Buying a car from eBay/United States

[dcramer]

Ah, ok, although I heard porsche was extorting people as well. There are ways around the BMW extortion fee though. If you buy from a US dealer they can get the paper work but you have to negotiate this before you pay them.

[El Gato Liso]

looks like ill be going through this process soon!!!!!

[mousecrab]

Originally Posted by dcramer

Ah, ok, although I heard porsche was extorting people as well. There are ways around the BMW extortion fee though. If you buy from a US dealer they can get the paper work but you have to negotiate this before you pay them.

When I called Porsche Canada customer service did tell me I MUST bring it into a Canadian dealership to get the recall clearance letter and the one from a US dealership won't work but Transport Canada site didn't mention that as a requirement for Porsche (it does for BMW) also the sales guy at US just went and gave me one for free.
I'll be going to crap tire to do the RIV inspection soon, will find out if Porsche Canada is full of it or not at that time.

[dcramer]

Neither Porsche or BMW require letters from Canadian dealerships. I used a letter from a US dealership for my BMW, even though it says right on the top "not for importing"

FWIW, I can still get letters from my source in the states for BMW. PM me if you are interested

[damameke]

From what I had read the recall letter for BMW is not mandatory now, a printout from the US dealership should suffice...

[Winnipeg335i]

Originally Posted by damameke

From what I had read the recall letter for BMW is not mandatory now, a printout from the US dealership should suffice...

Negative, I tried this with my 3 series and it got flagged. I ended up paying for a BMW recall letter from a dealership in Toronto - Unity Auto, about $375 and they handled everything with RIV and bypassed the whole cluster/BMW Canada issue.

My cars registered here now + i got warranty too, my injectors just went :-\

[dcramer]

Yes the recall letter is mandatory for all vehicles, but the US service record works.

[kenmar]

Anybody here know if US Customs will keep you on a "black" list if you fail to get your paper work stamped for export? Last year, I called ahead at the Buffalo crossing per the rules, but missed the office because they didn't have good signage en-route to CDN customs. And since it was almost 4pm already on a holiday weekend on a FRI and they closed at 5, there was no chance of me turning around and going back.

Now I'm afraid to drive that vehicle back thru Buffalo since they can technically seize my vehicle due to export violations. I guess they couldn't seize a different vehicle if I were to drive that across the border, right?

Interestingly, getting your US ownership stamped for export is only a formality with the US side; the CDN side doesn't give a crap if you don't do it.

[mousecrab]

Originally Posted by dcramer

Neither Porsche or BMW require letters from Canadian dealerships. I used a letter from a US dealership for my BMW, even though it says right on the top "not for importing"

FWIW, I can still get letters from my source in the states for BMW. PM me if you are interested

I can't say for BMW but Porsche is ok with a US letter.
I finally got everything done. The Canadian Tire inspection part was not fun as the first one i went did the RIV work in 20 min or so but they don't do safety for Porsche which is really stupid.
I then went to another store but have to wait all over again. After 4 hours of wait time and seeing the car got moved around a million times finally it was all done.
The recall letter is required but RIV didn't even ask for mine. They just did a check for the year and model I brought then i was clear.
My experience (non-BMW) of 'must bring it in to a Canadian dealership and will be taken care of' was total BS.
Make sure you have all the documents for licencing, the lady there told me many people didn't do the research and was missing documents.
Title, insurance, form 1, form 2, e-test cert, safety cert and the blue and white receipt at custom.
Good luck for all that are planning!

[Winnipeg335i]

Originally Posted by mousecrab

I can't say for BMW but Porsche is ok with a US letter.
I finally got everything done. The Canadian Tire inspection part was not fun as the first one i went did the RIV work in 20 min or so but they don't do safety for Porsche which is really stupid.
I then went to another store but have to wait all over again. After 4 hours of wait time and seeing the car got moved around a million times finally it was all done.
The recall letter is required but RIV didn't even ask for mine. They just did a check for the year and model I brought then i was clear.
My experience (non-BMW) of 'must bring it in to a Canadian dealership and will be taken care of' was total BS.
Make sure you have all the documents for licencing, the lady there told me many people didn't do the research and was missing documents.
Title, insurance, form 1, form 2, e-test cert, safety cert and the blue and white receipt at custom.
Good luck for all that are planning!

Porsche Canada doesn't give you the letter?!

[conduct]

Im importing an E30 from California, the car belongs to my wifes mom and she is giving it to us for free. Because it is older then 15 years, its exempt from RIV which includes the Recall as well as admissable letter... correct? Does anyone no if I need to do the cluster swap and DRL's because of its age?

My final question is do I have t pay the tax on its value or what we paid? Because we are getting the car for free, and it is also going into my wifes name, one family member to another, could this be a loophole?

[dcramer]

I would phone canada customs before I got to the border or a customs broker.

[nickdaytona]

Originally Posted by conduct

Im importing an E30 from California, the car belongs to my wifes mom and she is giving it to us for free. Because it is older then 15 years, its exempt from RIV which includes the Recall as well as admissable letter... correct? Does anyone no if I need to do the cluster swap and DRL's because of its age?

My final question is do I have t pay the tax on its value or what we paid? Because we are getting the car for free, and it is also going into my wifes name, one family member to another, could this be a loophole?

No RIV, no recall letter, no fee, no bull !!
You will probably have to pay tax on any red book value associated with it.
Cluster change ? Only if there are no km on it and you can get away with the stickers due to,...wait for it.. NO RIV !!

Love it when the gov't and also bmw canada don't get their extortion money.

Enjoy your new 30 !

[98M3NACE]

Read through this thread and this hasn't been touched on yet. Can you buy a new 2011 model BMW straight from a dealership there, or does a car have to be used in order for you to import it to Canada? Any insight would be appreciated.

[dcramer]

canada customs has no issue with it, but I am fairly sure no US BMW dealer will sell you one unless you have a US address.