Bonjour à tous,

Please excuse my use of English for this posting, but my French is not good enough to express some of the questions that I have.

My wife and I will be spending two months in the area of Marseilles beginning in March. She will be on a sabbatical leave. I will be the chauffeur.

I have a 1997 Miata, as well as a Mazda 3 (for daily use).

From previous visits to France I know how enjoyable the roads are to drive on, especially with a sporty car. A Miata is the perfect car for these roads. So I would like to buy a Miata, drive it in France while we are there and ship it to Canada at the end of our stay. Crazy, maybe … but perhaps Miata owners will understand.

I have been told that it is possible to obtain an “ex-patriate” temporary license for the car for the period when we will be in France, and that the car purchase would be exempt from VAT. Could anyone please tell me if they have had experience with obtaining such a license, or of making such a purchase?

I’m not too concerned about the importation of a car into Canada. I’ve brought a car into Canada from the U.S. before, so I’m very familiar now with the procedure - at least, as far as Canadian Customs is concerned.

Thanks to all for your help!

Bonjour "Famille Lefebvre",

Well, give us some precisions :

- you want to buy some Mx5 in France, new, is it ? and after getback this car to Canada, right ?

Besides, you 're asking us if its possible to get possibility to not have to pay VAT in France (because you will have to pay it in Canada) and like this you could get time to enjoy of this car with your wife during yours holidays ?

Sorry for all this questions, but it's better to be sure


>> if its really that, there is some official solution offered by Treasure and "Prefecture" : les plaques temporaires pour touriste.

In fact, period is from 1 month to 6 months maximum. You need for french administration :

- your passport,
- your fly ticket (2-ways),
- last electricity bill/water with your name and adress written on it.

They will make a copy of everything and they will make some temporary red plates to put on your car.

I think that you need also to go just before to Treasure to get proof that car has been sold without VAT. But in the absolute, its possible, a bit crazy in my opinion but possible

(i say crazy because i think that Miata in the USA/CANADA is largely cheaper than in Europe).

I think the VIN numbers are not the same for Europe, US and Japan markets.
This may make importing a EU car harder than a US car for you. (the same way it is very hard for us to import a US or JP model).

>> Rv : oui, mais il dit qu'il peut le faire sans soucis, c'est d'ailleurs pas le but de sa question

It should be easier to rent a miata while you' re staying in France and to buy one in Canada (cheaper). But if your purpose is to drive an "imported car" in Canada, well ... why not?

>> c'est ce que j'aurai fait perso

Non, il a dit qu'il savait importer une US au CA sans soucis. Et peut-être qu'il considère que ça doit être la même chose pour importer une FR, alors que ça peut être très différent.

English translation for famille_lefebvre:

No, he said he knew how to import a US model in CA without problems. And maybe he thinks that is the same procedure to import a FR one, while it may be very different.

>> vi, c'est vrai, j'ai été plus vite que la musique

Merci beaucoup!

I agree, it would be difficult to import a Peugeot, Renault or Citroen to Canada because these cars (depending on the model and year) would not have been approved for use in Canada. (The exception would be for Renaults, Citroens or Peugeots sold in Canada during the time that these cars were available in North America.)

Japanese cars are easier to import since they are generally similar in all markets. For example, it is possible to legally drive a right-hand drive car imported from Japan in Canada. These cars do not require any modifications to be driven in Canada, except for displaying a "right-hand drive" sign in the rear.

Also, cars that are 15 years old, or older, are not subject to the same technical requirements for importation as "newer" cars. In fact, my 1997 Miata came from Florida. It is no different from a Miata sold in Canada in 1997.

An easy way to check if the VIN on Miatas sold in France is to compare the VIN on your car against this VIN decoder:

http://www.madracki.com/miata/vin.html

If I could find an NA to rent, I would ... perhaps some members of this forum would like to rent me their car for two months?

Some were suggesting you wanted a NC, that would have be possible to rent .

But why not, rent a NC in France for 2 months and buy a NA when you will be in Canada. It will still be cheaper, less headaches for the import and you can start checking the canadese market on the net whenever you want.

If you absolutly want to import an european NA to Canada, extand your research to Germany, the choice will be larger and the prices should be cheaper. And if you need help ... there's a real PRO here ... just ask Rob1 he may sort it out for you.

Anyway I wish you good luck, hope you' ll find your dream' s car regardless the side of the ocean.

Regards

Merci beaucoup, Bip-Bip!

While searching the internet for Miata rentals in Europe, I found this posting from Capricorne, living in France, who wanted to rent a Miata for his vacation in Canada. So it seems I'm not the first one to have this idea!

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=485635

There is a compagny which is renting MX5s, NC that is :
http://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/531068318.htm?ca=12_s

But 160€ a day is quite expensive, would be 9600€ for two months !

Or they can sell it to you for 17970€ without VAT

Oui, c'est très cher!



In Canada, a similar new (2013) NC model costs $CDN 42,909 (Euro 29,745), taxes included.

To import a similar new (2014) NC from the U.S. into Canada, the total cost would be Euro 26,713.

Hmmm ...