We are fellow Canadians looking to connect

Joanne Johnson

Joanne Johnson

Messages
7
Location
Alberta, Canada
Vehicle
Looking to buy
Hello fellow Calfornia travellers,

We are looking to connect with like-minded travellers as we are looking to purchase a "left hand" drive California in the summer of 2020 as they do not export them or build them for North American market....too bad! If anyone can connect us to a dealer or anyone that is trying to sell a second hand one, this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
JJ & Arnie
 
Welcome , your plan is buying here in Europe and export it to Canada ?
 
Is Gibraltar worth investigating from a tax free & English speaking yet left hand drive point of view?
 
Joanne Johnson said:
Geuten tag! Ya this is our plan....

Joanne
Click to expand...


Psst....ik spreek Nederlands en geen Duits ...;)
Psst....i speak Dutch not German ...(translation)
Just stick to Englisch :D

So you will be buying a Cali in 2020 to use here in Europe and after the trip ship it to Canada .
You first need to be very sure what rules are appliied to import in to Canada before buying here .
Plenty of company's and private sellers to buy 2nd hand in Europe but you would need a domicille here to register a car i think .
Hireing long term with the option of buying would be easyer imo.
 
Joanne Johnson said:
Do you have any information to share about this?

Thank you,

Joanne
Click to expand...

The only information I have is that I met someone on an aeroplane to Gibraltar - he was living in a non-eu country (I think Norway) and would fly to Gibraltar & buy a car tax free and then drive it back home --saved lots of money.

I think there's information on line about the rules and regulations for buying from Gibraltar - you could start with the Vw dealership there.

Also, as mentioned above you'll want to check the regulations for importing a car/van into Canada. for example - I imported a car from Australia into the UK and the rules at the time were that I had to have owned it for more than 1 year to be tax exempt etc.

Sorry this is a bit vague but hope it helps
 
hotel california said:
your plan is buying here in Europe and export it to Canada ?
Click to expand...

Do lots of home work before you decide to try to import... I looked into this briefly for mine and decided it didn't seem feasible. Something to the effect that there isn't Canadian crash test data available for the T5/T6 (as no versions of that platform is sold there) so you'd have to supply one for testing. I didn't dig very deep, but it was headed in that direction. Transporters are sold in Mexico, but I didn't find definitive info on whether Mexican type/safety certification would pass with Canadian authorities.
 
Joanne Johnson said:
Hello fellow Calfornia travellers,

We are looking to connect with like-minded travellers as we are looking to purchase a "left hand" drive California in the summer of 2020 as they do not export them or build them for North American market....too bad! If anyone can connect us to a dealer or anyone that is trying to sell a second hand one, this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
JJ & Arnie
Click to expand...

Hello Joanne

If you would like to contact us or call us we can help you source a LHD California

Please see the signature information

Kind Regards

Matt
 
In the past and I do believe it's still same as of today you can import a European Vehicle i to Canada if it is at least 15 years old, it is 25 years or older to bring in a vehicle into the United States. In Mexico they do sell the T5 but only as a Caravel and delivery van as far as I know no California campers have I ever been imported into Mexico.
 
Shaun0008 said:
European Vehicle i to Canada if it is at least 15 years old
Click to expand...

I always thought that rule was only to do with import taxation, but the vehicle still needed to meet the national requirements for safety/crash testing. I could be wrong.
 
burnercan said:
I always thought that rule was only to do with import taxation, but the vehicle still needed to meet the national requirements for safety/crash testing. I could be wrong.
Click to expand...


I can't speak for the taxation costs in Canada. But I do know that it does not make a difference here in the United States. Once the Volkswagen T3s reached an age of 15 years old a large influx of T3 Syncro trucks and campers we're brought into Canada because so few were originally imported into Canada after that when the T4s came of age trucks as well as the T4 Westfalia California campers that we're not available in North America were brought in as well. I know a few guys in Canada who are anxiously waiting for the year 2020 so that they can buy 2005 California and bring it Canada. Unfortunately we in the US will have to wait until 2030 to legally bring one into the United States and even then it will be difficult to register the cars in many of the states because of smog regulations due to the fact that the motors in many of the vans we're never used in Volkswagens that were sold in the US other than a few early PD motors. Shaun
 
As you are not resident in either the UK or any EU country you have no place of residence to register a vehicle. If purchasing a vehicle for export any registration on 'International plates' is only intended for driving/taking the vehicle directly out of that country.
An option may be to hire a vehicle with purchase export at the end of your trip.
In theory you could order a new vehicle through the hirer with this arrangement. LHD and correct lighting all as required. Seems the best option as it may be possible to reclaim any taxes to offset any Canadian import Duties.
Care would need to be taken in choosing a reputable Hirer/supplier as there are plenty of scammers out there.

If you have any Canadian Military contacts who have been in Nato's German Bases they might have contacts who can help.
 
Shaun0008 said:
I can't speak for the taxation costs in Canada. But I do know that it does not make a difference here in the United States. Once the Volkswagen T3s reached an age of 15 years old a large influx of T3 Syncro trucks and campers we're brought into Canada because so few were originally imported into Canada after that when the T4s came of age trucks as well as the T4 Westfalia California campers that we're not available in North America were brought in as well. I know a few guys in Canada who are anxiously waiting for the year 2020 so that they can buy 2005 California and bring it Canada. Unfortunately we in the US will have to wait until 2030 to legally bring one into the United States and even then it will be difficult to register the cars in many of the states because of smog regulations due to the fact that the motors in many of the vans we're never used in Volkswagens that were sold in the US other than a few early PD motors. Shaun
Click to expand...
Hello Shaun008,
Allthough I know this is an old topic I like to respond. I'am planning a trip to USA/CAN with my VW California T5. This for appox. a period of 4 months starting in April. Actually it was planned for last year but we posponed it to 2023 (corona is still a game-breaker). I'm thinking about eithter to take T5 back to Holland or selling it in Canada (were our trip ends).
So my question is: Can I sell as privat person this camper to a privat persons in Canada.
Because you said "I know a few guys in Canada who are anxiously waiting for the year 2020 so that they can buy 2005 California and bring it Canada".
Best regard,
Walter
 
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