Importing Car into Canada from US

woodytwo

I purchased a 2008 Enclave with a Pre Sept 1 manu date on Nov 29.
Crossed the border at the Blue Water Bridge at Sarnia; this took about 90 minutes for both US and Cdn Customs. Received faxed form 2 a few days later and then went to CTC. They said "Looks Great" signed my form 2 and next day I had it licensed. Saved $11,000.

Hard part was finding a US dealer to sell to me. GM corporate really has their dealers scared.

GM says that the warranty will not be honoured in Canada for first year. Anybody know if this is true??

Thanks to all for their advice and help.

j233

Congratulations on your 2008 Enclave ! It is an awesome vehicle. I have a 2007 Outlook with all the goodies and we love it (imported two weeks ago). We actually managed to factory order a 2008 one back in Sept but the day it arrived to the US dealership, it became inadmissible (on Nov 01) so we went ahead with plan B (2007 demo).

The warranty is actually delayed for 6 mths from the first in service date and 7500 miles or 12000 kms.

j233

I am sorry but since when CBS enforces a highway trafic act and gives adivse outside of their jurisdiction ? You need a temp plates, under your name, to drive the vehicle in the States and into Canada. I imported a travel trailer, SUV, always had temp US plates and never had any problems on either side. I would not risk a conversation with a state tropper over the topic as why I am driving the vehicle with no plates. How can you proof to them them that you are importing a vehicle if you don't have any documentation (you get Form 1 at the boarder) ?

manitoumike

I totally agree with you.CSB is wrong on the no plate issue. I am going to be going through several states, and am definitely going to need plates. BUT, will take them off just before the border. Get my form 1 and go to get an Ontario temp plate.

bez28

I checked with Zurich in Canada and they don't offer Vehicle Service Contracts. I then checked with Zurich in US and they said that their plan is not meant as a replacement for the manufacturer's warranty, so their plan would only cover: a) items not normally included in the manufacturer's warranty DURING the warranty period and b) items normally included in the manufacturer's warranty AFTER expiration of the warranty, assuming you buy one of a duration longer than your OEM warranty. So really the guy told me that he could sell me one but it would be pretty much useless during the warranty period (even though the Honda warranty is NFG) and would not really kick in until after it would normally expire. So I'm not sure what kind of package you were able to buy and what your coverage is but you should check.

So in the end, it appears that if I choose to buy a Honda I'm really on my own when it comes to warranty, there is no replacement warranty available for sale from anyone reputable. Big decision then I guess.

mackabee

I sell Toyotas in Virginia Beach va and am currently working with a police officer from Ontario Canada that wishes to purchase a 2008 Toyota Tacoma. We spoke this morning on the phone and he tells me the truck must have an engine immobilizer system which it does. It must also have daytime running lights which it does not but we can install a switch/relay to get them running.
He is concerned that since the vehicle is manufactured after Sep 01 2007 he might not be able to import it into Canada. He gave me the link to the website www.riv.ca and I did some reading and from what I gathered the 2008 Tacoma he's buying will be allowed into the country with no problems. Am I correct or is there something I'm missing?
Thank you
Mackabee

subahonda

It is you customer's responsibility - the RIV web site lists allowed vehicles. There is currently some turmoil as to whether or not US immobilizers are acceptable as they meet a different standard. The full process is listed in detail in many posts on this thread. No sales person can take responsibility for admissibility - the importer must be fully informed and assume the risk of denied entry. If you work at a Toyota dealer, you should check with your sales manager to see if the sale will be permitted. My experience with Toyota was that sales people were glad to make the sale but then it was not allowed by management when they asked. If all is okay there are a lot of others who will be knocking on your door with money in their hands.

caramel

Section 12 of Transport Canada's list state that the Tacoma is INADMISSIBLE.

That's not quite the end of the story because we think the rules are about to change allowing vehicles with immobilizers other than Canadian standard ones to be admitted. Just wait a few days (we hope).

The bigger issue is will Toyota USA allow the dealership to sell to a Canadian.

mikem17

I am heading for Florida next month and was considering similar strategy but with a Sienna XLE. What vehicle carrier are you using and what was approximate cost.

Thanks

unclejemima

If the Canadian auto manufacturers would just sell their cars at reasonable rates(aka, even remotely near US msrp), this thread would not even exist. This should almost be brought up with the BBB. It is really disgusting if you think about it.
Its all supply/demand. We need cars, so if it is impossible to bring in from US(thanks to the CND govnt), the Cnd dealers can make way more money and charge WHATEVER they want. The auto manufacturer's are hiding behind this stupid immobilizer law and the cnd government is encouraging it! I sure hope this changes soon.
I dont understand how LEGALLY toyota USA can say, "no, you can not purchase this vehicle. Is that not some sort of discrimination?
I wish i were a lawyer and had millions of dollars to fight this...
Keep up the good work guys(and gals) and with the strength of many, perhaps we can make change.
Until then, i patiently await TC's revised admission list...or the cnd auto makers becoming fair and not ripping off the Canadian public.

manitoumike

First of all I contacted AA Custom brokers. Their quote was around 1650$ and they would bring it through customs and drop it off anywhere I wanted. They are a canadian firm, based out of BC, but operate country/continent wide. Find their web site and cointact them. They're easy to talk to.
Next I contacted Penninsula Brokers. didn't get a quote, but they are in S. ont.
The last and preferrable method,because of all the horror stories I read about carriers, was U-Haul or Budget. You rent a 16' van and a car carrier. The cost is around 1100 to 1300$. More importantly, you have control of your vehicle. Hope all this helps you.
Keep the faith, that RIV changes the regs!
Best of the Season to you and yours

sergelbergeron

On the changes to the admissibility lists - we've tried to get more info today - on the www.carswithoutborders.com and we are not very happy with some of the responses. We are asking members and all those concermed to call directly Minister Cannon's office to keep up the pressure. They had the 15 days consultations and now we want the rules made into law - urgently without more delays. People who followed all the rules - need their cars for the Chirstmas season and enough is enough.
Serge Bergeron "cars without borders"

regstevens

Which province did you import your vehicle to? Ontario? Im not sure about needing an actual plate. When I imported my new vehicle we had no plates on it, we simply had temp insurance from MPI (Manitoba Public Insurance). This is all that was needed. I used this free site to import my vehicle and that site also confirms that you don't need any plates. See Import Car 2 Canada Free - it also has a step by step import guide

mdbuffy

By responding to today's request of www.carswithoutborders.com you can help ensure that the wishes of the general public are known to Lawrence Cannon, the Minister of Transport and that the vehicles of the people whose cars have been affected by the TC relying on the auto manufacturers to say which cars are admissable and inadmissable. The more calls that are received by the Minister's office, the greater chance RFD'ers have of seeing harmonzation which will take away the non-tariff barrier that Transport Canada has given to the auto manufacturers.

This is an opportunity for you to help level the playing field.

Please give it a shot...express your dissatisfaction with the way the carswithout borders people have been treated and with the failure of Transport Canada to harmonize notwithstanding their having had five years to do so. The draft minutes of a meeting held two weeks ago between carswithoutborders and Transport Canada indicated that Transport Canada was not willing to harmonize on all of the safety issues. WHY?????

beaurocratsuck

Another option is to find and independent carrier with a trailer that takes one or two cars and picks up directly at the dealers.

You can find them online and read feedback from others.

gruvan

If I purchase a used vehicle (Nissan Murano) in Florida this winter, will I have to pay their state tax (around 6% I think). I will be in Florida for 3 months and that is when I plan to make the purchase and then return to Canada with the "new" car. (I plan on trading in my present vehicle after I drive it to Florida -- a KIA 2002 Sedona which is a Canadian vechicle).

When I am back home I expect to pay GST and then PST later when I license the car with my Ont. plates. That would be 3 taxes if I have to pay in Florida as well. Any information on the subject would be appreciated.

defrederick

Gruvan,

I'm pretty sure you're going to have to pay 3 taxes in all.

You also might want to consider selling your Kia in Canada for 2 reasons:
1. You'll get more for it in Canada.
2. You don't need to go through the hassle of exporting it to the U.S. Your dealer will not likely be interested in taking in a Canadian vehicle as a trade-in anyhow.

Dan

manitoumike

... Read manitoumike, past posts have your answer. He is in same state. DO NOT plate the vehicle. Use carrier

defrederick

Agreed, if you are not planning to drive the vehicle in Florida, doing an out-of-state sale might avoid the taxes. If you don't have an out-of-state US address, and they won't sell to a Canadian address, you'll likely have to take the hit and pay the FL sales tax.

With that said, there was talk in earlier posts of snowbirds who drive their US cars in Canada during the summer months without the need to go through the hassle and expense of importing. No one has come up with a definitive answer on the legality of this, but it may be something worth looking into. The Canadian Snowbirds Association might be able to provide some guidance.

If it's true that you need to get an Ontario plate for any vehicle in Ontario for more than three months, then you'll likely need to go through the whole import process. This would make for an interesting challenge if Florida had the same law and you wanted to live in each location for six months and drive the same vehicle. :confuse:

crikey

That's gotta be a new thing.

crikey

Yeah, I don't know what to say. FL is getting worse with their policies daily.

greg_h

some states are Great ( NY or PA ) and some suck ...

see www.carburner.com and since it is a wiki --if you know something --then update it

I just got a car from Michigan == it took the third dealer to figure out the the way to avoid sate sales tax -- WHY WOULD ANY ONE PAY a US STATE SALES TAX ....

www.carburner.com helped me get a LS430 thru Lewiston-Queenston and a Corvette vert C6 thru Detroit -- so I am sold

Greg

sergelbergeron

Here's a question that I haven't received a positive answer yet and it might affect several people. When you import a vehicle that was not built in North America, we need to pay an import duty of 6.1% to Her Majesty in Canada - this is all OK and it's part of the rules. In my case I bought a Prius built in Japan. However this vehicle was first imported by the manufacturer into the USA and I would think that the US treasury imposed a similar duty at the time of import - so this duty was paid ( and me indirectly) 2 times. The question is - has anyone ever looked at getting back the US duty that was paid on a car that was subsequently exported back out of the USA - surely the US Treasury is not entitled to duty on a vehicle that is not used in the USA. Any ideas anyone? I called US custom and they did not really understand what I meant by asking US duty refund - then again maybe Toyota will be claiming back that duty and it will give them even more profits.

dcutty

I was under the impression that Toyota/Lexus would not allow their dealers to sell new vehicles for export purposes (buyer must have a legitimate US address). We were interested in acquiring a Lexus RX400h but have been refused by 8 different dealers who claimed that they would face recrimination from the manufacturer if they did not abide by this policy.

I have been made aware that this applies to the majority of the German brands as well.

Would anyone be able to shed light on this topic? What manufacturers allow sales to Canadians? Is anyone aware of a Lexus dealer that would sell to Canadians?

Many thanks in advance for any insight.

dcutty

Please advise if the vehicle that you purchased was a New unregistered vehicle. Based on the value of the modifications, may I assume it was a Mercedes. I have been informed that they are the only manufacturer to issue their own letter of compliance.

My friend imported a Mercedes SL550 this past summer and went through several obstacles in doing so. RIV made it perfectly clear that Mercedes had the right to establish this practice of issuing compliance letters. It was an overt money grab as Mercedes charged him $900 to replace a shifter know (made of wood) solely because the decal on top of the shifter was not the Canadian version.

Most frustrating!!!

westcoasting

I am wondering where things are for easing the importing of 2008 model with american manufactured anti theft device? I guest consultation period is over. What is next step, do you know. Any idea when this will be passed as new regulation?

I bought Honda Pilot last Sept and imported, inspected, register and insured without any problem within one week or so. Now I am trying to import Civic for my mother and running into all sort of issues including my dealer who was happy to sell to Canadians is not so keen at all.

I have a friend who is willing to buy for me and keep it for a while to transfer the title, how easy is it for him, an American to obtain recall letter for the "relatively" new car? Would Honda America Issue a recall letter to an American knowing that only people asking for recall letter for newish car are for canadian import?

westcoasting

I am not sure of other auto makers but I think upto one month ago, Infiniti dealers were still selling to Canadians. One US lexus dealers have their phone rigged so that it goes to voice mail stating that they cannot be reached if called from Canada. It's big chill for so many auto dealers in US.....

darfer

You dont need the recall clearence letter, you can go to the owners link on www.honda.com and print your own letter, RIV is excepting this letter. As for buying a new Honda, good luck in finding a dealer who will sell. Most of us are now buying a slightly used almost new Vehicle from a used dealer. You can get a 6 month lease back for a good price.

westcoasting

Thank you darfer for this information.

I went to the owners link and looked at my pilot with it's vin number. I was given a page with states as below. Is this adequate? It does not print VIN number on this page per se? Thanks for you help.

Concerned about safety? So is Honda. That's why Owner Link provides up-to-date recall information about your vehicle. Because Owner Link recall listings are based on your Honda's Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), they are specific to your vehicle.


There are no current safety recalls for your 2008 Honda Pilot.

If you experience problems or you have further questions, contact your dealer for assistance.

You can also find more information from:

American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
Honda Automobile Customer Service
P.O. Box 2964
Torrance, CA 90509
Telephone: (800) 999-1009

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590
Auto Safety Hotline (888) 327-4236

jsmith1957

This is approved.
http://www.tc.gc.ca/mediaroom/releases/nat/2007/07-h245e.htm

Anyone has and idea when RIV will update their list?

manitoumike

I just got off the Transport Canada site and read and read their latest News Release. Dated Dec 19th. From what I can gather we shall be allowed to import vehicles built after Sept 1/07. The final adoption of this amendment shall be published in the Canada Gazette Part ll on Dec. 26/2007. I would encourage all of you to take a close look at this amendment. Read it for yourselves. Comment on it. Rejoice. We have tqken a large strep as a group and have won a small victory.

spatz9999

Dcutty,

I was purchasing a used vehicle.

I can't speak to Mercedes but in my case RIV had originally stated that the recall letter had to come from the manufacturer. I spoke with the manufacturer, made a note of their comments, and then called RIV back. It was then that I was told that RIV had received many complaints that manufacturers were requiring unnecessary work and/or charging excessive amounts for recall letters so they agreed to take a letter from an authorized dealership stating that there were no recalls outstanding along with a printout from the computer showing that the work had been performed.

I recommend that you call RIV and explain your situation. If they tell you that a letter from the dealership is ok then make a note of who you spoke to and the time and date of the call.

radar349

http://www.tc.gc.ca/mediaroom/releases/nat/2007/07-h245e.htm

trilium1

This is good news. I hope this makes it clear to the manufacturers (who you know monitor this site from time to time) that Canadians are not going to willingly accept the two tier pricing scheme that has been established. And we are not going to accept your ridiculous excuses, such as this piece out of the Gazette article:

"A few vehicle manufacturers have noted lately that they cannot be certain that immobilization systems installed on their vehicles sold in the United States would meet the Canadian safety standard or be modified to make them conform. In addition, manufacturers are reluctant to publicly share the technical information on any potential differences between vehicles destined for the United States and Canadian markets"

LOL. Common sense always eventually prevails as it will in this case. And, Canadians will continue to purchase cars in the US at an increasing rate until the pricing situation is corrected. So manufacturers, wise up, you are simply delaying the inevitable, and hurting your Canadian dealers in the meantime.

darfer

Hi westcoasting, after you get the page that says no recalls, enter your VIN in the search field at the top and hit print, it will then print the same page with your VIN at the top.

gaut

I spoke to an agent at RIV and she was clueless as usual, didn't have a clue what was going on. I just spoke to someone at TC (12:45 central time) and was told that the lists are are being changed as we were speaking. The list is very long, but was assured that they working hard at getting the changes in as quickly as possible. He said to regularly check the lists on the RIV website.

volvomax

Yeah, thats not gonna happen.

volvomax

Every automakers franchise agreement prohibits the dealer from selling a car for export.
Some automakers enforce more rigorously than others.

rjmbc

I am not an expert on US Duties & Taxes, but a Google search on importing a car into the US would indicate that non-North American vehicles have a 2.1% or so tax on them. I would however be a small saving &/or refund - if it was available.

ccacp

The next fight we need to address is BMW and MB restricting car importation by charging whopping fees for the recall clearance letter and then charging for modifications that are lining their pockets:

switching the speedo from MPH km/h to KM/H mph and adding daytime running lights.

Apart from the DRL and the km/h being there, BMW and MB should not be dictating what needs to be done before the car can enter into Canada and be registered.

Trust me, other manufacturers will use this loophole very soon to restrict car entry into Canada, or at least make it non-viable.

What do other peoiple think ?

westcoasting

Thank you for you information.

trilium1

I think that in the short term just stay away from BMW and MB. There are other very good choices available in the sport / performance and luxury segments and if these guys want to be dicks, spend your money on something else.

spatz9999

Other manufacturers are taking this approach now. The problem I have is that switching the speedo is not a requirement as long as the speedo has km/h on it.

It is an unnecessary modification that is in place solely as a deterrent (in my opinion) to buying a car in the US and is protecting the profits of MB and BMW

sc00p

The vehicle I imported (if it was me, the OP, you were asking) was a 2002 MB SL500. Total cost of mods, including the $250 estimate fee and $500 compliance inspection fee, was about $3400. This included modifying the rear bumper to meet our crash standards, installing the DRL module and replacing the 'Brake' warning light in the cluster with the international brake symbol. I understand the first 2, but the brake warning light was only a cash grab, mandated by MB-Cda to either make the importer suffer financially, or deter him from importing in the first place.

rnewburg

It is in place/voila!

Subject: Regulation Approval and Registration/ Sujet : Approbation et enregistrement d'un règlement

For your information, this notice announcing the approval and registration of the Regulations Amending the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (Importation of Vehicles - Section 12) effective December 18, 2007. For your viewing convenience, a link to the Orders in Council has been provided:

http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/oic-ddc/OIC-DDC.asp?lang=EN&txtOICID=2007-2024&txtFromD- ate=&txtToDate=&txtPrecis=&txtDepartment=&cboDepartment=&txtAct=&txtChapterNo=&t- xtChapterYear=&txtBillNo=&rdoComingIntoForce=&DoSearch=Search+%2F+List

News release:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/mediaroom/releases/nat/2007/07-h245e.htm

volvomax

BMW and MB can charge whatever they think the market will bear.
This is a market issue,not a legal one.
They are under no obligation to make your transaction as cheap as possible.
Call it the price of admission to German car ownership.

There are other alternatives to the German brands.
If enough people defect,then the Germans will re-think their polices.
However, since the lure of the German brand image is so strong,people will probably pay whatever BMW and Mercedes want.

doc911

But let's not forget that ALL AUDI'S, including 2008's, come across nice 'n easy with no hassles, and having owned all three major German sedans.... Audi has major advantages...

spatz9999

Missing the point.

If BMW or MB want to charge you $500 for a letter than that is their business.

Telling you that you have to spend $5,000 on unnecessary modifications before they will send you the letter is another.

RIV is getting so many complaints about this that I understand they are looking at the policy.

b_lum81

Agreed.

BMW/Mercedes have been given the OK from TC/RIV to be the only authorized people to do the modifications to their respective cars. They've been given a gift from TC and they're taking advantage of it. It's like a school principal giving a free pass to a bully to beat up the little guys. You put the blame on the Principal for giving the free pass, not the bully.

volvomax

same thing, it is the cost of doing business w/ BMW and Mercedes.

They would be stupid NOT to take advantage of their position.
Remember, these are 2 of the smartest,wealthiest car companies on earth.
They exploit ALL revenue sources.