TheSamba.com :: View topic - Buying and driving a Vanagon in USA as Canadian

Mon Mar 28, 2016 12:37 pm

Hi guys,

I'm a new member here. I've had my eyes peeled for a Vanagon Westfalia to do some travelling in. I know I know, not another one of those!

Last August I did a 10 day road trip from San Diego to San Francisco and loved it. I would really like to explore more of the states and take my time doing it in a classic Vanagon. Here's my dilemma: I have the money for one, and I would really like a clean one, but pretty much all of them up here in Canada have some rust. I don't necessarily want to go through importing one into Canada from the states to drive it in the states anyway. If I end up really liking it, I would probably import it back into Canada, or better, find a way to get into the US.

I'm wondering if it's possible to purchase, register, insure and drive a vehicle in the USA, as a Canadian resident.

Mon Mar 28, 2016 5:33 pm

The first thing that I would suggest is that you join the Wet Westies (free) which is where you'll find ACTUAL Canadians who have been through this before (and can, perhaps, guide you towards a rust-free Vanagon with BC plates already on it).

Thu Mar 31, 2016 2:47 pm

static wrote: The first thing that I would suggest is that you join the Wet Westies (free) which is where you'll find ACTUAL Canadians who have been through this before (and can, perhaps, guide you towards a rust-free Vanagon with BC plates already on it).

Thanks for your suggestion. Their group seems rather archaic (email based?), and shows there's just 5 members in the Yahoo group? I'll give it a shot anyway.

Any other advice you can give me anyone? Did I post this in the appropriate section?

Fri Apr 01, 2016 9:48 pm

You can register and drive a US vehicle as a Canadian (Non-US resident), but it can get complicated depending on the state involved.

I looked into this for California as an example, and CA requires you to have California insurance and a CA address. Not impossible, but extra work and expense. They also require you to smog check it regularly depending on the year, so that is also something to consider.

With the current exchange rate, you might look at buying a Canadian Bus - from BC for example - I just got a nice 77 Westy from Vernon for 9K. There is no way I could have got one as nice in CA or AZ for 7K USD which is the exchange right now.

If you are a Canadian resident and buy a Canadian bus, you are registering it and insuring it in Canada, so if you travel to the US, you are not importing it, you are just visiting.

The benefit of that is that if you travel to California, you are a visitor and your bus does not have to meet the strict emission requirements that it would if you imported it.

Fri Apr 01, 2016 10:10 pm

71Survivor wrote: You can register and drive a US vehicle as a Canadian (Non-US resident), but it can get complicated depending on the state involved.

I looked into this for California as an example, and CA requires you to have California insurance and a CA address. Not impossible, but extra work and expense. They also require you to smog check it regularly depending on the year, so that is also something to consider.

With the current exchange rate, you might look at buying a Canadian Bus - from BC for example - I just got a nice 77 Westy from Vernon for 9K. There is no way I could have got one as nice in CA or AZ for 7K USD which is the exchange right now.

If you are a Canadian resident and buy a Canadian bus, you are registering it and insuring it in Canada, so if you travel to the US, you are not importing it, you are just visiting.

The benefit of that is that if you travel to California, you are a visitor and your bus does not have to meet the strict emission requirements that it would if you imported it.

Thanks for the info! Agreed, the exchange rate is killer, and they also seem a bit more pricey to begin with in the states. Having said that the entire reason I wanted to pick one up in the south was to find a really rust-free one, but it looks like that's a bit difficult even there. I've been keeping my eyes peeled for the Canadian ones and there are some potentially good ones from BC / Alberta.

Did you bring yours back to Ontario yet? Tell me more about that! Did you drive or ship? How much info/pictures did you ask for before risking it and going to see it in person? There's one in Alberta I'm pretty interested in right now.

Fri Apr 01, 2016 10:34 pm

Flyview wrote:
Did you bring yours back to Ontario yet? Tell me more about that! Did you drive or ship? How much info/pictures did you ask for before risking it and going to see it in person? There's one in Alberta I'm pretty interested in right now.

Yes, I had it shipped by rail, but I flew out to buy it and drive it from Vernon to Vancouver. I asked for detailed photos of everything and had it inspected by a VW garage as well as paid for a full appraisal in BC. I gave a $1000 deposit and paid the rest when I picked it up.

See my story here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=647114

For both the VW's I bought recently - my 71 Super Beetle in California and this 77 Westy in BC, I paid for complete inspections by an independent and knowledgeable air cooled VW mechanic/garage. I would not buy without doing that unless it was a no-brainer deal.

There are a lot of the photos I got here too: http://globespotter.com/77Westy/

Fri Apr 01, 2016 11:09 pm

71Survivor wrote: Flyview wrote:
Did you bring yours back to Ontario yet? Tell me more about that! Did you drive or ship? How much info/pictures did you ask for before risking it and going to see it in person? There's one in Alberta I'm pretty interested in right now.

Yes, I had it shipped by rail, but I flew out to buy it and drive it from Vernon to Vancouver. I asked for detailed photos of everything and had it inspected by a VW garage as well as paid for a full appraisal in BC. I gave a $1000 deposit and paid the rest when I picked it up.

See my story here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=647114

For both the VW's I bought recently - my 71 Super Beetle in California and this 77 Westy in BC, I paid for complete inspections by an independent and knowledgeable air cooled VW mechanic/garage. I would not buy without doing that unless it was a no-brainer deal.

There are a lot of the photos I got here too: http://globespotter.com/77Westy/

Awesome! I'll be sure to go through your threads and learn about your experience. Can you recommend a shop to do an inspection in Calgary or Edmonton, Alberta?

Sun Apr 03, 2016 11:56 pm

Flyview wrote:
Awesome! I'll be sure to go through your threads and learn about your experience. Can you recommend a shop to do an inspection in Calgary or Edmonton, Alberta?

You might try contacting one of these folks: http://www.type2.com/rescue/canada/alb.html