NVMYRX

Soon to be impossible...

http://www.reportonbusiness.com/serv.../Business/home

Alak

iTrader: (9)

Most European automakers and some Japanese automakers standardize their north american setup to canadian standards to save money in the cost of manufactuering. The only obvious difference would be the guages and labelling, but other wise the cars roll off the same line.


Bringing them up would be a simple matter of paperwork.

maxg765

Hello

US Spec cars are different. Canadian spec cars have had Day Time Driving lights, carsh resistant bumper speeds for US are lower than Canada, child seat anchors are different (or required here) and a few other odds and ends. None of these really make a Canadian car truely safer just different.

What upsets me is that they might also do away with the 15 year old exemption rule. To import to the USA its 25 years but Canada has always been 15. This means all of those looking to import a 93 FD this coming year (when they hit 15) and wanting to avoid having to pay the 6% duties, changing the odometer to KMs, and changing the bumper insides (expensive) will be very upset should they go through with it. Its under revision now.

I think its all being regulated by the car manufactures anyway. They dont want Canadian car prices to drop in line with the US. They own 50% of the leasing companies they use and more than 50% of cars sold in Canada are leased. This means that they have alot of equity in these current leased cars and if thier values were to drop to match US pricing ths equity would be worth some 30% less making many banks very unhappy. Take the 2008 Corvette Z06. 96K here and 72K in the USA. Now you lease one in Canada for 4 years and to make the math simple the car would be worth a buy back of 50% after 4 years. Thats $48K. Lets say you now drop the retail to $72K tomorrow to mstch the USA retail. That means that in 4 years that second car being leased tomorrow would be worth 36$, thats $12K less in one day. I dont think the they want that to happen to the billions of dollars they have in current lease equity in the Canadian Market.

Something has to give somewhere soon. I think they were just parying for the Canadian dollar to drop again.

Regards

Max

rx7racerca

iTrader: (1)

The only thing new in that article is that all '08 US market GM's don't comply with the Transport Canada immobilizer requirements, and are thus on the RIV inadmissible list. Given that (from my admittedly brief survey of the RIV vehicle list) most manufacturers '08s are admissible, this hardly constitutes a closed border, it just seems to be a GM "problem".

You kind of have to laugh at GM Canada's $5,000 rebate solution on the Corvette - I guess you should pay the remaining extra $25,000 and be thankful you didn't have to accept a car with non-metric labeling. Even on the relatively low-brow Mustang GT (which is admissible, although Ford, like all the manufacturers, has recently officially prohibited it's US dealers from selling new cars to Canadians), the difference after new rebates announced last week worked out to $9200 extra for a comparable Canadian car I priced out at MSRP, after allowing for GST, RIV fees and other duties, cost of the trip down the US and back, inspections, adding DRL's, etc.

BTW, odo and gauges don't have to be switched to metric on an FD or anything else - if the speedo is in MPH only (most US cars do have both, just as we do, just reversed), you may have to put some mph stickers on the gauge for the inspection, provided by the inspection station, which you would of course peel off after. Bumper mods are fairly common, although for the FD, IIRC the Canadian-spec parts are a few hundred dollars from Mazda Canada - and where required, the case is usually the same with other cars - otherwise, like the Lancer Evo 9, they just are inadmissible, because the manufacturer never sold a Canadian-compliant version from which parts could be exchanged. It is truly rare that anything more than the bumper reinforcement and possibly energy absorbers are different on Canadian cars, manufacturers don't re-engineer bodies to sell cars here.

I do find it deeply suspect that GM claims (because after all, compliance with Transport Canada requirements is up to the manufacturer to verify) not to have any vehicles that meet our immobilizer requirements - given that Transport Canada's announcement in September about the immobilizer requirement stated 80% of vehicles sold last year already had it - in other words nothing that new on September 1. Maybe GM, despite being the manufacturer that pioneered this technology over a decade ago - on the Corvette - somehow was the entire 20% of Canadian cars sold last year, prior to the new Canadian immobilizer requirement, that didn't comply with the new law. And that on September 1st, they only changed the passive anti-theft tech on Canadian-bound cars, leaving the larger US market with the presumably weaker protection, despite the incremental cost difference. As Alak pointed out, most manufacturers just standardize on the higher requirement (Canada's, in the case of anti-theft, bumpers, and child restraints).

Or, perhaps GM just felt that not certifying that their US cars come with the same passive anti-theft tech as Canadian models would help bolster Canadian-market price differentials that were already a couple or three years behind the value of the dollar, to the tune of 20-30% on most models, even before it's run-up of the last few weeks really piqued the interest of Canadians in finding better deals south of the border, and made the difference even more extreme after exchange. Bad enough to be paying 30% extra in un-adjusted price with a .97 dollar, but truly obnoxious to be doing so when our dollar's 1.07US

Changing the 15 year rule to 25 would suck, but it would mostly impact imports of JDM and European cars - US cars would still be admissible subject to the same RIV requirements as now, just for longer. Which, for example, hasn't kept plenty of US FD's from being brought into Canada already, before they become exempt under the 15 year rule.

Alak

iTrader: (9)

The cars arnt really different, Alot of imported cars are made to the top specs. Theres no law that says your car can't be safer than the current law. A perfect example of this is the Porsche 911. Its built identical in either country. The only difference is the guages read in standard and not metric. All cars after 1993 have DTRL. Just in the states, you can turn them off.

The problem with the states is they have two systems when bringing a car in. The Border and the inspection. If you can get it across the border and through customs, you can keep it, regardless of year. Driving it, is another story. Of course, this depends on the state your in. For example, you can own just about any car in any non-EPA state. Because theres no emmissions testing, you dont require a proper USA VIN. Because of that, you dont require the same inspection. You just bring it to the sheriff's office, talk sweet and drive home with registration. I helped a friend in Kentucky do this with an R34 skyline awhile back. They have laws to protect against laws to get by other laws.

Eventually the Canadian government will realise we're being gouged and can't avoid it any longer and have to adjust the price.

OR they will just bring out more rules to justify the price. I heard a few automakers are handing out Knee-pads to executives on buisiness trips......

rx7racerca

iTrader: (1)

I don't doubt about Canadian automakers making knee-pads available to execs.
God save us from government intervention tho', however well intentioned - unless it's to lift restrictions and make it easier for Canadians to buy in the US - thereby making the manufacturers compete with themselves for Canadian sales. Canadian dealers want us to buy from them - lets see pricing that doesn't save me thousands of dollars on a F*$#-ing entry level Nissan Versa getting it across the border.

Not that I have any interest in a Versa, just an example where even at entry level new cars Canadians could save a couple or three thou on a cheap car.

Meantime, there's lots of options to buy near-new, or new '07's down in the US and save mucho dinero - I highly recommend it to anyone who isn't so patriotic about buying Canadian that they're happy to take it up the @$$ for the privilege.

Terrh

iTrader: (7)

FD's are old enough allready.

I've imported two from the states through the RIV exemption.

and I bet hundreds have come over from japan.

also, 15 or not, you're paying the duty.

maxg765

Hello,

If a car is more than 15 years old the import into Canada will be exempt from Duities and Federal requirements. I have brought many 15+ year old cars in. Only a mechanical inspection is required and the GST paid at the boarder on the invoice/sale price and PST (quebec tax) at the registers office. Canada considers 15 years to classic status thus antiques don't carry duties. The US on the other hand is 25 years for it to be dutiy free etc.... This should mean that all 1993 FD's coming in after Jan should drop by 6 or 6.5% since no duty will be charged. I am not sure if they go by production date, model year, or date first plated but it is 15 years from one of those.

Regards

Max

maxg765

Hello

I just called. The 15 year rule is from the date on manufcature. One needs to prove that and its all exempt minus the taxes but no duties or mods required.

As well BE CAREFULL, the 15 year rule applies from an original car not modified. A restored or modified car will reset the clock and 15 years restarts all over agian. How they would govern that I dont't know. I asked if I was bringing in a 1967 Mustang and they told me that if its original your fine. If the motor has been changed or a restoration has been done (with frame work) that 15 years restarts from that date the work or motor swap was done. I asked about a repaint and got no reply. He said modifications or restoration not repairs. Whats the difference in some cases......


MAx

rx7racerca

iTrader: (1)

Perhaps the confusion was over the use of duty vs. taxes once the 15 year exemption kicks in - you'll still pay GST, the $100 AC tax if the car is so equipped, and PST if applicable (if you live anywhere but Alberta). Duty imposed on cars manufactured outside the NA Auto Pact no longer applies.
As far as mods, they do not seem to make any effort to track that - how could they? Of course, if you try bringing over a '67 Stang with a 5.4 Supercharged out of a current Shelby, and tell them that's what you've got, you're just asking for trouble. On the other hand, if the car came with a small block, and it has an '05 Ford crate small block in it, who's really to know, or care. They should be glad it's got the newer, cleaner motor in it anyway. Of course, if its an FD with a LSx in it, that might be easier to catch, but probably still wouldn't be unless you volunteered it. Changes to lighting and safety equipment would, and should be cause for concern.

gio64

iTrader: (1)

I checked, it is from registration, and the month counts, I called. Last year, I was looking at a Detroit FD and it was a 93. But the car had been registered in April 92. They told me that I could have gone off the RIV come April. I actually called.
Deal didn't go through, for completely different reasons.

maxg765

Hello

Not sure what you mean by the month counts. The one I am looking at now has a production date of 01/92 like most 1993 RX7's did however it was first registered in Nov 11th, 1992 as a 1993 model. So does that mean that its reached it 15 years because of either production date or registration date? I think I am going to play it safe and bring it in Jan 2008 as then its reached 15 years on the model year, production date, and registration dates leaving no margine for error. The car has 14000 original miles and I want to keep the car in its original form.

Max

rx7racerca

iTrader: (1)

It should be by month of production. If for some reason that can't be determined, I believe they fall back on registration date, but not otherwise.

Alak

iTrader: (9)

It will be stamped on the production plate, what month and year it was manufactuered. Thats the determination to import it. It doesnt matter what the registration says ~ Unless the registration is used as the determination.

For example, in England, your car's year is determined when it was registered. This is noted by the number plate.

Example, a 1992 Land Rover registered for the first time in 1993 is a 1993 model.

However, when Importing, its a 1992 and whatever month.

And Example here is the 1992 FC. They made no FC's in 1992, they just simply sold 1991 FC's as 1992's.


Correct me if Im wrong.

Terrh

iTrader: (7)

yeah it goes by the month of production.

I didn't even realize that I never paid duty, I just assumed I had along with taxes.

Month/year.

So just about every '93 there is is legal by now.

anyways, it really is simple to bring them across, just make sure you bring a bill of sale, the title, and that it has the door stickers still intact.

I think there were still some FC3S verts produced in 1992 but I'm not really sure.

Alak

iTrader: (9)

Im in the process of bringing over a Land Rover right now from greater europe. I was told that they still charge duty on the sale price of the vehicle. A buddy who imported his TVR with them also had to pay duty, and his is an 87'.


Not sure what thats all about, but they said its 6.1%

Fyrious

the site below will explain all. im new too this site, but i've been reading the forums from time to time, i figured its about time i join.

http://www.terra2imports.ca/

it'll also help you import pretty much any vehical, mainly from japan, to Canada.

these are the guys i'm going through to buy my FD.

SO IMPORT NOW! lol, if you want an FD, don't wait if you don't want too.


and yes, you can import RX-7 FD's now from Japan and bring them into Canada, it goes by the month, not the year. thats why many of the FD's listed on Terra 2 are listed as 92 models, even though technically their 93 models (fd models, and not fc)

maxg765

Do you mean for Canada? They make mistakes and if you pay what do they have to lose. When I brought over my 1974 Alfa GTV the importer charged me the duties on top of the taxes. I had to remind and complain and then they went and had to request a credit for themselves. I refused to pay that portion of the bill. When the docs are being done yo need to specify that it is duty exempt and the reason why. But the 15 year rule is there fro Canada and it is fact.

Max