Importing vehicles to Canada from the US | Westminster Volkswagen


	WINTER 08

the elephant in the room
~ By Andre Foksowicz, Sales Manager

Since the Canadian dollar reached near parity with the US greenback buying vehicles in the US has become very attractive. There are a few things the wise consumer will need to do as insurance against major problems.

make sure you have cash for the car as financing on cars in the US is unavailable to Canadians
research the vehicle you are about to purchase to make sure that it meets RIV admissibility rules into Canada (without this you cannot register the vehicle in Canada)
check the US Customs Exportation requirements
ensure that the vehicle you are buying is free of any liens and accidents
contact the original equipment manufacturer or authorized dealer of your vehicle to obtain a recall clearance letter (You must have this document in order to pass the federal inspection)
research the dealer you are buying from (after all you will be turning over large sums of cash in a foreign country where Canadian laws do not apply)
transport the vehicle to and across the border
have the vehicle federally and provincially inspected
perform all necessary alterations as required by RIV (in some cases this can reach over $5,000 per vehicle)
research whether or not your US vehicle of interest has a warranty that will transfer to Canada

There are of course some things to look out for like making sure you don’t purchase an American Lemon Law buy back vehicle as this may have no more warranty and could possibly give you a lifetime of headaches.

As some of you are aware by the purchases you made here, Westminster Volkswagen has been importing vehicles for years now. We do this directly for our customers who want a certain vehicle in the USA but do not want to go through the headaches of importation and/or those who wish to finance their USA purchase as not everyone has cash laying around for a vehicle. We charge a fee for this service that varies based on the purchase price of the vehicle and can be as simple as processing the paperwork or using our contacts to source the right car and deliver it to your door with a Canadian registration.

We also import vehicles from the USA for general resale. We give the Canadian consumer the same customer service and an identical or sometimes better optioned vehicle with all of the same warranties of our Canadian vehicles. All of our vehicles come with a BCAA 143 point inspection, as we are now one of only 3 dealers in BC that have been selected as a BCAA Inspected dealer. You also get BCAA Road Side Assistance normally available only on new cars and BCAA membership that includes discounts at BCAA authorized partners.

Every vehicle we sell comes with a CarProof vehicle history report that shows the cars’ detailed history in the USA as well as Canada and a guarantee of no liens. Financing is available on all of these vehicles through Westminster Volkswagen O.A.C.

So what about the savings? Well, in some cases these savings can amount to thousands of dollars. For example, when Volkswagen still sold V10 Touareg diesels here in Canada they retailed for over $90,000 CAD. Just last month we delivered a 2007 Touareg V10 TDi for just over $65,000 and the truck only had 14,000km. A used 2006 Jetta 2.5L average retail price in Canada is $22,476 CAD.

Don took delivery of one of our USA imports with just 23,000KM for under $20,000 CAD in November. Roxanne just bought a 2007 Toyota Highlander Limited with 11,000KM that retails in Canada for over $49,000 CAD for just over $32,000. Obviously the more expensive the vehicle the greater the savings but generally speaking there’s always an opportunity to save money just make sure you’re cautious and cross-your-t’s-and-dot-your-I’s as mistakes or oversights can be extremely costly.