Date:         Wed, 07 Jun 95 12:33:20 CDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      Re: Cool Vanagon Trucks

On Wed, 7 Jun 95 11:19:18 CDT John Anderson said:
>I was just wondering, I figure most of these being seen were
>imported in the late '80's by a company in the midwest, that
>used to advertise in VW Trends and Hot VW's.  Every month there

well ... if you consider Idaho as the "midwest". :)  it was a guy named
Pat, who ran North Idaho Imports, in Cour d'Alene in northern Idaho (just
across the line from Spokane, WA). he would go up to canada and buy them and
go through the paperwork hassle and all to get them legalized (titled in
Idaho or Washington) and try to sell them.

>where they were quite common, the add used to say they were available
>with ridiculous options like leather interiors and full power
>crap and I think the price then was about $25k when a normal syncro
>in '87 or so was probably going at what $18k or so?  Anyway, does

the problem was, everytime he crossed the border with one, he had to pay a
whopping 25 percent duty on the truck! and only because it was a "truck" ...
some stupid tax law about foreign pickups, to "protect" GM & Ford and Chrysler
from all those teenie-weenie pickups that would drive the big three into
bankruptcy if allowed in!!! yeah, right. so how, you might well ask, did the
Toyota/Nissan/Mazda/Isuzu get in? cause they are built in pieces (fenders and
pickup bed comes off), they were shipped in as "parts" and assembled in
california ... ergo, they ain't really "trucks". since the vw is unibody and
all welded together, they couldn't get away with this. that's the story i
heard, anyway. it goes way back to the Chicken Tax in the early 70's ... when
somebody (germany, probably) decided to put a tax on american chicken exports
and the congress retaliated by taxing pickup trucks.

hey, it makes as much sense as anything else Congress does!!! :)

>anybody remember these adds and know anything about the company?
>I'm wondering how many came in and when it becam too hard to import
>them to make it worth while, I think the black market on euro

the last time i talked to him (a year or more ago), he (pat) had given up on
the business of bringing them in ... the sales were terrible (i think because
of his location) and the costs too high. but part of the costs was because he
was bringing in New high-end model syncros, not good used trucks. i think he
said he had sold about a dozen all total.

>nearly impossible to bring non US market cars in.  Is it still
>possible to import these things?  Were they sold new in Canada and
>would it be possible to procure them there and bring em in, inquireing
>minds want to know.

yes, they were sold new in canada. yes, they are still running around up there
and yes, you can still import them. and yes, that 25 percent tax (on the
"purchase price"! wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more, say no more!) is
collected. according to the customs folks i talked to in Seattle, the rest of
the paperwork is pretty much a formality (small fees for paperwork ... maybe
another $100). the big issue is the EPA and DOT stickers: they MUST be on the
car, otherwise YOU have to post a $5000 bond and get letters of certification
(from manufacturer, or certified/authorized mechanics) that the car meets U.S.
specs.

the "best" idea might be to check the newspapers for Seattle, Bellingham, and
the Pacific Northwest area and try to find one for sale by someone who has
already brought it across and titled it. that solves a LOT of YOUR problems in
getting it legally into your own state.


and if i ever win a lottery, i'm gonna buy ALLLLLLL the pickups in CANADA!!!!!
nyah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!! :)

joel