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When the dust settles, can you take some time and describe for us the import process, since it's 23 years old it doesn't qualify for the age exemption.
Does this E500 have the plate that says it meets Federal standards?
Just wondering how you got it across the border, and what documents you needed.
Thanks, and good luck, great looking car...
When the dust settles, can you take some time and describe for us the import process, since it's 23 years old it doesn't qualify for the age exemption.
Does this E500 have the plate that says it meets Federal standards?
Just wondering how you got it across the border, and what documents you needed.
Thanks, and good luck, great looking car...
While I typically lurk, I do have some knowledge in this area:
Here's a good link to the importation process: http://www.willz.ca/importing.htm
Govt site regarding importing: https://www.epa.gov/importing-vehicles-and-engines
But it would be nice to see a 500E specific experience on the importation process. It shouldn't be that bad since the build specifications are the same as the US spec car. It would be a letter from Mercedes stating the Canadian car is built to the same standards as the US car. Not sure what else one might need, but hopefuly the buyer of this car let's us know. The process was more extensive when I imported my Cabrio in '03, it needed to be fully federalized.
and what would make cabrio harder to import then a sedan when both were sold here?
Ya it was an awesome experience in itself , such a good guy. The car will be in by friday [emoji108]
Congrats Mark!! and Welcome
It looks like you got a great car. Smoke Silver is really a nice color especially with the black interior.
Your past with old Benz's kind of sounds like mine. Back in 77 my wife bugged me to buy her a 1957 190SL. We paid $6.5K for it and I was on my way. I was very impressed on how a 20 year old car could feel so solid. It drove so smoothly and did not have one rattle. Soon things started breaking and I was forced for lack of $$ to tear it apart. I rebuilt most of it myself except the trans. Over the next 11years working on this car I developed a love/hate relationship with Mercedes. Long story short in 88 sold it for $19K and it was on a plane to Japan the next day. From there it got worse. Around 90 I picked up a 1964 220Seb Euro in Polar White/Black interior 4 speed stick on the floor and the one piece Euro headlights. After some work it drove great but the interior stitching on the leather rotted out and the seats fell apart. Again not enough $$ to re-upholster it so I sold it. I still regret that. Anyway then came a 67 230 Fintail with a blown motor which I rebuilt and drove for about 5 years. Next was an 84 500SL Euro for my wife who got bored with it and moved to a Cadillac. We still have it after putting 100K miles on it it sets all wrapped up in the driveway for the last 4 years or so. Then I got an 86 300E with 30K miles on it drove it up to 115K and sold it after spending a small fortune on 17" wheels and lowering it. It looked great but was a slug in the speed dept.
After finding Neil's aka "Need to Speed" website and scouring it for a few years and looking and driving no less than 5 of these cars during that time I finally got what I had been lusting over for a long time, my beloved 1993 500E 040 which I have owned now for 12-1/2 years and have never looked back. Absolutely the best car I have ever owned.
Now you are at that point with your new to you E500. All I can say is, I wish you the best of luck with your new ride and hope you come to love and appreciate the fine car you have acquired. Remember to " Enjoy the Journey"
Hope to hear an see more of you here on the board.
Take Care
Congrats. I like the black interior with smoke silver. I think you got an outstanding buy too.
Benz,
Congrats! I am sure you will also enjoy his "facility" when you meet him.![]()
So what kind of comm am I gettingKidding of course, I wish you many happy miles, wish I could have dropped the hammer on this one myself.
The seller is a tad flakey. I emailed him this morning to arrange for a viewing. He told me "how about tomorrow? I am busy today". He did not state a time. I asked for a phone chat today and left my phone number. He did not phone but emailed 6 hours later to say "sure". I emailed him to call anytime this evening. He writes back: "sorry, I just sold the car 5 minutes ago". Never got to speak to him or even know his name. I complained about the fact he didn't have time to show the car and yet sold he sold it on the same day. He said the guy bought it sight unseen. Frustrated!
Enjoying the ride I imagine!
drew
Congratulation! Car looks great, story of buying this car is awesome.
looking for your Owners and Their Cars topic
I am curious to know what taxes and fees they hit you up for. Import tax, gas guzzler, etc.
Awesome, I love stories with a good ending, or maybe a good start in this case. Congratulations and thank you for sharing the pictures of your new 036 and it's pedigree.![]()
PLEASE just do not flip it! The stars aligned to get you this car. Keep it!
"Crook County"
But seriously, you should have driven it home.
One of my best days was the day I got on a plane to Salt Lake City to pick up my 036.
I finished the transaction and headed home on I80 - 930 miles in 11 hours. Cruising across Wyoming at 100!
I did get a ticket in Cheyenne - 65 in a 55 - I was slowing down for fuel....
Sunroof open, screaming across the high plains. What a memory!
I'd go to my local dealer and ask for the history. I've had luck with mine - worth a try.
I forgot to mention some clowns were blackmailing the seller saying that if he doesn't sell them the car they would bad mouth his business etc. They kept playing phone tag with him and called him a psycho lol. Pathetic some people are just absurd. He had to hide the car until I got there.
Mark:
This is such good news! You'll love driving it while knowing you got a smoking deal for such a low mileage car!
Bill
So I was definitely considering it but I didn't have any maintenance records so I didn't want to risk it. Plus it would have taken me three days and since it was last min it wasn't an option. I actually need help locating the service records maybe someone can help out. I've called Mercedes of Vancouver and they have a stupid privacy act not allowing you to obtain the service records. The first owner would have to obtain them and get them to me. I called Mercedes USA and they were useless as well. I have a friend that works as a tech maybe he has access to that info or knows someone. Otherwise I don't have any info on the maintenance as of now. Eddy only did an oil change and didn't drive the car much since he has 7 cars.
.
A Mercedes service advisor can give you a VMI on any car. Usually they don't do it for random call-ins or people they don't know. If you have a relationship with them or go visit them with a $20 sandwich they'll usually print it out for you and black out the original owners info.
Patience paid off, like any used car you'll have some items to tend to but this is a substantially better than the vegas car in all regards; cosmetics - mechanical and mileage.
Glad you went for the round trip vegas ticket. One way tickets typically get you in hot water
Hey all, just wanted to update you on what paperwork I had prepared to import from Canada.
-Bill of sale
-EPA form 3520-1 and DOT form HS-7- these will help you determine whether you can import the car. Basically if the car has an U.S. emissions sticker (on the engine bay) and an FMSS, federal motor vehicle safety standards sticker (on the driver's side doorjamb) then you are golden. In my case, the door sticker was only for Canadian safety standards so I needed this next thing...
-Manufacturer's letter of compliance. I got it from MB Canada, which I was specifically directed to by a rep from the DOT. You can request such a letter online:
http://www.mercedes-benz.ca/content/canada/mpc/mpc_canada_website/en/home_mpc/passengercars/home/new_cars/other/admissibility.html
-Canadian registration and title- in Canada this is all taken care of together so I went to the insurance office with the seller, paid to get two day temp plate and insurance and they also released the title to me which had all the registration information on it as well.
I had a bunch of other paperwork that I really didn't need but I rather be over prepared than stuck at the border. In my case, I did not have the FMVSS sticker, but as the MB letter outlined, all that needed to be changed was the speedometer which is not necessary for importation, just for registration in your state. Keep in mind that who you get as a border patrol officer if a big factor too. The guy next to the officer handling our import made some comments about how the speedometer had to be changed before importing even though our letter clearly said that wasn't necessary, I suspect if he was handling our case, we would have gotten stuck. We had someone really nice who was pleased with the fact that we worked everything down to the T and made his job easier so import process took only about an hour and was relatively painless.
They charged 3% on the first $1,000 and 2.5% thereafter.
That was easy. I sold a Camaro IROC-Z to a Canadian several years ago and the poor guy had a hell of time getting the car into Canada. They even wanted to inspect the percentage of remaining brake shoes. The poor guy called from the border asking where the wheel lock was. I had only owned the car for several months and had never even pulled a wheel off so I did not know where the wheel lock was.
The EPA website indicates you would have to pay a gas guzzler tax. Maybe they don't collect that since the car is over 20 years old.
Congrats again Benz! I think you started looking for a E500E around the same time as me. Awesome to see your hardwork and patience pay off in a great car at an awesome price...and we all enjoyed the ups and downs as you searched thru a lot of beaters and sketchy sellers....to end up with such a cool ending. Looking forward to more pics and details on your whip. Cheers!!
Excellent write up, thanks for doing that.
The point about the speedometer is so trivial. Even if that's all they got you for, it would just be a minor delay to swap in a USA cluster, but important info for the next person who try's the same thing.
Great job, and best wishes with your new ride...O
I forgot to mention some clowns were blackmailing the seller saying that if he doesn't sell them the car they would bad mouth his business etc. They kept playing phone tag with him and called him a psycho lol. Pathetic some people are just absurd. He had to hide the car until I got there.
LoL. Bad mouth his business?... funny.
Eddy has been semi-retired for years. This is a hobby for him now; he's been around and well-known in the local MBenz community here.
He's a stand-up guy and when he has parts available f/s, you can count on them being meticulously removed by himself and functional and reasonably priced.
I've had the opportunity to pick up used mb parts from him in past; it's always a blast to see that huge commercial roll-up garage door open up and then drool at his "hobby room" (bigger than my house!)
I am so excited for you Benz being able to obtain such a pristine 500E - flying out West, driving up North, crossing a border and then reverse this process in a silky smooth fashion; AND from the price point too. (Great currency exchange of 25% or more)![]()
Very nice! You should start an Owner thread for pics and exploits.
Any chance we'll seen you in the last weekend in April for Jono's grand opening get together in the Atlanta area? Per Google it's only a 10.5 hour drive. Having already done a similar length drive from DC to Jono's in the fall, and will do again for the GTG, I can confirm the E500E is perfect for that kind of drive.