If you think this is bad try importing a Ferrari. The Vancouver dealer is charging something like 11000.00 dollars for a letter of compliance.

Dear friend, my name is karim,I have 5 years experience in auto parts and bearings,so i want open my own office,profit is 50% for you and 50% for me,so i just need some money not a big value, in first i need just 30000 Euro so you come in my country you see the market and you send me this money and you return to your country , so i rent a shop here in tunisia and i start working in this office, and the profit is 50% for you and 50% for me, i hope that you inderstand me, it's my target planning, if you have opinion please send me email to: nisbearings@yahoo.fr

Relocating from the U.S. to Quebec, Canada, I'm just in the process of importing a 2008 MB C300 4matique.

Requested, and received, the MB admissibility letter from MB Canada (you can request this directly on their website). The U.S. dealer I originally purchased the vehicle from happily provided me the Warranty clearence letter and I experienced no issues whatsoever at the border (paid $1000CND tax). RIV, once I provided them with the warranty clearence letter, sent me the appropriate form for the Canadian Tire vehicle inspection. RIV stated I needed daytime runnings lights, speedometer/odometer labels for the cluster and a bilingual airbag sticker. Also a child seat kit.

O.K., I figure this is no problem. Just need to have the vehicle harness reprogramed for daytime running lights, get the labels and tether kit, and I'm good to to the SAAQ for my registration change. HA! MB says "we don't do 'labels' in our vehicles. We'll need to swap out the instrument cluster. Mods should run about...oh...$3000! What B.S.! Is this really necessary!? If I don't do this, will I have some issue with MB in the future if warranty work is required?

I completely agree. These tactics are clearly to strongly discourage Candians from entertaining any idea of purchasing on their vehicles south of the border.

I brought a 760Li in from the US 2 years ago. At that time no problem. I got a recall letter from the US dealer no problem and the DRL's done at Bavaria BMW in Edmonton, relatively easily.

Now! Watch out, talk about incredible abuse of power! Service bookings take 3 to 4 weeks. While under warranty, (37K) they finally listen and determine that there was a antifreeze leak. They wanted $2700 to fix it, until I pointed out that it was under warranty. They then told me I would have to wait 3-4 weeks. Then they said that some parts were missing Someone must have already worked on the Engine! This on a unit that is under warranty. Now I will have to pay $2-300 for missing clamps etc from Germany. Another 2-3 weeks, then they will see when they can fix it! I am sure that all this is because of it being a vehicle from the US.

Amazing thing is, I was thinking of trading it in and buying a new one in Canada. Now I will sell this unit, if I ever get it back from BMW and buy something else. Never a BMW!

ptatum

How did you get your recall clearance letter? and how much did it cost?

I imported a 2003 mini cooper in Oct. 2008. The RIV form 2 did not require that the DRL's or any modifications be done by a BMW Dealer. I had the DRL's programmed on and had the odometer programmed for Kilometers and passed the federal inspection without any problems. BMW said I would need a cluster change at a cost of $2,000, but RIV did not require it. I am now fully registered in British Columbia.

I called up BMW to ask about a X5 I imported. The recorded message said that admissibilty clearance is not required any more. Woo!Woo! However, a recall clearance and modifications to 'test' daytime running lights(the car already has those) have to be done by a dealer to ensure they meet 'Canadian' standards. The tab: $900+gst, and no appointment available for a month. They are unable to compete, so they resort to such low tactics to protect their turf.

I bought a bmw and have been waiting for 3 weeks just to be able to drive it..Bmw canada is making me wait to receive a document wich should take 1 week.18 days later i am still waiting..Ive paid multiple useless fees so farm,in the end I am not even sure if I saved money

This is great. Much awaited.

I am planning on importing A BMW into Canada. I have talked to the dealer here and he says he needs to make a few changes. Day-time running lights and I'm not sure what else. Question is, can I save money by getting these modifications done before I bring it over? thanks

I have personally imported a 2005 Miata Mazdaspeed and 2004 Excursion Diesel. I figure after ALL expenses & fees I saved $20K plus. Today I spoke with a Vancouver area Volvo dealer as I also want to bring over a rare 1996 'R' wagon. I was told I'd be charged $1900 for some mandatory inspection before I could take it to Canadian Tire for the standard required inspections. Furthermore, only a Volvo dealer could perform the required repairs they find. Are you kidding I said! $1900 labor to inspect a 13 year old car with 200K kms! I can only imagine what they'd charge me if the rear main seal was slightly seeping! As much as I love Volvo, I decided today I would NEVER buy one again(at least not until Volvo Canada gets its act together and pricing in line; and hell freezes over I imagine). They must think we have rocks in our heads arrogant buggers!! My Miata was a great experience. My local Mazda Dealer installed my DRL's and helped me with the process. As a result I do get my car serviced there. Car Stealers, I mean,dealers don't make money their selling new cars anyway, it's all in the service after the fact.

I say buy American cars and spend the thousands you save at the Canadian Malls. Likely more helpful to the economy

I purchased an 03 Acura MDX from the states in September, 2007. After all was said and done I saved $7000. It was really quite simple, I just did a little research on the internet and had all my paper work in order, and it was smooth sailing. Until, the transmission went on it a week before christmas. Cost me $7000. Acura is paying half of the transmission cost, cause they realize that there was a problem between 01-03 transmissions. Which would have helped greatly, but since the vehicle was imported from the states they deemed it a "grey market" vehicle, and would not help out. What gets me is, the vehicle was manufactured in Canada, so how that makes it a "grey market" vehicle is beyond me. I was simply bringing it back home to where it belongs! Now would I buy from the states to save thousands again? Of course, who wouldn't. If you are feeling bad about not supporting the Canadian economy, don't worry, you are still paying the GST, and PST. So I say, stick it to the man!!! and save your money!

Hey Guys, I work for a dealer/leaser in Calgary. My most difficult job is importation. There are so many little backstabbing tricks and fees that usually it's not worth the effort to get the price break you see between canadian/ us vehicles. the worst part is that there isn't anything we can really do. We can't get our cars registered in Canada without going through the steps they charge so steeply for. the only companies that you would still get a good price on after going through the process are MB and BMW even though it's such a time consuming process you practically have to quit your day job for three-eight weeks to get it done. Yeah MB is charging 20K less in the states but it's such a pain in the ass that it's almost not worth it to do it. My boss is reluctant to import MB anymore because of it and thats what our company does.

Anyway. I'm in the process of writing a Complete HOW TO IMPORT from the states for the 2008 year and it will be up on the Internet soon I PROMISE! you can find me on blogger as idiomatic.canadian at Idioms and Idiots or Ask Reception. I'll try to have it up today but it will have as much information as I can get onto it about importing all the cars I have ever Imported and as many as I can get organized off RIV.
P.s RIV is an awesome resource but for final word on admissibility you have to ask the manufacturer.

If you want a US car and don't want the hassle go to www.blackhorseautomotive.com
I realize i just killed my credibility by advertising for the company i work for but it really is easier to get one from them than to do it yourself. just remember the only cars worth importing anymore are BMW and MB.

I've been importing BMWs as a business for 20 years from Europe and the US. I race an M3 in the BMW CCA and instruct performance driving school students with BMWs. I love the marque. It's shortsighted for BMW to tag on these excessive fees. Sadly, I am pushing my clients into Audis and Porsches where there is greater value and less grief importing them.

I too am upset with all this red tape. I was on the verge of buying a bmw 5 series in las vegas at a massive discount im comparison to what is being charged here in canada. In fact the EXACT same vehicle I was going to import is listed at a local dealership for just over 29000 more! Even with all this hassle it is still worth jumping through all the hoops and just to spite any local bmw dealership, I will pay any all all associated costs to import the vehcile. But I agree with all other posts in the sense that why should we pay, as Canadians, more for vehicles than our American friends? Truly, the Canadian government has egg on its face and needs to stop manufactures from taking advantage of Canadian consumers.

I dont think car manufacturers should be blamed for this. The only thing they care is profit, so if nothing stops them to sell their cars at higher prices they will continue to do so; you can't really blame them. The Canadian goverment should intervene and protect the consumer, but then again its Canada, anything is tolerated, which is pretty sad

Simply pissed at this situation.

How is it that all of a sudden they are not sure these vehicles are admissible any more? I have a copy of the admissibility list from RIV from a year ago, and most BMW's and all Volvo's were admissible up to 2007.

I cannot believe that these co's can get away with this!! I want to import a used bmw...but riv.ca says we have to check with bmw canada in the admissable vehicles doc. Why are the necessary changes not documented like most other auto co's??? What do we have to do to join together to fight this anti-trade, anti-competition behaviour?

This is criminal behaviour on the part of BMW Canada and Mercedes Benz Canada.

Here's some background on how Mercedes Benz canada charge higher prices for the same cars that sell in the US for 30-50% less.

Mercedes Benz canada, actually have an arrangement with their parent company, (Daimler Chrysler Benz Germany) The german parent co, charges Mercedes Benz canada 30-40% more for the wholesale cost of the vehicle...

so mercedes benz canada buy a c300 from germany for CAD$32,000 and the MSRP in canada is CAD$41,000

mercedes benz USA buy the identical vehicle from germany for US$18,000 and MSRP it for US$32,000

so basically the extra money that MB is making on the canadian car goes back to germany, where Mercedes Benz gets all kinds of tax breaks and incentives...MB Canada reports a smaller profit and the canadian buyer gets stung for an extra $9,000 on the BASE cost.

it's criminal conspiracy tax evasion in canada, because MB Germany are inflating the cost to shift revenue back to germany, and MB Canadas measures to block US imports are conspiracy to fix pricing and prevent competition, What the hell is going on Canada, what happened to NAFTA?

Mercedes Benz Canadas statement on pricing discrepancy with the US: "We dont compete with other markets, we compete in the Canadian market"

It appears as though we are subsidizing the US marketplace.....if the price for imported vehicles is too high in the states, the vehicles won't sell. The only way they can compete is to keep their prices lower....as for Canada, we're gullible & willing to pay the price.

Same can be said for other consumer items.

It's a clear conspiracy and it has allowed Mercedes and BMW to keep their prices high in Canada to gouge consumers. They're able to do it because the majority of their clientele are well off enough to shrug off the cost, and their products are in demand. Almost every other car company has been forced to reduce prices dramatically to bring them into line with fair market value for the cars based on the high Canadian dollar. For example, the Infiniti M35 dropped frrom 56k to 49k; Infiniti doesn't have a BMW like policy. Even Audi and Lexus have lowered prices dramatically although they have policies preventing the sale of vehicles to Canadians in America (used vehicles can still be purchased).

The reality is, the government shouldn't stand by and let this happen to "protect our economy" because if they open up the borders free and clear, Mercedes and BMW Canada will be forced to lower prices to protect their own dealers in Canada; market forces will do a fine job of protecting Canada's economy. BMW and Mercedes shouldn't be able to exploit them to supplement their black bottom lines. (They both are billion+ euro profit makers).

I'm interested in importing a 2006 Volvo...apparently i would require 2 vehicle inspections...firstly, a safety inspection by Volvo ....at this time they'd also perform any modifications that had to be made to Canadian"ize" the vehicle....this inspection is $1950.00. YUP, almost 2 thousand bucks at the volvo dealership here in Edmonton. Then it has to be given an out of province inspection by the likes of Canadian Tire. What a bloody joke...typical of we Canadians being told to bend over & smile. This is obviously to act as a deterent to prevent Canadians from importing. Appears to me that Volvo is anti-Canadian....and the Government is allowing this.

I found out that a Canadian citizen cannot drive a US vehicle (even if you own it) across the border. Border services told me that I would have to pay the GST (non refundable)on the car before I would be allowed to enter Canada. I went back to Bellingham (to rent a car) the clerk at the counter said there would be no problem driving across with a rental.... WRONG!!!
I phoned a friend to pick me up at the border.....

Is there a lawsuit being filed. I lived in L.A. and own a mini cooper. I am coming back to Canada to live and I am appalled by the red tape and mostly by the expense BMW is inflicting on me. What action can I take to protest?

BMW wants to replace the instrument cluster, & heater controls >$4000.00. Standards at TC does not require this.

Apparently now you also need Volvos' permission to import a volvo into Canada from the U.S