[tiny]

So, today I went to my bank, got a too-high quote on exchanging to US funds (Again), got a bank Draft in Cdn$ and went to the 3rd party exchange company Accu-Rate. I saved about Cdn$55 on the exchange, and then the wire transfer was also C$5 cheaper. I got the bank account information from the dealer and all the wire transfer info. It's best to call ahead to where you are going to wire the funds from and make sure you have all the info with you to perform the wire transfer.

Feels strange wiring $30K to somebody you've never met, but the cash should be there tomorrow. My sales rep is supposed to call me in 24 hrs to confirm the money made it into their business account.

In the meantime, I called US Customs in Sweetgrass, MT and they had an automated option to select if "exporting a vehicle". I selected it and got a customs officer who faxed me a 'worksheet'. I faxed this to my sales rep and he filled out the form and called the Customs guy back directly and they spent some time making sure the paperwork as all in order. This ** must be done 72 hours in advance of showing up at the US border!!! ** I am planning on being there Friday at noon, and this paperwork wasn't faxed to us customs until about 2pm and the customs guy actually commented that it wasn't 72 hours in advance and I 'could have a problem'. But overall he was helpful with the paperwork and my sales rep indicated that he was good to work with over the phone. So, the next part is getting through Canadian customs. More on this tomorrow.

In the meantime - check out the following website -->
naata.org
This appears to be a not-for-profit association that helps people buy from dealers that are experienced in import/export issues between canada/USA and the EU. Very cool - apparently they will hook you up with a dealer that knows what they are doing. Likely worth an email to them if you are considering doing an export from USA into Canada. They also confirm prices are MUCH CHEAPER to buy in the usa than in Canada.

That's all for now,
-Tiny