c63AMGee

Has anyone had any experience importing a C63 from Canada to the US? I am getting tired of looking for the right 507 when there are a handful available across the Northern border at competitive exchange rates. There are a couple CPOs at a MB dealer and a few at independent dealers.

I spoke with the independent dealer and he thinks that the speedo can just be electronically modified to read MPH instead of KMH, and that this should satisfy customs. Does anyone know if this is true? I'd prefer to do that instead of swapping out the entire cluster, which I image will cost a lot.

Anything else to think about besides shipping costs and import taxes? I believe the MB Warranty will carry over to the US, but would need to ensure that is the case. Anyone know?

Thanks!

ecohen2

I don't know the answer to this for Mercedes, but on my other car the VIN number contains the country of origin, meaning where it was originally sold.

Also, when I bought my 507 I had a sign a document saying that I would not sell it internationally...

Ed

Tlnt60

I had the same deal when I bought my last Mercedes new, I also had to sign a doc saying that it wouldn't be sold outside of the US. I'm assuming it's for this exact reason....

ahgli

I can't remember if it's 8 or 10 months that you're not allowed to sell the car internationally. All higher end brands have a clause that states this. But after the set period you're allowed to do as you wish. Sorry OP I don't have an answer for you concerning your question since I only ship cars outside North America.

roadkillrob

I imported a car like 20 years ago, big expense was getting the speedo setup for MPH, usually canadian cars have both, other than that, it has to meet US emissions requirements (which canadian cars should) and there were some warning labels missing that where a DOT requirement, but they didn't make me do the labels. Basically it was fill out some paperwork at the DOT office and then have the car inspected, mine was easy and they signed off on it, then I just registered it with the paperwork they provided.

simandang

This is easy to do and any importer in Canada should be able to help you out. You can have the cluster read MPH which is fine for USA and the dealer doesn't care as long as the car is titled and registered in the USA the warranty is valid.

You can even get financing for a car like this if you so desire and its usually no problem depending on your relationship with your CU.

AwdthisC63

It could be possible to scn code the cluster to MPH but will need MBUSA assistance on that. If cannot be done then the cluster would be needed. My understanding is you need to replace cluster....it should meet with USA emissions and your cluster should be your only concern....there will be no warranty . It will be considered grey market vehicle to Benz. USA vehicle would be less of a hassle, recommend to search more in the states

agentMurdoc

Those clauses are usually for people that buy the car here and export them overseas right away. It's more profitable to buy cars here and ship it overseas (usually sells for 200-300% of purchase price here), as it is also cheaper to buy an imported car then buy one from a dealership in that country.

As for importing a 507 here, you should be able to do it fine. It'll just take some leg work. There are plenty of people that purchase cars from Canada and bring them down stateside since you could save a significant amount of money. I remember reading an article that was fairly detailed in a person's experience in bringing one down. Give it a google.

ahgli

If you're saving a good amount of money you should look into hiring a customs clearance agent that will do all the paperwork for you. You'd have to have a shipping company in Canada export it for you, I can be of some assistance depending on where the 507 is located.

Read this: https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-impo.../importing-car

RW507

No direct experience but the purchaser of my previous car (Canadian Audi S4) did it quite easily. He checked the car for a couple of stickers (not sure which ones though) and I obtained a recall clearance letter for him from Audi North America which was a simple phone request and couple days wait. He insured the car here (Vancouver) with temporary insurance and was on his way home (Seattle).

simandang

Incorrect

Warranty will be valid as long as the car is properly registered in the USA. Unfortunately you cannot get a warranty extension for a Canadian car in the USA and MB extended warranty from Canada are not valid in the USA.

c63AMGee

Thank you for correcting the misinformation! Lots of conflicting information out there. Waiting to talk with a dealer in Montreal. Concerned that the 13% Canadian tax, 2.5% import tax, 7.5% GA tax, and Fed Gas Guzzler tax may sour any deal to be had.

cb6

Might be some valuable info for you here, Montreal is in the Province of Quebec:

http://www.revenuquebec.ca/en/citoye...ers/achat.aspx


Here are Canadian taxes by Province:

http://www.thehstblog.com/2015/12/ar...anuary-1-2016/

Province of Alberta has lowest tax at a total of only 5%. You might get lucky and find one there, its an oil rich province. Calgary and Edmonton are the two large cities for your search.

c63AMGee

Thanks! Much appreciated. I just got off the phone with a MB dealer in Montreal and he said that I would not have to pay Canadian tax on an export. He also confirmed that the factory warranty would transfer, but no CPO warranties and that I couldn't add a CPO warranty in the USA. He said the import tax will be 3% (not 2.5% because it is a german car?), $500 for a MB recall letter for customs, a $600 broker fee (?), shipping charges (~1,000), and then US State tax and Fed Gas Guzzler tax. 7.5% tax here in GA. No idea what the gas guzzler tax is on this car. Doing the math, although the sales price is very competitive for a nearly fully optioned 507 (59k USD), all of the taxes and surcharges push the out the door price to 66k+, which is essentially the realistic ceiling what used 507s are going for on the market here (if and when they pop up).

cb6

Sounds like a lot of extra work...for no gain unless you get strike a deal.

An fyi, Quebec cars are known for being less expensive in Canada. A lot of that has to do with their climate being extremely cold, so much so that you have to purchase winter tires for your car if winter driven. Also, for some reason there is a stigma that they are extra hard on their cars, true? Those two reasons tend to keep the price lower than any other province.

c63AMGee

Thanks, I appreciate the insight. There is a real clean 507 in Vancouver. They told me the weather is mostly rainy there without low temps, so their cars should be in better shape compared to other provinces. Not sure how much of that is true.

cb6

Yep that's true. It hardly ever snows in Vancouver either.

simandang

My car was from Canada but brought here at the us auction by exotic supercar dealer. They knows how much money can be made bringing cars from canada to usa here and reselling so they have one office in USA and one in Canada. I saw it and we struck up a deal through email and I drove down to PA to drive it back up.

Canadian C63 come with more options than most American C63 and are pretty uniquely/well optioned cars. I am extremely glad I pulled the trigger.

Many C63 recently in the USA that are for sale are Canadian cars. You can usually tell by the cluster and how the weather reads celsius even if cluster is changed to mph one from kmh. Most of these cars are also well optioned.

FYI I dont think you have to pay gas guzzler tax on a used car.

ahgli

You get a tax exemption if you export anything out of Canada btw