Crossing the border with an unregistered vehicle?

[shakalaka]

Okay so not completely unregistered but here's the situation. From the other thread some of you may know I was contemplating a road trip. That road trip for 'just fun' plans sort of changed and now we are driving to Vancouver and picking up a new car then thinking of driving across the border to Seattle.

But I am curious as to how it would work driving across the border with a new car. I'll have the plate of my current vehicle on it which I wouldn't be able to register for the new car until I get back into Alberta. I'll obviously have the insurance for the new vehicle. I know I normally have 14 days to register the plate to the new vehicle but I am wondering if I am driving through the border into States will there be any issues that the plate won't be registered to the car I'll be driving?

Do I just explain the situation and drive on by? Would appreciate if anyone has any first hand or solid information. Thanks!

[SkiBum5.0]

1. Put an ICBC in-transit plate on.
2. Put a Wash state in-transit plate on

When I bought one my cars in ON, I used an Ontario in-transit all the way through the Us

[Thaco]

if you already paid for the car get them to scan and email you the bill of sale and register it before you leave

NVM, just realized OOP

[bjstare]

+1 for in transit plates. I used a NV transit plate (paper thing) to ride a motorcycle from Vegas to LA, then all the way to Victoria. Even got a ticket, no trouble at all.

I would assume the only potential issues would be related to proving you bought the vehicle in Canada and aren't importing it. Best to just phone the border crossing you're going to pass through and see what they say.

[shakalaka]

Thanks for the suggestions/ideas guys. I didn't know about in-transit plates at all. Where do I get them from? I was going to put my Alberta plates from my current vehicle to the new one, so you guys are saying instead of doing that get a in-transit plate from a registry in BC after purchasing the car? Never had to do this before so sort of confused.

I guess I can always call the American Border at Seattle and see what they say.

[bjstare]

You can get a transit permit from AB registry (or BC I suppose). They're just like real plates, in that each province/state has their own. Some states say you need one from every state/province you pass through, but others just say you need one from the state (province) of purchase. When I got pulled over in WA, I just told him the dealer said the NV transit permit would work for my whole trip, cop was fine with that. I would 10/10 say a transit permit (from AB or BC) is a better idea than using an old plate - there's a potential that the plate swapping would throw a red flag for border patrol IMO.

I crossed the border just fine with a transit permit, but I think you're on the right track giving them a call for yourself.

[revelations]

Definitely bring ALL the paper work with you - even the ad if it was a private sale.

Also, a lot depends on the vehicle and your history. If its a 100,000$ MB and you show up in ICES or FOSS as someone of interest (eg. unusual number of crossings at odd hours), chances are they would give you a much harder time than if you had a Civic and were pretty clean.

[J-hop]

Anyone had problems getting these at Alberta registeries? I had an AMA person not seem to understand what I was asking for the last time I went for one. Had proof of insurance and everything. She wanted a bill of sale but obviously I didn't have one yet.

[mr2mike]

Just rent a vehicle in Vancouver and go to Seattle to avoid the hassle. I can see next post, "I made it on Border Patrol TV show".
If you put your current plate on it and try to bring it into USA or Canada, you'll probably be face down on the concrete at some point. 4 chances for that to happen at least.
Also, I assume you'll be in a holding cell for a few hrs til they sort everything out, even with all the paperwork... It'll be suspect.

[Thaco]

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Just rent a vehicle in Vancouver and go to Seattle to avoid the hassle. I can see next post, "I made it on Border Patrol TV show".
If you put your current plate on it and try to bring it into USA or Canada, you'll probably be face down on the concrete at some point. 4 chances for that to happen at least.
Also, I assume you'll be in a holding cell for a few hrs til they sort everything out, even with all the paperwork... It'll be suspect.

pretty sure the point of heading south is to head east in the US and come up through eureka or sweetgrass and make a bit of a mini roadtrip out of it.

[Strider]

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pretty sure the point of heading south is to head east in the US and come up through eureka or sweetgrass and make a bit of a mini roadtrip out of it.

In that case, OP could just do the loop clockwise instead of counter clockwise and drop off the M3 in Vancouver after the US leg.

[shakalaka]

Spoke to the salesman at the BMW dealership in Vancouver and he seems to think there shouldn't be any problems and just to keep all the paperwork with me. Getting conflicting answers, I guess will just need to make the time to call the American border services at the Seattle crossing to get a clear answer.

[mr2mike]

I can't say what you should or shouldn't do.
It could go just fine and you have an awesome trip which is what I or anyone else would hope for. But you're putting yourself into unecessary headache territory for what?
Just remember 72hr holding period without any explanations. Can also seize the vehicle until convinced it's yours.

[rage2]

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Spoke to the salesman at the BMW dealership in Vancouver and he seems to think there shouldn't be any problems and just to keep all the paperwork with me. Getting conflicting answers, I guess will just need to make the time to call the American border services at the Seattle crossing to get a clear answer.

You can call the border and get confirmation all you want, it's up to the person there working the day you try to cross the border that has the final call. Worst case scenario, they won't let you through, and you have to drive home through Canada. Just make alternate plans and call it a day.

No clue if US border has plate/registration information. When I was shuttling my CLK BS across the border, I had a US citizen do it for me (it's nothing but hassles for a Canadian coming into Canada with a US car). He was never hassled even with the car registered under my name in Montana, so I'm guessing they don't have that info. But to be safe, just buy transit passes, and you're good to go.

Coming back into Canada shouldn't be a problem at all. They'll probably suspect you're trying to import a US car without going through RIV or something, just have the paperwork handy and you're good to go.

[J-hop]

Bump for related question.

Anyone know if I have an alberta BOS for an Alberta vehicle + a valid alberta plate I plan to move over to the new vehicle(and insurance obviously) would I have any issues driving the vehicle into BC?

Should be just fine based on the responses here for crossing the country border?