This Week March 21, 1990. Page M3

~___TOP STORY

_ TRANS-BORDER
WHEELER DEALERS

0, youve had your eye on a
snappy red Porsche 911 for a
long time. You'd love to have
one but you just haven't been
able to see yourself parting with all
that green. You've heard about the
deals to be had south of the border and
you've heard something about the Free
ade Agreement making it easier to
import cars.
+ If you’ve had thoughts such as the
ones expressed here — welcome to the
club — you're not alone. In fact, a
growing number of B.C. residents are
looking south of
the 49th parallel
for automobiles
at bargain base-
ment prices.
Figures sup-
plied by the Mo-
tor Vehicle
Branch indicate
the number of
cars coming in to
B.C. from outside
Canada almost
doubled last year.
‘A total of 8,076
vehicles were
registered in B.C.
_ from outside the
‘country. That
compares with
4,623 in 1988.
The vast majority
of those cars
came from the U.S. There is no break-
down available showing how many of
those vehicles were brought in as set-
tler’s effects and how many were im-
ported for personal use or resale.
Motor Vehicles Licence Branch man-
agers at the McKenzie Avenue and Fort
Street offices say they have noticed a
sizable increase in the number of
American vehicles being registered
here.
Mike Ferguson, acting manager of
the vehicle records section of the Motor
Vehicle Branch in Victoria, said he has
noticed a marked increase in the num-
ber of inquiries from the various MVB
offices throughout the province and
from individuals.
“They seem to be bringing in sports
cars, mostly — Mazdas, RX7s, the more
expensive ones, Mercedes, BMWs, the
higher end of the sports car trade. The
guys bringing them in to make money
4 are bringing in the higher priced mod-
g els.”
e Ferguson said while the majority of
cars coming in are sports cars — he has
# heard of some people bringing in “four
= door Chevys and things like that.”

Are there really big savings to be
had? Is buying a used car in the United
States as a good a deal as it’s made out
to be?

The answers to those questions are
as variable as the number of cars in a
dealer’s showroom. The type of vehicle
purchased has a great bearing on the
f savings to be had. While garden variety
s| Chevrolets don’t seem to be attractive

to importers, luxury American cars -
Lincolns, Cadillacs, New Yorkers —
and high-priced European models —
Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi, Porsche —
are available in the U.S at a fraction of
the cost in Canada.

There are several Japanese perform-
ance cars that are also inexpensive in
the U.S. but much sought after by
Canadian buyers, the most popular
being the Mazda RX7. Anyone shopp-
ing Victoria or Vancouver used car lots
for an RX7 recently would have discov-
ered that much of the available mer-
chandise is from California.

Importing a used car from the U:S.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK is the best
advice for people considering the
importation of a used car from the
United States. A bit of preparation
before you head south can spare a
lot of grief when you return.

Story and photos by TONY KANT

isn’t for everyone. Most people can’t
afford the time and they're not pre-
pared to do the homework it takes to
avoid costly mistakes. But for those
with a yen for a particular car and the
means to pay for it, the investment in
an airline ticket south, after doing a bit
of research, can pay off in big dividends.

Wally Mutch, manager of the McKen-
zie Avenue Motor Vehicle Branch, said
the registration of a vehicle imported
from the U.S is a fairly straight forward
procedure.

“The biggest problem is that some
people don’t bother to check before they
go. If they phone their local motor

FRONT PAGE: Exotic automobiles such as the ones pictured are plentiful and
relatively inexpensive in the U.S., leading many afficionados to head south in
pursuit of that special car. Buyer beware is the rule would-be importers should
keep in mind when purchasing a vehicle south of the line.

Photo by Jeff Barber, INFocus Photographic Services

licence office, they'll get all the details,
especially if they specify what type of
vehicle they're looking at and whether
its a private or dealership sale — we
can give them the information,” said
Mutch.

Mutch said people should make sure
they get proper documentation when
they purchase a vehicle in the U.S. to
avoid problems in Canada. In the case
of a private deal, that means the
vehicle's title and a bill of sale from the
last registered owner. If purchased
from a dealership, a signed off title is

“Our main con-
cern is continuity
of ownership. We
need to see that it
goes from one le-
gal entity to the
next. We need the
documents to en-
able us to follow
that.”

While the vast
majority of peo-
ple out there ar-
ent aware of re-
cent changes to
the Free Trade Agreement that ease
restrictions on the importation of cars,
there are a growing number who know
the ins and outs of bringing a car across
the line. Theyre making it a full-time
business. They] tell you privately that
it can be quite profitable, especially for
high priced models. Most won’t say how
profitable because they don’t want to
see the market flooded. They don’t
want to see a lot of others in on the
action because they fear they could
damage their own business.

One B.C. man, who asked not to be
named, told how he and his partner
had pooled $10,000 and gone into the
trans-border car trade as a sideline.
Two months later, they've paid all their
bills and now have $20,000 in capital to
carry on their new business after turn-
ing five cars over.

Another Victoria businessman has
quit his regular job as a car salesman.
He now makes a living by flying south,
buying cars in a variety of U.S. loca-
tions, then driving them home to turn a
handsome profit.

Buying a used car south of the border
and importing it to Canada isn’t as
complicated as one might think. In fact,
after a bit of research it can be accom-
plished with a minimum of trouble —
all it takes is time, money and a bit of
knowhow.

The knowhow is easy enough to come
by —it’s as close as the Victoria office of
the British Columbia Automobile Asso-
ciation. The BCAA sells a handy little

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