Hi everyone!
Just wanted to tell my story of how I imported my dream car - Toyota Altezza.
I was considering on buying Toyota Altezza locally but after little research I came to the conclusion that importing a modified Altezza is a little cheaper than buying it here in Vancouver.
It took me a while to choose a right exporter in Japan. Since there are so many of them, Derek's videos from Pacific Coast Auto on YouTube helped me to use his services. During the whole process, Andrew, one of Derek's employees, was helping me to choose the right car.
There are so many awesome Altezzas go through the auction that it was really hard to choose the one I liked the most. It took me about 2 months to win the right Altezza. Once the car was purchased, I sent the rest of the money to PCA using PaylineByIce services. A week after, Andrew sent me around 50 photos of the car and another week later I got the arrival dates to New Westminster's port.
I was doing customs myself and started doing the research on how it is actually done. Thanks to JdMvip for a good guide topic. Here is what you need to do the customs yourself and save $200 for brokerage fee:
1. Wait until you get an email from WWL with documents - IN BOND and Soil form documents are the ones you need from them. (The soil release form doesn't need to be faxed to customs because they stoped inspecting the cars for it. This is what the customs officer said, however, I filled it out and asked them to put the stamp on it, just in case - step 4).
2. Wait until you get the original documents from PCA.
3. Call NYK to make sure that they sent your Steamship document to WWL.
4. Take all of your documents to customs in Vancouver. It is good idea to download form 1 from JDMvips topic and fill it out. When you come to customs they will ask you to fill out their form 1 since every form has its own number. Pay the taxes and duty fees.
5. Send the preferred pick up dates to WWL (you will get the contact number/email from step 1). Now wait until you get approved for picking up your car.
5. Call your shop for the OOP inspection and make an appointment for the day you pick up your car from docs.
6. Go to the insurance company to get the TOP A to B. I recommend Sussex insurance at superstore on Westwood st. in Coquitlam. These guys know what they are doing.
7.Come to the port, pay $125 fee and pick up your car.
8. Get your car inspected and drive it home to add/fix/replace parts you need.
9. Bring your car back for final inspection and get a sticker on the windshield.
That is it! So easy, right ?!
I strongly recommend doing customs yourself, because the only real thing you need to do is to come to customs and pay the taxes. You save $200!!! It easier that it seems to be.