Shipping a Unimog from Germany to Canada

[Jolly Roger]

I'm considering importing a Unimog from Germany to Canada and am wondering if anyone can recommend a good importer / shipper?

I had a quote from Seabridge and it was around $4,300 to ship to Halifax. I live in Vancouver (on the opposite side of the country) so would then need to ship or drive it 4,400kms to get it home. They also quoted me around $7,300 to ship the vehicle to Seattle, which is much closer to where I live, but $3,000 more expensive. Do these costs seem reasonable or do you think I could get it shipped cheaper? Vehicle size would be approximately 6.5m x 2.4m x 3.5m. I believe the Seabridge quotes include insurance and the various other fees and charges.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Joe]

Hi,

had a contact in Venezuela / Costa Rica. The guy is German origin and living there, importing 1017 and Unimog from Germany. He told me something of USD 1.000 from Germany to Venezuela.
I didn't had a look yet on Google Earth but is 3.300 USD the distance worth? In case you are REALLY considering this I am willing to make the contact. Because I am currently on a holiday trip with Big Foot in Iceland I may not be able to access the forum regularly but to download emails /PM's should normally work always here - the infrastructure is really amazing here!

 

[naterry]

Chris at Vermont Unimog imports to Canada. It's worth emailing him & asking: http://www.vermont-unimog.com/

 

[Jolly Roger]

Hi,

had a contact in Venezuela / Costa Rica. The guy is German origin and living there, importing 1017 and Unimog from Germany. He told me something of USD 1.000 from Germany to Venezuela.
I didn't had a look yet on Google Earth but is 3.300 USD the distance worth? In case you are REALLY considering this I am willing to make the contact. Because I am currently on a holiday trip with Big Foot in Iceland I may not be able to access the forum regularly but to download emails /PM's should normally work always here - the infrastructure is really amazing here!

$1,000 USD from Germany to Venezuela sounds like a great deal. My quote was for $4,300 to ship to the other side of Canada which is over 4,000 kms from where I live. If you are able to PM me with the contact details of the guy you know that would be great.

Cheers

 

[Jolly Roger]

Chris at Vermont Unimog imports to Canada. It's worth emailing him & asking: http://www.vermont-unimog.com/

Great, thanks for the tip. I'll drop him a line.

Cheers
Simon

 

[762X39]

I don't have much to add to the conversation but perhaps you could have it shipped by truck or train from Halifax.To drive it from Halifax cross country at 30 litres per 100 kilometres would be several thousand dollars and a couple of weeks (I average 500k per day if I really want to move but it is a long day at 80kph).Good luck with you new truck.

 

[U1300L]

I had mine shipped to the Dock's in Surrey BC. PM me for details if you wish.

I used http://www.vk-cars.com/

Top notch guy, couldn't say enough good about him.

-Trev

 

[dzzz]

$3000 east to west across North America would be a good price. In the U.S. I would estimate $3500-$4000 shipping Baltimore to Seattle for a bigger unimog. For the land portion I've used uShip in the U.S. Not sure if that's a Canadian service too.

 

[Victorian]

I personally wouldn't consider driving a new to me (at least) 20 year old vehicle (that is not found at every car dealer ship) across the country...

Just imagine a low level of , let's say, lubricant in one of the axles and you will have a huge problem 500 km into your trip. Not worth the "saved" $2000.

 

[eleblanc]

Make sure it is very clean when it leave, CBSA In Montreal seazed my half cut hdj100 when it got off the boat in montreal. They seazed it pending decontamination because there was some dirt on the tires here and there. Cost me 1,300 to have it moved and cleaned to the only place that can do this work in Montreal then back to the port for a second inspection. It is a newly procedure and will be in full force January 2011. I can send you the document from CBSA

 

[Joe]

Hi,

I have checked with the guy and he does not mind to circle the information around.

The ships belong to "Great White Fleet", a doughter company of Chiquita - a fruit cmpany, shipping bananas to Europe (http://www.greatwhitefleet.com ). So normally the ships are empty on their way back to Costa Rica / Venezuela and therefore the good price. But because the banana plants are not that many in Vancouver and / or Halifax they don't stop there!!! :sombrero:

 

[dzzz]

Interesting choice between those two countries on either side of the Darien gap.

Hawaii I guess has cheap export too - heavy traffic to the islands, little back. Probably what makes Pineapple production a viable business in such an expensive place. They can export at little cost.

 

[Jolly Roger]

Thanks everyone . . . lots of good advice on the recent postings.

Yep, it would probably cost a lot to drive the rig from Halifax to Vancovuer. However, it doesn't sound like it would be much cheaper shipping it. At least if I drove it, I'd get a nice cross-country vacation out of it. It would also give me a chance to see how the unit drives / rides / performs, etc. before undertaking any out of country trips. I do agree that it could be a problem though if the thing breaks down somewhere along the way. However, at least it would be in my own country, where I know people, speak the language, etc.

Trev, I've PMd you for the details of the company you used. Getting it shipped directly to Surrey would be great and I'm sure it would save a lot of hassles.

Thanks for the info about cleaning Eleblanc . . . woudn't want to get dinged for that on top of everything else.

Looks like this thing is getting more and more expensive each day. Just found out from customs that they actually charge you duty on the value of shipping as well as the purchase price of the vehicle. Don't ya just love the way the ol' tax man get you at each and every turn!

 

[mhiscox]

At least if I drove it, I'd get a nice cross-country vacation out of it.

I'd be surprised.

I very much second what Victorian said about how he wouldn't drive an old, unfamilar truck any farther than necessary. MANY of the new Unimog owners I have followed have had issues with their trucks when they are first off the boat. Some problems have been major, some have been minor, and some have been minor that became major because they happened far (and expensively) from home.

I daresay that if you undertake this 3000 mile trip in an old truck just off the boat and unfamiliar to you and have a non-stressed, enjoyable time of it, you will be one of an extremely small minority.

Others, including yourself, will have different experiences, but I found the day I cleared my Unimog through customs and drove it the meager 150 miles from Tacoma home to Portland to be one of the most stressful days of my life.

(P.S.--Times 2 on the "make sure it's been sufficiently cleaned," usually steam cleaned. Having the first thing you deal with being getting your vehicle out of quarantine would be a bad start.)

 

[oonimog]

Taking an unfamiliar Mog on a cross country journey can be risky, for sure. They're a different beast and until you're familiar with them, it can be stressful to have something go wrong. However, if you check out the basics before hitting the road and ensure you have contacts for Mog parts and safe haven locations, it could be a great trip. Not sure where the fuel consumption figures came from but my experience with my 1300L37 is closer to 20L/100km rather than 30.

Something to consider is that you technically need an air endorsement on your DL to drive larger Mogs. Without it, you'll have lots of trouble with the RCMP if you're stopped or at the scales. Also, I've heard that all vehicles coming into Canada are being sent to be cleaned, regardless of how clean they already are. Not sure if it's true but you may want to figure this into the costs, just to be safe.

Given the costs and aggrevation, and with no shortage of Mogs already in North America, why go to the trouble of importing?

Pete