Some advice for those buying in the USA
I've bought 5 cars and trucks there over the past number of years, and while I am not an expert, I have just imported a new Dodge Pickup so I can give you a pretty decent run down of what needs to be done.
The advice to check out the RIV (Registrar of Imported Vehicles) website (
http://www.riv.ca) is crucial. There for instance, the person who wanted to buy a Scion would find out that Scion's are not allowed to be imported into Canada. Similarly, if you want to buy a Miata, for instance, some model years may require extensive bumper modifications to be allowed to be plated in Canada.
Each vehicle will have a different required modifications list. Call RIV in advance to verify exactly what will need to be done. Most of the time, the modifications will be the installation of daytime running lights, speedometer markings (metric), child seat tether anchors and other simple things. Some cars will require extensive modifications, such that their importation will be too expensive or too much hassle.
There are some significant exceptions: vehicles 15 years of age or older (some commercial vehicles excepted) are exempt from the registrar's program. I bought a 1964 Dodge and a 1973 Chrysler that way. You just pay air conditioning tax ($100 if so equipped), and g.s.t when you import. Note that Canada Customs is not stupid and should you decide to play a fast one about how much you paid for a classic vehicle you will probably get caught. Carefully document what you paid, including copies of advertisements of the car you bought, the eBay listing if that was where you located a vehicle, etc. Customs will refer to a guide to verify that the price paid was within a reasonable range. Your 1968 Hemi Charger that you say you bought for $20,000 would more likely be appraised at $100,000 or more. So be careful here, and play by the rules.
I have also bought a 1991 Lincoln, a 1999 Dodge Ram, and a new 2006 Dodge Ram. Each vehicle when purchased by me was less than 15 years old, and therefore subject to the registrar's program.
Since most interest will be in the importation of a new vehicle, let me describe that process, which, incidentally, I just completed on Thursday.
First of all, most dealers in the states are oblivious about selling to Canadians. Heck, Americans want to sell anything to anyone (a good attitude, in my opinion). Once they look into it, some difficulties present themselves. First of all, it is tricky to get dealers, once they figure out that selling to a Canadian isn't easy, to sell to you. Franchise agreements, warranty concerns, pain in the ass factors and so on. The way to solve this is to use an American nominee. In my case, I had my cousin buy the vehicle. Once he obtained the title, I picked the vehicle up.
Let me take a diversion here into the world of sales tax. AS TUGGER's we (many of us anyway) are trying to pay as little as possible for whatever we buy. Here's a trick for you. Depending on the state in which you purchase the vehicle you will have to pay sales tax. In my case, I bought a truck in Nevada (even though it is a LONG way from London, Ontario). Sales tax in Nevada varies by county (can you believe this?), but in the Vegas area sales tax is 7.75%. My cousin lives in Oregon where there is NO sales tax. Because the vehicle was not being titled in the state of Nevada NO sales tax was paid by me.
I know not everyone will be able to have a nominee in Oregon. I did do some research a number of years ago and my conclusion at that time was that even though a car was being exported there was no way for my to get that sales tax back (I cannot remember whether this was for all of the USA or just Michigan, which is only 60 miles from where I live). This may have changed so you will need to research this further.
Some quick research has shown me that Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon do not have sales tax. If you can't find a nominee who lives in those states, you might find a dealer who will sell to you directly from those states.
You will also pay G.S.T.. and P.S.T. on what you paid in the states (including the US tax), so if you avoid paying, for instance, $2,000 in US tax, you avoid a further $280 (in Ontario) in G.S.T.. and P.S.T.
Back to the main item. How to import.
So you've found your car and figured out how a dealer will sell to you. Before you can bring it back to Canada you will need to get the title to the vehicle. In Ontario where we live we have "registrations", or "ownerships". In the USA, they have titles. My wife (who is a lawyer) informs me that in the USA they do not have a Personal Property Security Act (PPSA) like we have in Canada, hence you do not get the title to a vehicle unless you own it free and clear (in Ontario you get the ownership immediately, whether or not you own the car free and clear). The long and short of this is once you've paid for a new vehicle in the states, it takes FOREVER to get the title. In Ontario it takes 5-10 minutes. My purchase in Nevada took over 6 WEEKS to get the title. I cannot speak for other states, but I suspect it takes an equally long period of time.
Once you have the title, you will need to send a copy of the title at least 72 hours in advance to a "port" which processed the export of vehicles from the USA to Canada. DO NOT FAIL TO DO THIS. I just faxed a copy of the title to the US customs in Detroit, Michigan, and showed up after the 72 hours had passed. They process the title and stamp it that the vehicle is being exported. If you fail to do this, it is a real crap shoot whether or not Canada Customs will turn you back for not doing this properly. If you show up without the title having been stamped and get turned back, you may be fined $500 for "failing to export". As the process is simple, just follow the procedure listed above. You can get the link for US Customs from the RIV website.
I read the comments of X-ring about US customs having been open only 9 to 5. This varies by location. The cargo facility in Detroit is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. So the moral of the story here is to check in advance.
Once you get back into Canada, when you declare your purchase to Canada Customs, you will be charged air conditioner tax ($100) if so equipped and g.s.t. You will be given a "Form 1" and an envelope with which to make payment to RIV.
What you want to do instead of using the envelope and mailing off a payment to RIV is to go to RIV's website and just pay by credit card. This speeds up the process. You will need to then fax a copy of the Form 1 to the RIV (marked attn: data entry) and the day following you can phone and ask them to e-mail or fax the "form 2". The form 2 contains the list of modifications that you must do to meet Canadian standards. You can get anyone to perform these modifications, but Canadian Tire has the exclusive contract to verify that the modifications have been made and that the vehicle meets the standards. More about the fees later.
You will also have to have the vehicle safety checked and emissions tested (In Ontario anyway, and while I don't know about the other provinces I expect you will have some hoop to jump through).
You will also have to prove that there are no Manufacturer recalls on the vehicle. My suggestion is to get this letter from the US dealer, on their letterhead. Otherwise you will need to go to a Canadian dealer, cap in hand, to ask a favour of them about a new car you bought elsewhere.
So once all that is done, you can register the car in Canada, pay p.s.t. (so take the Canada Customs form that shows what value they used to calculate the g.s.t.), put on a license and away you go.
Finally (whew, this is a long post), here are the numbers.
I bought a 2006 Dodge Ram 1500 quad cab work group special. It was advertised on TV when I was in Vegas at $16,488. A trip to the dealer revealed that you had to have "lease loyalty" to get that price. No lease loyalty and the price was about $2000 higher. Then you have to finance with Chrysler. Well obviously you have to pay cash or you can't get the title. You get to PAY MORE if you pay cash. I paid $19,000 US, or at the time, about $21,600 Canadian. I knew what these trucks sold for in Canada (list price including freight and all the other stuff between $31,000 and $32,000). So how much will you get off the invoice? I checked when Chrysler has their employee pricing plan for everyone, and the price was $28,000 or $29,000. At $28,000 as a reasonable guess, I saved $6,500 on the truck and about $1,000 on the difference in sales tax, for a total of $7,500.
Now the deductions:
My son and I flew to Las Vegas and drove it home. Including a "mini holiday" and"road trip" we spent about $1,700. I could have had the vehicle shipped to Detroit for about $1,000.
RIV fee: $207.00
Canadian Tire: $180.00 for inspection and daytime running light installation
Dodge Dealer: $130 for safety inspection and emissions test
So counting my holiday as an expense I saved about $5,300. Had I just shipped it, I would have saved about $6,000.
A few more pointers:
North American built cars come into Canada duty free. As other people have pointed out, there is duty on the other vehicles. Call Canada Customs to verify the rate for your car in question.
If you buy a truck you may have to weigh it to register it. You can weigh a vehicle at most truck stops (like Flying J).
It is tricky to buy in Michigan because it seems all cars sold there have good prices for auto workers and nothing good for anyone else. I have tried to buy in Michigan because it would have been a lot easier, but have never been able to do so.
Because the vehicle I bought was originally "sold" to someone else (my cousin in Oregon) I suspect I will have no warranty issues. This is not cast in stone. If I were worried about it, I'd hedge my bets and use some of my savings to buy a third party warranty. I prefer to self insure, in the event that any warranty claim is denied.
I think that's about it. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions.
Dave
