Is it possible to import a Canadian RX8 into the USA and what has to be done to allow this procedure?
Are the EPA and DOT Standards the same?

The reason I am asking is that I am selling my pre-order on ebay.ca and someone from NY State has asked me these questions.
I appreciate everyone's help! Thanks!!

JayDee

 

I think you have to keep it in Canada 6months to a year before you could bring it over. And there are other reasons not to, but I don't remember them- but I'm sure someone else will. The general concensus when this came up before was that it wouldn't work.

 

i beleive you can export from canada to usa, but you have to pay alot of money to bring the car up to epa status. it is different in usa then in canada. and i belive it is a few thousand dollars to change this. not completely sure, but have heard stories in the past of people who have imported cars from out of country and it is a hassle to register it and also a hassle to do any warranty on the car becasue the warranty is different. i would not recomend doing it.---- so how much are you getting for your presale auction so far??

 

Hey!! My pre-order on ebay.ca(Canada) hasn't got 1 bid on it yet! That is hard to believe since we are only getting 700 total for all of Canada. I am only wanting my $2000.00 deposit back.

It will be a wait and see auction!

JayDee

 

Check this past Saturday's Toronto Star. There was a letter from a guy who was complaining about the availability of RX-8's. I believe his email address was at the end of the letter.

 

hrm, i don't know where i read it, and it's just a vague memory now, but i remember something to the effect of canada changing its emissions to match the us? which was supposed to make it easier to swap cars etc. but don't hold me to any of that, and it would've only applied to newer cars and such.

 

I don't know about the current situation, but 8 or 9 years ago registering a Canadian car here required very costly modifications to meet emissions and crash requirements.

 

For quite a few years now, Canada's emissions requirements have been the same or very close to the US standards. We actually have tougher bumper laws, as when the US reduced the rear bumper impact requirement from 5 mph to 2.5 mph, Canada kept the 2.5 mph standard (that's why certain vehicles like the 2000-2001 Audi A4/S4 Avant and the 2001+ Toyota MR2 Spyder are not available for sale in Canada). The only regulatory item missing from some Canadian market cars is the VIN stickers required by the US on the inside of major body panels - otherwise, our regs are virtually identical to the US, and are NO impediment to importing a Canadian car to the US.

There is actually a huge and active import market of Canadian vehicles into the US. There are no time restrictions, and until recently the weak Canadian dollar made purchasing a Canadian car a very attractive proposition. The only real issues are in the areas of warranty support, where some manufacturers are giving American owners of Canadian market vehicles a hard time.

Still - ffjaydee, isn't your deposit 100% refundable? I know mine is, and so is every other Canadian RX-8 deposit I've heard of. Unless you're looking for extra hassle or extra profit, why not just ask your dealer for the refund? He'll have no trouble finding a new buyer...

Regards,
Gordon

 

Check the back of your purchase agreement. Mine says if delivery is not within 90 days you can walk.

 

I would tell the prospective buyer to give a local (in New York) title and tag transfer place a call. Second bet would be to call the American Automobile Association. If he lives close enough to the border, they will have looked at this problem before, and they would be better able to advise him.

Anything that we could say would be just guessing. These guys tranfer cars all the time, and I have found both of those organizations good at interpreting local laws.

-H

 

Hmmm, I did a search on ebay.ca for "Rx-8" "RX8" "RX 8" and got no hits for your auction.

You have the car I want, but unfortunately I do not want to buy until I actually see and sit in this car. Although I'm sure I'll buy it either way, I have to wait till my lease is up June 01 2004, or a few months before.

Unless I can sell my current car, I have to wait

 

NO you CANNOT import the RX8 FROM Canada TO the US. When upon signing all papers, you will sign a Trade Agreement stating that unless the vehicle is at least 6 months old or 100000kms, you WILL NOT be allowed to exported. This coming from me who used to work as a sales person selling 1/2 tonz, 3/4 tonz diesels because the prices here were 10k cheaper than the states, not only that Diesels down there are hard to find. Its going to be the somewhat the same concept here with the RX8. Fines can be VERY steep, ranging from 5k upwards of 20k for doing so.

and also your Deposit is 100% refundable.

 

Trade agreement? That's not a government restriction, it's only a manufacturer restriction - which brand trucks did you sell? I know Honda tries to get their buyers to sign such an agreement, because in Canada dealers can not sell vehicles for more than MSRP, and when the Odyssey was in high demand, US dealers were gouging and were annoyed when some of their potential buyers went to Canada to take advantage of the exchange rate and buy for Canadian MSRP.

If I buy a vehicle, it's mine - Ford nor GM, etc. have no say in what I do with it, as far as who I sell it to or where my buyer lives. They do have a say in how they provide warranty support, and that's the real hammer they can hold over people. The whole reason this grey market for Canadian vehicles to the US exists is because the Free Trade Agreement between the two countries makes cross-border sales easy.

Regards,
Gordon

 

Try these: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/imports/imptop.htm

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/

 

it can be done but complicated

1) he'll pay duty on top of TL&L, basically double duty since it came into the US already
2) everything is in imperial instead of matric
3) wrong side of the road they drive on (just kidding)
4) fuel requirement (actually better gas up in Toronto)

5) and most important, he'll lose his warranty once the car is register in canada (provided he can) because warranty of that particular car is cover my Mazda of america, not Mazda of canada.

hopefully your buyer has friends in the US so he/she can register in the US

 

I sold Dodges, and yes you are correct, its NOT a government regulation BUT here is the story behind it.

IF Mazda Canada finds out the dealership sold cars to guys in the states than they will make that dealership PAY AGAIN for the 8. Its like takin a hit back pretty much.

It depends on dealerships, and how very careful they are about these things, sometimes u will find those who don't care and say GOOD FOR U MY BOY, and end up payin the price, and those that will be very stringent on making you SIGN that agreement.

and yes there are still added costs to getting it to da states as in converting metric to imperial which i find btw is very STUPID.