[Sequoia225]

Hey everyone. I want to buy and send a Subaru accessory (all weather floor mats) to someone in Canada as a gift for her new Impreza. It doesnt have to be by Xmas - but just soon.
I thought of just buying them and mailing them but they are large and heavy and postage would be a lot.
I know there have been links to sites on here that sell genuine Subaru parts and one that even shipped to Canada I believe - but I dont remember what the sites were. Basically Im just looking to save the most money on the purchase and shipping. Any recommendations would be very appreciated.
Again - doesnt have to get there by Xmas.

Cheers!

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

I think you should first consider calling her nearest dealership and ask if they can either create a gift certificate, or carry a credit in their system on her account. Pay with a credit card that will handle the currency conversion. Then she could go pick them up.

but, some on-line dealers to try would be SubaruGenuineParts.com (email Jamie thru the site contact email if it isn't clear about shipping, she's helped me with odd purchases in the past))

maybe OEM Car Parts | Performance Car Parts | Fred Beans Parts Doylestown PA

others will list some additional sites - I've had good service from the above.

 

[jogosub]

Hey everyone. I want to buy and send a Subaru accessory (all weather floor mats) to someone in Canada as a gift for her new Impreza. It doesnt have to be by Xmas - but just soon.
I thought of just buying them and mailing them but they are large and heavy and postage would be a lot.
I know there have been links to sites on here that sell genuine Subaru parts and one that even shipped to Canada I believe - but I dont remember what the sites were. Basically Im just looking to save the most money on the purchase and shipping. Any recommendations would be very appreciated.
Again - doesnt have to get there by Xmas.

Cheers!

Walk into any FedEx (Kinko) store or any UPS retail outlet in any mall and you can ship it "ground" much cheaper than the post office. If you are computer savy, fill out all ppwk on their terminal/their website in the store (Kinko) and off you go!

 

[plain OM]

The problem for us north of the border isn't so much whether or not a U.S. dealer will ship to Canada; most do indicate this on their web-sites or will answer questions by phone or e-mail.

However, the real issue is getting the goods across the border. The recipient is usually responsible for the duties (depends on the origin of the items), taxes (our federal GST plus perhaps provincial levies), and brokerage. The latter tend to be almost obscene when using the courier services such as Fedex and UPS. When shipped with USPS, the delivery on our side is by Canada Post and their fees are usually much more reasonable.

In some cases, using one of the premium courier services such as UPS International Air, waives the brokerage charges, but that raises the up-front shipping costs collected by the part supplier.

If lucky, some USPS-mailed shipments get delivered here without charges, but there's no way of knowing in advance if the gift recipient will end up having to shell out money to receive it.

Note that shipping to Canada is usually significantly more than the same goods shipped to U.S. destinations.

Some U.S. parts suppliers (I'm thinking Rock Auto) have Canadian-denominated web-sites for Canadian buyers that include all the charges; in this case they pre-clear the goods into Canada, so there should be no charge at delivery.

I like 1 Lucky Texan's idea of a local gift certificate . . .or, contact your friend's local dealer, tell them what you want to do and see if they'll coordinate on their end. Then pay them for the mats using a suitable method, and have them inform the recipient that the set of mats waiting for her to pick up, . . . or some variant of this. You might find the cost turns out to be not that much different than the overall cost of ordering and shipping.

And kudos for thinking of a practical gift for a new car.

Edit: If you're considering floor mats, have you considered WeatherTech, either their "all weather" or the "floorliners"? The latter are "premium" mats, and command a relatively high price, but for snowy-wet environments, I think they, and similar types (Husky) do a far better job of keeping salt, slush and water off the carpet. WeatherTech has a branch in Canada which could make ordering and delivering the gift simpler. (Just an idea . . .)

 

[Sequoia225]

Thanks everyone.
I didnt consider buying in Canada cause I already know the costs are so much more. She lives in Saskatchewan fairly north (pretty isolated with one dealer - and definitely cold and snowy. I couldnt believe how much it cost to buy a Subaru there - the Dest charge was X2 what it is here and tax is high and the car prices are way higher in general.
But considering shipping and duty costs - maybe buying from a Canadian retailer or dealer will be best. Ill check it all out - thanks!


BTW, I ship on ebay a lot and have found that, as stated here, shipping to Canada - even though USPS tends to be pricey - I found that UPS to Canada does end up costing the recipient way more in border costs when they receive it so even if its cheaper up front - in the end it isnt necessarily so.

Thanks everyone!