GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Has anyone try importing a vibe from the US into Canada? Any tips to share?

my brother-in-law went to new york state, from halifax, and purchased a gmc truck and a couple atvs. I don't know alot of details but he did save money. I was watching motoring 2008 and they had a segment about purchasing from the states. they said although you save money, buyers could run into issues with maintenance/warranty issues from local dealers.

Lots of info on the Nissan forum about doing this for the Rogue. There's some general info and links in this thread:http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread/287852

Take a look at all the costs. I'm actually doing this within the next month or so. You'll be hit with GST/PST if applicable), and duty if it wasn't manufactured in North America (don't know if all Vibes are manufactured here or not). If not, it's 6.1%Fees at the border are going to be just shy of $500, which includes the RIV inspection, a/c tax, etc. Just make sure you run through everything to make sure it's worth it. After all is said and done, I've found it's rarely worth it to import anything less than $25,000. Are you looking at a dealer or a private sale? I'm no expert on the topic, but I've been making a lot of phone calls and doing some research over the last few months. PM if you want to discuss anything.

Quote, originally posted by bull77 » they said although you save money, buyers could run into issues with maintenance/warranty issues from local dealers.it's true, we've had many customers with american cars like the Cadillacs and some trucks and what not, and if theirs something thats supposed to be covered under warrenty, we dont cover it since it's an american car/truck, thats one of the main down-falls to buying from the states

Looking at a new vibe or used? As far as warranty goes, if you can save 5k on a vehichle, that covers a lot of warranty work...

yea i suppose, even though with the canadian dollar being higher it may not make much of a difference, specially 5k

check with the manufacture on warranty issues on vehicles purchased with the direct intention of exporting out of the country to another. I know subaru has a policy on subaru models purchased in the US and exported to canada requires the customer to pay for warranty repairs and then seek their money back from SoA. Sounds like a headache to me.Also I thought GM vehicles had a longer warranty on their canadian models then the american models? My 04 had 100,000km powertrain warranty and 04 american models did not.Just some things to consider.

They *used* to have a better warranty up there... But now the new GM stuff down here has a 36,000 (still pathetic) bumper-to-bumper warranty, but they extended the powertrain to 100,000 miles. That probably wouldn't be usable up there.Warranty's the worst part about buying one, from what I gather the rest of the process isn't that bad. Only thing I've heard people have to add on cars they bought down here were DRL kits if the car wasn't already equipped with them (but the Vibe is already good in that respect.)

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic »Only thing I've heard people have to add on cars they bought down here were DRL kits if the car wasn't already equipped with them (but the Vibe is already good in that respect.) Haha - I've heard of people leaving their lights in the on position and having it pass for DRLs. I think they look for that a little closer now with imports on the rise.Personally, I like the DRLs. I'd put them on even if it wasn't mandatory.

Quote, originally posted by kunkstyle »Personally, I like the DRLs. I'd put them on even if it wasn't mandatory.me too. I like having lights on.