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Date:         Sun, 29 Oct 2006 20:26:30 -0800
Reply-To:     Jeffrey Schwaia <jeff@VANAGONPARTS.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jeffrey Schwaia <jeff@VANAGONPARTS.COM>
Subject:      Re: Importing a vehicle to USA - need advice
Comments: To: Rob <becida@COMCAST.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <7.0.1.0.0.20061029192948.01c9b470@comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Rob,

The 25 year rule applies to all vehicles from countries other than Canada. Canadian EPA and safety rules are basically the same as the USA. Therefore, any vehicle that was made for the Canadian market and was originally sold in Canada is quite easy to import into the USA.

Many people mistakenly think that they can import a vehicle into Canada from Europe, and then import it into the USA. That is fraud. Canada has some pretty easy rules when it comes to importing vehicles. Any vehicle that is at least 15 years old can be imported into Canada. But if someone wants to import one of those vehicles into the US, it must be imported as a non-Canadian vehicle.

There really isn't any gray areas when it comes to importing into the USA. If you'd like more info try:

DOT:

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/

EPA:

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/imports/quikover.htm & http://www.epa.gov/otaq/imports/factmtop.htm

CUSTOMS:

http://tinyurl.com/tmz47 & http://tinyurl.com/8eugs

Have fun,

Jeff

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf Of Rob Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2006 7:47 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: Importing a vehicle to USA - need advice

I've been following this thread, interesting reading if nothing else and I am just a 2 1/2 hr drive from Canada. I've followed the links, did some reading and it looks legal to bring in certain vehicles less than 25 years old without jumping thru too many hoops. It certainly doesn't look illegal to me. You seem so adamant about it being illegal. Am I missing something?

Rob becida@comcast.net

At 10/29/2006 07:18 PM,Jeffrey Schwaia wrote: >Hmmm... and I have exceeded the speed limit hundreds of times in the last 20 >years and I've never gotten a ticket. Obviously, it must be legal to >speed... > >Just because your "friends" have gotten away with breaking the law, doesn't >make it legal. > >Duh. > >-----Original Message----- >From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf >Of Buffalo 66 >Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2006 2:43 PM >To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM >Subject: Re: Importing a vehicle to USA - need advice > > >I have friends who have imported dozens of vehicles. >from Vespas, to Mercedes S class. > > No major problems to date, and last year, one of the >cars was totalled, the insurance company paid for >replacement value, the owner of the imported car was >at fault, and there were injuries. Nothing abnormal, >no questions were ever brought up, and the case was >processed as any other case was. > >Next....;) > >"So many people tiptoe through life, so carefully, to >arrive, safely, at death." - Tony Campolo > > > > > > > > >--- Jeffrey Schwaia <jeff@VANAGONPARTS.COM> wrote: > > > FYI: There are not any "technically legal" ways to > > permanently import a > > vehicle that is less than 25 years old without the > > use of a registered > > importer. Yes, there are ways to get a vehicle into > > the country, and there > > are ways to get it registered in your state, but > > understand one thing, those > > vehicles ARE NOT legally in this country, and you > > have committed a federal > > crime by circumventing Customs, EPA, or the NHTSA. > > One more thing, if you > > ever get into an accident in your "technically > > legal" vehicle, you will be > > considered to be 100% at fault, regardless of the > > circumstances of the > > accident due to the fact that your vehicle is not > > legal for use on the U.S. > > highways. > > > > Cheers, > > > > Jeff > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Vanagon Mailing List > > [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf > > Of Buffalo 66 > > Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2006 6:44 AM > > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM > > Subject: Re: Importing a vehicle to USA - need > > advice > > > > > > I know a few grey areas, that are technically legal, > > but requires a bit of legwork. > > > > email me privately if you want the details. > > > > I've done it personally on 2000 MY vehicles. > >


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