transaxle rebuild - shipping/import cost to canada

atomatom

It seems it is time for a transaxle rebuild. No more 3/4 gears for me (removed shiftrod, still nothing: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7260853#7260853 ) - and when I start the van, releasing the clutch makes the transmission make noise and the engine slows down.

Does anyone know what the story is with customs and shipping costs for a rebuild? Do you have to pay import fees when you return a core? The shipping costs sound brutal - it might cost $300 (return) in the US, but I suspect it'll be double that for a few miles further north.

I could drive the transaxle (in my car) down to AATransaxle - it is about 3 hours each way and one border crossing. I'd love to do that for a swap rather than drive down twice. So that costs me a day, gas, and the pleasure of talking to border officials. That is probably worth at least $600 to me.

Or the local shop, Van Wonder, who said he could do it in a day, and would install a very good quality 3/4 slider, new bearings, and so on, for $1700 ($1600US). Very appealing in terms of time/location/hassle - John also said he'd install it as well, although I'd rather do that myself and not move the van in its current state.

It seems that John is probably the most economical option. I also would prefer that the money I spend goes into the transmission rather than on shipping it.

I would very much appreciate any feedback from people who've shipped one up. What did it end up costing in terms of shipping+fees?
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84 Vanagon Westy, 1.9L, California raised but defected to Canada.

Mr Brown · Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2014 7:32 am Post subject:

Just take down to AATransaxle. I did this a few years ago, nice drive and no hassle/duties at the border. Can't go wrong there, my first rebuild I had done locally failed within a year and it cost more. The AA rebuild has been flawless.

ng · Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2014 7:38 am Post subject:

I would ship it to AA. That's what I did from Edmonton, front diff and trans for my syncro. Ship it with a low declared value as used auto parts and there won't be any extra fees either way. I can't remember what shipping was going down, but I just checked my invoice from AA and they charged me $350 return shipping, dropped at my door. Just call Matt and ask him, he can guide you through it.
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1986 Syncro Westy "Braunbaer"
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=607112

jerrydog411 · Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2014 7:47 am Post subject:

get ahold of Vanagon Nut ... he just did this a couple of months ago and has all of the +/- data for you.

Cheers

Ahwahnee · Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2014 7:53 am Post subject:

Nothing against your local source -- but AA has the reputation.

They did mine 80,000 miles ago and it is flawless.

atomatom · Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2014 7:58 am Post subject:

Ha.. I could have done a group shipping deal with Neil.

I think driving down makes sense. Anyone else in Vancouver need their transmission driven down? My wife has offered to do it - a chance for an outing with the girls. I'd love to do it, but I have a lot of pay-the-bills work to do.

I take it phone is *the* way to get a hold of Matt @ AA. I sent an email - but it had Daryl's email address. It felt weird sending an email to that address.

Anyway, thanks for confirming and giving some numbers. $350 return isn't as bad as I expected.
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84 Vanagon Westy, 1.9L, California raised but defected to Canada.

atomatom · Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2014 8:01 am Post subject:

jerrydog411 · Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2014 8:10 am Post subject:

it's a nice drive; leave early to avoid border traffic ... BUT ... call Matt first and see if he has a swap ... he will look at yours and, if necessary, charge (very fairly) if your core is no good.

photogdave · Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2014 9:21 am Post subject:

atomatom · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 10:54 am Post subject:

Matt is away until late next week - and I'm eager to get going, so I went with http://germantransaxle.com - and will ship it to the Point Roberts "Sip & Ship" http://pointrobertsshellcenter.com/shipping-station/

I'm hoping to do a single trip. Pick up the rebuilt transmission, unpack it and use the same packing materials to pack mine up, and send it back.

I'm a bit confused with the story at the border. I take a broken transmission down, and return the same day, with a repaired one. I might give the border agency a call.
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84 Vanagon Westy, 1.9L, California raised but defected to Canada.

Baxta · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 11:39 am Post subject:

I drove mine down from Langley a couple of years ago. Stopped in at the Canadian border office before going down to see if they wanted to look at it, get a serial number or anything, but they sent me on my way. I expect that they understand the concept of a core charge, though. They did charge me taxes upon return, but I had a few extra goodies put on (ahem, decoupler) and needed some pricey replacement parts, so my invoice was well over what Van Wonder quoted you. I was very happy with AA's service and Daryl turned it around in a bit less than a week (if memory serves...)

A few months after the install, a seal went, so I took a quick trip down and Daryl re and re'd it right in front of my eyes in minutes. Helps to have the right tools and a lifetime of experience.
_________________
Greg
'87 Syncro Westy 'Bastian'
2.2l

Jake de Villiers · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 12:26 pm Post subject:

atomatom · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 12:50 pm Post subject:

Yeah - I didn't mean make up a story, it was a figure of speech; I meant what the situation was re: taxes/duty.

@Baxta - did they understand the concept of a core charge? It would suck to pay yet more on a refundable portion of the invoice. I can see how/why they might charge you for that though.

@Jake - yeah, but if you had a $100 repair to a guitar that is worth $10,000 would you pay GST on $10k or $100.
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84 Vanagon Westy, 1.9L, California raised but defected to Canada.

gears · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 1:17 pm Post subject:

Because GST will be charged on the highest amount shown on the invoice, ask that the core charge/credit not be listed as a subtraction from some greater amount.
_________________
aka Pablo, Geary
9.36 @ 146 in '86 Hot & Sticky
'90 Syncro Westy SVX
'87 Syncro GL 2.5
https://guardtransaxle.com

matt_j · Samba Member Joined: April 02, 2012 Posts: 80

EDIT: Nevermind, just noticed you're not going with AA. Anyhow, I'll be giving Matt a call in the fall to hopefully drive my transmission down for a rebuild. Been on the list of things to do for a while now.

atomatom · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 3:16 pm Post subject:

yeah, sorry matt_j - at least i hope this gives you some more info about the process of importing/etc.

and from the sounds of it, having a few weeks notice to book your rebuild with AA sounds like a good idea. i would think calling a month in advance would be a good idea.
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84 Vanagon Westy, 1.9L, California raised but defected to Canada.

Jake de Villiers · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 6:08 pm Post subject:

atomatom · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 12:00 pm Post subject:

This does not bode particularly well for "core deposit" - which one could easily see as a "trade-in", therefore the cost is "core deposit" + rebuild cost.

I'm posting this as additional info for anyone else researching options. Will let you know how it goes for me.

Jeff's Old Volks Home · Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2014 5:28 am Post subject:

I buy A LOT from the US, I always have my supplier bill me for the core seperatly, on a different invoice, I pay it by phone/email credit card and have it mailed to me. Canada Customs will make you pay HST and duty on the total amount of the invoice, including the core is it's listed on the manefest. They never differentiate a core value from any other part. It is possible to get a refund for HST from rev. Can. for the core, experience tells me it's easier and legal not to pay that in the first place.
Jeff
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www.jeffsoldvolkshome.com
2004 Jetta TDi Wagon
2002 Smyth Ute TDi
1990 Vanagon weekender Syncro AAZ
1987 Syncro Doka AAZ...soon to be TDI Smile

2014 DL650ABS Xpedition
1986 Weekender Syncro (Under construction)
1987 Westfalia (Under construction)
1987 Syncro Single cab

atomatom · Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 9:44 pm Post subject:

Thanks Jeff - you are 100% correct on the invoice total. I did get them to remove shipping costs, but core deposit was considered part of the value.

---

I thought I'd update you all on my imported rebuild. It is now installed and I got to drive it around a bit today. Quite happy so far, but want to take it on a longer trip.

I paid german transaxle CAD$ 2323 (USD$ 2123 = 1195 rebuild +700 core + 67 oil + 160 shipping) + 251 import tax, so total $2574. Hopefully I get my core deposit back - my R&P looked in good shape when I last looked - I had just redone all the seals on the transmission and had the bellhousing off. So, fingers crossed, I will get ~750 CAD$ back, bringing it down to $1800ish.

Maybe I can fight CBSA to get the $100ish on tax back they charged on the core deposit, but I kind of doubt it. Could I have fudged it, yeah. I could have said I was down in Pt Bob to get gas. I could have made a fake receipt for $400 for a used transmission. I could have kayaked down and back. I didn't. I nipped across the border for 45 mins and picked up/shipped my old trans and headed home, poorer but happy.

If you were to ship your transmission to be rebuilt (ie, send first rather than exchange) you could skip the core charge tax. Even better, drive down and drop it off, stay a few days, and come back with it - doing that will save you $500. So, if you had a good core, that would bring it down to ~1300.

Anyway, I'm still happy to have my van back on the road in the middle of summer. Having the transmission go after spending the past 6 months doing a (very slow) rebuild of the engine was rather crappy. From the time I ordered it, it took about a week including shipping. Part of me wanted to rip open and learn how to do a transaxle rebuild, but more of me wanted to drive the van.

My engine rebuild, where I did most of the work, ended up costing me about 2500 (EDIT: that includes buying all the tools). I'm getting faster at removing the engine. Woo. Now, I hope I can't brag about that anymore this year.

So, yeah, 1700+tax for the local option would be ~$2k. Would the quality of work be better/worse - I really cannot say. I do have misgivings about spending money on shipping crap around, and it was still a bit of a hassle to drive down to pick it up.

So, now I have another $5k sunk into this van over the last year. I better get to replacing those window seals and give it a lick of paint already. Anyway, I feel like I can trust it (harh, just look at him talk - wait till he gets back from his long road trip). No, really. I'm pretty sure my engine is back to normal - coolant bleeding was a snap, I accelerate up hills, I have an oil pressure gauge to install, and an oil temp gauge, but need to figure out where to put that)
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84 Vanagon Westy, 1.9L, California raised but defected to Canada.


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