Vehicle Import - Duties on CDN Market Vehicle?

[Yellowhead 12]

I have a Toyota Yaris which has a VIN starting with the letter J, which supposedly means my vehicle was made in Japan for the Canadian auto market. My vehicle was purchased used, but is originally from Toyota Canada, purchased in BC in 2007. When I entered at the POE I did not expect to be charged duties on my vehicle ($250!) as it is a Canadian market vehicle. I am curious if anyone has experience with this, as I want to get my money back if at all possible. If it was an import class vehicle, it would make sense, but stating that the vehicle is Japanese, not Canadian seems crazy to me. The car has only ever been registered in BC and was purchased there. Any advice welcome.

[Jill & Jeff 3]

Same thing happened to my husband. He has a 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer. It was a similar situation, his VIN started with J, which meant it came from Japan. We didn't expect to have to pay import tax on it either, but it ended up being $250 as well. I was under the impression that it would be waived since we were coming from Canada, but nope. We just paid it and got it over with.

J-