For those who have imported to Canada...

[b00ter]

did you have to do any changes to meet the RIV compliance in Canada?

I looked on their website but didn't see anything relating to the CTS-V in particular.

Just wondering from those who have actually imported one. Looking at doing the same.

[your maker]

shoot me an email i can answer any of these qeustions you might have are you looking at buying a V?

[b00ter]

thanks for the heads up. I tried to PM you but I just registered recently so I don't have sufficient posts to do so.

You can PM me with your email though.

[tommy compton]

I imported one from Cali, the CTS-V doesn't need anything done. The speedo can be changed to km in the DIC and they come equiped with DRLs. Just make sure it has the North american/US compliance sticker in the door, it should have what the tire pressure is and what not on it, for some reason mine was missing and I had to get a letter from GM. No biggie they just faxed it to me.

[b00ter]

good info, much appreciated.

[schmiot]

Also keep in mind that you'll probably have to do a provincial inspection of some kind.

And you'll need the recall clearance letter from GM. Last I heard it was around $250 for that.

Good luck,
R.

[b00ter]

What about other costs?

Say I can get the car shipped up here from a dealer in the US.

Once in canada I need to pay the tax when it crosses the border?
Need to get a Provincial Inspection done (Canadian Tire)
Need that Letter from GM ($250)

Any other costs I should factor in?

[tommy compton]

From what I remember, ther is a couple of fees at the border/customs. RIV fee or something it's around 200.00 and air conditioning tax which i don't believe is too much. You'll need to get a safety on it too, which is different than the canadian tire inspection.
There are web sites that tell you what to do and how much the fees are.
Getting all the paper work to customs a few days before the car arrives is a good idea, or the car will have to sit at the border untill it all clears.

[schmiot]

Here's part of the spreadsheet I used when I bought mine.

GST (border
PST (when registering in Province
RIV (border) 206.7
A/C tax (border 100
Shipping 1660
CDN Inspection (Cdn Tire - Fed and Provincial 140
Recall Clearance letter

Other than that you might have insurance costs to drive it from wherever it's delivered to. I had mine brought right into Canada by the shipper and then picked it up locally. They did all the paperwork to export it from the US and then I did all the paperwork to import it into Canada. I think I paid around $1600 to have it shipped from California to Vancouver.

Regards,
Robin

[b00ter]

Thats interesting that they shipped it right into canada. I emailed a dealer and they said they could only deliver it to the border.

[schmiot]

I used Hansen, they ship the majority of vehicles for ebay purchases. They have a warehouse in town that actually has a Canadian border services office in it. I guess the warehouse is used for a number of different companies that import stuff to Canada. This way you just have to go there to clear your incoming goods rather than meet it at the border and clear it there. They might have something similar close to you, it would be worth giving them a call.

I did it this way because the US border only accepted vehicle exports at certain times of the day, etc. Plus I would have had to insure it in Washington to drive it through the border, etc. This way I just went and got temp plates for it, had a friend drive me to the warehouse at lunchtime, filled out the paperwork, drove it away.

[Ak Jim]

WTF is an air conditioning tax?

[tommy compton]

I don't know, maybe the government is using the money to fix the hole in the ozone over Canada.

[Ak Jim]

I thought the developed western world switched to r134 more than 10 years ago. It is interesting that the ozone hole was going to be a major catastrophie and every one was going to die of skin cancer by the time they were going to be like 32 or some thing like that. Funny that the ozone hole no longer seems to be an issue any more. I wonder if in twenty years global warming/climate change will have been long forgotten? Any way, I bet the A/C tax was started when all the mean old nasty environmentaly destroying cars were running r12 and was never removed when r134 was phased in?

[Albertan]

I flew to Ohio and drove mine back. I registered and insured it before I went down so I had my own plates. Before I went down I got a copy of the bill of sale with VIN number. I gave this to my customs brokers (Cole International) I paid them for the GST and paperwork ahead of time. I told them where I would cross. They made arrangements with Canada Customs. I had to have this all done 48 hours BEFORE I wanted to cross. At the border, I had to check with US customs to let them know I was exporting the car. (That was interesting as I had to go through Canada Customs so I could make a U turn to get to the US customs) US customs told me to park and come inside. I gave them whatever papers they needed (my brokers told me what I needed) US customs took 5 minutes. The I made another U turn and went to Canada Customs. They told me where to park so I could get the paperwork from my broker. NOTE: You WILL need month and year of manufacture. It will be on the door sticker.
Customs broker did what they needed to do. Went back to Canada Customs, they looked at the paperwork and stamped it. All told it took less than an hour, most of that was waiting for my turn at my broker's office!
No one ever asked me to get an inspection probably because the car had 125 miles when I bought it. I saved $23,000 doing this!