Container shipping to Winnipeg – Part 1
These were up before my data loss. I'll try to recreate them as best I can.
So, around xmas 2013, I was considering getting a new car. I was dead-set on a Nissan Pao, but, like many things, preferences change. Really what I was looking for was a stylish commuter. I've desired a Suzuki Alto Works in the past, but I just don't want to be in a jam when it comes to parts.
The problem is, that my life has fundamentally changed in the last year. It's a lot harder for me to take off a 4-5 day weekend to fly out to Vancouver and drive back. The uncertainty of driving an untested car 2000km and the sheer amount of time needed just didn't work for me anymore.
Solution: Bring the car all the way to Winnipeg!
Two obvious ways to do this: RO/RO, or bring an entire container all the way to Winnipeg. I'm not excited about the idea of a people touching my stuff... so I wanted to go container. Also, because I have a screw loose and thought it might be an interesting experience.
Since I'm not independently wealthy, I can't really justify shipping a container from Japan with just one car. And, I can't justify getting two for myself, so I had to recruit some friends to go in with me.
Luckily, many of my friends suffer from the same fascinations as me... so this wasn't a huge hurdle.
I've imported 2 cars from Mark @ Brave Auto in the past, but was thinking about trying someone else... again, just for the experience. But, Mark offers free indefinite term storage... something no one else really offers. So, we chose to import through Mark. Otherwise, we'd get dinged with dockside storage fees for more than 2 or 4 weeks of storage. Buying 5 cars in 4 weeks is a tall order, so Mark became an obvious choice.
After some back-and-forth, we found out that containers can hold from 4-6 vehicles depending on the size of the vehicles. We decided that we could safely do 5, which ended up being a balance of cost and car safety.
Then, off to the auctions!
The bidding process took us some time. I had started looking for a Pao, but nothing in my range came up. It was either too rough, not a manual, or pristine and out of my price range. I ended up opening up what I wanted... and ended up with a .....
Stay tuned for next week!
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