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Will US dealers take trade-ins? (2001 Montana)
When you get to the border and need to pay duty/gst, etc will they accept a credit card or do you need cash?
I am especially interested to hear from anyone who has imported a new KIA from US to Ontario regarding your personal experience/problems/etc.
Thanks,
If the dealer cannot reduce the new car price, at least they can offer cash rebate to offset the lower import cost due to higher Canadian dollar.
I've sent a note to Transport Canada's Minister requesting clarification.
>When you get to the border and need to pay duty/gst, etc will they accept a credit card or do you need cash?> You are only obliged to pay duty and tax at the border - they have always allowed credit cards. You can pay the RIV fee there or mail it in.
> If you want KIA specific information ask a dealer in the US for Canadians that they have dealt with. The salespeople take some pride in having satisfied customers as references.
http://fleetbargains.net/?gclid=CMrUoN2Jso4CFQYjWAodfh7YfQ
[QUOTE]
Steps For Importing A Car Into Canada:
1. Check if the car that you are planning to purchase is admissible for importing into Canada. The list is available at: US Vehicle Admissibility. This list also will state if any major modification is required to import your car into Canada.
2. Get your new car insured by your Canadian insurance company. Make sure that your insurance covers you while you are in the United States. The insurance coverage should begin on the day that you are planning to pick up your car.
3. After purchasing your car at a U.S. Dealer, they will issue you a one-month temporary license plate. You can drive in the U.S. and Canada (while you are completing the import process) with the temporary license during this period.
4. Fax the car's Certificate of Title to the U.S. Customs at the border where you will be exiting the Country. U.S. Customs needs three business days to process the title before they can authorize exportation of your car (a stamp is needed for importing the car into Canada). Call the U.S. Customs office to ensure that they have received your fax.
5. Request a "proof of recall clearance document" from your car's manufacturer. This will be required to register your car in Canada.
6. Drive the car to Canada. Allow three business days from when you faxed the title to the U.S. Customs before you go through the border (otherwise you will have to come back to the border to get the export stamp later). Note that Canada Customs may not allow a Canadian resident to drive their car with a U.S. license plate in Canada, unless they are satisfied that the owner is in the process of licensing the car in Canada. Make sure you go through the U.S. Customs office that received your fax (refer to Step 4 above).
7. Get your Certificate of Title stamped for exportation by U.S. Customs.
8. Drive to the Canadian Customs office. They will need the Bill of Sale and the Certificate of Title stamped by U.S. Customs for exportation. You will pay 7% GST, CAD$100 excise tax if your car has an air conditioner, and CAD$182 fee for the Registrar of Imported Vehicles (cars manufactured in the U.S.A and Canada are normally exempt from additional import duties). You may use a credit card or the payment. You will receive the Vehicle Import Form - Form 1. You will need this form to register the car in your province. A second form, Form 2, will be mailed to your home address within 5 to 7 business days.
9. In Ontario you will have to carry out a safety inspection and a vehicle emission inspection. For our last car these inspections were CAD$63.24 and CAD$37.45 for our last car (the car passed all tests without needing any work).
10. About two weeks after your arrival in Canada, you will receive the "Vehicle Import Form - Form 2" by mail.
11. Take Form 1 and Form 2 and the "proof of recall clearance document" (letter from your car's manufacturer which you requested in step 5 above) to an approved federal inspection centre (e.g. Canadian Tire). The service centre will do an inspection of the car to ensure that it conforms to Canadian standards. If your vehicle did not require major alterations according to US Vehicle Admissibility, it should pass this inspection with no problem. This inspection should not cost you anything, except if any modification is required. Our last inspection cost CAD$8.04 for the purchase of a tether bolt, which is required to be in all cars sold in Canada. After the completion of the federal inspection, the inspector will stamp Form 1.
12. Take Form 1, original title, bill of sales, safety inspection certificate (Ontario), emission inspection certificate (Ontario), and insurance certificate to your vehicle licence issuing office (the documents may vary in other provinces). In Ontario you will have to pay 8% Provincial Sales Tax and some additional fees for your license plate purchase and sticker.
13. Within a few days, you will receive your car's Canadian Certification Label by mail, which you will have to affix to the car.
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For those interested in importing a New Toyota from a dealer in the States:
If you have a relative/friend in the states, you can arrange the purchase under their name, and, more importantly, also avoid extra registration fees and US sales tax.
I just did this by picking a dealership from a different state as my relative. In this case, the dealer will just give you a temporary permit, and a copy of the MCO (Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin). This can be faxed to the US border, and will allow you to export the car without actually registering in the states or paying state sales tax. If you buy in the same state as your relative, then the dealer is pretty much obligated to register and plate the car. The out-of-state thing is crucial if you want to avoid the extra delay and cost of having to register and transfer the car.
All the paperwork was done by courier between the dealer and my relative. I brought the payment, and picked up the vehicle. There was no need to actually physically, or financially, involve my relative in the transaction.
The trick is that you have to indicate to US customs that your relative is the purchaser/exporter and that you are the transporter. Their name will have to go on the MCO, and you cannot transfer the MCO, in the States, between individuals. It can only be transferred from a dealer to an individual, or between dealers.
Luckily, the Canadian system doesn't have the same restrictions. I drew up a simple bill of sale between my relative and myself, effective the date of pickup. I used this, along with the stamped MCO, and was able to start the RIV process under my own name, once I got the vehicle to Canada.
Essentially, I exported the vehicle from the US under my relative's name, and imported it into Canada under my name. I had no problems with insurance, or registration in Canada, pretty much disclosed everything to everyone. (Except US customs, and that was because they didn't ask!).
I saved a ton of money, and the dealer was more than happy to sell the car. Toyota has no restrictions about re-sale, so his [non-permissible content removed] was firmly covered. He even helped me with faxing things ahead of time to US customs, and getting me a service printout to prove recall clearance.
[/QUOTE]
SUMMARY:
Out of state purchase?
get MCO and Bill of sale and recall letter?
fax to Border crossing?
wait 3 days?
drive to US border? stamped?
go to CDN border? import and pay fees GST/DUTY/RIV/Air? RIV forms?
Cdn tire inspection and DRL?
MTO for licence and PST.
The last thing to do which is important:
Invest the $10,000 to $20,000 in your childs education with the money you saved !!!!
[/QUOTE]
Who is the owner of the vehicle for the insurance company? You or your relative?
I just receivied Canadian Pricing - A honda civic coupe top of the line exl $26,400. Including around $1200 for transportation .. etc.
The American Pricing for the same model is $20,710 MSRP excluding tax, license, registration, $635.00 destination charge and options. ( see Honda.com)
Given that the Canadian to US dollar is at 96.36 today... this gives 21345 times 1.0377 = 22150 then add another 2% for the bank to gouge you on the exchange of the dollars = 22593.
The difference is $3807. Does this seem fair for a car that is manufactured in Canada. What is Nafta suppose to do for us? This is a disgrace? Please start writing your Member of Parliament. These folks just keep screwing us, maybe they can do something right, although I would suspect someone has someone else's hand in their pocket!
Now, I'm trying to help a friend for a Toyota Lexus and need some clarification: I read on this forum that some dealers wouldn't sell to canadians but I also read that some canadians did buy Toyotas...Is it discretionary to each dealer ? (I haven't contacted any dealers yet.)
Thanks
My insurance company also told me that while the vehicle is in the US, they only cover the liability. Anything happens to your car is not covered.
I also talked to a friend in Toyota dealership in Canada and was told that Toyota Canada was mad that Toyota honors the manufacturer's waranty to the vehicles imported from US. They have big arguments with Toyota US, trying not to honor the waranty.
Having imported a car this August, I found a modification on the RIV web site, now, you have to send your "proof of recall clearance document" to RIV to get your Form #2 (for inspection)... they won't send you the Form #2 if they don't get the recall clearance letter.
Another factor to consider for buying in the vehicle from the us is that you will have to pay cash on the vehicle. And if you borrow from your bank at prime rate (6.25%), the interest on $40,000 for 3 years is about $3970. AT this time of the year, you can get financing from dealers at 1.9% which means that the interest cost is only $1182.48.
I'm working in US and planning to return to Canada by '08 year end. I just bought a Lexus GS350 AWD and I want to bring it back to Canada when I return. Do I have to pay any taxes/duties for it? I paid 6.5% sales tax in Illinois.
Thanks.
I'm a returning canadian and I remember that a couple of yrs back smbdy told me that if you have used the vehicle for more than 11 mths in US you don't pay duties and sales tax when bringing it to Canada. I was wondering if you have heard anything about this...
Deeply appreciated.
A while back, I frequently drove across with my US tagged vehicle and have always been asked whether I lived in the US or Canada (I live in US right now). You may just have been lucky.
Be aware that not all U.S. border crossings will accept a fax of the title ahead of time. For example, the border crossings from Maine into NB will only accept the original and 2 copies, NOT a fax. Call your border crossing ahead of time to confirm that they will or won't accept the fax.
I called several U.S. customs offices and asked about exporting a vehicle as the "transporter", with someone else's name on the certificate of origination. They all said that would NOT be allowed, that the person who's name is on the document has to be physically present when the car is exported. Use caution before you try this trick!
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/events/on/scr-veh-eng.html
BACK STORY:
Recently I test drove a 2004 Yukon XL up here in Northern Ontario. It sold for $25,000 despite having 136,000 KM (85,000 miles). It was loaded and was gorgeous.
Since then...
I have been scouring eBay for Yukon XL's... and have come to find they are significantly less expensive south of the border, and even more so when private sales are researched! eBay searches led me to autotrader-dot-com's site... which led me to a more than suitable replacement for the $25,000 vehicle I had passed on; less miles, more toys... and over $10,000 cheaper! Hitch: It's in Indiana.
I have read nearly everything I can find on the topic: Registrar of Imported Vehicles (www.riv.ca), Cdn Border Services (www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca), US customs (www.cbp.org), and the DMV (www.dmv-department-of-motor-vehicles.com)... but have not been able to find any information on a sale similar to this, where the vehicle is registered in one state but crosses the border in another state.
I've also contacted the RIV directly, with a rep having emailed me a confirmation that the vehicle is eligible to be imported based on the published list at www.riv.ca/english/US_vehicle_admissibility.pdf
Regardless, I have more than a few questions:
In what state are the temporary plates to be registered IN or MI)?Does the current owner of the vehicle need to be present upon inspection at US Customs in Detroit?
Is Detroit still open 24/7, as mentioned on www.acccc.net/Owning.htm?Is the certified copy of the ownership / title faxed to the office by the current owner or the proposed new owner?
Lein clearance-letter is to be certified as well?
ANY other words of advice or warning?
With the Canadian $ being as strong as it has been lately, and with the discrepancy in pricing, I suspect many more will be investigating this as a possibility for their next vehicle, so hopefully my questions can help others just as your prior answers in other threads have helped me get to the point I am now!
In advance, a sincere thank you to those much more knowledgable and experienced than I...
James T. Paterson
jtpaterson@gmail.com
U.S. customs needs the signed-over-title, so you fax or send it once you've picked up the truck and signed everything. The seller may be willing to send it to you to sign by courier, but usually only after you've sent the full payment amount, so it means you can't pre-inspect the vehicle, and once you've signed the title, its yours.
The bill of sale should state "free and clear of any lien", then its up to U.S. customs in their 72 hour window to determine that the title is ok and clear of any problems.
As posted above, make sure your border crossing accepts fax of title ( NOT ALL DO- CALL AHEAD ).
Good luck....
I guess it's the 72 hour window that is mystifying me.... I need to get title to the US Customs - signed by me - but I don't have to wait there for 72 hours, correct?
And, can the current IND owner get the temps on my behalf, since i'd be taking the truck from him?
I feel like a 5yr old in this one... despite being 33 !
For the title, you can either 1) pick up the car, fax the signed title to the border, and drive home very slowly and leisurely over 72 hours and cross; 2) if you're sure its a good vehicle and reputable seller, then send your cash and have the seller fedex the title to you, to sign and then send to the border. When I first did this a couple of years ago, I lucked into a private seller who went on trust, and I sent a deposit, he sent me the title which I sent to customs, then I went and picked up the car. That took a lot of mutual trust though, and would be the exception to the usual practice.
Unless they are a registered dealer, then the seller can't get you the temp tags. However, its usually a piece of cake. When I picked up my last car in New Hampshire, the seller picked me up at the train station, signed the bill of sale, took my certified cheque to his bank; we drove 5 min to the dmv, he took off his plates, I paid $10 for temporary tags, and I drove him back to work. It was really quick and painless.
By the way, make sure that your Yukon can be converted to daytime running lights, that no bumper modifications are needed, that you have a speedometer that also reads km/h, bilingual airbag labels, and something about the child seat anchors.
The CBSA is running seminars on how to import cars into Canada, see link below:
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/events/on/scr-veh-eng.html
Seems there is so much pent up demand to understand the process that the Canadian Government is now offerring courses...
Way back a few days ago I suggested everyone write their MP and start rasing the issue... I just thought that the politicians would not want to go up against GM or the like because they would threaten to close plants and manufacturer the cars elsewhere....
I wonder what the NDP party platform is on this. I wonder which politician or the political party has the guts to bring this up... If you think the pressure is hot now, wait until are dollar hits 1.10 US.
Canadians deserve to be able to obtain the most cost effective prices... we even pay more for gas than the US and we have all the oil..
Which organization do we join or go to to start putting on the pressure. After Dion just got his butt kicked in Quebec yesterday, maybe it is time for the Liberal party to really start supporting day to day Canadians...
The Canadian Government Border Services folks are on the ball though, they are now offering "pilot" courses in Toronto to accomodate the demand. The APA Automobile Protection Agency is now offering Quotes and services for folks living in Ontario!
When are our Quebec and local federal politicians going to wake up! Must they wait until the dollar is at 1.10 US. We pay more for our gas than Americans and we have the 2nd most oil reserves in the world. We pay more for our cars than American and most of them are built in Canada.
If a guy like Flaherty can't get his act together, maybe Dion and the Liberals should start supporting changes to meet the needs of the average Canadian. Maybe Dumont should light a fire under Charest and raise the issue.
Maybe more Canadians should just not buy when thay know they are getting hosed!!
http://www.cars101.com/canada.html#to%20Canada
Unfortunately I want to buy a Mazda Miata which is $8000 less in Washington state but they will not sell to outside the USA.