Yaris 5-dr import from Canada?

[rdsterl]

Anybody here have experience importing Canadian models? My brother-in-law lives in Kitchener, Ontario, and recently bought his wife a 5-dr RS manual to replace her worn-out Civic. Seems like a no-brainer for families, but I guess TMS doesn't want to cannibalize Scion sales...

I will try to contact his local dealer this week to find out if they've done a US export sale.

Thanks,

[cookiemech]

I'd be very interested to hear if you can, but I'd bet a lot of money that you can't. Although Canada has very similar (if not identical) emission requirements to US ones, there may be DOT differences that make it problematic. Note also that Toyota will likely not honor any warranty on a non-US delivered vehicle (that's called "gray market").

I hope you can do it, because a 5-door would be more useful than a 3-door.

[pcosens]

This issue first popped up with the Canadian Echo Hatchback (1st gen Yaris). Look at this thread for a start:

2004 Toyota Echo Hatchback (Canadian model) - CarSpace Automotive Forums

Good news is that the 2nd gen Yaris is a ULEV vehicle (Ultra Low Emission) whereas the Echo HB was only LEV. The new Yaris should be California legal - therefore "US anywhere" legal!

Good luck,

Paul

[rdsterl]

The Kitchener, Ontario Toyota sales manager says he has never done an 'export' sale--been there a few years, he said. ebay has a couple of sellers selling Canadian-market models of vehicles that are DOT-certified for US, i.e. Sienna/Sequoia/Tundra. I'm still researching--next call is to TMS to see if they would know anything about adding the 5-dr for '08--but at this point, I'm thinking the xA is going to be much easier route...