Hello from Canada!
 

Hello, I live in Oakville, Ontario. My house has one small garage and I'm looking to get a track car to work on after I finish my house renovations. I have a 2008 Subaru Impreza for my daily driver, which probably can't handle a trailer with a car so the track car would have to be street legal.

I've been checking out the Forum for a few weeks. One of my friends from work has been building his Miata up at first I was really not feeling the car but it has won me over. I have not 100% decided if it is going to start with a stock car or one of the cars for sale by the members of this forum.

The idea of building it from scratch with the components that I want and learning the specifics of this car is very appealing. Saving money and getting into something that is already modified is the other option but leaves me somewhat scared that I may end up with something I can't service.

Anyways, thanks for letting me join this site. There is so much great info on here, I'm very happy that my friend recommended it. Although I'm staying up way too late as a result. I can't wait to get started!

P.S. Any Canadians on here with experience bringing in modified vehicles? I have spoken to a couple members on here about purchasing their NA's and when I called the RIV people in Canada, I found out that even if the car is >15 years old if it was modded in the last 15 years it does not qualify for the RIV exemption. If I end up buying a modded car in the US and have to go through RIV what do I need to be aware of when going through the process?

Cheers,

Mike

I've brought in many modified vehicles from the US and never encountered any problems. Boarder services only looked at the VIN and vehicle year and qualify for RIV, nothing else.

My guess would be the border services officer was a douche pickle.

Unless you tell them or it's obviously modded you should be fine like Preluding says.

I see enough wealthy people driving newer lexus / infinity's that don't have DRL's which are a legal requirement of import and of the safety check the vehicle gets on our side of the border. That said if they are going to pick on someone it would be the performance modded car not the one lacking safety features.

If you are still just debating I'd bring in a Cali or Arizona car and build that.

BTW welcome to the site, I'm just an hour or so down the 401 from you.

Salute.

Let me know if you need any kind of custom stuff made up once you get the car and i hope to see you around!

Matt

Thanks everyone!

As far as the US import goes, the does not appear stock is the main issue. The couple of cars for sale on this forum that I have asked about have aftermarket bumpers, with a big IC smiling through, roll cages, speed holes in the hood... they don't look stock at all. Nice deals, built by people that know a lot more about Miatas and turbo setups then I do at this point, so would be sweet to bring one in.

I called RIV and was told that if the car is modified within 15 years it has to go through the RIV process. If they found that the modifications were an issue I would be responsible for returning the car to the US or the costs of having it destroyed. wtf

As far as a track car goes lets assume, no airbags, roll cage and an obviously modded car. Apparently you can supply something in writing stating that the mods were done 15 years ago and not have to be inspected. That rules out buying a car from anyone under 30... unless that 21 year old guy can say he started on his car when he was 5 or 6. That might just work!

On a serious note if the obviously modded car was built well, had proper seat belts and solid installed roll bar, it should not be an issue as the car is safer then stock. No one at RIV will give me a definitive answer when I pose this question. Has anyone actually had the RIV border people poke around their modded purchase and get through alright?

I have heard about people driving through with a jacked up Jeep and for their RIV inspection someone barely glance at them through an office window. It would be sweet to know which border crossing has these dedicated employees.

Welcome to the site, you'll find all the info in the world here:P

i'm from quebec, about 40 min from montreal. let me know if i can be of any help

How much are you planning to spend and what are you looking for? I have a pretty decent Turbo Miata for Sale in the Toronto area. Roll Bar, Teins, Turbo, R-Comps the works...

PM me..

PM sent, looking for a track car but not one that I need to haul around on a trailer... should have mentioned that also.