The cost of doing "Mustang" business...

[Bru]

I agree with CMM about getting "Used Parts" sent to you out of country folk.

I send a Canuck friend of mine all sorts of "used" motorcycle stuff.

Bru

 

[Pastel Blue]

You international guys need to buddy up with someone so you get all your shipments as gifts, not duty. It works have done it in the past with no issues. Shipments between individual persons not companies does not raise eyebrows.

......

 

[Mister 4x4]

Restoring classic cars is not cheap, or economical. If I'd wanted a car that got great gas mileage and was cheap to operate, I'd have bought something more modern and generic. Oh wait - I did... a 1995 Honda Civic VX hatchback... and promptly sold it when I found my Mustang (Swiss cheese edition rust bucket with a seized engine), because even as bad as the Mustang was, the little hatch just wasn't cool anymore at that moment.

From start to finish (including purchase price), my total price tag is scrapin' something around $45K. That's not counting the labor costs I saved doing everything myself, or shipping charges for all the replacement parts required just to get it all back together again (which I'm sure wasn't cheap, since all but probably less than $2K of my parts were shipped). And mine is a restomod, not concourse - meaning that I could care less if some judge doesn't like what's out of place or not authorized on my car - it's "only" an H-Code, after all. It also means that my car is not done - there will no doubt be something way cool that I just have to have coming out in the future... I haven't even meaningfully driven mine yet, and I'm already scoping out coil overs and rear discs... and the next set of rims and tires as well for that point in the future I were to ever get tired of the old school look.

Do you ever wonder just how cool your car is? Ask yourself this: would you ever fill the Mustang to the rafters with replacement parts for the Suzuki? Yeah... didn't think so.

Sorry to hear that shipping sucks for other countries, but it's not exclusive to people restoring American cars outside of the US Borders. Have you ever priced JDM parts for classic 240/260/280Zs or Celicas - with shipping? It's all part of the price of admission to the classic car owner's club.

 

[Pastel Blue]

Restoring classic cars is not cheap, or economical. If I'd wanted a car that got great gas mileage and was cheap to operate, I'd have bought something more modern and generic. Oh wait - I did... a 1995 Honda Civic VX hatchback... and promptly sold it when I found my Mustang (Swiss cheese edition rust bucket with a seized engine), because even as bad as the Mustang was, the little hatch just wasn't cool anymore at that moment.

From start to finish (including purchase price), my total price tag is scrapin' something around $45K. That's not counting the labor costs I saved doing everything myself, or shipping charges for all the replacement parts required just to get it all back together again (which I'm sure wasn't cheap, since all but probably less than $2K of my parts were shipped). And mine is a restomod, not concourse - meaning that I could care less if some judge doesn't like what's out of place or not authorized on my car - it's "only" an H-Code, after all. It also means that my car is not done - there will no doubt be something way cool that I just have to have coming out in the future... I haven't even meaningfully driven mine yet, and I'm already scoping out coil overs and rear discs... and the next set of rims and tires as well for that point in the future I were to ever get tired of the old school look.

Do you ever wonder just how cool your car is? Ask yourself this: would you ever fill the Mustang to the rafters with replacement parts for the Suzuki? Yeah... didn't think so.

Sorry to hear that shipping sucks for other countries, but it's not exclusive to people restoring American cars outside of the US Borders. Have you ever priced JDM parts for classic 240/260/280Zs or Celicas - with shipping? It's all part of the price of admission to the classic car owner's club.

 

[will e]

What amazes me is how much I am willing to spend on a car I don't drive very much. (To be fair, it was my second car and second 73 mustang and I have owned it for over 30 years). I also drove it almost a quarter million miles before it became my 'weekend' crusizer.

It didn't really nead a gearvendors overdrive. (But it's a lot more fun with it)

And the tri-power was a guilty pleasure, it's probably not as good as a setup as a classic holly 4 barrel carb. (But when the outboards kick in WHOA!)

But why am I considering roller perches for a car I drive about a thousand miles a year?

Why am I looking at upgraded suspension replacement options costing 3 times as much?

We all know why. We love these cars. I consider myself to be really lucky that a 73 Mach 1 was my first car and a 73 convertible my second. Basically they have been a part of my life for, well, most of my life.

 

[midlife]

You international guys need to buddy up with someone so you get all your shipments as gifts, not duty. It works have done it in the past with no issues. Shipments between individual persons not companies does not raise eyebrows.

Here is an example to test the theory of sending packages from individual's (not specifically as gifts, that is a whole different equation to be looked at):

I received three packages this week. One was from Midlife, addressed from his personal address (as far as I can tell). He sent it USPS, declared the contents as "electrical auto wiring" with a value of $100. Result: No duties paid on my end upon receipt.

The second was from an individual in Cochranton, PA. He declared the contents as "front motor cover" and a value of $125. Result: $31.22 in duties paid.

The third example: An auction site purchase of hub caps (not a happy camper at the moment on this purchase...) from Arkansas and this site uses supposedly a third party shipping and duty collecting service. End result: $26 in import charges. Note: When ever you use this auction site, and are from outside the USA, you are forced to deal with their collection/mailing service, absolute rip-off...

So, for some reason, Midlife's package was not screened by Canada Customs requiring the applicable duty to be paid upon delivery. The package from the second example above was similar size, value etc. Paid the duty...

The last example is a last resort purchase for me at any time, without getting into the specifics. Upon receipt, the hub caps were not "NOS with a few shelf wear scratches and appear to have never been on a car" as described. One had a substantial dent, and another had curb rash... Now I am disputing the sale and looking to return these and get my $$ back... Why cant sellers be upfront and honest, save everyone a lot of hassle...

Conclusion: Its hit and miss with packages coming into Canada, my experience has been to always try and have the item shipped through USPS = 50/50 chance of being asked to pay duty.

What's funny is that I sent another package to Great (soon to be Lesser) Britain on the same day and that customer wanted it sent as a gift. Pastel Blue's was not sent as a gift. However, there was a bottle of Canadian Club attached to the box and stated "to be only opened by Customs". You think that had something to do with no duty fees?

And what was NAFTA all about if not to reduce tariffs and custom duties?

 

[Mister 4x4]

I have way more then $45 K in my body and paint job alone so nothing new there... I can state pretty confidently that this car will be one of the most expensive original restorations completed on a '71 Mustang to date when taking into consideration all costs associated with the car and given the fact the additional costs of doing so while living in Canada. These costs are further mitigated by the excessive shipping/duty costs that we pay outside the USA and I just consider it, "The cost of doing Mustang business"... At the end of the day, I really could care less about the shipping costs, I just pay the bill...

I don't think anyone here is complaining about what it takes to restore the car, we all know what we were in store for when we signed up... The concern is solely the tacked on costs in the various countries when shipping parts and the wide array of variances in this regard. Hey, if there is a good deal on a Suzuki part when I am across the border at a show with a Mustang, I will have no problem throwing it in the back and bringing home.. never turn down a good deal on car parts, period.

Oddly enough, I remember paying $70 shipping on a $9.95 V-TEC module gasket to fix an oil leak on my little Honda. It came from the only place I could find it on the internet - Malaysia. I couldn't even get one from the local Honda stealership since the car was only 12 years old at the time, and nobody there had ever heard of a VX with the D15Z1 VTEC-E engine.