Questions about buying an US car from Ontario

[hkcivic2k2]

Need some help!

I am looking at buying a US car from Ontario.

The owner - (Mechanic) in ontario bought the car as registered it Ontario - Registration is UNPLATED. The car was being driven with a dealer plate.

He does not have a copy of the RIV inspection or import paperwork.

My concern lies with registering the vehicle here in Calgary. Had the registration/car been plated I wouldn't be worried.

Is there a way to check if the car had been imported correctly so that I don't have any issues here.

Or is it even an issue as the car is registered in Ontario already?

Any thing else I should look out for?
Thanks in advance.

[benyl]

Walk away?

[rage2]

If it's RIV'd properly, he should have a RIV sticker with the car's VIN # on it. If he doesn't have the sticker, then it wasn't done.

[gretz]

Sounds like a lot of BS to get the car... Why can't you find something similar / comparable out here?

[hkcivic2k2]

It is a 1997 model - Imported in 2011. Does it fall under the 15 year rule?

Normally I would walk away but it is a hard car to come buy.

Will find out about the sticker tonight.

My other question would be would they be able to register the vehicle without the RIV inspection.

I do have a copy of that which shows the car is registered in Ontario. Im gonna take what I have to the Alberta Registries here.

I had a body shop and dealership do an inspection and both came back saying the car is in mint condition so that gives me a bit of comfort.

I am just worried that If they didn't import it properly I could be on the hook for a taxes and penalties.

[heavyD]

What's the value of the car? Don't you think it's a little fishy a dealership wouldn't have copies of inspection and RIV paperwork? Always remember when buying a used car, if any part of the process doesn't feel right walk away.

[hkcivic2k2]

To clarify the car is Private sale but is owned by a mechanic in Ontario. He was using a plate from his shop on the car.


car is worth about 40k.

[94boosted]

Originally posted by hkcivic2k2
I do have a copy of that which shows the car is registered in Ontario. Im gonna take what I have to the Alberta Registries here.



If the car was succesfully registered in Ontario that means it would have gone through the RIV Program.

If you want to make 100% sure you could try calling the RIV with the Vin # and making sure :dunno:

Either way as I'm sure you know you will still have to do an OOP once you get it here.