Ben, good luck with this idea. Here follows a truly Beonese dissertation
First Off some internet hunting advice
#1 Make sure you carfax a vehicle before you waste any time. I came across several vehicles with salvage titles for sale on line without disclosure. Also, don’t assume they don’t have lockers because they don’t mention it.  
rop it in casually in the inquiry like you have a checklist (I actually made a checklist of about 15 things) so they don’t know it’s important to you and be prepared to give directions on where to look and you will find many do that don’t mention it. If you get very serious about a truck and want to confirm it has lockers you can try to persuade a Toyota dealer to pull the build-sheet off their computer for that vehicle which will tell you what options it had. If you find a vehicle in Utah I may be able to help you get a better vehicle history than carfax. PM me
#2 Be patient and wait for a one or 2 owner vehicle that has always been in the same state – this is more important than mileage to me -- Changes between states can “wash” salvage titles and many owners makes it less likely you will get a useful vehicle history. What I then did is carefully go over every issue I could think of and then negotiate a price subject to inspection by a mechanic. I then had the vehicle inspected by a local SLC Toyota aftermarket specialist mechanic ($120). In hindsight I would use a Toyota dealer b/c the guy was too glib and didn’t inspect the body properly. Also, in hindsight I would have asked someone on this board or 80scool to look at the truck (I had offers to do that but felt guilty asking and was too impatient to wait a week).
#3 For some reason, the highest prices in the US for cruisers are on the west coast in Washington Oregon and California. You can rail ship from the US east coast just about as cheap as you can truck trailer ship from California. I would stay away from the southeast (I never got a definitive list of safe “title“ states but I did learn there are possible problems with salvage titles being “washed” on any vehicle that has spent time east of Texas or south of New Jersey). Maybe someone else here knows the states with reliable title
Next, here’s the scoop on importing that I can remember.
To import a car into canada you have to do four things
1. clear it through US customs as ok to export
2. clear it through Canadian customs as ok to import
3. clear it through the federal RIV program,
www.riv.ca,
4. get it provincially inspected, sited by ICBC and registered
You will need a clean original title and signed original signed bill of sale to get it in the country. There is no form for the bill of sale. I can PM you the one I used if you like (it worked)
If you use a rail shipping company they can help with 1 and 2. try Searail in Vancouver, or
http://www.movecars.com for a list. Searail has a customs bonded yard in Surrey and the truck will be delivered there and they will help you clear customs in the yard. Shippers will all quote you destination to destination. For truck trailer shipping points you can get deals close to the date if a transporter is passing nearby that is not full.
The trouble with shipping is you never see the truck until it is too late. I opted to close the deal myself by flying one way to SLC. I am glad I did. There was undisclosed body damage and I ended up reducing the price by $500 on the spot (although there was more that I didn’t find until later). Flying one way and driving home was cheaper than shipping, plus a fun road trip.
If you drive yourself, you can get special ICBC transit insurance before you go (about $50) and then you buy a transit permit from the local state DMV which is a temporary window sticker licence plate that costs $5. When you get to the border you have to get through US customs by showing them it is not stolen which requires clear title and an original bill of sale from the person shown as the owner on the title. You need to check the website of the DMV in the state you are buying for clarity as to what docs you need to ensure title is clear and you will likely want to go to a DMV with the seller at the time of sale and get the title document verified (at the same time you get your transit sticker). You should be able to buy without paying local state sales tax. Again this is a DMV issue.
US vehicles have original title documents which are sometimes held by banks as collateral or “endorsed” by the bank with a lien. Get a commitment from the seller as to when he can deliver a clear title early on. Many dealers give the titles on vehicles to banks and they can take days or weeks for the bank to release. US owners apparently will take delivery of the car before the title is released but that is no good for you. Some dealers also apparently don’t bother to transfer title on trade ins or are not the owners of the vehicles they sell – This may cause you border problems because the seller on the bill of sale won’t match the registered owner. Using an autoshipper can help you with these two problems since the truck can sit in a secure bonded yard in Canada while they are sorted out.
It is “fun” to deal with the US custom vehicle export division yourself. You will spend a lot of time on long distance hold and you will find that every customs officer has different rules. Find one person and deal with them exclusively and try to develop a rappor. There is an export office at the truck crossing at Blaine. They have forms they can fax you that you need to fax back. They need to see a fax copy of the title 3 days before you try to cross the border. Also, they are not open weekends so if you try to drive home on a weekend you will have to park at the border until Monday.
To get it through Canadian customs you need the title stamped by US customs as ok for export and a bill of sale. If they are paying attention they will charge you duty of 6.1% because the truck is made in Japan (they do not always remember to charge this) plus GST of 7%. They will also charge you a $100 a/c tax.
To get through the RIV program you have to pay $182. Look at
www.Riv.ca. They require a letter from Toyota confirming that all applicable recalls have been attended to on the vehicle (any US Toyota dealer can provide such a letter). They make you fill in a form at Customs then you have to go for a federal inspection conducted by Canadian Tire (price included in the fee) This is a joke – they missed the rusted out muffler on my truck and the fact my tires were completely bald. Any defects identified by Canadian Tire have to be fixed within 30 days (but not nec. by Canadian Tire).
RIV also makes you retrofit safety features required on Canadian vehicles in the year of manufacture of your US vehicle. In the case of an 80, this requires daytime running lights and a child seat anchor mount (that need not be installed). Toyota charges $175 to do the lights. I am told the anchor mount kit from any vehicle in the glove box is good enough. Canadian Tire mistook the tie down loops in my truck bed for a an anchor anyway. Once Canadian Tire clears your vehicle they have to send it to the Ontario office of RIV and you get an approval form. If you ask nicely this can all be done quickly by fax.
Provincial inspection is the standard safety inspection for things like brakes –most mechanics can do it and it cost me $80. A major reason is to indentify damage so that you don’t try to claim it off ICBC (the only defect noted on my vehicle was a chip in the windshield).
The last step is getting it registered. You have to go to an Autoplan agent and they have to “Sight” the vehicle themselves by personally checking the VIN as well as confirm the RIV and provincial inspection forms (by this time your VIN will have been inspected by as many as 6 people so make sure it is the first thing you check when you go to collect the vehicle and compare the door and dash VINs). They will charge you PST at that point. Then you will be insured and on your way.
The ICBC transit insurance runs out the second you get the vehicle "home" and cannot be used to move the vehicle around from Canadian Tire to the ICBC inspector. I solved this problem by making a deal with a mechanic who was a provincial inspector. I delivered the truck "home" to his shop. He got the provincial inspection work, the DRL conversion work and other service work in return for using his repair plates to take it to Canadian Tire for me, and then to the Autoplan agent. This saved me more temporary ionsurance costs.
Bottom line – you can buy a very decent cruiser for $12,000US right now, and a decent LX450 for US$16,000. Including all of the charges noted above (taxes, duty, inspections) that works out to $20,000CDN or $26,700 for the LX450 plus your travel costs or shipping costs. I have yet to see a decent 80 of any year for sale in Vancouver for less than $27,000 plus pst.
There, it’s as easy as pie! The riskiest part is that you will not personally get to check out the vehicle yourself until you have already paid for a vehicle inspection and either flown to the truck or paid to ship it home. I would do it again, but I would be even more careful about the questions I asked and getting it inspected properly.
