GMJim

There is no restriction on new cars anymore! You can bring in a brand new car. However GM will not honor any warranty until it has 12000 or 15000 KM (cant remember which) and is 6 months old. This info came from GM but I know of a few friends that brought in new Cadillacs and had no trouble getting recall work done. None of them needed warranty work so we don't know if this is company wide.

A recall letter costs money. Get a Global Management Warranty report from the US selling dealer OR go to any dealer in Canada and request the same. Most will give it to you free. The information on this report will state any recalls and is satisfactory documentation for the RIV. If you ask GM for a recall letter it will cost you $.

galeslim

Just for clarification!! It appears that the consensus is that bumpers on all C-5's and C6's - nothing needs to be done to them and DRL's are an easy fix. This brings joy to my heart and wallet. I love this forumn and I don't own a vette yet. Thanks for all the help

bassi66

I bought an 05 C6 from Arizona and didn't have to do anything besides the Federal Inspection and the provincial inspection. Basically the only thing they had to fix were the daytime running lights and that didn't cost much. If I'm not mistaken, both inspections were $100 a piece and then they charged me an additional $70 for the labour and installation of daytime running lights. You won't have to do anything with the bumpers. It's a pretty straightforward procedure as long as you go through the checklist on riv.ca

pontiyak

Hi. I've read thru this thread and it looks like most everybody has covered the obstacles that our government has set up. I brought back a 2008 corvette from Florida in Dec. Nobody has mentioned the complications you encounter in Florida when buying a car and driving it back. Are you aware of them?
If not, give me a pm.
I had my RIV inspection at crappy tire and the manager there said that any GM car, 2004 or newer passes. There are at least 2 items on my car that I know are not complying with riv's rules, but they are chicken-s--t things. I guess some of the inspection places agree while others go by the book. Best check with a few before taking your car there when you return.

Racer

Why PM??? tell us all, you know, like we are doing on this thread, there are no secrets.
I bought my Z06 in Florida, no complications, but I had it shipped, is this a drive away complication? Tell us? Is it the tax thing? Tell us, tell us.

pontiyak

Alright, alright. My wife was bugging me to get on the computer and I was trying to keep it short.
When I went to Florida in Nov. I didn't have a really serious intention of buying a car or I would have been better prepared. What I did find was this: If you buy from a dealer and drive away, you have to pay Florida state tax. If you buy privately, there is no tax. If you are driving the car, you need insurance recognized in florida. My insurance company advised me that they could not insure a car that was not yet registered in Canada. (I had the car shipped, so I didn't get any deeper into this).
If you are driving the car, you need a temporary or dealer lic. plate. Florida has been on and off on issuing temp. plates in recent history. Make sure you research this. One thing I don't think was mentioned in previously, is that RIV has to have all their stuff(recall letter, money, crossing the border document) before you can get the inspection. This is all on the RIV website, so make sure you read it a couple times. Good luck!

Snobike Mike

Now if only we could figure out a simple way to buy a NEW vette and import from the US.

digbyamb

As you drive back through Alligator Alley don't bring any "locally grown products" back with you, the FSP and GSP watch for north bound cars and a C6 wont save you, they will still be looking

davidtcpa

Being from Florida, I need to know...

locally grown products??? Oranges? Sugar Cane? Something else?

And that is correct about Florida Sales Tax. If you have the car shipped directly from the dealer out of the state, then drive the rest of the way, you would avoid paying it. That part I know (I do that for a living!!)

wu6fiend

Canadians CAN buy new Corvettes in the U.S. What you need is a U.S. address. I contacted one of the forum vendors, and he told me that was all that was required. I have relatives in California, so that is my plan. Of course, I will have to pay California sales tax. And with regard to warranty, I understand the vehicle will not be eligible for warranty coverage until it has been in service for a certain period (I have heard 6 months) and/or accumulated a certain amount of mileage (I have heard different things on this subject, so accurate information would be appreciated).

As some have pointed out, the price difference (particularly when you look at what the forum vendors are asking for their cars) between Canadian and U.S. Corvettes is staggering. However, it is possible to find cars in Canada for a good price. I was in contact with one local owner, who purchased a brand new Z06 for some $20K off MSRP, a price that brought it to within a couple of thousand of the best U.S. price. He told me that for such a small difference, the hassle of buying in the U.S. wasn't worth it to him.

I have heard of another option for Canadians, in buying the new U.S. car through an intermediary. This legal firm buys the car from the U.S. dealer to your spec, and then turns around and sells it to you. You then import the car into Canada. The savings can be considerable. My neighbor was considering this, but wound up buying his new SUV in Canada.

pontiyak

I think you need more than a US address. I looked at this approach while in Florida and was told that an address and drivers license matching that address was required. Therein lies the problem. If you intend to move in with your relatives -- no problem.

Smooth9883

Does anyone have any instructions on how to disable the switch? I need to give them to the dealership. They don't know how to do it and the seller is coming next week.

numbrman

This is a GM dealer correct? If it is, tell them to contact GM Canada for instructions. Having said that, my guess is that they are lying to you. GM dealers don't want you to buy from the U.S., so when you bring in the car they either flat out refuse to do the necessary fixes (had that happen with a local GM dealer when I imported my monte carlo), or they will play stupid, and say they don't know how to do it, or that it can't be done.

The procedure to disable the off switch is essentially the same for all GM vehicles. The dealer has to download some program or code that they will upload/change in your car. I don't know the exact procedure for doing that, but GM Canada helps dealers do this all the time. Remember there are thousands of GM vehicles being imported from the U.S. each year. The vast majority of them require this programming for the DRL. For both my Vette and Monte Carlo imports, the dealer had to contact GM Canada to get the necessary programming/code to disable the switch. It is completely software based, no physical disabling of the switch is required.

You could try to tell them to look for the "Canadian" version of the corvette programming. I wouldn't be surprised if this is where the programming to disable the DRL is contained. Just a thought. Hope this helps.

galeslim

More Road blocks. I read that you can not drive a car From Florida because of complications with insurance and the fact you must pay Fla Tax? Is this true ? Can anyone add info to this statement for me.

davidtcpa

I think if you buy the car with your out of state address and have your insurance paperwork, you should be okay getting out of FL.

Racer

Well, I just went on Ebay and checked a bunch of Florida listings and they all said Out of state buyers are responsible for all state, county, city taxes and fees, as well as title/registration fees in the state that the vehicle will be registered. which I am assuming means paying those in your state upon registering your vehicle???

pontiyak

If you buy privately - no tax. If you buy from a dealer you have to pay the tax unless the car is shipped by a bonafide auto transporter. If you elect to drive the car back, you have to have insurance. So shipping the car can save you money and a lot of hassles particularly if your insurance will not cover the car untill it is back, registered in Canada.
I suspect an ebay purchase is the same as a dealer with ebay acting as the dealer(agent).

94boosted

Are you saying that cars that are used (private or dealer sale) and not Certifued Used will not have the balance of the warranty? I didn't think it was the case, so long as the warranty hasn't been cancelled by GM it shouldn't matter if you bough used or certified used the warranty should transfer with the vehicle.

myr4ste8

I bought a 2008 C6 last May from a CF member located in Virgina. I live in Canada. I would like to clarify a few things based on my experience with importing my C6 to Canada.

1- Reading up on the www.riv.com site is essential. Make sure you get all the necessary paperwork sorted out.
2- I knew the VIN number of the C6 I was buying before picking up the car, so I contacted my insurance company. I had no problem having the car insured and actually had a faxed copy of the insurance pink slip with me when I left to pick up the car. I had the coverage begin on the day I picked it up (a Monday).
3- I had a buddy of mine drive me down to Virginia. He has an Infiniti G37, so we travelled in style. I knew that I was saving money by buying the C6 in the US, so I paid for his gas (both ways), our hotel and meals and I was happy to do this. I was a nice road trip.
4- You absolutely need to obtain a clean title from the previous owner or dealership. I got it from the previous owner and had to FEDEX it to the US Customs border where I was crossing over to Canada. Faxes were not accepted.
5- I made copies of all the paperwork and FEDEXed the original clean title on a Monday knowing that it would be at the Canada/US border by 10:00 am on the Tuesday. I knew that I could then cross the border 72 hours after they had received the title, which was 10:00 am on Friday.
6- The previous owner did not need the Virginia plates, so I kept them on the car and went to the Virginia license bureau. They told me that as long as I had all the paperwork, I was OK. so I drove the car with the Virginia plates and had no problem whatsoever.
7- I spent the next three days enjoying my C6 and driving back to Canada in a leisurely way. I even went to Zip Corvette in Virginia and bought nice Lloyds carpets.
8- I arrived at the border on Friday morning and it took only 5 minutes to clear the US Customs and get the original title back.
9- However, I spent about an hour at the Canada border and was drilled with all kinds of questions. They even called the previous owner to confirm a few things including how much I paid. I paid the GST and the RIV fee of $95 in advance. Eventually, I got through and headed home. Once you cross the border, you have a certain amount of time to transfer the vehicle in your name. I think it's 6 weeks.
10- I had the DRLs activated at the local GM dealer for $120. They told me that it required some rewiring. No worries as long as it was done.
11- I had the car certified at Canadian Tire. As a result, I received a RIV certificate to stick on the inside of the driver's door to prove that it now meets the Cdn safety standards. BTW, bumpers are not an issue on the C6.
12- I had to obtain a provincial safety check before finally going to the local license bureau to transfer the ownership in my name.

It's hard to come up with a figure on how much I saved, but not only did I save a chunk of money, I found the car that I was looking for, and it was a southern car that had not seen our harsh Canadian weather. IMHO, there are at least 20 times more C6s for sale in the US than in Canada, so the odds of finding what you are looking for are much better and hopefully you can negotiate a fair price at the same time. Realistically, I believe that I likely saved at least $10k to $15k by buying my C6 in the US. I had a lot of fun doing it and I would do it again in a flash.
Hope this helps.

frankmp

sorry to punch thru your thread...... but at the end I felt like you



Frank

ps- and don't forget to send RIV the recall letter! You can do it 30 days BEFORE the car gets to the border and ALL you need is the GMVIS page indicating no recalls. and get the dealer to put his stamp on that page. I faxed it to RIV and an hour later had a file number and confirmation of the recall acceptance. And WHATEVER you do DON'T go to GM VINTAGE and pay them >$200 to say the same thing ( send me $100 and I'll talk to your dealer!....lol)