Date:         Tue, 11 Oct 94 22:35:41 EDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         dcarment@ccs.carleton.ca (David Carment)
Subject:      Re: Crew Cab & other goodies: importing from Canada.

 J. Walker writes:
> 
> On Tue, 11 Oct 94 13:10:47 CDT William Abbott said:
> >        One question I have that this group might be able to answer is
> >which model year Canadian spec Vanagon pickups can be legally imported
> >into this country? I remember a dealer in Idaho who was bringing low-milage
> >"used" ones over the border- they used to advertize in DB&HVW but they
> >aren't in the current issue...
> 
> back in 93, i had a buncha money burning a hole in my pocket, and i also
> want a vanagon pickup (double-cab would be best, but i'll take a single-cab!)
> so i start calling the vw dealers Allllllllllll along the canadian border.
> fer real. you should have seen my phone bill. nothing.
> 
> so then i tried the major cities in canada. this is what i found:
> - folks in quebec don't want to talk to you at all. especially about vw
>     trucks.
> - trucks sold in the eastern part of canada do NOT seem to have the required
>     EPA/DOT stickers (more later).
> - trucks sold in the western part of canada, specifically  Vancouver area,
>     DO have the required stickers. i guess because of Seattle being so close.
>     but then why don't the trucks sold near Detroit and Buffalo have them?
> 
> ok. so now i've located the best possible source area. which was, of course,
> the most distant from me. :(  what do i need to do to get it back into the
> states? so i called the U.S. Customs office in Seattle. you need:
> - the truck MUST have both the EPA and DOT u.s. stickers on it. otherwise,
>     you will have to pay a 'bond' of $5000 AND get the truck brought up to
>     u.s. emissions AND safety standards. and be able to prove that you did
>     so. otherwise you do NOT get your $5000 back, and your truck may be
>     confiscated at the end of the 'grace' period. and if the stickers are NOT
>     on the truck, you will have to make the truck meet CURRENT standards, not
>     just those for the year of manufacture!
> - you must have a NOTARIZED bill of sale from the individual/dealer in
>     canada. how you pay them is your problem.
> 
> what will it cost? ha!
> - 25 percent duty (that's one-fourth, folks!) on the sale price listed on the
>     bill of sale. hint. hint. hint. nudge, nudge, wink, wink. say no more,
>     say no more. really expensive radio you have in there, mister. ;)
>     payable at the time you cross over.
> - $8 fee. wow.
> - some other 'paperwork' fees, totalling about another $50.
> 
> you would have to drive to Seattle to have it checked (that it meets their
> paperwork requirements) OR you could apply for a 'conditional entry', which
> means you would have to have it checked back at your home town customs office.
> now, i don't know about you, but the customs folks in birmingham, al, are
> just not really set up to deal with this kind of stuff. i called them first.
> no help.
> 
> i talked to Nance Crandall at (206) 553-1581/1589. she suggested that Blaine,
> WA, was the best place to cross with the truck, as they were set up to handle
> that sort of thing (apparently, they do a lot of it).
> 
> another factor that enters in is that not all vw dealers in canada are truck
> dealers. that is, if you want to find the vw pickup/panel trucks, you have
> to find the vw truck dealer.  yeah, it seems strange to me, too, but then,
> mercedes does the same thing, and volvo also.
> 
> this are the dealers that were helpful:
> Cowell VW,  13611 Smallwood Place, Richmond, B.C.
>     (604) 273-3922
> 
> Guildford Motors, 13820 104th Ave, Surrey, B.C.
>     (604) 584-1311
> 
> Sunwest, Courtney, B.C. (on the island)
>     (604) 338-1221
> 
> Speedway, Victoria, B.C.
>     (604) 385-2415
> 
What a joke: It cost us next to nothing (CDN$120) to bring the US version of
the Westfalia
into Canada and if we had owned the Vanagon more than six months in the US
we would not have had to pay ANY sales tax. Based on the costs involved it
would be cheaper to move to Canada and buy the van there! DC
 Can you say non-tariff barriers to free trade? 

-- 

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David Carment
School of International Affairs
Carleton University
Ottawa, Ontario
K1S 5B6
voice - (613) 788-2600-6662
fax - (613) 788-2889
Email address: dcarment@ccs.carleton.ca
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