Ordering parts to a US address

[ieatglue]

I've been searching online for cheap parts to Canada but I can't really find anything that's actually as cheap or comes within the US pricing range. I want to get those front suspension bushings, some ball joints and tie rod ends from rockauto. The thing is that while I have the suspension apart, I want to install Bilstien HD shocks all around. The cost of each shock/strut here is about $110, for a total of $450, but I can get them all from shockwarehouse for only $244 with free US shipping.

I found a place called Kinek that you register for and will provide you an address to ship products to. They charge a small fee per package per weight.

Has anyone had any experience with these kind of services?

Also, does anyone know what the DUTY policy is when bringing items back into Canada? I know that any US made products will not be charged duties, but i'm not sure if MOOG and AC Delco parts are made in the US or if the customs agent will even know where to look for such information

I was thinking of just pulling into a parking lot and installing the parts there (at least the shocks/struts)

Anyone in the Buffalo area willing to meet up for a How-to on redoing the entire front end suspension?

 

[Ghoster]

I can't really answer your question, and I am NOT driving to buffalo to roll around under your truck with you, I have heard of the shipping option you described. Its been years, but somebody that was a member found a sort of warehouse in the States that you shipped to and could drive to and pick your stuff up. I think its a fairly common practice.

 

[Regulator]

You can ship to my address and I can meet you in Port Huron, MI.

 

[CdnGMan]

You can ship to my address and I can meet you in Port Huron, MI.

That's actually not a bad option considering Port Huron is right across from Corunna, Ontario... in the Sarnia area...

How do I know this you ask? My MIL used to live in Corunna...

 

[Filter]

I am a hour east of Buffalo (Rochester). You can ship to my house if you need to.

 

[smitty5150]

Ship to jersey and we can install everything on site. Totally worth the extra 12hr drive time. But seriously...if you can ship somewhere in the states and save even $50, its worth it.

 

[ieatglue]

Thanks for the offers! I read this thread too late. I already ended up shipping all the parts to a place called Storage Central Buffalo

Storage Central | Self Storage for Downtown Buffalo, New York

I signed up on a site called www.kinek.com and they provide you with an address and a unit number.

It looks like a person has them store it in his rented storage container and he will charge people about $5 per package (depending on weight) to pick it up. Here's a list of stuff I bought.

Here's what I bought:
View attachment 17528
View attachment 17529

I saved about $60 on the Rockauto shipping, but I saved an amazing $205 on the shocks/struts compared to the ridiculous pricing we have here.

If anyone's willing to meet up to help me install the shocks/struts/tie rod ends, let me know!!

 

[Regulator]

For future reference, my wife's family is in Michigan in that area, and she is always looking for an excuse to go visit. If you even need parts shipped to a US address and help on the install just hit me up, I travel with all the tools needed to do most major repairs on the truck, and am always willing to help.

 

[ieatglue]

Thanks for the heads up. IL seemed a bit of a drive from Detroit. I'll def. keep that in mind!

 

[06Envoy]

Also for bilstein shocks in Canada, Ive been buying from Essex Distributors.
They are the least expensive that I could find.
$83 CAD per shock, free shipping, although it's usually a flat fee of $5 per shock.

Essex Distributors - Bilstein Shock Absorbers

I've ordered from them in the past, and have had good experiences with them.

 

[ieatglue]

I was getting quotes for about $112 each locally

 

[harmless]

*I LOVE THIS THREAD!* :wootwoot:

Sounds like an excuse for a modding party with some of our US bretheren!!

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Just ship me the parts and I will use them...

 

[harmless]

Just ship me the parts and I will use them...

Gotta make sure the parts are good before we get them huh?

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Would hate for you to have parts fail because I did not test them...

 

[harmless]

Would hate for you to have parts fail because I did not test them...

That's awesome. I doubt the offer flies though.

 

[djthumper]

Maybe you should buy 2 sets of parts so that he can take them to their breaking point and let you know what it is.

 

[harmless]

Maybe you should buy 2 sets of parts so that he can take them to their breaking point and let you know what it is.

I was wondering when one of the smart-aleks were going to chime in...


Seeing as he's a trail-rated and I'm mall-rated, I doubt he'd like any of my goodies... But I'm sure he could pillage parts from the other 4x4 guys out here.

 

[RayVoy]

Hey Glue, looks like I'm a little late seeing this thread, sorry.

This is a very common practice in Saint john, as we're 100k (60 miles) from a Maine crossing.

There are 3, or 4, retail stores, on the Maine side, that will let Canadians use their address, they charge $5 to $15, depending upon size.

However, my brother, and I, have found the cheapest and the easiest (for us), is to have the item delivered by UPS to the local (US) UPS office.

They call us when it's in, we drive over, pick it up and there is no additional pickup charge.

As for duty, almost everything is treated as made in North America, so we just pay HST. If the box has the "Made in somewhere else" sticker, they will add duty.

But look, if you add the parts while in the US and DO NOT declare them when you return to Canada, and they catch you, they may take, and keep, the vehicle.

 

[woody79]

If anyone's willing to meet up to help me install the shocks/struts/tie rod ends, let me know!!

I would be willing to help, depending on timing and such. I live in Rochester NY.

 

[rmsg0040]

ieatglue, let us canadians know how this works out for you. Definitely looks like something I would do. Especially for car parts and car audio.

 

[CdnGMan]

ieatglue, let us canadians know how this works out for you. Definitely looks like something I would do. Especially for car parts and car audio.

I think this goes without saying tho... it's a shame that prices are so different from country to country...

 

[Numbnutz]

The wife and I park our trailer in NY state for camping seaon ... so we do this regularly (not just for car parts). There is a place in Ogdensberg that we use ... and rarely do we have to pay duty coming back home to Ontario.

 

[Blade]

Hey Glue, looks like I'm a little late seeing this thread, sorry.

This is a very common practice in Saint john, as we're 100k (60 miles) from a Maine crossing.

There are 3, or 4, retail stores, on the Maine side, that will let Canadians use their address, they charge $5 to $15, depending upon size.

However, my brother, and I, have found the cheapest and the easiest (for us), is to have the item delivered by UPS to the local (US) UPS office.

They call us when it's in, we drive over, pick it up and there is no additional pickup charge.

As for duty, almost everything is treated as made in North America, so we just pay HST. If the box has the "Made in somewhere else" sticker, they will add duty.

But look, if you add the parts while in the US and DO NOT declare them when you return to Canada, and they catch you, they may take, and keep, the vehicle.

Ray you got this nailed.

I buy lots of things from the States and bring it back the way Ray suggested. They don't even ask the country of manufacture. They inquire about the length of your stay, tobacco, alcohol and firearms. Then the total value of the goods. I have never paid "Duty" on anything. I have occasionally paid HST on $450 for a 10 minute stay, but hells bells .... I have to pay that on any purchase here anyway. Never ship direct to Canada unless it is US postal service. UPS charges brokerage fees that will knock your lights out. Around here we gas up and it pays for the trip other than your time.

 

[rmsg0040]

Ray you got this nailed.

I buy lots of things from the States and bring it back the way Ray suggested. They don't even ask the country of manufacture. They inquire about the length of your stay, tobacco, alcohol and firearms. Then the total value of the goods. I have never paid "Duty" on anything. I have occasionally paid HST on $450 for a 10 minute stay, but hells bells .... I have to pay that on any purchase here anyway. Never ship direct to Canada unless it is US postal service. UPS charges brokerage fees that will knock your lights out. Around here we gas up and it pays for the trip other than your time.

True in most cases, just ordered some audio components from sonicelectronix and was shipped via UPS, sonic collects all $'s involved before hand, so there is no surprises when it gets to you.

 

[harmless]

True in most cases, just ordered some audio components from sonicelectronix and was shipped via UPS, sonic collects all $'s involved before hand, so there is no surprises when it gets to you.

In theory. Don't be suprised when you get a knock on the door and the UPS guy asks for a "brokerage" fee.

They seem to do it for all the packages I get from the U.S., shipped via couriers.

Really pisses me off.

I found a great way around that extortion fee.

I just don't use couriers anymore.

 

[RedEnvoyDenali]

In theory. Don't be suprised when you get a knock on the door and the UPS guy asks for a "brokerage" fee.

They seem to do it for all the packages I get from the U.S., shipped via couriers.

Really pisses me off.

I found a great way around that extortion fee.

I just don't use couriers anymore.

Being in the packing and shipping business for 14 years I feel qualified to comment. UPS charges brokerage fees on ALL ground shipments across our borders. They include these fees if the parcels are shipped AIR. If you buy a large $ volume the charge will be appropriate however if the number is quite a bit smaller the fees impose a large penalty. The USPS along with Canada Post is reasonable (used to be $5.00) per transaction. The moral of the story if it is coming across a border and is small and not of great value use the Post Office. The glitch here is a lot of US businesses use UPS because they are mostly reliable and traceable. I don't remember about others such as Fed Ex etc. but I would expect them to be the same. You also have to under stand that the shipping rates increase once a border is involved, distance has nothing to do with it.

Use the Post Offices or drop ship to a close border points and do the hands on. Yippee so much for free trade. Hope this helps a little.

 

[ieatglue]

The parts are on their way!

When it comes to car parts, Rockauto is def. the way to go. They charge you shipping (kinda steep) and HST, and from the 6-7 times I have had them ship to Canada, I have never had to pay anything at the door! I just couldn't get a good deal on shocks anywhere here. I was thinking on picking up some differential fluid while I was there too since it's about $20 a bottle here for 75W90 and only $12 at Advance

Although, I didn't know about the installing and not declaring part! I'll just pick the parts up and head right back across in that case

Thanks for looking out fellas!

 

[rmsg0040]

diff oil around here is about $10-$15, check canadian tire or partsource

 

[ieatglue]

Ok so when I got my first email update, it included an app advertisement, so I downloaded the FREE kinek app.

I was able to select the storage location that I had my items shipped to and input all my tracking numbers. Each time the tracking info was updated, I got a push notification. When my items arrived at the location, I got both a push notification and an email. This app is amazing! Even if you don't ship to one of the kinek points, you can still track packaged from different couriers with this one app and get the free push notifications without upgrading to a paid version!

View attachment 17673

View attachment 17672.jpg]

View attachment 17674

View attachment 17675

View attachment 17676

I'm still waiting on the shocks to be delivered. Should be in on the 3rd (damn UPS is slow!)

 

[ieatglue]

So I headed down today at about 8:15am. I was at the Fort Erie Bridge at about 10:15. Drove through, got on the I-190S, took the first exit, a right here and a left there, and I was at the storage warehouse! Parking was $0.25 for HALF AN HOUR compared to our $2.50 per 1/2 hour in Toronto.

The place on the outside looked kinda old, but the inside was newly renovated. I walked in and there was the politest old man I have ever talked to sitting behind a desk. I wrote my name and my KINEK number and he asked for ID. I showed it to him, he said, one moment, walked to the first open storage unit, grabbed the 4 boxes and came back out. He charged me a total of $12, $3, $4, and $5, because they were 6lbs, 13lbs and 22lbs as per pricing indicated on my app.

I then headed to Advance Auto Parts and picked up 2 bottles of Mobil 1 75W90 and a $40 torque wrench (compared to our $89 one here)

Headed back to the border (10 mins away from advance), pulled up to the customs guy. He asked what we had and we said we just picked up car parts. He asked how much and we said about $800. He filled a yellow slip and told us to park and pay some taxes. We went into the customs building, handed the lady our slip and reciepts and she added them up, gave us a slip to pay the cashier and we were on our way.

I was charged HST only at 13%, and no duty. Total value of the parts was $810.30 and HST came out to be $105.34

Overall it was a great experience and everything went better than expected.

Not only did I save the $70 in shipping difference to Canada, which would cover gas costs, but I also picked up the shocks from shock warehouse for about $150 less than what I would have paid for them here.

So, if you Canadian guys want to ship parts to the US and have them picked up later, I definitely recommend ¤¤°ê¬â½ü¥ø·~ªÑ¥÷¦³**¤½¥q Kinik Company and Storage Central Buffalo as the shipping destination.

View attachment 17718

View attachment 17719

View attachment 17720

View attachment 2507

 

[Mooseman]

Isn't it a great feeling saving a bunch of money? I do this on a regular basis with the UPS Store in Ogdensburg ($5/package). I also stop by and pick up some groceries, especially dairy. Just that pays for the bridge tolls. The rest is gravy.

 

[RayVoy]

I also stop by and pick up some groceries, especially dairy.

and, a tank of gas is a must.

 

[rmsg0040]

After ieatglue tried the kinek service. I decided it give it a shot. Worked out perfect. No hitches at all. Coming back across the border, didnt have to pay any taxes even though I spent around 200. Dont know if the guy gave me a break but cant complain.

Anyone wanting to try this it works well.

Thanks