Import US fixed car into Canada?

Does anyone know about the implications of importing a fixed VW Sportwagen into Canada? Would the extended warranty be honored? We are in a cross-border town so we could potentially travel to a US dealership to have warranty work done. Does anyone with BTDT experience care to share the import process and tips?

Personally, I wouldn't roll those dice. I don't recall ever seeing that anyone has done it, certainly not having done it and then attempted to call upon warranty coverage.

Folks who had cross-border cars involved in the dieselgate scandal had all sorts of troubles getting the cars fixed or bought back, and I wouldn't expect those troubles to stop.

A US owner of a US car who happens to be travelling in Canada at the time of a breakdown is treated differently than a Canadian owner of a US car.

The auto manufacturers don't want you doing this, and one of the ways they discourage it is by making your life as difficult as possible. Do you want to subject yourself to that?

Well, it's my own car that's had the fix done so it's a good used car value because I know the history. I've had to transition to driving a minivan for my daily driver and it's a little bit soul-killing. I've imported a Canadian car to the US so I have a vague idea of what's involved but that was a couple of decades ago and I haven't brought one north. Does anyone have any recent experience?

So you currently own this US-origin car in the USA and have owned it prior to and through the dieselgate scandal, and you are now moving to Canada and wish to take the car with you? Is that the situation, or something like that?

You will have to go through the RIV process. www.riv.ca

Part of it involves obtaining a letter from the vehicle manufacturer declaring that the vehicle has no outstanding recalls. This will be your biggest obstacle. Try to get that document before you proceed any further. Transport Canada will absolutely not allow the vehicle to be registered in Canada without that document. I don't know about VW, but lots of vehicle manufacturers flat-out refuse to provide that document, thus leaving you stuck and unable to proceed. This is one of the other ways that the manufacturers discourage people from doing this.

When I did this with a motorcycle a couple of decades ago, I knew the chap who I was buying the bike from and he was good friends with someone at the dealer, and they wrote something up on the manufacturer's letterhead. (I still have that bike)

None of this addresses the warranty situation. VW Canada's position will almost certainly be "not ours - not our problem".

Thanks for your insight. Yes, I bought the car new while a resident of the US. I did the buyback in the US, VW did the fix and I have moved back to Canada. I would buy my own car back if the import was possible.

Ohh, you had the buyback done (i.e. the car doesn't belong to you any more)?

Just buy a Canadian-spec car at a Canadian dealer and skip all the headaches.

While most people run away from trouble, I have to admire someone that likes his car so much he is willing to run head on, eyes wide open, into a huge mess of trouble with long term repercussions.

1. Getting your own car back.
2. Getting the letter needed from VW to import it.
3. Getting Canada to accept it with the dieselgate mess and not meeting emissions.
4. Getting any warranty work done.

Most people have enough issues just getting anything done while they live and own here in the US. Good Luck!