evets

Hi All,

I believe I know what the answer is but thought would double check.

I have a car, Ford, which is around 1 year old.

From what I understand it is not possible unless it is 15 years old or more.
This does not really make sense as how would it pass the safety regulations of today's safety standards.

Would it be possible to ship the car to the US, get it converted to LHD and then import in Canada.

Just looking at options as have no idea about this or costings.

Novocastrian

evets

Don't get your update!

moneypenny20

It's not a thing that's done and even if it was it would cost way more than the car is worth I would imagine. Flog it and buy in Canada.

evets

Ah OK, That was was I was thinking at first, just stumbled across a web site earlier today discussing importing cars and got to thinking about it, if it was/would be an option. Oh Well, welcome to the joy of an overpriced Canadian new car market!

Shirtback

If you haven't already found it, here's the website you need to check:
Importing Vehicles into Canada - Transport Canada

Summary: fugeddaboutit.

R I C H

Why do you say it's overpriced? Why buy brand new?

evets

Well for example, my car cost around 1/5th of my salary in Australia, a similar model is around 1/3rd in Canada.
Brand new as I had not owned a car in 5 years.

R I C H

And are the running costs, specification depreciation etc the same?

I'm unsure how not owing a car for a while justifies having to buy new, especially if you think it's overpriced.

evets

Well I cannot comment on the running costs for Canada, except that Insurance in Ontario is much higher. I would think overall running costs may be higher due to the increased mileage, I noted this from looking at used cars online, and the cost of purchasing winter tires.

That was not my justification, I spent a while looking round for a used car as did not see the value of buying a new car and then driving off the forecourt to see if lose money. Australia has no requirements for a car safety check per year, like the MOT that is in place in the UK, only a requirement to have it certified prior to selling, even then it is not mandatory, it is an agreement by the buyer and seller. From what I understand, I believe Canada works in a similar way. My decision was based on the poor quality of the vehicles I looked at.

R I C H

I think you need to shop around more. I recently purchased a 3yr old 30,000km car in immaculate condition for 50% of its new price. Felt reasonable value to me.

Safety checks etc are provincially determined here. Where I live there aren't any. No MOT equivalent or road tax.

evets

WOW awesome deal. Agreed but shopping around is the way to go. Much easier in person though.

haggis88

Unless it's something you can't get here, then I wouldn't go through the hassle

There are a bunch of companies in California that can do the RHD/LHD conversion, but I'm led to believe it's expensive...looks like factory though - RHD USA Ford F-150 SVT Raptor: Off-Road.com

If you're coming temporarily, you can bring your car for up to 36 months on a TWP, so long as you're exporting again...I used to have the link bookmarked but can't find it now, it's on this forum somewhere

Again if it's some sort of run-of-the-mill grey box (you don't state what kind of Ford) then you'd be far cheaper to get a new one here...the domestic selection is probably on par with Oz tbh, with full-size pickups instead of Utes obviously

evets

Thanks Haggis, appreciated and agree. It was something on my mind after discussing with the shipping company about the size of container to use. They mentioned it may be best to use one full one which is more than I need. This is why I started thinking about importing.

I did see those details about this and emailed them about some clarifications.

Well kinda run of the mill, but not available in Canada or the US for some reason. Then after looking at some of the specs, things quite specific like heated seats, heated wing mirrors, block heaters are pretty useful for the Canadian Winters, not so much for Australia.

One thing I don't quite get, off topic, is why the same model car is cheaper to buy in the US than in Canada. Looking at the Ford website the base prices listed quite different. And the wages are higher in the US than Canada from what I understand.

dbd33

Just about everything is cheaper in the US, hence the huge shopping malls in places like Buffalo and Bellingham. In the case of cars there are years when the difference is enough to make it worth buying a car there and dealing with the lack of warranty in Canada and years when it isn't. Now, it isn't.