A gearhead from Winnipeg named Pat Fletcher finally got his hands on a rust-free 1968 Dodge Charger. The 77-year-old even slept in the car that first night.
Fletcher would have been happier to drive the car across the border and sleep in his own bed, but he got stuck at the Canada / US border crossing in North Dakota when Canada Border Services agents told Fletcher he’d have to cough up $46,636 to import the vehicle into Canada. Fletcher had just spend $140,000 to buy the car! The old-timer though his car was exempt from taxes and tariffs on vehicles over 25 years old. He was badly mistaken.
You have to feel for Fletcher. He’s wanted one of these classic muscle cars ever since he was 17 years old, when he briefly owned a 1968 Charger. But life got in the way, and the car was sold long ago. Finally financially able to buy his dream car, Fletcher found the car in Texas, and had it shipped to the border, where he planned to drive it home. The old timer should have requested a ruling on tariffs classification in advance, to determine whether the car was exempt. Instead, he was stuck sleeping in the car that night, then looking around North Dakota for a heated garage to store the car in, while he explores options.
Fletcher has been part of Canadian car culture for decades, having owned vintage vehicles before. But it looks like his dream car will slip through his fingers, as he is unwilling and unable to part with the extra levy. The classic car could easily be sold, allowing Fletcher to recoup the money he spent on the car, only 10 days earlier.
It’s just a sad commentary on the state of affairs between Canada and the US. It’s enough to make a grown man cry.
Ugghhh heartbreaking!
How sad that some old-timer from Manitoba of all places got caught in the middle of this stupidity. This is what happens when government stupidity interferes with people’s lives.
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I hope that guy just drives across the border, crashing through the gate, and runs from the authorities like those old 70’s car crash movies.
Wow!
Wow, indeed. Who would ever think a dusty old 1968 Dodge costs $140K.
And I thought used cars were cheap!
Every car I’ve ever bought in my life put together didn’t cost $140,000 Canadian dollars!
That’s too bad.
Timothy, let’s be REAL for a second. While we all shed a tear for the old guy, how stupid do you have to be to not check if there’s extra fees when you cross the border? Why wouldn’t he look into this?
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If I’d hired a cartage company to pick up a car in Texas, and deliver it to North Dakota, I’d have asked them to deliver it to my home in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada) just 100 km (62 miles) from the US border. Guaranteed the cartage company would have looked into taxes, duties and fees!
That’s for sure. He should not have assumed old cars get in duty free, especially with the current trade wars going on right now.
Hell, before this cross-border stupidity, even a dope like ME knew that you have to pay the man at the border!
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Buying a car in the US (then bringing it north of the 49th parallel) means that Canadian tax wasn’t paid on the purchase. Gov’t isn’t going to stand for that.
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This old timer should have already learned this in his 77 years on this Earth.
I saw this on YouTube, and people were so mean commenting about it. The said: “Poor rich guy, isn’t getting his toy.”
That is so harsh, I know most of us don’t have 140K to spend on a hobby, but this guy saved his pennies for such a long time to fulfill his dream. It is just not fair that a dumb trade war ruined everything.
I hear you brother! It’s hard to feel sorry for someone who had six-figures in cash to spend on a car. But as a gearhead, you can’t help but put yourself in his shoes. How terrible he must have felt sleeping in the car that night!