US EPA = Yay Canada! Our economy is booming. Kids are making $25/hr at the oil change place. We have room for you Americans and we drive our trucks on the street in every province. That is all. Thank you. Heh
Have to admit that Canada would be a tempting place. Little too far from where I'm at to relocate, but maybe someday I'll vacation up there.
If only we could have the right to protect our family against home invasions,assaults etc......I love the USA for CCW,and the right to bear arms.Some states even have no state tax We have 2 langauges,a goofy way of measureing.but we can drive our trucks on the road 6 of one and half dozen of the other I guess
yeah yeah, but that is the same as the US. Even though certain states do not have income tax at the state level, they still have income tax at the federal level.
Montreal Quebec :frustration: Montreal , Quebec is the only place in Canada were there is tax on-top of tax........were mini trucks are made to be inspected and made to be changed to Quebec driving codes.....i know oooooo boy i know...i got a Sambar van and have been working on it for some time know just so it will pass the inspection ......they are making me change so many things on it that it will kill me....its turning into a joke.....but its a very cool van and i will not give up.. love Quebec
Heh. Pop is $4 for a 12 pack on average (Plus or minus) But, average house price here is now $295K Slums are $100K+ heh. We Canadians are going to buy all the foreclosed houses in the states and use them as our cottages. Heh! hey Louis, what do you have to change? These things like headlights, daytime running lights, DOT tires, reflectors, side markers, neutral safety switch, etc are required everywhere in Canada. Places that arent doing it are doing so illegally and will eventually be caught and shut down. Its those bad people that may eventually cause a shutdown to the imports in Canada. Follow the law, and all will be good!
Just make sure to take the opportunity to (politely) tell Transport Canada what you think about the review of the 15-year rule: http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/importation/contact-us.htm If they harmonize rules with the US, Canada will be in exactly the same boat, and there won't be a mini-truck in the hold.
The review of the 15 year rule is no longer in review. It hasn't been for years now. That notice that says "new - review of the 15year rule" was put up in 2006! Nothing has changed on the site since then. If you read the whole thing, they are "monitoring" the situation. Back in 2006, it was supposed to be abolished early 2007. Never happened because BC's report was all mis-information and they have absolutely no proof that RHD is more dangerous than LHD. And tell them politely? Hell no. Tell them the way it is. I have fought with many levels of government on all these issues. Even the RCMP who dont know what is legal and what isnt. They need to hear strong opinions. Kick and scream and bitch and complain. That is the only way they listen. And they DID listen. It was our kicking and screaming that halted the change in late 2006, otherwise they had a date of something like February 1 2007. I have bet my entire life savings that it wont happen any time in the near future, and I dont worry about it one bit. The thing that DOES worry me is the fact that the manufacturers may actually make a new model compliant with Canadian standards. Then I am screwed. That worries me more than the Government does.
Ya. I noticed that it was old, but figured it doesn't hurt to remind them. And you can politely tell someone that their head is stuck up their butt. But you obviously know that, because you just did it. In any case, the fact that things haven't changed is good news. Would a manufacturer aiming a mini-truck at the North American market really screw you? Such a vehicle would probably sell for north of $17000. You'd probably have to reduce your prices, but it seems to me like there would still be a decent market for the imported used trucks at around your current prices. But I could be wrong.
Another thing to throw in the mix is that in '09 or '10 under NAFTA Mexican vehicles will be elligable to be imported into Canada. Not new but almost [2yrs old or older ?] so that will make things more interesting again. I'm talking regular vehicles not mini trucks, not sure what they make down there. Oh yah, there also LHD
living in arizona i see a lot of different vehicles coming up from mexico. they have similar models with different names ford f150 is the ford lobo. i have seen some cool vw's that looked like little el camino type cars and a few other interesting models.
I'm not to worried about RHD/JDM car regulation changes here in Canada. I find the few dozen mechanics, SGI, Alberta Transport, ICBC, MTO, etc. are all so confused that even if the rules were to change we'd still probably have a few decades of grace time before the memo got out to everyone. god bless bureaucracy. I do worry about seeing one of our trucks on the cover of the newspaper smucked into an 18 wheeler. I don't mind the idiot drivers out there, Survival of the Fittest will take care of them. I'm worried about the idiot reporters and the articles they might write. PS - our silent killer.... the Canadian Dollar!
Yea, any vehicle would be destroyed in a collision like that, but if it's a small unconventional car (i.e. Smart car or mini truck) people cry out "OMFG!!!1! Teh small cars R not safe! I'll take 2 Hummers PLZ". How's the handling on these trucks? I know they have a really small turning radius but are they prone to rolling over if you cranked the wheel (relative to other vehicles, of course)? They're so narrow you basically have an extra half lane to maneuver in! I don't think metric is the goofy way! 1 mile = 1760 yards = 5280 feet = 63360 inches 1 kilometer = 1000 meters = 100 000 centimeters = 1 000 000 millimeters
I've had mine for a couple of weeks now and have yet to roll it! Seriously though, after spending a bit of time underneath my truck, I realize the center of gravity has to be pretty low. There's just not that much weight above the frame rails.
I am totally amazed at the Sambar's handling. I have driven lots of cars & trucks over the years and the Sambar feels more like a car than a truck for handling. I have driven it very hard on twisty windy roads at a good clip [add your own speed for reference ] and it has no bad habbits. Because the Sambar does not have a center diff you can not do this in the dry but when it's raining out you can click "4wd" and have a real blast. With it in 4wd the weather makes no difference to the Sambar it just goes like the road is dry. Really impressed. I'll get down off my soapbox now
That's good to hear. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the proportions (it's taller than it is wide!). I haven't seen one driving around, but I'll probably go looking for one in the spring. These sound like a lot of fun to drive...I think it might fix my road rage if I'm giggling the entire time I'm driving!
I have to echo timetripper's comments - I wondered the same thing but so far (I also have only had it for 3 weeks) it's behaving very well. have yet to try it snow tho. I'm surprised at how stable it is really, given the aforementioned proportions. The tight turning circle is tempting to do at speed, and I have picked up the rear corner by turning too fast already, but so far no rolls! ... and it sure does reduce road rage when you're giggling. That couldn't be a more accurate statement. when i get in this thing in the morning I start smiling and it just continues form there when I see the reactions on others as I drive by them. It's a hoot! It doesn't, however, reduce the tendency to do jackrabbit starts... It's also a hoot to beat folks off the line when there's a light change... most folks are sitting with their mouths open and I'm already in 4th gear a hundred yards ahead... of course, they catch up fast, but by then we're all giggling. ...can't wait to play in some snow...
that's kind of interesting...because they make still are making the first VW bug, so that would be pretty cool to get a new old bug
i have put about 1500 km's on my mitsu and never even came close to thinking that there might be a chance that there may be a roll over i think my little 145's will come off the rims before this truck flop's. i drive a lot in town in this thing is like drive a go-cart (wait until i get my 14" low pro's)...this summer i am thinking of going with my son and doing some time attack runs.
if only you guys out west can change the boom to bust cycle....lol the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence...unless your smoke'n it.....LOL glenn
We had a foot of snow(heavy, wet stuff) at Thanksgiving so I took my Sambar out looking to get stuck. Found some ditches with 2 feet of snow. Plowed snow way past the bumper and just kept on going. Even stopped once to see if I could get going again, have diff lock just in case, but never used it. I was amazed. I've been 4x4ing for years,(over 30) and the Sambar impresses me with its capabilities almost as much as my first Landrover back in the 70's.
