Alright , I am currently in the process of importing (my second American car) a Toyota Supra from the states and I have been doing tons of research on the idea and I really think an Offical thread to Importing should be made for Beyond.ca. by JAYMEZ_STi (If you are posting this across forums , please dont take credit for it, thanks =) (10/30/2005)

So far this is what I have .
www.riv.ca is a major site , but some things may be confusing for the average joe.


Step 1. Make sure you can import the car.
Here is a Direct link for adobe on what cars are ADMISSABLE a.k.a cars you can import.
http://www.riv.ca/english/US_vehicle_admissibility.pdf

Documents to fill out.
http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov..._export_wks.doc

Many cars that are in the US market do not meet Canadian safety standards (Yes even new cars) and are not importable at all.
So in order to get your car here from the states you need to understand a few things (Yes its a bit long to do , but I really think it is worth it!).

First off Canada has hired a private firm to allow cars to be imported and it is the company we know as RIV or Registar of Imported Vehicles , you can also reach them at 1-88-848-8240 you SHOULD call them just to double check if you can import the car you want.

US Gov't Border crossing numbers..
http://www.answers.com/topic/list-o...order-crossings

Whitlash Montana Contact:
http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/xp/c...rts/mt/3321.xml

Step 2. Things you need to do prior to importing.


You will need

- I think the new law is in , you need a Canadian Passport. If you have say a British passport , you will have more hassle and possible could need a Visa LOL.

-US Title to the vehicle

- Bill of sale/transfer of ownership (Basically like any normal car sale)

- You will also need a written notice from the manufacturer of the vehicle stating that any recalls that may be in effect have been done to the car .. This letter does not include dealerships , so it could be a little pain in the ass. ( The only place I showed this was at Canadian Tire for the Federal Inspection , just contact the US car branch ) ( You can also get the seller to do this for you , the form can be faxed to the seller or the buyer.)

- Orignal stickers stating that it meets the Federal safety standards in effect of the date of manufactoring. (The stickers in the door jams , no one checked these except for OOP inspection and Federal .)

- You need to contact the US customs at least 3 days in advance telling them that you are going to exporting a vehicle from there country. http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/impoexpo/impoexpo.htm
You also might need to provide the original title or a certified copy , and 2 additional complete copies of the title at least 3 days , you should also Contact them to double check this ( I will be this week) this might change. (EDIT: You can just fax them this. For Alberta , you need to fax it to "WHITELAST MONTANA")
-Also when you call Whitelash station , they will fax you a peice of paper to fax back to them . It bascially just has your name , sellers name , car vin , ect... It is very easy to do.

-Get insurance and Canadian temp registration before.

Side note: Be very careful that the car does not have a lean on it , you will NOT be able to bring the car to Canada.

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WHILE IN THE US - Go to a DMV (Road registry) Tell them you need an exporting pass , it costs $15 US and is simple to fill out. The only hassle is waiting in line at the DMV.

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Step 3: Crossing the damn boarder.

---GET GAS IN THE US ITS CHEAPER , then cross.
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You must cross the right boarder , do not make the mistake like alot of people do by trying to cross the wrong boarder (charged more) so like I said before call the Canadian customs a head of time , its simple and saves alot of hassle. (I crossed at Coutts AB)

Next when arriving at the CORRECT booth , explain to the Customs officer what you are doing . And you will have to go into a Customs office. They will scan your passports , ask your price , ask for bill of sale. ( Dont be scared about finding the right booth , you drive up to a toll booth , then they let you in and tell you to park and walk in a door)

At the CANADIAN BOARDER
You will need to fill out a bunch of papers . Like I said before you will need the title , bill of sale (duh) , mileage , and on the door jam , manufactor date. Once that is done , it is time to open up the wallet. Now when I went there , they got really snoopy and asked where I found the car , what internet site i found it on. So be prepared for these questions.

Step 4: Empty your wallet, 6 Percent (Tax change) and 6.1 percent on bill of sale price. (DONT LIE ON BILL OF SALE)

Everything is in CANADIAN $ .

- Paper work - $206 (Changed) - This can be mailed and payed for later.

- Duty Tax - Duty tax is 6.1 % but does not include Canadian or US built cars.. Its best to call a head of time to double check what your car falls under. - Here is a phone Ive pulled off another guide 1-800-461-9999.

- Excise Tax - AC tax aka a bunch of BS. $100

- Tax - Yup you have to pay 7%(6% now) on what the car is worth DO NOT LIE ABOUT THIS , THEY WILL INVESTIGATE IF THEY THINK YOU ARE LIEING.
You will be charged 25%+ on the portion you have lied about




Simple and easy. I will be doing this month , And I will be takeing pictures of areas to go to (Alberta) and pictures of all the forms and how to fill them out properly. I hope this helps people who plan to import , it can be intimidating but its defiantly worth it!



Also , I will be researching on towing companys.

ONCE IN CANADA THINGS TO DO

I totally forgot to post this. Yes you have a Canadian Car , BUT YOUR NOT DONE YET!.

Things you need to do with in a months time of haveing the car in Canada

- Installing Day time running lights ( This can be done at alot of places and is fairly easy to do - Canadian tire can do this.

- You will need to get a car inspection (I believe the paper can be bought at a registry for $18) - They will check basic things like , lights , how it drives ect ect , this is pretty damn painless , and sometimes they might *cough* forget to do it and pass you.

- Get your damn insurance RIGHT AWAY

- Getting your plate - After all the necessary paper work is done ,you will need to go back to the registry and show them the paper work and importation papers - they will then hand you a plate.

- Provincal Inspection to completed , you have 10 - 15 days to complete this once you have applied for the inspection (This is how you can register the car.

-Federal Inspection sheet , 10 days after you import your car , you will get form 2 in the mail , this inspection you have to do at Canadian tire. You have 45 days to complete this.

-Getting insured before hand-My insurance company was very easy on this , they didnt look at my car ..nothing , they just asked the make and model and it was done .

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TIPS
If you are buying a new car. - You do not have to pay sales tax in California .. Bring alot of proof that you are Canadian.

If you are flying to the US , you should get a round trip , you COULD be told to turn around and not enter the US.

BY JAYMEZ


*** NEW AND UPDATED LINKS 2010 ***
The new link for Admissible Cars is http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/safe...list2/VAFUS.pdf Couldn't find links to the other 2

To track ones' progress throughout the importing process, use the step by step list: http://www.riv.ca/ImporterChecklist.aspx

good thread, enjoy the new car dude!

THANK YOU FOR THIS THREAD!

When your thread is complete (if it isn't already) I will sticky it and you can make constant changes as you research more about it.

^yes werd to that. The topic comes up every once in a while and the details usually end up being more confusing than helpful.

Don't know where you got the source of daytime running lights from, mind sharing it?

Reason I'm asking is my 735 is a California car and I have no day time running lights, I didn't bring it in someone else did but I still wonder if i have missed something that might complicate some problems later with insurance if something were to happen.

^^ Its a Canadian law , that any car after 1990 MUST have Daytime running lights. You have 45 days to do it once the car comes into Canada.

hah sweet, gotta love 89

Thanks for the info.

Excellent thread, I've been looking for a nice comprehensive guide like this for a while!

Awesome info, thanks!

Just a couple extra points:

- When arriving at the border, you must stop at the US Customs first. You'll need to pick up your processed title after they've done their research on your vehicle. The title will be stamped "Exported". The title must be in their possession 3 days in advance (not a maybe as you implied). If you are very lucky and arrive to find someone nice, you might get around this rule. However, I wouldn't bet on it. The check they do on your title takes a matter of 30s to do. I made the error of faxing a copy of the title to the customs office instead of delivering the actual title to them. The officer I talked to was nice enough to perform the check himself, process the title, and allowing me pass without holding it for 72 hours as they are supposed to do. But of course, not after him explaining to me that I didn't follow the proper procedure of delivering the original title instead of a non-certified facsimile. They have a specific person who's responsibility is to check vehicle exports. That person was not there when I arrived at the border.

- You may want to clerify the fact that there are actually 2 inspections that need to be done. However, you can actually get them done at the same place. The federal inspection at Canadian Tire is covered by the RIV fee that you paid at the border. The provincial inspection can also be done at Canadian Tire for a small fee but requires the provincial inspection form from a registry (as you stated for about $18). If you have your own mechanic you want to use for the provincial inspection, you are free to go somewhere else.

- You are not in the clear until you hear back from RIV. After the RIV has processed your import, they will send you a letter approving your import or advising that they are still waiting on information. If approved, they'll send you stickers to apply to your door jam. If denied, RIV will tell you to get the car out of Canada.

Just to be a bit more clear, the first inspection you have to do is the Federal one to satisfy the RIV requirement. On most cars you only need to add Daytime Running Lights (or use the trick i mentioned in another thread )

Once this inspection is passed you have to wait for RIV to mail you a sticker. This sticker must be stuck on the door jam, or on the door where it meets the car. Once this sticker is on your car, you finally have a Canadian Car. Before you get this sticker, your car is still considered an American car.

Next step once you get this sticker is to get a Request for OOP (out of province) at your local registry. It is $9 for this. Take this to any mechanic that can do OOP inspections. If you pass, you will be given a form to take back to the registry. You have 14 days to take this form back, or else you will need to get another OOP inspection done.

Another side note, if it is a private sale be sure to include proof of payment. For example, if you bought the car with a bank draft, provide a photocopy of the bank draft to Canada Customs. If you are going to lie to Canada Customs, stand your ground and make sure the seller sticks to the story too. They will scare you by saying that if they catch you lying they will seize your vehicle. Don't worry, you can buy it back if that happens. The cost to buy it back is 25% of the difference between actual purchase price and the alleged purchase price

They will assume on EVERY private sale that you are lying about the purchase price and grill you about it.

Happy importing!

Edit: damn altezza beat me to it

Thank you for this. I have a friend who is looking to bring in a supra, i will make sure to pass it on.

Awesome , lets get more info for this thread

I was also told by someone who PMed who I will keep unnamed , that if you cheat the tax , the customs can take your car or charge you 55% Tax on the car! They investigate by calling the seller and checking with your bank ect.

Originally posted by JAYMEZ_STi
Awesome , lets get more info for this thread

I was also told by someone who PMed who I will keep unnamed , that if you cheat the tax , the customs can take your car or charge you 55% Tax on the car! They investigate by calling the seller and checking with your bank ect.

Trust me, I have first hand info Its 25% on the portion you lie about. So if the car was purchased for $14000, but you claim it was purchased for $10000, what happens is that you pay 6.1% duty on $10000 + 7% GST on $10000. Then, you get charged 25% on $4000.

If you don't want to pay the 25% tax on the portion you lied about, they keep your car and sell it at an auction haha. Quite fun. After you pay for all this crap they give u a pamphlet if you want to contest the seizure. I'm sure most ppl pay and move on

^^ Lol TISK TISK


Ok so we are going to say 25% on cheating taxes?

They never verified any of the documents I presented at customs since everything was notarized. It was very quick after the paperwork was done. The only question I was asked was if the vehicle was a "stretched-limo version" of the actual thing.

Originally posted by kenny
If you are going to lie to Canada Customs, stand your ground and make sure the seller sticks to the story too. They will scare you by saying that if they catch you lying they will seize your vehicle. Don't worry, you can buy it back if that happens. The cost to buy it back is 25% of the difference between actual purchase price and the alleged purchase price

Experienced? haha

How about .. if just want to ship the car from US to Canada?

Can I do that? ship the car first, then go to custom to pay the duty, taxes, etc ?

so cheap to buy a car .. or anything from the US now!
Especially like those supra!

since im a lazy bastard, how much could i pay someone to get me an evo to my house?

I'll do it for you, I also have ties with JSpec Imports but he has all the shipping resources and car resources for Canada and possibly US aswell.

You might one one of those non trusting dudes tho so I won't bother explaining myself anymore.