Cost of shipping parts to Canada. (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Mar 27, 2003
Threads
57
Messages
1,201
Location
Fernie B.C.
For those who want an example of the savings I made by buying parts from John Hocker at Sierrra Vista toyota, instead of my local dealer, here goes.
Fan Fluid Coupling: Cdn dealer $240 cdn
Sierra Vista $140 cdn
Saved $100 cdn
Rear lower control arm bushings (4) : Cdn dealer$300 cdn
Sierra Vista $168cdn
Saved $132 cdn
I also ordered the front axle gasket kit and seal sets to do the birfs etc, but did not get the price from my local dealer. So on the fluid coupler and the bushings alone I saved $232 cdn. The shipping and brokerage fees through UPS cost $53 cdn for everthing including the gaskets and seals. You still have to pay GST(goods and services tax) to the feds, and provincial sales tax where applicable. It only took 8 days to reach me in Fernie B.C. from Sierra Vista Arizona.
Toyota Canada is ripping us off. :mad: :mad:
Sean
 
Sean ,

Thanx for reporting back to us Canucks . I have also bought/received a bunch of Toyota stuff from the US in the past . And being half an hour from the border , I just drive across , pick it up at the depot there , do a lil gambling while I'm there , and drive home in a few hrs . Save on duty that way *S* .

I think I spoke to John on the phone once ; nice guy . His biggest concern was the shipping I'd end up paying . Now if I could only find his number again ... I have my choice of about 30 bankers boxes ??? ::) :p :-[

Cheers ,

Tyler
 
Tyler, the shipping portion of that $53 cdn was $23.80 cdn. The shipping weight was 6lbs. I have a box comming from Slee Offroad and that package weighs 44 lbs. I will post its costs.
Sean
 
Hey guys.
no idea where fernie bc is but I would be more than willing to let you ship goodies to my place. you can then come down and pick it up and drive across in style. I am in Bellingham Washington( 20 minutes from border on I-5) and have a pretty flexible job/life. dont know if the cost in gas makes it worth it but the offer is there.
Dave
 
Hey Dave -

I live just to the north of you in Langley BC. I just might take you up on that.

Riley
 
You guys should take Dave up on his offer sometime . I've never had to 'prove' anything crossing the border because I've always preinstalled the item in the US or kept my mouth shut . Other times , with larger items , I have shredded the boxes , and mailed the invoices to myself from the US . Then I've simply taken a wax crayon and scribbled something like : "Received June '03 - Klondike Wreckers,B.C. : Hold for D. Smith" . This is an attempt to establish that you received it when you took a trip up north , and that it is already yours , and not something you're smuggling back across ! :p

As far as this methodology working for me ... it does for a number of reasons :

  • I pay NO duty .
  • I have it shipped between commercial sites , so the shipping is minimal .
  • Gas is usually cheaper , so I fill up while there :D

Cheers ,

Tyler
 
Ok , I have to tell you guys this ... it's an illustration of what can go wrong if you choose NOT to keep your mouth shut while crossing back into Canada !

A fellow list member , Landtank , was very kind in sending me a part last year . It was an electronic part which needed a lil tweaking , but worked for the most part . When I knew UPS would be making their scheduled drop at the commercial site I use , I drove into the US . I was a little early , so I sauntered up to the bar and forced back some of that watered down US beer :flipoff2: :flipoff2: . A while later the UPS arrived and when he unloaded , I obtained my part ; a $1.50 later :D .

I started back across the border , with my new-to-me gizmo seated next to me . I guess I was feeling extra generous , or just plain stupid , because when the lady at the CDN customs window asked me if I was bringing anything back with me , I actually spoke words other than my customary 'no' . What I did will forever piss me off . I reached over , picked up the package off the seat next to me , and rambled , 'yeah , I just picked this package up .. it's from a friend .'. She asked me what it was and again my brain farted ! 'It's an electronic part for my vehicle' . 'What is it's value ?', she replied in humourless candor . 'Ahh , I'm not sure , you see it's really defective so my friend just sent it to me so I could check it out '-partially true 8) . 'PULL OVER and come in !' she exclaimed ...

I went in and took out the part for them to look at . They would not believe me in regards to my ignorance of a list price for it . They opened up the instructions inside , and found a toll free number for the company . When they tried to phone the number , she came back and siad it would not wirk from Canada . So get this ... They demanded I get back in my 80 , drive back into the US , phone the company from there , and have them fax the customs office a list price for the item !!!! #$%^&*( :flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2: I could have strangled the bitch , but instead , I went and did as I was told . Of course the store had already closed by this time and I was SOL . Gotta love Canada customs ...

I get back to their office , and now they tell me they have to seize the part until 'I' can prove it's value !! I said , ok why doesn't one of you get on the internet and look it up ?? 'Because no one on shift has internet clearance !' At that point I think I snuck out a snicker ... *deep controlled sigh* Not controlled enough , because now the officer is frowning at me , asking me if I've consumed any alcohol tonite . 'Yes mamm , I had a bud when I was waiting for UPS to unload...' Nuff said . I stood there stewing and trying to come up with a way to get them the price TONITE , so I wouldn't have to return again !

VOILA ! I suddenly realized that I could call my wife at home , get her on the web and then have her fax the price here . I went over to the hall with the phones and realizing this might take a while I dragged a 4-seater bench down the hall to drop my ass on . Getting my wife on the web , and onto the correct site wasn't hard . However we only have a computer fax program , and I've rarely used it . I had her copy the web page into a text file . Then I had her open the fax program ... next we discovered she could just drag the text file onto the fax proggy . We hung up , it worked and the rest is history ... and $17.00 in duty !

I kicked myself in the ass for my honesty , and decided to keep my mouth shut from then on :-X :-X :-X :-X !

Tyler - 'Shhhhhhh!'
 
Umm, for those who suggested ways to get around canada customs by, um, lying to them, remember this is a public website and they can probably find you if they read enough of your old posts... perhaps you should speak in the "hypothetical" instead of from personal experience :-X.

I can add another nasty customs surprise. I just got back from vacation. While away my new fishfinder proved defective. A new one was shipped under warranty from the US supplier. It arrived with $75 in tax, duty and brokerage fees due COD (half of that was the UPS customs brokerage fee). Canada Customs did not appear to care that it is a replacement warranty part. I was kind of mad to have to pay $75 on a warrantied item with a declared value of $139. To their credit, the supplier agreed to eat these charges when I threatened to reject the package, but I will have to wait until I get their cheque before I believe it. Lesson learned, be very careful about customs charges and borkerage charges from courier companies.

However, my best border issue arises from buying my boat. I keep it in our summer place in Point Roberts Washington. When I bought it I had the guy deliver it there and paid him there. This was for convenience and quite by accident. Then I registered the boat registration transfer with the Canadian federal shipping. Three months later I received a sales tax bill from the province who apparently get copies of these transfers from the feds. Since there was no price stated they arbitrarily valued my boat based on 16' length at $20,000 and demanded 7% sales tax within 14 days (Actual boat price was $1200). After going back to the vendor to get a bill of sale to prove how much I paid it occurred to me that the whole transaction took place outside Canada let alone BC and the boat was still there so there was no sales tax due! I duly wrote them setting out the salient facts, and found myself in the weird and wonderful world of the provincial sales tax appeal process where they didn't know what to do with me. Eight months and several letters later they demanded an affidavit from me swearing that I would never bring it into BC. It turns out that according to them there is a provincial regulation in the sales tax code that if you buy something in a foreign country and cannot rule out the possibility of someday bringing it into BC, then sales tax is due immediately (not when you bring it in). Think about that. Anyway, since I bring the boat into Canada once a year for a vacation I couldn't swear otherwise and I was toast. By that time they were threatening to levy penalties and interest on me that were more than the original tax so in return for caving, I paid the original tax.

The moral of the story is, I hate the government and there are no tax loopholes.
 
point well taken,
let me rephrase the statement.
Hye I know a guy who lived in bellingham and has a garage where you can work on your land cruisers. to save you trouble you can have the parts you need shipped here and probably a hand installing them. what you do at the border is your business not mine.
Dave
 
Dave ,

You don't actually think my name is Tyler , do you ? *G* I'm just a ghost , that by way of proxies , posts here once in a while ... The above story was simply a piece of entertaining fiction . So Big Brother , if you're lurking , please grudgel thy brains no more about it , for there is no smuggling , there is no black market , and we all love you very , very much ;-(|)

'Tyler'
 
Guys,


Hypothetically, I would toss a bit of mud on them new springs and shocks if it was me ;)
 
Things are getting a little out of hand at the US/Canadian borders all right. Recently my wife and I spent a few days celebrating our 10th up in BC - easily the most beautiful place in the world, BTW. On the drive home in the 80, we found flat rocks perfect for making a path through the garden alongside the road. Stopped and put a dozen in the cargo area. At the border, the guy nearly would not let me bring them in because they had "too much Canadian dirt on them". I later recounted this story to a buddy, who promptly blew Pepsi out his nose and started laughing hysterically - slapping his knee and the whole 9 yards. Turns out he had just been talking to a friend of his whose company is working on a major construction project up near the Canadian border. Their source for gravel on this project? Why a gravel pit near our vacation spot in BC, and the trucks go through the very border crossing we were hassled at. So, it's OK for commercial trucks to haul hundreds of tons of Canadian dirt in, but the average US citizen gets a little verbal warning for about 3 ounces of it. Yeesh. Don't get me wrong - I live in the greatest country in the world. But the morons are really making inroads into our standard of living, lately.

IdahoDoug
 
Swallowing camels and choaking on gnats.
-B-
 
This is a dang funny thread. I have been to Canadia once and I did enjoy it, but it sounds like the gov't needs to lighten up sometimes. A $1200 boat into a $20000 boat? 3 oz. of Canadian dirt? What is the deal? Someday I will go back to Cananada on vacation or something, but I will remember my little red book. ::)
 
On my original post the shipping from Sierra Vista Toyota was not included in the brokerage fees, and was $24 cdn for a 6lb package. I also just received a box from slee offroad. The brokerage fees were the same at $53 cdn and the shipping was $84cdn for a 44lb package.
Sean
 
Rogue , you're killin me bud !! How many times 'did' you edit that post ... and STILL you mispelled Canada twice .. :flipoff2: :flipoff2: :D

Tyler

PS: I apologize if ya gots aixelsid or you stututtorrr .. ;)
 
[quote author=Beowulf link=board=2;threadid=4597;start=msg35076#msg35076 date=1061880116]
Swallowing camels and choaking on gnats.
-B-

[/quote]

B - what you swallow is none of our business. :-X :flipoff2: :D
 
Tyler,

Did you hear the one about the dyslexic, agnostic, insomniac?









He stayed awake at night wondering if there really is a dog.

:D

-B-
 
[quote author=Tyler link=board=2;threadid=4597;start=msg35374#msg35374 date=1061945577]
Rogue , you're killin me bud !! How many times 'did' you edit that post ... and STILL you mispelled Canada twice .. :flipoff2: :flipoff2: :D
Tyler
[/quote]

No I didn't. Canadia... Cananada... Canada... It's all the same.
 

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