Importing Canadian Vehicles?

2L8IWIN

2L8IWIN

Club Member
Has anyone here done it?

How difficult of a process is it? This would be for a 15' Z06 or '16 CTS-V so I would think it would fall under the "substantially similar" clause.

with the USD at 1.40 Canadian you could get some serious deals. The only thing I've heard from the short talk I've had with a NEW dealer is the vehicle needs to be six months after purchase to be available for export.
 
Friend bought one from Vancouver over here in Seattle. It ended up being a bit of a PITA not on the import side, but more on the finance side. You're effectively buying a car in Canada as a US citizen. The dealer there was little help on financing and titling.

It took him weeks of back and forth with banks to get a bank that would finance it because of a chicken vs egg issue. The US Bank couldn't lien a Canadian title. The Canadian dealer couldn't issue a Washington State title. He ended up buying it with a home equity line so he could clear the funds with the dealer in Canada, which took over a week, had the car shipped and then applied for a title in WA.

At least that's the bits and pieces I remember. YMMV.
 
Another thing, when I bought my GTR, I shopped all over the country. You'd be surprised how far below sticker a dealer might go in states that don't really sell that car well. I bet you could pick up a Z here in WA well under sticker. That type of car isn't popular here. If you were trying to buy a Prius, then you might pay over sticker. Hippies.
 
A good friend runs the number one caddy dealer in the country i can call him if you want,he can probably make a deal
 
If the car is brand new and financing is involved it becomes tricky.

However if the car is used, it is actually pretty simple to bring them across. Not sure where either of those cars are built but if they are built in the US even for the Canadian market they will likely have the proper door and under hood tags to get them over.

You need a sticker in the door stating the car meets US DOT Standards and a sticker under the hood meeting US EPA standards. Even if they don't have it GM can provide a letter of compliance stating these vehicles meet US standards. Any Canadian GM dealer can get you the contact for the letter.

I worked as a customs broker for years, its far easier bringing the cars into the US vs going into Canada with Ontario safety and emission standards to name a few.
 
Canadian_Dave said:
If the car is brand new and financing is involved it becomes tricky.

However if the car is used, it is actually pretty simple to bring them across. Not sure where either of those cars are built but if they are built in the US even for the Canadian market they will likely have the proper door and under hood tags to get them over.

You need a sticker in the door stating the car meets US DOT Standards and a sticker under the hood meeting US EPA standards. Even if they don't have it GM can provide a letter of compliance stating these vehicles meet US standards. Any Canadian GM dealer can get you the contact for the letter.

I worked as a customs broker for years, its far easier bringing the cars into the US vs going into Canada with Ontario safety and emission standards to name a few.
Click to expand...

Several years ago I bought my Aunt's car from her estate.
She died in Canada & her car was in Canada.

I brought her car back to the USA on a trailer, with my
purchase papers & barely spent 2 minuets at the border
check point. I basically went right through!
 
Thanks.

It would be used and no financing. New seems to complicate things a bit from the information I've collected.

Canadian_Dave said:
If the car is brand new and financing is involved it becomes tricky.

However if the car is used, it is actually pretty simple to bring them across. Not sure where either of those cars are built but if they are built in the US even for the Canadian market they will likely have the proper door and under hood tags to get them over.

You need a sticker in the door stating the car meets US DOT Standards and a sticker under the hood meeting US EPA standards. Even if they don't have it GM can provide a letter of compliance stating these vehicles meet US standards. Any Canadian GM dealer can get you the contact for the letter.

I worked as a customs broker for years, its far easier bringing the cars into the US vs going into Canada with Ontario safety and emission standards to name a few.
Click to expand...
 
Easy process on used vehicles from everyone I've talked with, but those were all cash transactions.
Do an equity line check if you have to and then refinance with a local credit union if needed, but doing a an actual car loan on a car abroad sounds like a headache.
 
Would you think bringing a new car back that was paid for cash would be as easy as a used car? Reading the replies, it seems to be a headache if financing is involved.
 
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