I imported a Toyota Hiace and did it up as a camper van and lived in it for a few years….. when van life was new on the scene and I didn’t have a wife… lol. Yes I was a dirty van living hippy.
It was actually a sweet van. Little 4 cyl non turbo diesel. 4wd. Pretty large inside. Made a lot of memories in it. Sold it to a young kid a few years back and he loves it.
I used b-pro out of Calgary as a broker and honestly he was pretty good. Had good contacts in Japan and people go and inspect it in person etc….. no complaints with him at all if your in Calgary area. The van I think cost 8000 ish there, landed and delivered it was something like 11,000. That was many years ago though. His rates were reasonable. I forget what they were but he breaks it all down and I never felt ripped off at all for what he did.
Parts is more of a struggle but not impossible. There are people for it and a surprising following of jdm vehicles in Canada.
Big struggle with DOT vs non DOT head lights though holy.
When you consider I paid 11,000 for a vehicle with 90,000km, 4wd, and the only alternative available domestically here is a Mercedes Benz for like 60k, it was well worth it.
