Importing from US

Sibze

This is why I was asking

Edit: Plus so people could see where he saved money

Phaddi_inc

Yup, well worth the 'hassle' ... I picked up my Z in VA and saved 12000! (to the nearest comp in Ontario/Quebec). I brought my Z to the local Nissan dealer and had the hatch springs replaced under warrantee without hassle. like others have said, as long as it sat in a US lot for 6months you are good to go. One think to note is that the owners name can not be changed after the vehicle is registered in the new country (Canada) or the warrantee will be void. As long as you buy it and register it in your name you'll be fine. I was going to have a dealership bring it in then purchase/finance it from them, but once I found out the warrantee details, I opted to do it and pay for it myself. I also had my friend wire up my parking lights to come on with ignition to meet the DRL requirement for RIV, didn't like the DRL option from Nissan...Good luck, its well worth it.

Phaddi_inc

bboytaktix

yeah that's more or less what I plan to do. Shop around in the US for a nice, low-mileage nismo and bring it across. Then Simple wiring to have the parking lights come on when car is on, which will solve my DRL problem and easy to do myself (I have some LED's as my DRL's in my current retrofitted headlights for my cobalt, works perfect)

Cheech

Hi Guys,
Just had to jump in here..... I purchased a 370Z down in Tacoma Washington, the dealer drove it up to Bellingham for me to sign the papers and take ownership.

Pretty much what everyone is saying here is true, you save big bucks purchasing one from our southern neighbours.

Two things I wanted to chime in on;
1. The DRL is simply a matter of the dealership reprogramming the ECU. Morrey Nissan in Burnaby BC did mine for $56.00(ask for Rob). Several other dealerships gave me quotes from $200 to $500.

2. After you've imported your vehicle, the warranty will be void if you sell it within six months. After that, it's fair game. Another warranty point is that when you bring your vehicle in for warranty service, the dealer will punch the VIN into the computer to check on the warranty status, which could be void if it wasn't properly registered in a state first or waited past the six month "in service" date. It could be up to the dealership's discretion whether to honour the warranty or not. But if it hasn't met the criteria to be valid, then Nissan Canada will decline the work to be performed and thus the dealership will not be paid.

my 2 cents.

Good luck importing.

Gurps

Cheech, quick question.

If I purchased the car brand new in the US, but it sat on the lot more than 6 months, and was never driven or owned in the US for that 6 months, would that count? I purchased the car and have not resold it. It was bought brand new in the US and only ever dirven in Canada.

Talking to the dealer in Bellingham, he will fully honour my warranty in Belligham.(Have it in writing so no big issue with warrnty. Would just have to get it towed to Border worst case). Just curious if my warranty may be valid here in Canada based on the fact that the car sat on the lot for more than 6 months in the US. However,it was bought brand new.

I will call up Nissan here who always do my service and get them to run the VIN and see what comes up. I know that the service department up here said they would do there best to cover any warranty work up here, as they want the business, even though I bought the car in the US. Apprently Nissan will bend the rules here and there.

Cheech

Hi Gurps,
If the Bellingham dealer is hungry enough to help you out, he may allow you to use his home address to register the car and put washington license and insurance on it. No need to wait the six months. Drive it home the same day!

Of course he would honour the warranty, they have to. Any dealer in the US will honour the warranty, just not Canada, unless you register it to a US address with valid state plates or wait until six months after the "in service" date.

The "In Service" date is a tricky one. Depending on who you talk to at Nissan, it is the date in which the car was registered with the State department of Motor vehicles OR the date it was sold and taken off the lot.

I bought mine with 3800miles on it and there was some concern over the "in service" date. The two were a couple weeks apart. Finally called Nissan USA with the VIN to find out what the date was, and picked up the car 6 months + 1 day later.

Someone posted the letter I received from Nissan regarding the warranty (I think on page 2 of this post.... I'm glad to see the forums are a good source of info). Print it out and use it as your guide for the warranty. Show it to your dealer in Bellingham, maybe he'll help.

Personally, I would want the warranty valid in Canada, haven't needed it yet, but if something major goes wrong, it would certainly be a hassle having it transported across the border for service.

Now the irony of all this, is I'll be moving to the US in the next month and will have to import my car back to the US... go figure

Let me know if you need any more help.


Cheech

Gurps

Hey Cheech, thanks for the info man.

I bought the car last August. I only live 15 mins from the border. Even if my car died here in Vancouver, they put it in writing all I would have to do was get it towed to border and they would take it from there. I have nexus so go down to Bellingham every weeked anyways, so the warranty issue is not a big deal. More jus ta convience thing.

Thanks again for the information, I appreciate it.

And that is ironic you are moving to the US now!

Cheech

No problem, glad you've got it all worked out with dealership. enjoy your car, it's friggin awesome!

mhcoss

I just imported a Z from the USA. I am a us citizen and get a special exemption from the RIV so I basically bought and registered the car tax free

Mannysrt8

Im just in the process of importing a Z from Cali,just left yesterday should have my car in my possession early next week...went through a broker...a 2010 with 4K miles

Cheech

Too bad you didn't let me know, I could have driven it back for you. I'm in SoCal right now