Import used 2011 Leaf from US to Canada

[Bigboler]

Hello Canadian Leaf owners, I am looking at importing a used leaf from the States to Canada. The price is tempting, I have seen them as low as $25,000. The problem I have run into is the US Carwings TCU will supposedly not work in Canada. I was hoping that a simple change of sim cards would be all that would be needed, but Nissan claims the TCU is incompatible for use in Canada. Has anybody else imported a Leaf? Any help would be appreciated.

[muus]

Where have you seen the Leaf for $25,000? I've been keeping an eye on Autotrader and eBay and the best I've seen is around $29,000. I don't know if you are aware but if you want the warranty to be transferable the car needs to be registered in the US for at least 6 months. Also since the car was made in Japan there is a 6% import duty. I'm guessing you would have to forget about Carwings on a US import.

[Bigboler]

$25,000 is the lowest, it was in Portland about a month ago. There was one in Seattle that started at $28,900 and went down to $27,500 before disappearing from craigslist. I haven't started a serious search yet as I haven't solved all the problems of importing as previously stated. But a 2011 Leaf was in the high 20's after federal rebate so I figure that the used price should settle around there or lower. I am aware of the warranty, but that shouldn't be a problem as for most of the 2011's the six months have gone by. The duty is a pain, and will disappear when they are made in Tennessee. But that means we would have to wait until 2014 to reach into that used market.

I have developed a spreadsheet were I have calculated my operating costs of my 1994 Protege against a new and used Leaf. I figure I can save $200 a month with a Leaf, by spreading my payments over a 10 year period with my house line of credit I could get the total additional cost (above what I am all ready paying to fuel and maintenance on the Protege) of a new Leaf down to $22,000 spread over 10 years. A used one at $27,000 would be $14,000.

Doing without Carwings would not be the end of the world, but it would be nice to have. I tried a local Nissan parts department and they don't list the sim card separately just the whole TCU for $1950. I am going to check to see if the part number of the US TCU is the same as the one for the Canadian version

[surfingslovak]

You might want check out this thread: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3316" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Bigboler]

Thanks I just posted in it to see if anybody has tried a different sim in the car.

[KJD]

If you really want a used one, maybe you should just wait till the end of the year. At that time next years model might just have the 6kw charger and an improved climate control system.

If those 2 things really do happen, some of those canadian early adopters might just spring for a new one and trade in a really nice 2011 or 2012 model. Then you might be able to buy a used canadian Leaf and not worry about the incompatible stuff.

[cwerdna]

Where have you seen the Leaf for $25,000? I've been keeping an eye on Autotrader and eBay and the best I've seen is around $29,000. I don't know if you are aware but if you want the warranty to be transferable the car needs to be registered in the US for at least 6 months. Also since the car was made in Japan there is a 6% import duty. I'm guessing you would have to forget about Carwings on a US import.

The OP should definitely check w/whether how the warranty would work in Canada if warranty work is needed. Has the OP looked into http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/safe ... ex-445.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

You might have issues w/reselling the car later if the odometer and other instruments still in miles and degrees F. Last year, I thought of trying to sell my US 350Z to Canadian Nissan dealers. It basically seemed extremely troublesome. They didn't want to muck w/it unless I completed the import process and other stuff.

I thought about doing the opposite when I lived in WA as Canadian prices on Nissans (LONG ago) were tempting. Back then, I found out that if I wanted to have warranty work done, I'd have to pay out of pocket and then file a claim. I'd also have to pay to get the instruments switched to US measurements in addition to import duties.

[surfingslovak]

You might have issues w/reselling the car later if the odometer and other instruments still in miles and degrees F. Last year, I thought of trying to sell my US 350Z to Canadian Nissan dealers. It basically seemed extremely troublesome. They didn't want to muck w/it unless I completed the import process and other stuff.

I thought about doing the opposite when I lived in WA as Canadian prices on Nissans (LONG ago) were tempting. Back then, I found out that if I wanted to have warranty work done, I'd have to pay out of pocket and then file a claim. I'd also have to pay to get the instruments switched to US measurements in addition to import duties.

The dash can be easily switched to metric, I have tried this already, since I'm considering shipping a Leaf to Germany. There are three languages the dash can display: English, Spanish and French. No German, unfortunately. This is obviously the NA version. Aside from the incompatible SIM card in the TCU, about the only difference I'd be aware of is DLR. I believe that they are required in Canada, or at least so I've read on this forum.

If I recall correctly, 2012 was the first MY to go on sale in Canada. The majority of US 2011 Leafs will not have the winter package. Seat heaters can be installed, but not the battery warmer. If the vehicle is to be operated in Vancouver, BC, this might not be a big deal since the climate is very similar to Seattle, one of the launch markets in early 2011.

[Bigboler]

Yes no need for a battery warmer in Vancouver, the igloo keeps them warm The DLR circuit is not in the US Leaf but there is a mod on this forum to add aftermarket ones for 35 dollars.

Everything is good, except the Carwings and duty, and if the Canadian Dollar would just do one of it's jumps to a dollar five that would mostly take care of the duty.

[kayshadog]

Are you sure you can import a leaf onto Canada? My exploration of the isdea has shown that only vehicles appearing on Transport Canada's "Vehicles Admissible" list are allowed.

http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/safe ... ex-445.htm

There's a pdf listing the allowed vehicles. Only the Nissan Infinity shows - or am reading it wrong?

If you know otherwise, please let me know.

Cheers!