Importing USA Titans into Canada

[Pijetro]

FYI....
I'm processing the same issues...A few details have changed since Tiny bought his truck...Nothing earth shattering...

The biggest change regards warranty......

Nissan USA told me (funny that the call centre is in Hamilton Ontario), that the truck needs to be registered with Nissan in the US first....Then brought over into Canada, and registered again...

If the vehicle makes it over to Canada, after US stamps the "bye-bye" stamp, you could potentially void the warranty...

Currently, i'm in the General discussion thread about this topic, but will leave you with a bit of info...
Those looking for the $5000 Nissan rebate to clear out the '07 stock NEED to have state or US residency..It doesn't work for the hosers from the North...

Anyways, the whole import process is 98% the same from the original poster..

[05titancanadianle]

good luck man

[Dogbone]

Originally Posted by tiny

Hi all - new to the site, just discovered it this week and it seems to be extremely helpful!

After test-driving a new Titan locally and deciding I **HAD** to have one, I've just put down a deposit on a new Blizzard White 2006 SE Crew Cab. I'm very tall (6'8" - hence the nickname 'Tiny') and cannot believe how much more headroom I have in a Titan over the competition.

Anyhow, after doing much shopping around and internet research I came to realize that it appears to be much cheaper for me to import from the USA. I've even put a deposit down over the phone with a US Nissan dealer near the Alberta border yesterday, so I am committed to the process now! (Can't wait to see my new baby in a couple of weeks!)

I have been to the R.I.V. "How to Import" site and it seems easy enough - and saving several thousand dollars on sticker+taxes seems worth the hassle. I'm hoping that Customs charges GST on my invoice amount, and not the Canadian MSRP. Anyway, I believe that I just have to add Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) to be compliant with Canadian law.

Does anybody know how easy/difficult it is to modify a US Titan to have DRLs for Canada? I'm not mechanical at all, so hopefully it isn't too bad. Just hoping that I don't have to go to a local dealer who may be annoyed with me for buying "south of the border"... Hopefully others have been through the process. I found a few other threads on this site, but nothing with details so far. If this info is elsewhere I'd appreciate a pointer!

Thanks all
Tiny

I imported a 2004 LE from the US and here are some things to take note of

1)GO TO US CUSTOMS make sure you go to us customs with the vehicle title (or copy of) and fill out the necessary paper work a min. of 3 buisness days prior to import NOTE: Business days weekends do not count on the 72 hour time period.

2)You will need to insure your vehicle if driving it back across the border from the US , In BC via ICBC I got a Binder of Insurance that allowed temp transport in Canada until I could register the vehicle and license it in Canada NOTE: You cannot license the vehicle until Federal and Provincial saftey inspections are complete
NOTE: you will need to get a permit in the US to drive it to the border

3)Bring Title to US customs before importing but after the 72 hour period in step 1 to be stamped ok to exprt then bring all paperwork to Canada Customs including bill of sale

4)You pay GST at the border on the purchase price

5)You will pay PST when licensing the vehicle

6)Make sure you have a letter from a Nissan dealership stating that there are no recalls on the vehicle. (this must have offical Nissan Letterhead, I recieved a printout from the Nissan Service Dept with the dealerships letterhead and faxed this to RIV days before planning to bring the vehicle across the border and just incase I also sent it with the Form1)

7)There is a $200 fee for RIV this includes the Federal inspection cost. this is payable at Canada Customs

8)You will get a form from RIV (Form 2) after all paperwork from Canada Customs has been submited, FAX CUSTOMS PAPERWORK (FORM 1) ASAP and give them your email address and request Form 2 be sent to your email rather than snail mail. NOTE YOU NEED THIS FORM FOR FEDERAL INSPECTION.

9) Nissan had to install my DRL for just over $200 Cambodian Tire told me that they could but as expected they couldn't so I had to go to Nissan.


hope this helps,
Any other questions PM me

[Islander]

I just imported a 2006 LE with Nav/DVD/Sunroof/Towing/Offroad package. With some good planning and advance warnings of the import process it was relatively painless. I am however curious to hear that most guys on this thread are paying between $250- $400 bucks to have the DRL module hooked up. I paid $40 bucks online, had the "premium" module (you can get a couple different ones) shipped to my door and installed it in about 30 minutes in my driveway. With a few searches on the forums you can find all the links and info you need. In BC there is no requirement to have a dealer install the DRL. I am not sure about other Provinces though.
Also, as a few guys mentioned, the inspection at Canadian Tire is a joke. I paid my cash, left my truck with them for an hour and I doubt the guy even walked out to the parking lot to verify the VIN number :-)
The one thing I would like to do is lay my hands on a metric instrument cluster. Anyone got a good source for wrecked Titans. I looked into the aftermarket overlays and there is a company that will print them up in metric but I wanted to see what the full replacement cluster would run.

[Pijetro]

With some good planning and advance warnings of the import process it was relatively painless.

Not me.....It was a headache, regardless of how easy it might seem..
How is somebody able to avoid taxes on a brand new truck??You need to register with the DMV..
Nissan requires this for warranty approval.

Hey Islander, i'm going through some really turbulent (self inflicted) times...

I thought that the LE models had DRL's already installed???

@Dogbone....
I'm crossing my fingers on the 72hour issue....
If it doesn't include weekends, then i'm screwed. The paperwork is going through this Thursday, and i'm coming back on Sunday..I'll probably be forced to drive through, and back again..
Or stay in a hotel until everything's processed..

[Islander]

Originally Posted by Pijetro

Not me.....It was a headache, regardless of how easy it might seem..
How is somebody able to avoid taxes on a brand new truck??You need to register with the DMV..
Nissan requires this for warranty approval.

Hey Islander, i'm going through some really turbulent (self inflicted) times...

I thought that the LE models had DRL's already installed???

@Dogbone....
I'm crossing my fingers on the 72hour issue....
If it doesn't include weekends, then i'm screwed. The paperwork is going through this Thursday, and i'm coming back on Sunday..I'll probably be forced to drive through, and back again..
Or stay in a hotel until everything's processed..

Hey Pijetro. Unfortunately, the 72 hour thing at the border is in reality "3 working days" (not including weekends and US Stat holidays). The US Border people are not flexible on this (believe me I asked). As they describe it, they use this time as a "cooling off" period so they can do a back ground check and make sure the vehicle is not stolen or anything. Beats me why they need 3 days to run a 15 minute history check ...

The checklist in this thread that Tiny put together pretty much mirrored the checklist that I used. Fortunately for me I had the prior experiences of a couple friends and a family members to rely on. If you get all your ducks in order before you leave to pick up your new ride, you can get the whole transaction done in a couple days.

As for taxes... just like death, they are unavoidable. Sorry dude. The government wants their cut of the action as soon as you bring any consumer good into the country. The good news is you don't have to pay any tax in the state that you purchase it in. All the dealer needs is your signature on an exemption form and away you go. As soon as you hit the border though, you will have to cough up that tax bill for the GST.
PST is up to your individual province. We have to pay it in BC as soon as we register the vehicle with ICBC.

As for DRL. As far as I have found from searching the various forums and asking for advice, there is no factory equiped DRL in any US model. Only Canadian models that were destined for Canada and installed that way from the factory.

I found that the main relay box (behind the battery) has all the slots ready to accept a nice little plug in DRL module (if you were so inclined to buy one from Nissan) but the wiring harness to connect it all is not installed from the factory. I talked to a couple Nissan service guys and they confirmed that it would be a nightmare to run all the wires you need and they don't even do it when someone imports a truck from the US. They simply install a $25 - $50 aftermarket module and hit you up for 3 hours labour :-)
I hope your import goes smoothly.
Cheers

[Pijetro]

Islander wrote:

The good news is you don't have to pay any tax in the state that you purchase it in.

But my understanding for warranty is....It needs to be registered in the US first, and then in Canada for warranty to be valid..
The catch 22 being that u have to pay state taxes on a newly registered vehicle..
Of course, used vehicles don't have the issue, since it's already registered, and Nissan can keep a tab on the truck...
I'm totally aware of the taxes here...I realize they can't be avoided.

As far as the US border is concerned..............I'm screwed..Actually, the dealership screwed me hard (it's a long story)...But a complaint is in the works...
Hopefully, i can drive on through, and come back in a few days to claim the exportation...
Either that, or request holidays from work, and sleep in the office for the next few days..

Thanks for the head's up on the module...

[Islander]

[quote=Pijetro]Islander wrote:


But my understanding for warranty is....It needs to be registered in the US first, and then in Canada for warranty to be valid..
The catch 22 being that u have to pay state taxes on a newly registered vehicle..

Yes you are correct. Sorry, I mis-read the fact that you are importing a new Titan. Once it has been registered in the states the warranty is active and can be transferred to Canada. I never ran into this headache because I imported a Titan that was 8 months old (used).
I imagine you are already going down this road... but I would be inclined to push the issue with Nissan North America. At the very least they should HAVE TO cover their initial 3 year/80,000 km warranty(extended and premium packages could be a different story). I would be surprised if they could justify any reason behind not supporting their vehicle for the basic warranty period. Ask them if they are that uncertain about their product that they are looking for any loop-hole not to back it? Even so, if you do bring it up to Canada and you get all your paperwork done and cleared, and you get it registered in Canada what justification could your local Nissan dealer at home give you for not warrantying your truck? A paperwork technicality on import? What a bunch of BS they are giving you. Sorry to hear you are getting the run around from Nissan. Let us know how it works out.


ps: I just thought of something for your Tax angle.....
Go ahead and pay the state tax, register the vehicle, get your warranty active in the states and then claim back the taxes at the boarder. I know that American tourists do this for GST on any product that they buy in Canada. Can you find a state sales tax claim form on line for the state that you are buying from ?

[Pijetro]

Go ahead and pay the state tax, register the vehicle, get your warranty active in the states and then claim back the taxes at the boarder. I know that American tourists do this for GST on any product that they buy in Canada. Can you find a state sales tax claim form on line for the state that you are buying from ?

Genius......I never thought of that...

Of course, i don't know if you need to be a resident to register it.. Regardless, you can kiss any Nissan price incentives good bye....

Yes.......I will definately let you know...Right now, i've got two dealerships playing ping pong with my money....It's good enough for a novel.

[tiny]

Just a quick update... I still have had no warranty repairs after 16 months. I don't drive far even though I do drive it daily... my mileage is only at 11,000 km.

-Tiny