I was wondering...Did you buy your vettes in Canada or in the US and have them imported?...It seems to me the prices are more resonable in the States than up here, maybe because there is a larger selection down there.
If purchased in the states, how was the importating process?

 

When I was looking for my vette back in 2001 I notice that used vettes were cheaper in the US but new vettes were cheaper in Canada by about $5000 cdn. The reason for the price difference on the new vette was due to the low Canada dollar( once you did the conversion) and the US was subsizing the Canadain market. Then back in 2003, GM jacked the price by $5000 cdn to stop the flow of new Canadian model vettes to the US.

One thing that you need to be aware of when look at US vettes is the option packages are different between the US and Canada versions of the Vette. The Canadian 1SA package is the same as the US 1SC package minus the HUD. Then the Canadian 1SB package contains the HUD and CD Changer.

Now the option packages are pretty much the same.

As for importing the vette it should be fairly easy, just have to make sure that all the recall items have been fixed on the car you wish to import.

 

Where did you get your Vette....US or Can?

 

I bought mine in Canada brand new. There is a document that I post about 6 month ago regarding the importing of a car to Canada but not all of the C5 General archive have been transfered as of yet.

 

also....Are there any good vette dealers in Can with a large supply of vettes instead of the dealer that has 1 or 2 and then charges $40,000 for 1999...or is it just the small invetory?

 

Where are you located?
What year are you looking for?

The reason the the price hold are much higher here in Canada is that GM only exported a little over 1100 vettes in the years 2001 and 2002 into Canada. As for the the other years of the C5 I don't know that number.

Also here is the website that will help you with importing a vehicle into Canada.

How to Import a Vehicle Into Canada

 

I've seen new C5's selling for about $14K off MSRP recently. Making room for the C6 I guess.

 

There doesn't seem to be a huge selection of 97-99 C5s up here, which is why it took me 7 weeks to find one. I found a dealer in London Ontario who purchased a black 97 from Florida, but after 4 weeks of phoning this guy and finding out he still had not received the title to the car from the Florida used car auction, I gave up. I ended up buying a black 98 which got traded in at a local Infiniti dealer (on a new G35 coupe)

In the end I got a much nicer car, with only 51,000km on it and it looks showroom new. I highly doubt a black on black 97 from Florida with 71,000 miles on it would've looked anywhere near as good as the one I found.

The trend I've noticed is that if you buy a car from the US, and it's from one of the southern states, the interior is in a lot worse shape, and so is the paint (if it's black or red) because the heat and the sun fades it so much. This is true of daily drivers or cars without garages. Up here in Canada most of the C5s are kept in the garage and not driven daily, so they are typically in much better shape. But the cars from up here definitely cost more. I paid $6000 more for the Canadian 98 ($33,000) than I would've if I had continued to wait for the Florida 97 (it was $27,000) but had I waited I am sure to have been disappointed.

If you're looking for a 2000 or newer, the selection in Canada is definitely a lot better than if you're looking for a 97-99.

 

I looked into importing a US vette a few months ago and decided not to. Some people have had no problems while some have had headaches. I believe some of the headaches were caused by poor planning by not having all documents at border (title, insurance etc). Also, I think US Customs needs 3 days notice that you will be exporting a vehicle from their country. Make sure you call Customs (they will send you an info package) and read up on the provided link "How to import a vehicle into Canada...".

Keep in mind..you may have to do some modifications to the US vette ie daytime running lights, bumper mods, child tether strap. Although, I have heard they are quite cheap and easy to do.

If you pull it off you could save thousands.

Good luck!

 

I bought mine in Seattle just over a year ago. You're right about the prices being better down south then in Canada (even when you factor in the exchange rate). I searched for months and months across Canada for a vette and could not locate one that was 1. in great shape, or 2. the right price. It seemed that every vette I found was either ragged on it's whole life, or the owner/dealership thought the car was worth it's price in gold.

I began looking in the states just out of curiousity and happened to find my car at an exotic car dealership in Bellevue, Washington. The price was not too bad ($25K US) considering the car was a one-owner, with 44,000 miles, a fairly low mileage for a '97. It was exactly what I was looking for so I drove down there one Saturday to see the car and made the deal right there. I even traded in my '97 cobra for it! They gave me a better price for my mustang then I would have got for it in Canada.

Bringing it through the border was really difficult. Both sides were very hard to deal with. I had to give customs 72 hours notice before they would release the car into Vancouver. Plus, I had to pay the full taxes on the purchase price of the car and not on the difference of the trade in . Once I got it into Canada the car sat in my garage for about 2 weeks before I could insure/register it and get the Federal inspection done. But after all this was complete it was all .

 

I thought all C5s came with DRLs though?

 

They may come with the DRLs? Not sure.. I just included it as a possible mod that "may" need to be done. Make sure you go to www.riv.ca or contact them for a complete list.