Date:         Tue, 16 Sep 2003 08:50:29 -0600
Reply-To:     KMcLean@MORROWENV.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Kevin McLean <KMcLean@MORROWENV.COM>
Subject:      Re: Canadians ordering from US vendors?
Comments: To: Shawn Wright <swright@ZUIKO.SLS.BC.CA>
In-Reply-To:  <3F65FA41.13688.2C1FA7@localhost>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

> I'd love to hear from Canadians who have ordered from US vendors for
> various parts - how much duty, etc. did you incur?
>
> Of course, if there are any other competitive Canadian vendors, I'd love
to
> hear from/about them also.

I've ordered from The Bus Depot:  shipped via. USPS/CanadaPost; no duty
;$5.00 CDN handling/brokerage fee; will have to pay GST (and PST in BC) on
the declared value; no problems with the order.

I have also ordered from California Import Parts:  no extra charges for
shipping on orders over $150.00; they ship from a Canadian address so
there are no duty or brokerage issues; service was a little slower than
Bus Depot but not terrible.

Places like PartSource, Canadian Tire, NAPA, etc can all get in VW parts:
usually not stock, quality may not be as good as original, not very
knowledgeable regarding Vanagons, prices okay since you don't have to
worry about shipping, easy to return if wrong part.

www.altrom.com sells to a lot of the FLAP stores and you can get prices
off of their website.

I always get a price from the dealer as well.  Sometimes they will
surprise you with a bit of a break.

If I only need one little part then that rules out Bus Depot, VolksCafe,
VanAgain etc:  The shipping will eat up any cost savings.

Check the archives from the last 3 or 4 months;  I believe that David
Marshall provided some info regarding duty and the part's country of
origin.

Kevin McLean
Calgary, AB