A Ram originally from Canada

patchelect · Jun 4, 2017

I'm looking at a Ram available from a highly rated used vehicle dealer that apparently was a Canada truck first and was imported according to the Autocheck report. I did some reading and found articles aimed at dealers showing how prevalent it is. My only concern is whether buying a vehicle has any caveats. The truck in question is '13 and I don't believe there is anything implied about a warranty beyond a typical required one for a used vehicle. I just wondered if anyone has had experiences, good or bad, along these lines.

bryan28 · Jun 4, 2017

My understanding is the factory warranty does not transfer from Canada to the US. I suppose the dealer could apply their own warranty though. If there are any recalls that need to be resolved I'm not sure if they'd be done free or not either.

jademerch · Jun 4, 2017

Bought a '14 CA Sport 1500 last year with 13000 miles on it. Its a great truck and never had an issue with it. However when I went to purchase an extended warranty through FCA I was told not only I was in eligible but the original factory warranty was void. Ended up having to get a warranty from a third party company. Been fortunate not having to have any service yet after 33000 miles.

avantiguy · Jun 4, 2017

jademerch said:
Bought a '14 CA Sport 1500 last year with 13000 miles on it. Its a great truck and never had an issue with it. However when I went to purchase an extended warranty through FCA I was told not only I was in eligible but the original factory warranty was void. Ended up having to get a warranty from a third party company. Been fortunate not having to have any service yet after 33000 miles.

Exactly my experience. No warranty, can't purchase FCA extended warranty, purchased 3rd party warranty. 36000 miles with no issues on my 14 Sport.

averageguy · Jun 4, 2017

I think that it will have day time driving lights if that matters.

huntergreen · Jun 4, 2017

There will be no factory warranty and this should be reflected in a significantly lower purchase price.

patchelect · Jun 4, 2017

The asking price seems to be low enough and being a '13 I don't know about any factory warranty. I lost track of manufacturers warranties these days.

Johnnymac2k6 · Jun 4, 2017

I'd worry about OEM catalog lookup also...Having worked with GM, Chrysler, and Ford on OEM dealer catalog lookup, and part applications, I would be extremely cautious about parts interchangeability between US and CAN models. I have seen horror stories involving everything from a newer ford truck having different driveshaft coupler joints north of the border...and they are some ******* size you can't even get in the USA. To a Canadian import camaro burning up a headlight circuit board/harness...and it being export specific. etc etc. the worst one was a late model trailblazer getting crushed because a piece of emissions equipment was export specific...the item went discontinued...and then what? not like it was avail in a US salvage yard.

IDK how bad these issues exist at chrysler, but leave it to FCA to take the cake on frustration when it comes to submodel confusion, let alone export models.

jasonw · Jun 4, 2017

huntergreen said:
There will no factory warranty and this should be reflected in a significantly lower purchase price.

+1. No factory warranty transfers from Canada to United States. However, some dealerships will throw in a dealership service contract or 3rd party contract to try to make up for it (it really doesn't make up for it, in my opinion).

Frisk · Jun 5, 2017

My brother did this in the opposite direction (bought a vehicle in the US and imported it to Canada). The process he went through as pretty painless (he purchased the vehicle used in the US and imported it himself). He had to get a certificate from the manufacturer that all recalls were completed on the vehicle and he had to get the Canadian equipment turned on....Daytime running lights and speedo in KMs instead of miles. The local dealer hooked the vehicle up to their computer and did it all in just a few minutes for $65. In his case the vehicle was a diesel Jeep Liberty with 6000 miles on it. He figured he saved about $10K on the vehicle. I never asked him about warranty and it never became an issue for him as he didn't have any problems with the vehicle that required any repairs.

huntergreen · Jun 5, 2017

patchelect said:
The asking price seems to be low enough and being a '13 I don't know about any factory warranty. I lost track of manufacturers warranties these days.

should have come with the remainder of the 5 year 60000 mile warranty.

avantiguy · Jun 5, 2017

huntergreen said:
should have come with the remainder of the 5 year 60000 mile warranty.

"Should" Well it probably should but it don't. The warranty expires when it is retitled in the other country no matter the miles or age. My 14 had 12,000 miles and was 14 months old when I bought it. No Warranty as per the forum and conversations with FCA and their warranty department. FCA wouldn't sell an extended warranty to me either.

The good news was the dealer was up front about the warranty issue and the price was killer.

dRAMbuie · Jun 5, 2017

Frisk said:
My brother did this in the opposite direction (bought a vehicle in the US and imported it to Canada). The process he went through as pretty painless (he purchased the vehicle used in the US and imported it himself). He had to get a certificate from the manufacturer that all recalls were completed on the vehicle and he had to get the Canadian equipment turned on....Daytime running lights and speedo in KMs instead of miles. The local dealer hooked the vehicle up to their computer and did it all in just a few minutes for $65. In his case the vehicle was a diesel Jeep Liberty with 6000 miles on it. He figured he saved about $10K on the vehicle. I never asked him about warranty and it never became an issue for him as he didn't have any problems with the vehicle that required any repairs.

I second how easy this is.
I've imported a vehicle from the U.S. to Canada as well, and it was pretty painless.

Having the gauges swapped wasn't mandatory, but daytime running lights were, which was a simple module add-on.

Going the other way (from Canada to U.S.) you should have fewer issues, as safety standards are typically higher in Canada. Which means you shouldn't require any modifications. Just the usual import fees and taxes.

dRAMbuie · Jun 5, 2017

huntergreen said:
There will be no factory warranty and this should be reflected in a significantly lower purchase price.

I'm not sure about Dodge/Ram specifically, but unless FCA has a specific policy against it, I suspect it has a lot to do with whether a specific dealer chooses to honour the warranty on an imported vehicle.

I imported a Mitsubishi once that carried its original factory warranty.
Of the two dealers in my city (at the time), one would honour the warranty, and one would not.

huntergreen · Jun 5, 2017

avantiguy said:
"Should" Well it probably should but it don't. The warranty expires when it is retitled in the other country no matter the miles or age. My 14 had 12,000 miles and was 14 months old when I bought it. No Warranty as per the forum and conversations with FCA and their warranty department. FCA wouldn't sell an extended warranty to me either.

The good news was the dealer was up front about the warranty issue and the price was killer.

was answering another post. we know it doesn't come with a warranty. this is what a us truck would come with if sold in the the us.

patchelect · Jun 5, 2017

After considering my options and taking into consideration all the inputs I've decided against a truck with a Canada history. Looking at the prices there really isn't much financial incentive that I can see. I am going to stick with a Ram Dealer and possibly a certified vehicle if I do this at all.

Thanks to all for their thoughts.

cbsmith · Jun 5, 2017

Living in Canada and knowing what dealers and wholesalers are giving for trade-in value, and what the Canadian dollar is worth, you should be getting a screaming deal on a used Canadian truck. If it isn't substantially less than a US truck then someone along the way is ripping the customer off.

patchelect · Jun 5, 2017

What I read leads me to believe the middleman is making an easy $1K US. What I saw available was good, but not great, especially given the possible issues about Canadian vs US specs and parts. Maybe opportunists and maybe not wanting to flood the market and drive down the other prices. I don't know.

randallwoodward · Jun 6, 2017

Johnnymac2k6 said:
I'd worry about OEM catalog lookup also...Having worked with GM, Chrysler, and Ford on OEM dealer catalog lookup, and part applications, I would be extremely cautious about parts interchangeability between US and CAN models. I have seen horror stories involving everything from a newer ford truck having different driveshaft coupler joints north of the border...and they are some ******* size you can't even get in the USA. To a Canadian import camaro burning up a headlight circuit board/harness...and it being export specific. etc etc. the worst one was a late model trailblazer getting crushed because a piece of emissions equipment was export specific...the item went discontinued...and then what? not like it was avail in a US salvage yard.

IDK how bad these issues exist at chrysler, but leave it to FCA to take the cake on frustration when it comes to submodel confusion, let alone export models.

I'm driving a 2011 Longhorn from Canada and unfortunately had lots of repairs done recently all covered by the third party warranty I bought, I've had no issues at all with parts not being the same.

xrsman · Jun 7, 2017

patchelect said:
After considering my options and taking into consideration all the inputs I've decided against a truck with a Canada history. Looking at the prices there really isn't much financial incentive that I can see. I am going to stick with a Ram Dealer and possibly a certified vehicle if I do this at all.

Thanks to all for their thoughts.

There is a 30% financial incentive. Yes, you can buy a Canadian Ram for 30% less than you can buy a US Ram because of the exchange. You just need to buy it in Canada, instead of from a dealer in the US. Other wise that dealer is making the 30%. Why do you think so many Canadian trucks are crossing the border? Huge money to be made from wholesalers.

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A Ram originally from Canada

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