Anyone shipped a van from germany to Canada? or the US?

fredn

I am looking for a Doka. There are tons of sweet doka's on german ebay. Has anyone shipped a a van over? What was the cost?

You can buy a doka for 1500 euros vs 5000 to 10000 over here.

It just seems like it might be worth it.

So what was your experience shipping a car of this or any other type to North america.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Fred
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1982 Air Cooled Vanagon Carat Weekender Interior

uncommonvw · Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 9:45 pm Post subject:

Here is my 2 cents..... buy one here (NA) for a reasonable price (7500-10000) and here is why.

1. You can actually look at the truck in person. There are alot of things that pics can't or don't show. Best to know what you are getting into. You also can't hear how the engine and transmission sounds either. Tires, brakes, etc........

2. Do you speak fluent German? Some things get lost in translation.

3. The Euro is currently worth 1.35 times the dollar so that $1500 Doka is $2000 CDN plus $2000 USD to ship it here. Then you have to pay duty at 6% and HST at 13% so now your $2000 is actually $4350 and you still need to get it to pass a safety inspection and emissions test. Hopefully you will instruct the seller to thoroughly clean the inside and outside of the truck or upon importation the Canadian Government will clean it for you ( for a nice fee) or you can ship it back. By now you are probably into at least $5000 not including your time.

I haven't imported one myself but I have spoken to two people that have. One is a member on here and has imported several from Germany. He has had a couple of unpleasant surprises upon the trucks arrival (dirty, parts stolen, shipping price a little higher than quotes).

The other guy imported a Fiat 500 from Italy. Upon arrival the shipping price had nearly doubled from the original quote, the paperwork had to be translated to English by a professional translator ($$$$) and the car was not even close to the condition the pics showed.

Like I said,.... try to find one locally, they tend to pop up frequently in your neck of the woods. Good luck

Here is one....http://victoria.en.craigslist.ca/cto/2623086332.html

fredn · Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 12:22 am Post subject:

good advice and thanks for the link.
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1982 Air Cooled Vanagon Carat Weekender Interior

sub-hatchtim · Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 4:10 am Post subject:

I can look at vehicles in bavaria for people
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58' pg/sg silo fridge westy
58 Dove blue singlecab
76 911S

vanagonjr · Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 4:59 am Post subject:

FWIW - A french couple I have recently met, shipped a vanagon hi-top from france to New York and back to France for approximately $3K round trip. One the way over it was not in a container, on the way back it is in a shared container.

John

Odd_Dutch · Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 5:12 am Post subject:

If you find one in the Netherlands i can have a look for you. http://www.marktplaats.nl http://www.tweedehands.nl are some big auction sites (not like ebay, bidding is just for show).

pithylittlegeek · Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 8:38 pm Post subject:

Hi Fred -- I just imported a Whitestar from Germany a couple months ago, as I wanted a diesel 5-speed. I had a friend of a friend go look at them for me in Germany until he found a decent one, then he arranged shipping, etc to Tacoma. The import was really smooth, no problems at border or with registering -- aircare here in Vancouver is waived for the first year, and the safety was simple. Shipping cost CA$2100, you need to pay about $50 to get a port escort into the Tacoma port to pick up, then GST at border.

Get in touch if you have any questions, happy to help out.

fredn · Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 9:46 pm Post subject:

That is really good to know. There is a 16inch syncro doka on german ebay for 5000 euros. Very tempting....
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1982 Air Cooled Vanagon Carat Weekender Interior

ckissick · Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 10:00 pm Post subject:

I bought my Tristar from Tristar Connection in Germany. I spent 3 years trying to find a syncro Tristar already here is California, to no avail. So I finally gave in and shipped one.

It wasn't difficult. Lars is a good guy. But it took 9 months, and cost $12K for shipping and registration. But that's California, with smog issues and other nonsense we are so famous for. It spent 2 months at the port waiting for the EPA guy to inspect for weeds and bugs. Then it spent 3 months at the registered importer's shop until they could get around to installing the smog equipment. At least the Swedish license plate is cool.

It should go quicker and cheaper in Canada.
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Charlie
1950 Beetle
1983 Westfalia
1989 syncro Tristar
1966 Porsche 912
1989 Beck Spyder
2007 GTI Fahrenheit

mmmdiesel · Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 10:09 pm Post subject:

Fred,
If you don't have contacts in Germany you can use the services of the Mike Plompen (busman.be) or Henning from synrco-services (syncro-services.de). Both offer brokering services, but be prepared for an additional 800 EUR on top of your purchase price and more depending on where the vehicle is located.
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1998 T4 Caravelle 2.5 Tdi
2000 Eurovan Multivan 2.8 VR6
1960's Heilite Single Wheel


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