Buying a Fuso abroad??

[Timoteus]

For a quite a while now I have been looking to buy a 4x4 Fuso. I am located in Vancouver Canada and it seems very very hard to a find one that is decent or actually it is hard to find one at all in Canada.

4x4 Fuso's seem abundantly available in Australia and Japan. So no I am wondering...

(1) should I try to buy one abroad?
(2) where should I look?
(3) buy from an importer that handles everything for you or buy one direct and handle the import yourself?

These are just a few questions that pop in my mind.

Any experiences or thoughts are greatly appreciated.


Regards,

Timo

 

[SkiFreak]

Will you have any issues registering a RHD truck in Canada?

 

[boogie944]

I did a fair bit of research on this sort of thing. Apart from RHD issue as mentioned by @SkiFreak you will not be able to get it into Canada and get it registered. There's some exceptions when it is old (I believe >15 years).

Most countries nowadays is very fussy with Diesel engines. For individuals it is impossible to buy a Diesel engine car in one country and import yourself into another country.

 

[yabanja]

Both Japan and Australia are rough environments for vehicles due to corrosion. In the manufacturing process Fuso bolts and rivets together the raw steel frame with all bracketry prior to painting. The frames are made of a high tensile steel which is particularly prone to corrosion. You get the picture. I would only buy one of these abroad if I were traveling to inspect it in it's native country prior to purchase.

Allan

 

[Timoteus]

I did a fair bit of research on this sort of thing. Apart from RHD issue as mentioned by @SkiFreak you will not be able to get it into Canada and get it registered. There's some exceptions when it is old (I believe >15 years).

Most countries nowadays is very fussy with Diesel engines. For individuals it is impossible to buy a Diesel engine car in one country and import yourself into another country.

Thank you for your reply.
Do remember where you found this information or can you maybe even provide a url?

 

[Timoteus]

Will you have any issues registering a RHD truck in Canada?

No Idea. There are RHD vehicles on the road here. E.g. Delica's.
According to @boogie944 it is problematic (see his reply for details).

 

[boogie944]

Thank you for your reply.
Do remember where you found this information or can you maybe even provide a url?

For 15 years and older: https://tc.canada.ca/en/road-transportation/importing-vehicle/importing-older-vehicles-canada
Import from USA/Mexico: https://tc.canada.ca/en/road-transportation/importing-vehicle/importing-vehicle-united-states-mexico
From countries other than Mexico: https://tc.canada.ca/en/road-transp...-vehicle-countries-other-united-states-mexico

 

[Timoteus]

For 15 years and older: https://tc.canada.ca/en/road-transportation/importing-vehicle/importing-older-vehicles-canada
Import from USA/Mexico: https://tc.canada.ca/en/road-transportation/importing-vehicle/importing-vehicle-united-states-mexico
From countries other than Mexico: https://tc.canada.ca/en/road-transp...-vehicle-countries-other-united-states-mexico

Oh that definitely looks like a painful if not impossible process. What did you end up doing yourself?

 

[boogie944]

I looked at this because I wanted to make a truck outside Canada then import. I am not Canadian, but like to travel in North America. I chose Canada as BC is one of very few places in the world you can have a vehicle registered and insured as a tourist.

So now I made a box on an Isuzu chassis that I could take of my truck here and ship to Canada to place on a Isuzu NPR chassis in BC.

Still looking for an affordable solution to convert a Canadian NPR chassis to a 4x4 for light duty offroading

 

[ajamesr]

Hi. I can actually give some input on this question as I own a 4x4 Fuso imported from Japan.

First off, if you're going to get one, I highly recommend using an importer. There are lots of them, and they import hundreds of cars every year, so they know how to do all the work to make it happen.

Secondly, I'm in the US so it may be different, but I've not had any issues with the RHD. I got it registered and insured with no problems.

Thirdly, as others have pointed out, Rust is an issue, all of Japan is coastal, so the salt air is always around. If the owner took care of it, you'll be fine, if not, you may have a lot of repairs to deal with, make sure you ask the importor lots of questions about how much rust it has.

Fourthly, look at what engine it has and if that engine was ever released in your country, because finding parts or shops who know how to fix it becomes hard when that engine option was never made to be sold where you are. I'm running into that issue a lot and it may make it sell my beloved camper.

Lastly: if you're going to import it yourself, make sure you have up to 6 months to wait. Sometimes it's only 6 weeks, but importing takes a while.

If you want to avoid a lot of these problems, do what I did. I didn't import mine myself. I bought it from someone who already went through the process. So it already had an American title and I could inspect it in person. I'm not sure about Canada, but in the states we have dealers that specialize in imported campers. So if they import one that's in bad shape, they take the loss, not you.

If you have more questions that I may be able to answer, let me know.