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Think twice before importing a car from the US to Canada
My brother and I bought a race only NX from a man in Rochestor, NY. WE went to look at it in early February and left a deposit, and planned to come and get it within two months. Within that time, I called US customs and Canada customs to research the details of importing a car. It seemed fairly simple, we needed to fax the ownership to the US side 72 hours before importing it so they could check it out for liens and whatnot before the car could leave the US. To get into Canada, we needed to pay a $182 fee and pay 7% tax once we went to register the car at the DMV. SO I made the necessary arrangements, I expected some BS to happen, but that was a gross understatement.
well first of all we went down on saturday to pick it up, but we got turned away from the border because you cant import a car on a saturday. we were pissed because we sat in a 2 hour lineup at the border, plus the lady i talked to said it was no problem to import the car on Saturday when i asked last week.
so we go down today, left at 330, got across and loaded the car up, and get back to the border and we try to get out of the states, but somehow the copy of the ownership I sent them got lost or something, and they have to have it for 72 hours so i gave it to them and they told me to leave the car in the states and come back on thursday, but we couldnt leave the car in the parking lot. I showed her the confirmation number of the fax I sent, she said, well, it looks like we got the fax, but it's not here now, so too bad.
A guy working at the bridge happened to notice the SCCA stickers on the car and turned out to be a club racing enthusiast, he tried to convince his boss to let us leave the car at the bridge in the staff parking lot, but to no avail. Later, he referred us to a trustworthy towing company who has a storage lot, but we still have the spare blown engine and old tires and stuff in the van (just some extra stuff that came with the car)
So we go across to the Canadian side and the guy asks what we have, so we told him we have some old tires, a blown motor, etc etc and he's like thats f-cking horsesh*t, i know all about cars and that's a brand new motor! were like WTF, it's clean so it wont mess the truck up but the rings are messed up, it's far from a new motor.
So he made us say that the blown motor and used tires are worth 1000 and he made us pay tax on that plus a fine because he said we lied to him
Then I asked how much tax you have to pay, I called them last week and they said it's $182 and that's it, but the guy this morning said it's $182 + GST(7%) + PST(8%) + another 6.5% tax since the car is made in Japan
What a hassle. I did not expect it to be easy, but jeez, I was misinformed
by officials at BOTH US and Canadian customs, AND they managed to lose the fax of the ownership I sent them a week ago.
Oh and I stepped on a 4 inch nail on friday, and my brother got his face kicked in last easter weekend when he tried to stop some uninvited guests from knocking down a cedar fence at my dad's house.
__________________
Climate Change skeptics are the new Flat Earth Society
Last edited by FastNX : 03-29-2005 at 01:40 PM.
Reason: grammar
how can the TELL you what your blown motor is worth??? that is total bullsh*t. I think just out of principal i would have sat at the border and argued with them for days if i had to over that one.
Black '95 200sx SE-R Turbo Lowport 286whp/245wtq 12.306 @ 113.55
White '92 NX2000 All Stock.
White '92 NX2000 Automatic, stock, not moving, and FOR SALE <---- Click for Pics
Quote:
Originally Posted by BORNGEARHEAD
It's pathetic the amount of people in this country that believe all the bullsh*t being spewed out the mouths of Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rice, Snow, oil companies, lobbyists, etc.
I know all about border problems. Sounds nasty, but be glad you didn't spend nearly 3 hours in a customs interrogation cell for bringing a turbo downpipe over the border, like I did.
$1000 seems to be a standard number in their heads for some reason. That's what the customs officer wanted me to declare was the worth of the downpipe. Yeah, it's made out of freakin' precious metals!
Don't they have better things to do with their time? Like look for people smuggling weapons or drugs?
Anyway, you have it in Canada now, so that's just the price you pay for having to deal with customs, I suppose. You can't win.
That's government workers for you. I used to deal with them all the time and one hand never knows what the other is doing. Sorry to hear that man.
I work for the government ...we get better benefits that you do haha
Anyways, the rules & regulations (in other words, the law) is constantly changing on a day to day basis. That is a big reason why "one hand never knows what the other is doing."
__________________ Manny E.
523 whp & 409 wtq ---RETIRED
I work for the government ...we get better benefits that you do haha
Anyways, the rules & regulations (in other words, the law) is constantly changing on a day to day basis. That is a big reason why "one hand never knows what the other is doing."
Hehe, my dad and several family members work for local gov't agencies and they love their benefits too but are frustrated with their jobs. They do a lot of inter-agency stuff and things are always getting lost or rejected for no reason.
Wow! Good memory! Sadly he was punted off the track at the Canadian Grand Prix last year and all but wrote off the car. Unfortunately it was by a spoiled rotten British kid that was only over for two weeks, he also damaged is car and the other two team cars. A real butcher, he would not be welcomed back. The next race, the US grand prix, the team owner pretty much said dont touch anyone or I'll kill you, I don't care if you finish last, just be sure to finish. The budget was real tight as it was, and unfortunately he didnt race the lst four events of the year. This year, we are kind of starting over, at a much smaller sacle in regional touring cars, smaller budget, total control over the team and hopefully more fun! Also we arent playing with a $90 000 racecar, so he won't be afraid to push it. In case you guys are wondering, this is why I don't have an NX anymore, I gave my brother all my parts and i'm building him a super-duper motor, i'd probably just get in trouble on the street if I had another fast car.
I know all about border problems. Sounds nasty, but be glad you didn't spend nearly 3 hours in a customs interrogation cell for bringing a turbo downpipe over the border, like I did.
$1000 seems to be a standard number in their heads for some reason. That's what the customs officer wanted me to declare was the worth of the downpipe. Yeah, it's made out of freakin' precious metals!
Don't they have better things to do with their time? Like look for people smuggling weapons or drugs?
Anyway, you have it in Canada now, so that's just the price you pay for having to deal with customs, I suppose. You can't win.
Got pics of it?
James
Jeez how did you know? I have been working at acquiring the car for a long time now, I was trying to stay tight lipped about it, but the secret is out now!
Just for clarification, the car is still over there, the US customs seems to have lost the fax of the ownership so we had to start the 72 hours over again yestrday
I missed classes yesterday and drove back to ottawa this morning at 4AM for class at 930, so i wont be able to go down on thursday to FINALLY import the car, but i've got my fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly.
And BTW, I have been in the interrogation room before, my friends and I went down to the states just for the hell of it one night and we got in serious trouble, the border guard did not beleive we were crossing the border just for a night out and tried to get me to admit to smuggling drugs over, I've never even smoked anything in my life, not even a cigarette. Trying to cross the border to go to the US grand prix last June the team engineer and I got interrogated as well, because I didn't have a plastic driver's license (just got a new temp paper license days before) although I had my passport, birth certificate and numerous other forms of ID.
I thnk u got ripped off. An extra fee because its a japanese car? I bet he pocketed that money as soon as u left.
no, he filled out a form for us to go into the customs office and pay. The customs office does not accept cash, and I guess it's for this reason. still sucks to have to pay a fine for 'lying' about the value of the motor.
how can the TELL you what your blown motor is worth??? that is total bullsh*t. I think just out of principal i would have sat at the border and argued with them for days if i had to over that one.
It's really not democratic at all, I think they can do whatever they want short of beating the crap out of you. He was screaming in my brother's face about impounding the van and having us banned from the states permanently and criminal records and all this crap, my brother was on the verge of tears, and he is no wimp by anyone's standards.
It's the *MINT* one. He still has the 'roach coach'
The only pics I have are the ones that Charlie took trying to sell the car, I hope to have some good pics once the car is safely in Canada on Thursday
Before it races, it's getting a new seat that will better fit the driver, my 15" wheels, RA1 rubber and many power increasing parts that can't stand to wait around 'carless' any longer
...we get better benefits that you do haha 
