Understanding Import Cruiser Prices

[cruiser_guy]

Doesn't necessarily mean anything. Pepe (Bruce's LJ73) was legally licenced too and you know its story....

Like Wayne says, Mike M bought his truck from a licenced dealer. If there is a problem with legalities the dealer goes down or makes good (you could loose the truck but usually not the cash paid). That's the difference between private sales and purchasing from a dealer.

 

[Behemoth60]

yes, Mike has the other 1997. once it is registered then he is fine. he did not do anything illegal. he did not evade the law. i did not do anything illegal and i have chatted this over with the insurance company and they have a record of the discussion in my file and i have a copy. i am totaly registered legaly.

Indeed, these trucks were imported legally by ENS, they are registered and insured legally by their current owners. The problem is that they are used illegally. They are not being used in accordance with the conditions under which they were imported, whcih is off the highways. That's the risk. It's a pretty low risk... someone from Transport Canada would have to receive a complaint from someone about it before anything would happen. That's why these trucks should keep a low profile, stay out of the media, and not generate a lot of press. The less anyone knows about these, the safer it is for their owners. I think the biggest risk is that there may be a major claim against your insurance, and they decide that the don't want to pay because the vehicles don't have daytime running headlights or something like that.

The reason that Pepe the LJ73 got crushed is because the previous owners just happened to see it and complained about it to the RCMP. Otherwise, Pepe would probably still be with us.

Peter Straub

 

[Mick]

I paid 10,000 CDN for my 87 BJ74 with 128,000 kms on the clock taxes included. It cost another 1000 to fix a few glitches and get it saftied. There is no need to pay a fortune for a good landcruiser.

 

[HZJ60 Guy]

Thanks Mic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



TB

 

[Radd Cruisers]

yah, as far as i know Mike and i have the only 2 legaly registered 1997 HZJ75s in NA the rest are 1996 and back...

I thought there were three 1997s and someone got in big poo poo for selling those trucks?

I still remember living in Delta/Surrey when Mike got his truck, quite a nice rig.


On another note, what do you guys with expierence with mining trucks think this flock of HZJ 75s will look like?

 

[Wherlwind]

What kind of problems are there in bringing U.S. trucks into Canada? If it wasn't too difficult I was thinking of finding a rust free 60 and doing a 12HT swap. I know the Japanese trucks have all the bells and whistles but I'd just like to have AC and NO RUST.
pete

 

[crushers]

super easy, no problems at all...

 

[cruiser_guy]

What kind of problems are there in bringing U.S. trucks into Canada? If it wasn't too difficult I was thinking of finding a rust free 60 and doing a 12HT swap. I know the Japanese trucks have all the bells and whistles but I'd just like to have AC and NO RUST.
pete

It's no problem bringing in a US titled truck. You'll need a bill of sale from the owner (you probably can't get title in the US). Fax the paper work to the border post you will be crossing at, at least 3 business days PRIOR to arriving. Bring the truck to the border post after three business days and hopefully the paper work will be processed. Then it's simply a matter of checking VIN numbers on the US side to verify that it's the same vehicle as the paperwork applies to, and that it is not stolen, and paying duty and taxes. $100 extra duty for A/C equipped trucks. After arriving in Canada you need a safety inspection and title transfer. After that you're good to go.
I'd wait till all your title transfer and safeties are complete before the 12H-T transfer.

 

[Radd Cruisers]

What kind of problems are there in bringing U.S. trucks into Canada? If it wasn't too difficult I was thinking of finding a rust free 60 and doing a 12HT swap. I know the Japanese trucks have all the bells and whistles but I'd just like to have AC and NO RUST.
pete

Im with ya Pete, I would buy a rust free cruiser from a dry hot place in the US.

 

[Wherlwind]

Sounds easy enough. What kind of duty would you pay and does it depend on how old it is? I guess there is PST and GST too. Isn't the free trade deal supposed to kick in soon and put an end to duty all together soon?

 

[crushers]

I thought there were three 1997s and someone got in big poo poo for selling those trucks?

I still remember living in Delta/Surrey when Mike got his truck, quite a nice rig.


On another note, what do you guys with expierence with mining trucks think this flock of HZJ 75s will look like?

no, there are 2 one of the pair that came in at the same time to the dealership in BC is a 1996 year...

 

[cruiser_guy]

Sounds easy enough. What kind of duty would you pay and does it depend on how old it is? I guess there is PST and GST too. Isn't the free trade deal supposed to kick in soon and put an end to duty all together soon?

A call to Canada Customs will tell you the duty rate. Add $100 for A/C. We all wish free trade really meant FREE TRADE but it doesn't. The amount of duty will depend on the cost of the vehicle. A falsified or obscenely low value on the bill of sale will have the Customs folks pulling out their books on car values so don't do anything stupid. A running vehicle will be assessed per the retail prices.

The cars I've brought in have been basically parts and as such have very low value (I think we paid a total of $8 duty and taxes for both FJ55's we brought in to make up ours but neither was running, one didn't even have wheels). The customs agent was laughing at us but now we have a nearly running non-rusty FJ55 diesel!

 

[Stone]

Read this page and the supplied links carefully:

http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/importation/impusae.htm

http://www.riv.ca/english/html/how_to_import.html

Note also the PDF file with the list of vehicles eligible for importation into Canada from the USA.

FWIW, there was a discussion in the 80s forum a while ago, and it was discussed that the Transport Canada document made it look like Crappy Tire (aka Canadian Tire) was the only place to get a VI once your vehicle has landed. That's not the case...any facility that has been approved to do VIs can do them, there's even a list provided with the document kit that you will receive, and this has been confirmed by myself through a conversation with an official of the RIV. Personally, I will never even let a wannabe "technician" from Crappy Tire touch a lug nut as they even messed that up on my Pathfinder at one point. HTH.

 

[PVVH]

This sounds like a great idea. A LHD truck with a turbo diesel engine and no rust. However in B.C. we have this lovely thing called Aircare. How do you get a truck that is registered as a gas model through Aircare when it now has a diesel motor? Can you change the fuel type of your vehicle legally?
Also, what do you guys think the ballpark figure for an engine and swap would be? Engine...$4000 labour?????$2000... By that time you are pretty much at the cost of an import model but you don't get a bunch of the cool features...Full floater axles and such.
My 2 cents

 

[cruiser_guy]

In B.C. you can swap an engine from a newer vehicle into an older vehicle but NOT the other way around. I've also been assured that swapping fuel types is not an issue but we haven't got that far with the FJ55 so I don't have first hand experience with that yet.

btw. Your engine swap guesstimate is rather low in my opinion.

 

[PVVH]

Ya, I figured that it would be low. So basically buying a US truck and doing an engine swap is going to cost you more than buying a Japanese Spec Cruiser. Say $5000-6000 for a rust free FJ60/62...12Ht motor...$4000.....labor$4000...Misc. headaches $1000(duty,vehicle inspections, things that go wrong)...all in all $15 000 to $16 000. I'd rather have the RHD model with all the cool features. ;p

 

[Aseif007]

Personally I would rather convert my FJ-62 or my FJ-55 to a diesel. What fun is having a car that is rare when you didn't make it yourself? I am one of those people who never takes his FJ to the mechanic though. An OEM right hand drive Landcruiser is very nice, but when the novelty wears off was all that extra money worth it since both vehicles will get the job done? I live in California and my roommates are smog techs and they say there is serious talk of requiring smog checks on diesels (but I have heard that before!). Not sure if that would effect older cars though but its something to think about since the rest of the world adopts all of California's standards eventually anyway. I think that an Onan diesel in a Landcruiser is a better fit for the US than the OEM motors only due to the availablity of whole motors, parts and mechanics who have actually worked on the motor before! (for those who don;t do their own work) It is a simple swap as the motor has a chevy 350 bolt pattern and the conversion shouldn;t cost more than $4000 total. I would definatly be able to retrofit a diesel cruiser for way less than the imported ones, but not everyone is willing to accomplish that relatively easy task so instead they can drop lots of cash on an imported cruiser. I would love to own a diesel LC, and in 2009 I will import my 84' BJ-70 from Canada when the BJ is DOT and EPA exempt. But for now I don;t see the logic in paying $15,000 for a $5000 truck when I can wait and get it cheaper. No nock on the RI, they provide a service at a heafty ransom for those who are willing to pay. But at the end of the day its what makes you happy, and if you are happy paying too much for a 'popular' 'rare' truck then it's all good. Me, I am happy with my US spec Cruisers. Yes I do love my 97' FZJ-80, but I admit the HDJ-80 would be sweet. I am not trying to nock Toyota diesels either but the reality is that Toyota diesels, since they weren't widely offered here, are rare and more expensive to deal with and hard to find people who are experts on them. So the cost of the imported Cruiser will be more when/if it breaks down. I wish Toyota had imported the 70 series here. Oh well, I can wait until 2009!!!!!!

Andrew
75' FJ-55
88' FJ-62
97' FZJ-80
01' Tacoma

PS- I am not trying to attack anyone in this post, JUST MY $0.02 !

 

[paulj]

" I think that an Onan diesel in a Landcruiser is a better fit for the US than the OEM motors only due to the availablity of whole motors, parts and mechanics who have actually worked on the motor before! (for those who don;t do their own work) It is a simple swap as the motor has a chevy 350 bolt pattern and the conversion shouldn;t cost more than $4000 total. "

I've been doing a lot of research on diesel swaps, and am thinking about a Cummins into a 60. Do you know anybody who's actually installed an Cummins or Onan 6AT? If so, how easy is it to do? I heard you have to have a 4" suspension lift to get the motor to fit. True? I too like the idea of the rugged simplicity, familiarity, and parts availability of Cummins.

 

[Aseif007]

paulj,
I think somebody here was talking about it in one of the non-USA cruiser importation threads. I know it has been done. right now we are working on getting our extra 3FE A440F in our extra FJ-55. Should be fun.

Andrew

 

[Stone]

No nock on the RI, they provide a service at a heafty ransom for those who are willing to pay. But at the end of the day its what makes you happy, and if you are happy paying too much for a 'popular' 'rare' truck then it's all good....PS- I am not trying to attack anyone in this post, JUST MY $0.02 !

I don't know how you think people would interpret your post...but when I read expressions that have negative connotations like "heafty [sic] ransom" and "paying too much", I understand that as an attack on importers even if you say things like "no nock[sic] on the RI" or "I'm not trying to attack anyone..." etc.

And there are good reasons why people pay a premium for JDM cruisers that have been mentioned already: rust free bodies and frames, low kms on the clock, factory options like cable lockers and TDI engines, being able to access Cruiser models that weren't available to NA, etc. It's not just a "novelty", and the idea of having a rust-free Cruiser will never "wear off" on me.

I'm glad that you can wait until 2009 to import your BJ70. Hopefully at that time you can still find one that has some metal left on the body panels and has under 500,000 kms on the drivetrain, because at the rate that most of these 70 series are rusting away, there are less and less good ones on the market. And I can assure you that you will not be paying $5000 in 2009 for a BJ70 in good condition. That's my 3 cents.