I'm moving to Edmonton on the IEC scheme (fingers crossed) in July, and i'm just wondering what the watercooled and aircooled scene is like?

Checking ebay and craigslist, there seems to be quite a few bugs and buses, but not many mk2's, old Polo's etc.

but not many mk2's, old Polo's etc.

Because they were never sold there. There is at best 5 MK2 and MK2F Polos in the USA so there are probably none in Canada. I wouldn't want one in Canadian winters.

Sorry I meant MK2 Golfs. I figured they weren't in the american market. So was the Golf the smallest car available to america/canada from VW?

When I was out in Calgary, there was very little VW's to be seen.

That was winter though, so anything special is probably kept well away and locked up until summer. I did see a few modern things mind, Jetta GLI, Mk4 R32, a Jetta wagon, probably a few others.

Also, Canadians laugh at the idea of anything smaller than the Golf. I spent time with people from out in the countryside, they thought my Fabia vRS was pretty much a supermini.

Edited 13 April, 201313 yr by Cutmore

I'm moving out to Australia at the end of the year and have the same problem. There's a few imports here and there but I may have to move over to a big V8, oh no what a shame!

Id settle for a clean bug over a polo, but that is a shame! Got the number of a guy who can import stuff from the dry states too which should help

I'm moving out to Australia at the end of the year and have the same problem. There's a few imports here and there but I may have to move over to a big V8, oh no what a shame!

Importing cars to Australia is pretty hard, from what I understand there are lots of cars that you just can't have there. I think you can bring a car with you if you have owned it for 12 months elsewhere.

What the episode on importing a car on MCM they had to chop it to get it in the country.

One thing i'll say - FUCK THAT! - Go buy a car while over there! (importing your pride and joy)

Okay, so there are a number of us out in Australia who have been tempted to ship a car over here and there are a number of PHer’s still in the UK who are thinking of taking the plunge and coming to Australia and want to bring their pride and joy with them.

Here’s my experience of shipping my beloved Lotus Elise 111R, it’s an 05MY with the touring pack, I purchased it from new with a first registration of June 2005. Mileage was under 5000miles… selling it in the UK wasn’t really an option as quite frankly – I didn’t want to and now it’s onshore in Australia, I’m exceptionally pleased I didn’t.

So, what was the total cost… here goes… and be prepared, everyone wants some of your hard earned cash when bringing in a vehicle from overseas: (All figures in Australian Dollars)

Vehicle import application - $50.00

Shipping cost (20ft container) - $3025.00

Marine shipping insurance - $1892.00

Australian Duty & Entry Fees - $6456.41

Port & Statutory Charges - $489.50

Transport of container (Warf to Depot) - $429.00

Depot Charges (Unpack Container) - $407.00

Australian Quarantine Inspection Services - $193.00

Customs and AQUIS formalities re Motor Vehicle - $412.50

Valuation of Vehicle - $605.00

Transport by tilt tray (Warf to mechanic) - $132.00

Admin Costs at Mechanic & Secure storage - $176.00

Blue slip for imported vehicle - $113.50

Personal Import Plate - $154.00

Visual inspection unit (VIU) at RTA - $187.00

Registration Fee - $51.00

Motor Vehicle Tax - $166.00

Stamp Duty (on a Value of $42,000) - $1260.00

Compulsory Third party insurance - $326.00

Grand total (Car is now on the road!) - $16,524.91

^Why would any car enthusiast want to live in Australia? The rules there are stupid and the police will defect the car for whatever reason they can find. Floor of the car less than 100mm from the floor? That's unsafe mate. IMO the US is probably the best place for modified cars.