In our ongoing series about cross border shopping, we’ve focused on the price and convenience. While retail prices of new cars are substantially cheaper in the United States than they are in Canada, the practicality of a cross border purchase depends on a buyers individual needs.
So you’ve made the decision that buying a car from south of the border is the way to go for you. You’ve called around to a few dealers, found your car and done the deal. Now what?
Fellow Nissan Truck Club member Derek Penny recently went through this process when he imported a Land Rover Discovery into Ontario. He’s gone to the trouble of documenting his story for the benefit of other intrepid cross border shoppers:
Importing a Late Model Land Rover Into Canada from the U.S.
I went through the process of importing a Land Rover Discovery into this Canada from the US in January. I learned a few things in that time – buying the vehicle, getting it into Canada from it’s location in West Virginia, waiting for the bank and legally registering in the province of Ontario.
There is a lot of information on-line detailing what needs to be done. This list is by no means what is required by law. This is just taken from my one-time experience.
What you need to do:
Make sure the vehicle is allowed to be imported. Check with the Registrar of Imported Vehicles to find out.
Have all of your paperwork prepared so you don’t waste your time and theirs. There is lots of info online about what documents are required. Paperwork will make life that much easier. Have a document for everything you can get. Make copies in case someone keeps one, or forgets to return one piece of paper to you.
Make sure you will get the title document / ownership when you leave with the vehicle, unless you have a place to park the vehicle while you wait for the paperwork to arrive. If your cheque has to clear, allow time for it.
Paperwork you need
I would suggest creating a file folder to cart around all of the various documents you will need. Don’t forget to make a couple of copies of everything, as well as having the original on hand.
– Bill of sale
– original title document or salvage record
– copy of payment method (certified cheque, bank draft, etc.)
– your driver’s license
– Form 1 (for importing and registering a vehicle in Canada. You get this from Canada Customs when you cross.)
– receipt from Canada Customs for Duty, Excise and taxes paid
– any other paperwork you can get your hands on that you think will be important
At US Customs and Border Patrol
Fax a copy of the title to the border office you intend to cross at 72 hours before you cross. They will start a file on you vehicle then. Make sure you go to the correct Border Patrol office, and cross at a permitted point. Not all crossings will clear vehicles for export!
You must present the vehicle to the US Customs and Border Patrol, along with the original title of the vehicle, as well as a couple of copies. They will stamp and seal the title to clear it from the US Registry and release it for export. Keep these handy as you will need them at Canada Customs. *No fee is paid here.
Just like that you are done at the US C&BP. You are now free to take the vehicle across into Canada. Take your wallet, you’ll need it!
At Canada Customs and Border Service
Declare that you are in fact importing said vehicle when you pull up to the booth. They will have you pull in to the inspection station to get all of the information sorted out. They will also likely give you a tag to take into the office as well.
Once in the office you will need to present a bill of sale, the stamped title, and a valid driver’s license (your own). The Customs Officer will fill out a couple of forms and enter a bunch of information into the computer. One of these forms is Form 1. The yellow copy of this form stays with the vehicle until the Canadian title is mailed to you.
At this point they will come up with a “fair market value” for the vehicle. The bill of sale is important here. This is where the amount of tax you pay is decided. The whole idea being that you can’t buy a year-old Range Rover for $1500. The government wants to get their share every chance they can. If the purchase price of the vehicle is deemed ‘fair’, you pay tax on that price. If not, they set the fair market price and you pay tax on that amount. Sorry, no haggling with the Customs people.
Once they complete all of the paperwork, they will have you sign one of the forms to finish it off and the Customs Agent will send you to the cashier’s counter to pay your taxes. Duty, Excise, A/C tax, GST, and maybe PST all get paid at this point. Sometimes PST is paid at the license office. It really depends on the location. Keep your receipt in your file as the license office will try to charge you PST again.
Once you pay, you are free to go. Keep the yellow copy of the Form 1 in the vehicle until the RIV mails you your new registration.
When you get home
Mail the white copy of Form 1 to the RIV. In a week or so you will receive a form back from them. This will tell you what needs to be done to bring the vehicle up to Canadian standards. (For the Discovery it required DRLs and a French airbag label on the sun visor. No trouble.)
Have any necessary modifications that are required to be done to your vehicle to meet Canadian safety regulations: daytime running lights, French language labels, airbag information, etc… You have 45 days to do this. (Canadian Tire is an approved agency for the federal inspection.) They will stamp Form 1 if the vehicle passes. *You need to provide this inspection form when obtaining you license plates.
Within a week or so of passing this inspection, RIV will send out a new Canadian Certification label to attach to the vehicle. It usually goes on the driver’s side door by the manufacture plate.
If the vehicle does not pass this inspection (or inspections, if more than one is required) within the 45 day period, the vehicle must be exported back to the US. No questions.
Things particular to my experience
The amount of time this took versus a regular border crossing? Maybe 45 minutes more, total. About 10 minutes at the US side, getting the vehicle released. Another couple of minutes at the Canada Customs booth declaring the vehicle, then 25 or so minutes in the office getting the paperwork done and paying my money. Not too painful, really.
Banks… Ah yes, where to begin? The bank holding the title of the vehicle in WV thought it would wait for the cheque to clear before releasing the title. That process took a week. Then, after the cheque cleared they thought I would be coming down to their location, in WV – from Ontario (after parking the vehicle at a friend’s place in Ohio) to actually pick up the title document. This miscommunication added another few days. Waiting for the courier to get the document to me took another three or four days. Dealing with banks; priceless.
Make sure you have some form of temporary plates or tags to get the vehicle back across the border with. I used (under questionable legality) the plates off a different Land Rover I had just sold to get the Discovery from West Virginia to Canada. (I asked for forgiveness, honest!)
The Canada Customs Agents were very helpful for a newbie like me. I arrived at about 8:30pm on a Monday night and it was quiet for them in the office. Three of them helped with all my paperwork so it went very quickly. I paid all of my duty, excise and taxes on what I paid for the vehicle. There was some discussion about whether the price was “too good” or not, but they figured that since all the other paperwork was in order to look kindly upon me.
The Canadian Tire service centre that did the ‘inspection’ took about 10 minutes, didn’t even bother to open a door on the vehicle, and called it all good. The inspector spent more time filling in the form than looking at the vehicle. DRLs?? Check. (What the??? !!!) Didn’t even turn the truck on to look! I probably could have not bothered to go to any effort to get the vehicle ready, but on the other hand… well, better safe than sorry. And it’s all legal now. No worries, no conscience to bother me…
The license office took copies of everything I had – my certified cheque, the West Virginia registration, bill of sale, etc., etc. They were happy to see I had everything in order.
Useful links
Registrar of Imported Vehicles
United States Customs & Border Protection
Canada Border Services Agency
Vehicles older than 15 years are not regulated by RIV. Vehicles built in North America do not pay import duty.
Certain vehicles make a lot of sense to import, and either generate a saving or are not readely available in Canada.
The Canadian gov't is considering going to 25 years from the current 15 for vehicles regulated by RIV.
Hello,
Would you know if I can ship a 56 Chevrolet Apache 4×4, that has a mid 1980 blazer frame on it . I contacted the RIV about it being over 15 years old but they have giving me a bunch of mombo jumbo so Im still not sure if I can do it or not
Trapper
Thanks for the detailed post, it’s much appreciated. One question for the Garage world: is it truly a monetary advantage when you factor in all the taxes, duties and fees? The only comparisons I’ve seen in this thread is for MSRP; a true evaluation takes into consideration ALL the costs that we as Canadians enjoy (smirk). Any opinions would be welcome – I live in Alberta, so Montana/Idaho/Washington are options for me.
Good point J.
One thing that I’ve learned since this is that there is a 6.1 % duty on import cars coming into Canada. That’s not too big a deal if the difference is 30%. The good news is there there is apparently no duty on North American built cars. So if you are looking at an import that was built here, you’re still doing ok.
Wow, thanks for all the great info. I have always wondered what would be involved with purchasing a vehicle cross-border. Apparently, it is a lot!
There is a lot to it, but it can save a ton of money for the right consumer.
I hope going through all that was worth it. Was it worth the savings by buying in the US?
Thanks you for the article. I am seriously looking at purchasing a car from the US. My suggestion to others is to really research and compare auto prices. Some types of vehicles purchased in the US will not save you money, but the vast majority are SO WORTH THE EFFORT!
Fine and dandy for cars but what about Harley Davidsons??? Same duty and paperwork???
Hmmm…great point Cara…I don’t know, but I’ll look into it.
Harley has adjusted their Canadian prices to be closer in line with US prices, although there is a difference. Once you factor transportation, broker fees, etc…its probably not worth the hassles to import a new Harley.
I am looking at picking up a used Toyota Tacoma at a used dealership in the states. What is the process of not paying the state taxes. It is the state of Wisconsin that I will be dealing with. Also, what are the taxes you pay when coming back to Ontario? Both GST and PST???
Thanks
Cliff
So will Gm or Dodge void the warranty if you bring back to Canada ? Or could you take it back to the US to get warranty work done ? Does anyone know ? Dealers are not to forthcoming with this information.
I haven’t heard anything official from GM, but Chrysler will not honor warranty on US cars that are brought north of the border.
can i bring the brandnew gl 320 cdi 4matic from us to canada
Hey There, I want to bring a 1972 corvette to Canada,worth 17,800,could some1 tell me what other monies i will have to pay to bring it here.I am getting it from a used car Dealer who has been in business for 25 yrs is there any taxes on the 17,800 and how much will it cost at the Ambassador Bridge.That is the way i have to go.The car is in Hendersonville,TN Please could some 1 help me out
Thank You Ron Moore
Ron, just follow the link above to riv.ca
Why does the federal government have anything to do with safety or vehicle licensing? This is a provincial jurisdiction! The RIV also requires a recall clearance letter which is bullship because its far more important to know whether the vehicle was wrecked than if a recall wasn’t done.
Hey Gary great article. There is a ton of resource and information becoming available. It can only encourage fair prices across either side of the border. Here is another detailed procedure for anyone interested .
http://borderdeals.ca/vehicles/
You are right Susan. Also, that letter needs to come from the US manufacturers office. Many people arrive in Canada and try to get it from a Canadian dealer. That does not work.
I’d seen that someone had posted about Harley’s and I was wondering if you’d been able to look into it more, or possibly had some answers? If so, could you please e-mail me! Thanks a bunch.
I am looking for a reputable used car dealer in the U.S. Does anyone out there know of one? I did contact CarMax who advised that I needed a U.S. address before they could sell to me, which is untrue.
I just purchased a U.S., 07 Mazda CX-9 from a dealer here in Canada. They brought the car in. They did all the paperwork ( I hope) They agreed to have the speedometre and odometre changed to Canadian at their expense, Waiting for the parts)
Question- Warranty? I was told the warranty is honored in Canada by the sales rep.
Mazda Canada said warranty work would have to be submited and then cleared by Mazda USA before work done here in Canada as the bill would be sent to the U.S. for reimbursment. The Rep. from Mazda Canada said to keep documention of of all maintenance/ oil changes etc. to be able to show I have held up my end of the maintenance requirements.
North American Mazda ( Mazda U.S.A) Rep. told me over the phone that once the vehicle was registered in Canada the warranty became null and void! They would NOT honour any of the warranty!
Called Mazda Canada back. Was told they have recieved nothing stating american warranty becoming totaly invalid. She did say that they have american cars getting warrantied work done at Canadian dealers. The work order is then submited to the American warranty office and is handled on a case by case basis. Rarely has she seen reimbursement refused. She see's many reimbursments go through.
????
Anyone having this type of issue, or advice?
I had a history check done before purchase.
I purchased this vehicle for $28,000.00 can.
I went the bank for part of the financing. They valued it at $40,000.00 canadian, in collateral.
I was told this vehicle was covered under the original waranty and that the warrantee would be honored, by the sales rep. I purchased it from.
Looking forward to any imput.
How would it work if my sister in law bought a toyota Prius in maine and then I bought it from her -would it be considered used? as toyota wont let you import from the US to Canada. Does she pay tax in maine then I pay gst,pst, excise, a/c tax,duty as well?
does anyone know what the border considers a new vehicle? if you buy one that has 5,000.miles it is used, not new, but is still a 2008…. I don’t have to pay gst for it at the border to bring it from the u.s. to Canada.. what about any out of province sales tax? I’m driving a new vehicle from Denver to Calgary, Alberta this week… help!!
I meant… Do I have to pay gst for it at the border? if it has 5000. miles but is a 2008
wondering how much taxes would pay on aboat coming from USA to canada?
would it be worth it
and what kind of paper work ineed from the seller
thanks
I was just wondering if you knew of any information about crossing the border with temporary plates. We are purchasing a new car and want to take it to canada and then come back. Have any advice?
It’s really cool information regarding purchasing a vehicles. Thanks for sharing this.
Did you purchase from a dleaer or private? I too worry about trying to buy with a Cnadian bank check. Also, worry too about license plates.
How did they know your car is made outside North America? Do they check the VIN in the database or is this something you declare on their form?