Porsche Cars Canada - Import Process Sucks

[Aron in Toronto]

Things have changed recently. When I imported my Boxster several years ago, all I had to do was call 1(800)PORSCHE and customer service faxed me the "Clearance Letter" required by RIV (Registrar of Imported Vehicles) Canada. When the CDN $ went to parity with the US $ several years ago the Canadian Dealers lost a significant number of sales to the US and started enacting new rules to stop imports from the US.

The first attempt was to refuse to schedule appointments for service on imports, next was an attempt to invalidate the North American new car warrantee on US vehicles, then CDN Dealers started charging a ~$500-1200 fees to inspect imports and "validate" cars to maintain their warrantee.

These measures understandably upset Canadian Porsche buyers and PCNA backed down but then created Porsche Canada with I believe a separate warrantee on US cars Vs CDN cars. The most recent attempt to reduce the number of imports is the RIV requirement that US Porsches be inspected by a Canadian Dealer to make sure they meet Canadian standards.

The problem is that the RIV relies on auto manufactures to let them know if their products meet the Canadian standards. Porsche could have done what most manufacture have done, which is to say their US market vehicles also meet Canadian standards, either “as is” or with some required modification(s) like DRLs and metric speedometers. Porsche has chosen to instead insist that all imported cars be brought into dealers to be inspected for ~$1000 before they will provide the needed “Clearance Letter”.

This is nothing more than a short sighted attempt to create a small profit for CDN dealers who have lost out on sales, but is in my mind has the effect of driving off new parts & service business and alienating potential customers.

The real problem is the drastic price difference between US and Canadian Porsches. Several will say that this is due to the smaller market in Canada that causes the higher prices, but in the case of Canadian Porsche dealers, most if not all are in major cities, with larger markets and closer to major transportation hubs than many US dealers.

Back to the OP’s issue of the clearance letter, I know the RIV website states that US Porsches must be inspected by a CDN dealer & a recall letter from Porsche Canada (at $$$), but here in Toronto the RIV is still accepting documents from US Dealers and the inspections done through Canadian Tire.

Good luck on your new car and sorry you to hear you are getting jerked around by your dealer.

Regards,
Aron

[Aron in Toronto]

Originally Posted by BrentMcK

Unfortunately, a letter generated from a US dealer or by Porsche Cars North America (US) will no longer satisfy RIV.

Porsche Cars Canada, supposedly through months of consultations with RIV, has set the new terms. RIV will only accept the clearance letter from Porche Cars Canada. It must have Porsche Cars Canada letterhead ... US documents will no longer work.

Unfortunately, if you want to import a Porsche into Canada you will be paying the fees to your local Porsche dealer and waiting for your aaproval letter to come from the Head Office in Ontario. There is no other way to "get around" the fees anymore.

Oh well ...

I just checked the RIV website today and it looks as though the requirement for imported Porsches to be inspected at and updates done by a Canadian dealership has been taken off their list, so I would assume they will accept an official recall letter from whatever source you can get one from. The challenge will be to see if you can get one at a reasonable cost from a US dealer.

I've requested and been supplied with several documents at no cost from the US dealer that serviced my car for the original/previous US owner when my local dealer either refused or wanted hefty fees to print it off their system.

Aron

[VRsyncro]

Originally Posted by BrentMcK

If you are going to import a Porsche into Canada ... understand the game has changed and Porsche is making it difficult now instead of being helpful & reasonable.

Wow! That really does suck!

What were you importing? As stated by others, my experience importing to Canada in 2007 was painless.

Thanks for the heads up!

[crod]

I actually imported mine back in April (long easter weekend) and the process was painless.
I had indeed to bring the car to the authorized dealer in Ottawa but the process is simple and not that expensive at all.
All I did was ask the Porsche dealer in California to hook up the computer and set a flag to 'Canadian'. That cost me nothing as I was there for regular service.
Once in Canada, before taking the car to the authorized dealer, I brought it to a mechanic that worked for Porsche for several years (and now the guy that takes care of my car) and he did the DRL modification for me. I do not remember the total cost but was cheap.
Then I brought the car to the dealer. With the flag already set to Canada and the DRL done they had nothing to do at all with it. So I paid the $500 for their blessing and it was all good.
Again, it is a very simple process and considering the deals in the US, it is simply a no-brainer.
As soon as I pull the plug on an Aston Martin, off to the US again.



CR

[richaera]

Hi guys, am new in this forum so hope this goes out as intended.
First of all, I have just successfully imported an 06 Porsche Boxster from the US. I had read all sorts of horror stories concerning the recall letter and thought I had probably made a mistake in purchasing this vehicle.

First I went on the RIV site and found this info :

RIV will accept any of the following recall clearance information:

A printout from an American or Canadian dealership’s vehicle service database.
This document must be produced by an authorized dealer and not a reseller. You can confirm whether or not a dealership is authorized by visiting the manufacturer’s web site or by calling their head office and providing them with the dealership’s location. The printout must also contain the 17-digit vehicle identification number (VIN), year, make and model, and indicate that there are no outstanding recalls. RIV routinely forwards a copy of these printouts to the manufacturer for authentication.

Hence I went to a US dealer, had the DRLs activated and asked the service rep for the Recall Letter. He told me "no problem", said all I needed was the Job Management Report, signed it and gave me his business card so I could add it to the Report. They charged me $52 for the activation and $0 for the letter. I then brought all the paperwork (including the bill for the DRL) to the border, where they faxed all the info to RIV.
I just called RIV this morning (08/20/2010) and they confirmed that "form 2" was already in the mail.
I then called the local Porsche dealer after confirmation from RIV and sure enough they told me I had to bring the vehicle in for inspection, cost $500. I firmly believe that some info on this thread may be planted specifically to discourage people from purchasing a Porsche in the US.
Hope this clears the air around this subject. I would strongly recommend that anyone wishing to buy in the US please make sure you can get the proper paperwork from a US dealer before buying the vehicle.

[Aron in Toronto]

Originally Posted by richaera

Hi guys, am new in this forum so hope this goes out as intended.
First of all, I have just successfully imported an 06 Porsche Boxster from the US. I had read all sorts of horror stories concerning the recall letter and thought I had probably made a mistake in purchasing this vehicle.

First I went on the RIV site and found this info :

RIV will accept any of the following recall clearance information:

A printout from an American or Canadian dealership’s vehicle service database.
This document must be produced by an authorized dealer and not a reseller. You can confirm whether or not a dealership is authorized by visiting the manufacturer’s web site or by calling their head office and providing them with the dealership’s location. The printout must also contain the 17-digit vehicle identification number (VIN), year, make and model, and indicate that there are no outstanding recalls. RIV routinely forwards a copy of these printouts to the manufacturer for authentication.

Hence I went to a US dealer, had the DRLs activated and asked the service rep for the Recall Letter. He told me "no problem", said all I needed was the Job Management Report, signed it and gave me his business card so I could add it to the Report. They charged me $52 for the activation and $0 for the letter. I then brought all the paperwork (including the bill for the DRL) to the border, where they faxed all the info to RIV.
I just called RIV this morning (08/20/2010) and they confirmed that "form 2" was already in the mail.
I then called the local Porsche dealer after confirmation from RIV and sure enough they told me I had to bring the vehicle in for inspection, cost $500. I firmly believe that some info on this thread may be planted specifically to discourage people from purchasing a Porsche in the US.
Hope this clears the air around this subject. I would strongly recommend that anyone wishing to buy in the US please make sure you can get the proper paperwork from a US dealer before buying the vehicle.

Rich,

It’s good to hear some current feedback on your import process.

Just to clarify, are you saying the RIV accepted the US dealer’s documents and you don’t need to go into have a Canadian dealer inspect your car?

Why is the Canadian dealer saying you need to bring your car in for the $500 inspection if the RIV has already approved you US paperwork (I think I know the answer )?

Congrats on the new car .

Aron