I bought a 2005 Renegade X that was unavailable in Manitoba at the time, spring order only sled and I got it for $1000 less then the run of the mill available in the fall standard sled. I have bought a truck and a watercraft down there since and the savings far outweigh the paperwork and the RIV fee and hassle. As long as you are buying US or Canadian made stuff you only have to pay the taxes (PST & GST) on a Yammi there will most likely be some duty..."most friendly nation" they call it, probably 6.5% if I remember right. BRP has made it more trouble lately and is making trouble for the dealers down there with penalties and as soon as you call BRP for the letter of recall that RIV needs that will notify them that you have exported the sled and they will automatically void the warranty in there system. An example I was involved with first hand is two Can-Am 650 Outlander XT's the savings was approximately $3000 per machine, the trade off was the loss of warranty coverage in Canada and the 30-45days of fussing around with paperwork and the RIV, is it worth it? YES!, if you can affor the out of pocket costs when you have small warranty issues and be sure that the dealer in the states wont walk on you if you had major trouble. The exchange is well in our favour right now and the NAFTA situation makes it fairly easy compared to the savings to do it. What works best is if you have a good friend in the US that will buy the unit for you and have it registered to him in the US and then sell it to you privately for a reduced amount, this way the dealer is happy and has his US addy for registration and more importantly your warranty. The dealers up here are going to get there noses out of joint as soon as they know the machine came from the US but just don't walk into there shop with all the money you saved falling out of your pockets and depending on the dealer he should serve you in his normal service rotation if you needed. I actually just recently bought another 05 Summit 800 X used two weeks ago, figured I save about $2500 depending on who’s math you use and what I might have paid for a comparable used machine in Alberta or Quebec, never mind right here in my own backyard (Grand Forks)
That is probably the best deal, buy used in the states, then you have none of the dealer issues and there is nothing to get the manufactures excited.
As far as issues at the border, there are none, just follow the rules set out by US customs, the RIV and don’t try and screw around with the CBSA and you will be fine. The trouble they can make for you at the border is not worth the savings on the taxes, its peanuts and you would have to pay it here anyway so take the savings and buy some accessories from your local dealer…he will make more on those then the sled anyways.
Another thing to remeber is there are no financing opportunities for Canadians in the US, you have to go with a US Money order or bank draft, or cash but thats would be stupid.
Whew long post...Go get em!
Just wondering if anyone has purchased a sled from the U.S.? If you have, can you let me know how it went? Did you have a lot of hassles at the border? Any info would help. Thanks[/b]