Importing 110 to Canada

[ajh]

OK, I know I've brought this up before and so have many other people. I think I've found a 1993 110 CSW 200TDI that I'm going to import. I want to see if anyone who has gone through this has any advice in addition to the following points.

Make sure it is properly steam cleaned inside and out with an ISO certificate proving that it was done correctly.

Arrange for a freight forwarder (recommendations would be welcome, I've found a couple but more options and ones people have had good/bad experiences with would be good to hear about).

Make sure it has shipping insurance.

Make sure there is a recent MOT emissions certificate and bill of sale included as well as the certificate of permanent export. Is there any other documentation needed?

Make sure it'll pass a safety check.

Make sure it has not been 'significantly modified' excluding routine maintenance.

Be ready to pay GST, other taxes, etc.

Be prepared for government hassles and be patient.

I understand shipping should be 2000-3000CAD or so, the steam cleaning another 500-1000CAD, then about 12-14% in taxes.

I'll be doing the RHD->LHD once it is here for awhile, I'm mostly anxious to get something imported before they do change the import rules to be over 25 years vs the current over 15 years.

Is that a fair summary? Anything else to really be concerned about?

Thank you very much for any input.

 

[Doug C]

OK, I know I've brought this up before and so have many other people. I think I've found a 1993 110 CSW 200TDI that I'm going to import. I want to see if anyone who has gone through this has any advice in addition to the following points.

Make sure it is properly steam cleaned inside and out with an ISO certificate proving that it was done correctly.

Arrange for a freight forwarder (recommendations would be welcome, I've found a couple but more options and ones people have had good/bad experiences with would be good to hear about).

Make sure it has shipping insurance.

Make sure there is a recent MOT emissions certificate and bill of sale included as well as the certificate of permanent export. Is there any other documentation needed?

Make sure it'll pass a safety check.

Make sure it has not been 'significantly modified' excluding routine maintenance.

Be ready to pay GST, other taxes, etc.

Be prepared for government hassles and be patient.

I understand shipping should be 2000-3000CAD or so, the steam cleaning another 500-1000CAD, then about 12-14% in taxes.

I'll be doing the RHD->LHD once it is here for awhile, I'm mostly anxious to get something imported before they do change the import rules to be over 25 years vs the current over 15 years.

Is that a fair summary? Anything else to really be concerned about?

Thank you very much for any input.

First off- great choice. I prefer the 200 over the 300tdi.I have a page devoted to tuning these engines on my site.
I import to the US and can't comment on "steam cleaning" . To import here, a decent pressure wash is sufficient. MOT is not required to export to the US (in fact what a lot of folks have been buying are sorry rust bucket MOT failures ) not sure about Canadian law or what forms your government requires. Shipping insurance is totally worthless- at least for ro/ro shipment. Ro/Ro shipment to the East Coast US is less than $2k to Balt or NY. Shipping ins is around $300 and only covers catostrophic loss (ie ship goes down) not damages. I quit using the insurance after the first two trucks. The Brits no longer issue the permanent export document. Depending on where the truck is in the UK getting it to the docks can be very costly. Most all Ro/Ro shipments leave from Southampton. If you are going to container it that opens a few more ports but container costs are higher.
I have a "work in progress" article on doing the LHD conversion on my website. http://dividingcreekroverimports.com/defender_left_hand_drive_conversion

Cheers and best of luck.

 

[ajh]

Thank you, that was all very helpful. Things like the recent MOT etc aren't required I was more looking at it as a way to judge the general health of the vehicles before bugging friends in the UK to go take photos and inspect them prior to purchase.

I'm excited to be finally getting one and even if the work takes all winter it'll be great by spring , your page is very helpful and much appreciated. I'm planning on doing a number of other improvements while doing the swap and will finally try to remember to document things along the way. Going from working in the driveway of a lot that's 15x64' to one that's 2.4 acres with a 30x32' shop area is going to be huge

 

[lcater]

I would recommend you get the date of manufacture nailed down so you can prove it is 15 years old. If not then you will be subject to the new 'gas guzzler' tax introduced at the last election which will require you to pay $4000 cash to clear it into Canada (+ duty/gst/pst). If it was manufacturer from Sep-Dec 1993 then you may want to find one a few months older or wait until 2009.

 

[Doug C]

To be honest the UK mot is much like safety inspections here in the states- all that really tells you is that its legal. I have seen pictures of stuff thats legally on the road in the Uk that I wouldn't ride in much less import. Have your friends look it over very carefully would be my advice.

 

[ajh]

I couldn't see a 200TDI capable of getting 30mpg on a good day being considered a guzzler. Could you provide a link to the specific regulation you're referring to please?

 

[ajh]

I couldn't see a 200TDI capable of getting 30mpg on a good day being considered a guzzler. Could you provide a link to the specific regulation you're referring to please?

To follow up my own response I found the levy:

Vehicle uses 13-14 litres per 100 km C$1000
Vehicle uses 14-15 litres per 100 km C$2000
Vehicle uses 15-16 litres per 100 km C$3000
Vehicle uses 16 or more litres per 100 km C$4000

The Defender 200TDI is rated at 28mpg which is 8.4l/100km so would not be subject to this. Stop scaring me like that.

 

[lcater]

Don't worry, they'll still find a way to scare you more. They have a table they look up and I would doubt if they have model specific numbers. You might want to check. Go to RIV Canada website and start searching. Again if you can prove the vehicle was manufactured prior to Sept 1993 then you will be okay.
Good luck!

 

[ajh]

Yeah, I won't even attempt to bring it in before the DoM exceeds 15 years from import date. I can wait a little if needed. Hopefully the inspection/photo session a friend is doing this week comes back looking good. I do plan on restoring it or at least putting in things like comfortable front seats and dormobile rear fold flat berth seats so those aren't as big a deal.. mostly I suspect I'll end up pulling out the chassis and rolling gear bits to send them for galvanizing while I locate the bits to do the RHD->LHD work. Fingers crossed.

 

[ajh]

A little more on the "Green Levy", it only applies to vehicles 2007 and newer and those with fewer than 9 seats, so a 110 CSW 11 seater would be exempt anyway under both of those conditions.

 

[globallandrovers]

A good place to start would be stephen cahill in Halifax, he has imported loads of defenders and series vehicles into canada. his email is cahillsj@ns.sympatico.ca He handles any vehicles we send to Canada.

 

[ajh]

Thanks, I'll drop him a note and see if I've missed anything. I'll be meeting it at the dock and handling all the customs paperwork/payments in person either way. So far the only thing I've discovered new in the last week is the 'without significant modification' clause which is a good one to remember. May end up being cheaper to just buy a challenge truck in the UK after and dismantle it for the parts and ship them over without engine/frame/bodywork, or another expedition truck, whatever I can find where the depreciation has eaten up most of the cost of the items and where shipping becomes reasonable again. I'd also consider getting a 40' container for this shipment if we had enough people together to fill the rest with spares/takeoffs/special orders but organizing that could take some time.

 

[ajh]

Well, the one that looked good from a distance ended up being damaged on pretty much every body panel when viewed up close which makes me wonder about other damage as well.

Anyone with suggestions on how to find a reasonable condition 1992/3 110 TDI I'd love to hear from