(edit title) Importing 4x4's from Canada to sell Is it worth it? Options

[KieronT]

Hey,

Having lived in Canada previously for 12 years and always having owned 4x4 trucks I have been inclined to seek a similar vehicle here in Sweden (moved here a little while ago....and yes with my Swedish girlfriend !!!). Having looked for a reasonable deal on my fav Ford F150 I have been taken a back a little as to the value of such vehicles here.

With strong contacts still in Canada and in particular a friend who owns a vehicle dealership (after much research) it seems quite plausible to import a used F150 from Canada for my own use and save quite a lot of money in the process.

My question to anyone who may be in the know is: do you think that it would be of sufficient financial reward to import used trucks from Canada / U.S.A. in a commercial capacity and resell them here ?.

I am aware that there are significant differences in the process of importing a vehicle for personal use versus strictly for resale (profit making purposes), i.e. a mountain of red-tape and paperwork etc etc. But after going through all that and with the greater value of such vehicles here do you think there may be enough beer money left over to make it worth it ?.

P.s. That is of course assuming that there is a demand for them !!!!!

Cheers

[johnjohn]

NO. If it was worth doing it would be done by many, many people.

[Bender B Rodriquez]

There is not much red tape in this kind of business, but there are plenty of costs.

If you buy a car in Canada for 10000CAD and pay transport 2000CAD you need to pay a 10% tariff of 1200CAD and another 25% sales tax of 3300CAD, so your cost for the vehicle is then 16000CAD. Then you need to pass an inspection so you have to retrofit things like speedometer and indicator lights and make sure EU emission and safety standards are satisfied, which adds more costs.

The market for big, thirsty vehicles is quite small in Sweden due to horrendous fuel prices and emission based taxes, so the few such vehicles you see are often imported by enthusiasts and thus cost a lot.

[Migga]

Sweden is in the top five most eco-friendly country in the world. Driving a Ford 150 will be expensive.

[Gordy]

Get some details and photos of a truck from one of your contacts in Canada and work out exactly what it will cost to import and what you need to sell it for, then put an ad for it on Blocket and see how many calls you get.

You will then have an idea of the possible demand, but I expect in the current economic climate it will be quite low.

[KieronT]

Cheers Bender and Gordy,

Good info and good idea Gordy, I was thinking of doing that actually as I have been searching the online used vehicle sites. The main thing that I discovered is that a majority of these vehicles if not all (Ford F150's) are being sold trough a car dealership and thus the prices are escalated again. I do understand that the demand may well be very low but if it keeps me a little busy and gives me a bit of pocket money while I continue to learn Swedish it may just be worth it.

Or did I just quote my own "famous last words".

You may see a post from me in six months titled "what not to try after moving to Sweden" !!!

[Yorkshireman]

Tip:

When looking into shipping from Canada (or US for that matter), if You go direct to Sweden You are looking at paying 25% VAT + Import Duty 10% which results in approx 38% additional cost ontop of the car value.

Look to shipping companies that will specifically handle importing into Sweden via the tip of Holland, if the goods are technically imported into Holland (ie. into the EU there) You pay 19% VAT and a lower import duty than Sweden. Once re-shipped almost directly from Holland to Sweden, there is no additional taxes to pay as it is then classed as already imported into the EU and taxes paid.

Can add 10.000+ to your possible profit

btw... This also applies when shipping just about anything of value into Sweden

[Svensksmith]

Tip of the day award goes to Yorkshire man!

[KieronT]

Tks for the tip Yorkshireman,

I see many of your writings on here and there seems little that you are not educated or somewhat informed about, therefore I must ask if I may your opinion as to the viability of my potential endeavor ?, I am thus aware that it is physically and practically doable, but would it be financially worth it do you think ?.

Also further to your tip I have discovered some used Ford F150 trucks in the U.K. which would obviously be easier and cheaper to get here. The values of the vehicles take into consideration the mark-up from already being shipped / imported to Europe, but would there still be room for a profit margin to re-sell here in Sweden do you think ?

Cheers

[rodeo al]

Hi , its better to get them via UK less import duty, then you got about a weeks work to get them thru tech control, plus you can only import them to sweden for "eget bruk" own use, so you need a differnt person each time to name the import.
youll need a couple of declarations "intyg" for noise and emmisions then you can sell it ....
ive been doing it a while now, have a 1500 ram laramie for sale at the moment 15000km full spec if anyone is intrested!

[johnjohn]

It seems every other vehicle in the U.S. is a pickup truck whether they are used for their intended purpose or just for passenger transportation. I just wonder if the demand is here?

[Bender B Rodriquez]

Tks for the tip Yorkshireman,I see many of your writings on here and there seems little that you are not educated or somewhat informed about, therefore I must ask if I may you ... (show full quote)

Tks for the tip Yorkshireman,

I see many of your writings on here and there seems little that you are not educated or somewhat informed about, therefore I must ask if I may your opinion as to the viability of my potential endeavor ?, I am thus aware that it is physically and practically doable, but would it be financially worth it do you think ?.

Also further to your tip I have discovered some used Ford F150 trucks in the U.K. which would obviously be easier and cheaper to get here. The values of the vehicles take into consideration the mark-up from already being shipped / imported to Europe, but would there still be room for a profit margin to re-sell here in Sweden do you think ?

Cheers ... (hide full quote)

Try and import your own car first then you will see what hurdles you have to go through and what it may cost. You need a car anyway, right?

The problem with UK trucks is that they drive on the left, i.e. the steering wheel is on the passenger side.

The most positive side of your venture is that you know a Canadian dealer; this is very beneficial.

[KieronT]

Hey Bender,

Tks again for your thoughts.

Actually I have just finished importing my car from the U.K., it is a right hand drive Volvo V40, when I bought it in the U.K. I was looking for a LHD to bring here but there was not much available. I got quite a cheapy as my thinking was that should it last the journey and bring my stuff with me, get me around for the three months that it was legal here then it would have served it's purpose and then off to car heaven. Alas it has done real well and seems to be running great, (i think it was just tired and fed up of the U.K. (like me) and is happy in it's new surroundings.

The process has actually been quite straight forward....so far !!!,

Anyway the trucks that I have looked at in the U.K. have already been imported from North America so are LHD, so the main technical hurdles will be minimal.

The main consideration will really be the financial benefit of doing so.

Is it worth all the paperwork, advertising and time to make a couple thousand Sek ??

My girlfriend would perhaps say that even if I didn't make a penny it would be fine as long as it kept me off my ass and busy in between learning Swedish and applying for jobs that I won't get due to the language barrier...oh and going to my one to two day a week dish washing job (most humbling, and actually quite fun).

As you say the one distinct benefit I have in this venture is my connection with a dealer in Canada, he get's quite a few "lease" returns financed directly by Ford who primarily do not take an interest in re-selling and thus vehicle values would be very reasonable.

[rodeo al]

getting a volvo or any other euro style car in is easy as the lamps, windows gas tank all have an E2 marker on them , any direct import from the US or Japan does not have these markers so can only be imported for "eget bruk" 1 per 12 months , you can then get a dispensation for these E markers then.
you just need to strip it of everything that weighs anything otherwise if you have a crew cab on the weighbridge youll only get i thru as a car and not a light truck (less road tax)
rewire the indicators and put orange ones on , put white p lights on the front and a bit more!!

[Svensksmith]

When I imported my pickup from the US to Sweden, I had to have a rear window sheild(commonly known in the States as a headache rack) and cargo hooks installed in the bed to pass bilprovning. They had to be professionally installed and I had to show the receipt.

As I recall, it wasn't cheap.