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  #1  
Old 09-08-2001, 01:12 PM
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Question Canadian Importing?

Has anyone imported a car from Canada before? What kind of BS is required? I'm thinking of a 1990 Chevy Sprint Turbo which is made for the Canadian market for my 'other' car.

Any info or links would be appreciated.

Thanks
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  #2  
Old 09-29-2001, 09:33 PM
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Still looking for info?

Just came across this link. I hope it helps.
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/
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Old 09-29-2001, 11:51 PM
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Ack how did I miss this thread....

I have, and did when I moved here from Calgary. I imported my Sunfire when I came. It is a LOT of BS. First off, it is no different than importing from any other country...there are no exceptioins just because its from Canada. Here are the main things you will have to do:

1. get the car inspected and make sure it is free of ALL leins etc before it comes
2. have the guage cluster changed out by a governent licensed company that they trust not to roll back the numbers. This isn't the easiest thing to find, their was only on in all of Alberta (lucky me it was in Calgary). Secondly it is VERY costly. I priced out taking it to the dealer to do it (before I knew it was illegal if not done by this certain place) and it was about $400 installed. From the place I had to take it to it was nearly $800CDN.
3. Emmissions and US spec are VERY different than CAN spec. If the vehicle is computer controlled (as I assume it would be) you need to have it reprogramed. The same place must do the program and or replace the ecu depending of whether they are the same part number in the US. Fortunately for me, mine just needed re-program. The entire process took about 45 sec and cost me about $200CDN.
3. They take all sorts of pictures and place sticker on the door jam and engine bay declaring it has passed spec, emmissions, and the odometer is correct.

At this point I'm pretty sure you can just take it across. This is where you get to pay the duty on it. There is a lot of duty incurred. I did not have to pay as I was moving, however if I had bought the car within 6 months prior to moving I would have. I was curious and asked, it was going to be around the $1800CDN range in duty.
Once you get it home you have the following to do:

1. Imspection in the US isn't much fun either. Generally you will have to have the vehicle impounded for 6 weeks in a registered US customs area. There is one in CO so it wasn't a big deal, I would assume there is one in every state. During this time they make sure it is not stolen, and it can not be registered.
2. Once out of the impound you must inspect it at a registered out of country inspection agency. This costs about double to three times what a standard vehicle inspection costs.

That is about it. It takes a long time and is a complete waste of time in my opinion. I've already decided if I move back to Canada the only car I'm going to go through all that for is the SVX. My Sunfire and my sportbike just aren't worth it.

BTW, why in the heck would you want a Sprint Turbo???? They are horrid little cars!!! Unless you are looking to go for the "rags to riches" (sprint to svx) feeling each day, I think you are COMPLETELY wasting your time. But heck they have good gas mileage.

Later,
Ryan
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  #4  
Old 10-04-2001, 11:39 AM
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Hi Ryan,

Just in case you ever need to move back to Canada, I can tell you that it's real easy to bring a US spec car into Canada. Well, it was easy about 12 years ago and in Ontario. My friend in Toronto bought a car from his uncle in New York. To register it, someone from the government came down to verify the odometer reading. He then paid duty on the car and he was done. He drove around with the gages in miles and MPH and there was no problem getting plates. Remember that his was over a decade ago and not in Alberta, but you might want to check to see if it's as simple a process as my friend went through.

When I came to the US, I just sold my car and bought a new one from a US dealer.

Cheers,
Matt
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Old 10-12-2001, 01:33 AM
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Matt,

Things have changed a little since. It's still easy, but the car needs to be approved by the RIV, or have mods done to comply by Canadian standard.

But other than that, it's leave the ownership at US customs for 3 days, pay your duty, do your mods, get it inspected, and get the provincial registration. That's it.

Bought my SVX from Binghamton, NY last year, had to do the song and dance.

VK


Quote:
Originally posted by nordique14
Hi Ryan,

Just in case you ever need to move back to Canada, I can tell you that it's real easy to bring a US spec car into Canada. Well, it was easy about 12 years ago and in Ontario. My friend in Toronto bought a car from his uncle in New York. To register it, someone from the government came down to verify the odometer reading. He then paid duty on the car and he was done. He drove around with the gages in miles and MPH and there was no problem getting plates. Remember that his was over a decade ago and not in Alberta, but you might want to check to see if it's as simple a process as my friend went through.

When I came to the US, I just sold my car and bought a new one from a US dealer.

Cheers,
Matt
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