end cars sold to start with......even that reason is hard to justify.

 

There used to be an issue with later running a Carfax on the vehicle. If something wasn't handled properly with the speedo the car would show up as unverifiable. Anyone know what this was exactly?

 

Shouldn't a problem. I ran my Canadian BMW on CarFax a few months after importing it. Everything showed up from day one, right up to the registration in Washington State. They even converted the kms so everything was in miles on the report. Of course with a BMW, when you swap the speedo cluster, they can easily reprogram the existing kms over to miles for consistency.

Perhaps if the speedo is swapped, and starts at "zero" you would have a problem. But any reputable shop doing the conversion should be programing or dialing in the correct mileage.

 

I was going to ask the same thing: was sort of price arbitrage does one get by buying Canadian these days. I know nothing about Canadian market pricing for exotics - is there much of a discount relative to the US?

 

Totally agree. At $1.38 it was a "wash" to buy my BMW up in Canada, and convert the speedo and pay the import duty, but I wanted a 540 M-Sport, and they are hard to find in the USA (only sold for one year, versus 3 years in Canada). To do it now at $1.24 or whatever, wouldn't be worth it.

 

Well i'm in canada and it seems like you guys have it much easier to import cars into the states then we do importing your cars.

As you said our requirements are much stricter to the point that importing often cheaper ferrari's from the states ends up costing you more after everythign is taken care of.