Importing from US
 

Anyone in Canada have experience with importing a new or used Z into Canada? I was wondering how much of a hassle it would be.

Depends on your definition of hassle... IMO, it's all relative to vehicle cost and what your time is worth.
Check out RIV.ca. Everything you need to know is there for the reading.

You really have to watch bringing in the Z because it was made in Japan.

Not too sure but would there be taxes and duties etc. because it was not made in North America

Import from the states has heavy face and duties. However depending on the vehicle you can still come out ahead by importing. You just have to do your research to make sure you aren't going to pay more.

From what I've been told it is only beneficial once you are buying vehicles around $40-50k+ so basically more luxurious vehicles. Two people I know have done and saved just for an example of what they got

1-Porsche Cayman S
2-Toyota Tacoma

Both would've been fairly expensive north of the boarder.

if you're in Vancouver..
13% HST + 6.9% Duty = 19.9% tax :)
Simply add that on top of whatever you pay OTD from the US.

For example, you bought a used Z from Michigan for 25,000 before tax.
Michigan state tax is 6%, and I don't know if there is any other taxes involved, but anyways
$25,000 + 6% tax = $26,500
Then when it crosses the Canadian border..
$26,500 + 19.9% = $31773.50

Please do correct me if I'm wrong :(

I was under the impression that if you are buying a car and not registering it in that state, then you are exempt from there sales taxes. This is where the duties and taxes for importing come in. So where you land (register) the vehicle in Canada makes a difference because you will then be paying there sales taxes in that province. So when you bring it into Canada you will be hit with the same duty in all provinces it's just the sales taxes that are different. So in the end it's duty+sales tax of province.

I have here Alberta has the cheapest taxes so I would do it there if it were me.

I bought my Z brand new in the US.

1. You do not pay state tax in the US. You are exempt as long as you are exporting.

2. Only work I had to do was get the daytime lights installed, which cost around $200 at a local Nissan dealership.

I bought my car in the US, paid no taxes. When I brought it back, I had to pay:

1. GST 5%(which you would have to pay anyways)
2. PST 7 %(which you would have to pay anways in BC) You pay this when you insure your car. In BC, it would be 7%.
3. Import tax of 6.5%.

So, total cost:

US purchase price
+
taxes(18.5%
+$200 for driving lights
+ Import and RIV fees - $300 roughly

= total cost.

It was very easy to do. I bought my car when the CDN dollar was higher, so I actually saved $300 off the US price when exchange was factored in.

I saved over $8,000 by buying the car in the US, easily after it was all said and done. And I bought it in Washington State, which made it very easy.

^^nice! Good job and congrats! Thanks for more info to!

The car must be registered in the US first or the warranty will not be honored in Canada.

^^ Hmm that is interesting.. thx

Yeah that's what I've heard too. Car must be registered in the U.S. for minimum of 6 months in order for Nissan Canada to honor the warranty.

That's some corporate BS! If you fight them on it I'm sure you could win your side. I mean it's the same f*cking product!

I can only imagine what Nissan Canada will tell us when more Canadians get the "dreeded steering lock failure!". They will probably say something like only Z's in the states are affected or covered for free replacement! Or some BS along those lines!

Yeah, that should be interesting. Especially for me, I bought a U.S. model from my local dealer. :eekdance:

yep! worst part is I have been dying to go to my storage and check to see if I have the B or C version because my 40th was made 02/10 right in between the currently know dates of 01/10's having version B and 03/10's having version C!! I really hope that version C is in mine and that it continues to not fail for the majority of us with version C!

If not Phil!(AWX Z34) I am getting you to help me open mine up! he successfully opened his and got it all working again.....(well starting it just doesn't lock!)

I looked at buying my Z so much from the States. I was even thinking of leaving a Florida plate on it because my parents own a home in Florida.

Long story short, I bought in in Burlington (Ontario) haha

:ugh2: why didn't you do it? you probably would've saved at least a few G's? I was going to get a 2010 nismo from the states but loved the fully loaded canadian 40th once I saw it!

As for the warranty issue:

1. I bought my car in Bellingham which is just a short drive across the border. I did buy it new. The Dealership in Bellingham put it in writing that they would honour my warranty full. Further, if there was any warranty issue where I could not drive it, all I had to do was get it towed to the border and they handle it from there.

2.Per my discussion with the salesman I bought the car from who deals with many Canadian. Nissan North America's offical policy is to not honour warrnty in Canada on a new car bought in the US. However, on his experience, CDN customers have had some success with the Nissan dealers up here honouring the warranty.

I have gotten my car serviced in Canada since I bought it. I talked my Nissan Service advisor here in Vancouver and he basically stated that they do there best to not turn down warranty work even if it is a US car bought brand new, In other words, if I do have a warranty issue that I don't want to take the car to Bellingham, they do work with Nissan to get the work done up here for free. They have done it in the past as well with others.

So offically the policy is to not honour the warranty, but when it comes down to it, it depends on the CDN dealer and what they can do as they do not want to lose the waork.

If you buy the car new in the US, and you live in Vancouver, worst case is you have to go to Bellingham to get the warranty work done, which is not a big deal at all.

just have to hope the people at your dealership aren't d!cks I guess!

Well, I was looking at getting a new one. I got one of the first Z's in Canada so there was no used one. Second, the warranty issue. I understand the post above but as you said, if the motor goes and a dealership wants to give you a hard time about it, you going to ship the car to the US?

The other issue was that it's illegal to have a US car in Canada (owned by a Canadian citizen) for a long period of time. I understand this would be very hard to prove but for the money I would have saved... I just bought it here not to have an issue later.

And really, good thing I did, because I already sold the car. I would have had issues selling it if it was a US car and the warranty was iffy

If you plan on keeping the car more than the warranty period, the warranty issue for selling doesn't become much of an issue. But if you plan on selling it before the warranty is up, it would become a possible issue to sell.

As for the warranty and a motor blwoing, like I said, it all depends where you live. I live real close to the US border, and if for some reason my engine died within the warranty period, I would only have to get it towed 20 mins to the border. So not an issue. I would have to get it towed that far to another cdn dealership anyways in Vancouver. However, for someone who lives pretty far from the border, I could see it being an issue.

I also bought new, and the potential Nismo was going to be new to that is not an issue??? At last I don't see one?

Also what are you talking about illegal to have an American car in Canada? This I have never herd of! There's dealerships up here that even specialize in bringing cars up from the states.

Not the actual car. Have a US plate on the car and not registering it in Canada.


If you are a Canadian citizen and you bring in a vehicle into Canada you have a certain time frame to register that vehicle in the province you live in. Not sure the time frame, it was a while ago

And as far as being new. I see a huge issue. As said before if the car is not registered for at least 6 months in the US the new car warranty is void in Canada unless you get a deal like the guy above did. I personally see that as an issue...

The plate issue makes sense.

Ya, I really wanted to leave a Florida plate on it. Only need one! Would have been great

Safe to say the car makers know there is a huge price difference between US and Canada and they often put in official restrictions to discourage cross border shopping.
Such it is with many things, often for no apparent reason.
Books and magazines are apparently another item which has created much controversy of late. I think they rely on most people just not bothering to go through the hassle and just buy local.

Saving $8000 - $10000 is worth the hassle.

What would be the best OTD price of a 2012 with sport, nav and auto in the US right now? Hard to believe it would be 8 to 10K less.
I paid $45K for this plus tax here in Vancouver.

Came across this in my files. Read the two conditions to get warranty coverage in Canada. If you knew someone in the US who you could trust, just register the car in their name and then "buy" it back from them six months later. Not that practical really or else just buy a used Z just over six months old.

Ya like some of the other states.

I think this year or next I will be taking my front off it drives me nuts! The car is also not driven a lot, 3-4 days a week for not even the 6 good months of the year. My old JDM z32 when it came over never had a front one on it for the 3-1/2 years I owned it I never put it on just kept it in the back. I know I run the chance of a ticket but it's unlikely where I live cause I'm not in the GTA, where the cops like to be dicks!

I was reading up on this a week or so ago, since I plan on buying a slightly used nismo Z from the US, so far it's cheaper than what I have found here in Canada and also I haven't really found a Nismo Z for sale here anywhere in Qc. Here's the official info from CBSA's website that I read with all the conditions/prices:
BSF5048 : Importing a Vehicle Into Canada

I have a few friends who have done this with STI's I believe. I really don't think it's that much of a hassle, and if you're buying brand new, the sticker price is almost a $10k difference between US and Canada, especially on the NISMO's. Even used, they are quite a bit cheaper in the US.

My buddy and I went to the US and he brought back a used motorcycle. No hassle at all at the border, both US and Canada customs. But if you don't have your paperwork in order and forwarded to the US customs side of the border at your selected point of entry prior to your arrival, you will have big time problems!

Which Nissan dealer are u talking about. Most of them are ********.

King Nissan in Bellingham.

I think Sport, Nav and Auto in The US are going for around $36,000 plus tax.

I know I easily saved over $8,000 on mine, as I looked at and negotiated for the same car here.

Good on ya then, I stand corrected.
Perhaps something I should have considered but too late now!

Ah in the end it is all good man. You do have the benefit of reselling a CDN car when it comes time to get rid of your Z. That is a huge benefit.

I keep my cars for around 10 years so by that time it should not make a huge difference....hopefully!!! Plus there is still the issue of warranty, etc.

Hi,

I imported my 09 Z from the US (Davenport Iowa). I used a broker from a company called US Auto Imports (Derek Collini was the contact). Basically I found the car online...I searched cars.com and autotrader.com within 500 miles of the buffalo boarder (I live in Toronto)...the closer the better. Once I found the car, I called Derek and he told me what to do step by step. Bascially you buy the car from the dealer (I wired the money), Call Derek, give him the information he needs, wait 2 weeks with updates along the way, then pick the car up in St.Catherines, licensed, registered and ready to go - Derek...or another broker takes over after you purhcase the vehicle. His services are $850 if I remember correctly...plus duty, registration, "canadianization", and all that good stuff....I ended up saving roughly $6-8 thousand by going through the US.

I don't usually post, but I thought some of that information may help...I'll check back if you have any questions.

Bruno