IMPORTING CAR INTO CANADA- GUIDE |
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? What to do after my vehicle is imported to Canada ? |
Please keep in mind: |
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JK AUTO imports vehicles from USA to Canada since 2001. Mostly we process salvage vehicles, but we also import brand new and used vehicles. Our customers buy on ebay.com, on public auto aucions and they order vehicles via our dealership from dealer auctions all across USA. Our procedure is very straight forward: We pay all border crossing costs and deliver vehicle to you, then you pays us back all border costs + fee for our work. Please call us for shipping quote, or if you have any other vehicle import related questions: |
Importing Car into Canada
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Choosing Your Car
Once you have decided upon the make and model vehicle you are interested in as well as as its state. NEW, USED, SALVAGE or REPAIRABLE DAMAGE, you need to get one. There is no one best place to find the car of your dreams. eBay is an excellent place to start for vehicles in any condition. However, if you find your perfect car in the USA, do NOT buy it unless you call the owner or a dealer to find out more about your dream car. REMEMBER: Cars without Title Certificate cannot leave the USA so make sure you will obtain the Vehicle Title.
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Import Procedure
Often, people find their cars in the USA and Americans will usually have no problems selling their cars to Canadians. However, getting the car into Canada is not as simple as buying a case of beer and a gallon of milk. The US Customs & Border Protection (USCBP) requires all vehicles exported from the USA to be inspected. The procedure requires the Canadian vehicle importer to FAX to them the vehicle's title (ownership certificate) 72 hours prior to the vehicle crossing the border. This implies that vehicles without proper titles cannot leave the USA. Don't think that you can cut your untitled parts car in half and bypass this requirement. A parts car has to really be in unreassemblable (is this a word?) parts to get through without a title.
If you have faxed your title in to the USCBP as required, they will not acknowledge your fax and your fax machine's confirmation sheet is your only proof that you sent them the title. If there is a problem with your title, USCBP will not call you. In fact, if you call them prior to departing with your vehicle to make sure that there will not be a problem, they won't look up your file so that you could know either way. Upon your arrival at a border crossing they will inspect your vehicle. If everything is in order, they will stamp your title with multi-colored ink indicating that it was inspected by the Vehicle Export Office.
Canada Customs will only allow you to import a vehicle if the title has been stamped by the Vehicle Export Office. Without this stamp, you will be turned back to the USA so make sure that you visit US Customs first. There are two ways of importing a vehicle. You can either import it as one that will be licensed or one that is not. Even if you only want the parts, consider importing it as one for licensing, which would allow you more flexibility in selling the shell of the car to someone who might want to turn it into a driveable vehicle. Don't forget, vehicles with air conditioning are still liable for the $100 federal air conditioning excise tax.
Vehicles Purchased in the U.S.A.
As a general rule, used cars that are at least 15 years old can be imported from the U.S.A. and are not subject to safety and emission equipment requirements. Age is not determined by model year; the month of importation must be at least 15 years after the month of manufacture of the vehicle.
If your vehicle is less than 15 years old and was manufactured for sale in the U.S., you must first determine whether it qualifies for importation. Transport Canada's Registrar of Imported Vehicles (RIV) program ensures that qualifying vehicles are modified, inspected and certified to meet Canadian safety standards.
Upon arrival at Customs, a qualifying vehicle will be entered into the RIV program. The registration fee is $197 in Quebec and $205 in other provinces. Within 45 days, the vehicle must be altered at your expense to meet Transport Canada requirements (it may need daytime running lights and metric labels for instruments, for example). You won't be able to register and license the car in Canada until it is modified and inspected. The RIV Web site contains a list of eligible vehicles and detailed information about typical modification and inspection requirements.
Vehicles Purchased Overseas
Residents of Canada cannot normally import a car from overseas countries unless it is at least 15 years old. The relatively few exceptions to this rule can be found in CCRA publications.
Vehicles imported from overseas must be thoroughly cleaned before shipment to Canada in order to remove soil and plant material. The CFIA will inspect your vehicle, at your expense, to ensure that this requirement has been met. If your car fails the inspection, you will be responsible for the cost of a thorough cleaning and a second inspection.
Import Fees
Vehicles that are eligible for importation will be subject to import levies including customs duty and GST. Customs duty is generally based on the price paid for the vehicle and the percentage rate of duty varies depending on the vehicle's country of origin. For example, a vehicle imported from the U.S. that was manufactured in the U.S. is duty-free. However, a British-built car imported from the U.S. is subject to a duty of 6.1 per cent, the same rate applied to British vehicles imported directly from Britain.
If your car has air conditioning, working or not, you will pay an excise tax of $100. There are additional levies if your vehicle weighs more than 2,007 kilograms (4,425 pounds).
Finally, GST will be charged at the rate of five per cent (5%) of the total of the purchase price plus the customs levies.
You pay PST (8%) at the MTO office when you register your vehicle after sucessful RIV inspection. HST - tax is still divided into PST/GST when crossing the border, so you pay 5% at the border and 8% at MTO.
Provincial Requirements
When you have satisfied all the import requirements, a critical document called a Vehicle Import Form will be given to you by customs, your broker or the RIV program, depending on the circumstances of your importation. Without this piece of paper, you will get only a blank stare from your provincial licensing authorities.
Before heading off to your licensing bureau, you'll need to satisfy the provincial requirements. In Ontario, for example, your car must pass a safety-standards inspection. You will also need a Drive Clean inspection certificate if the vehicle is more than three model years old and less than 20 years old.
In addition to the fees for registering your newly imported car, provincial authorities may collect sales tax on the price you paid for the vehicle. Don't bother asking why provincial sales tax applies to a sales transaction that occurred outside Canada.
I Goofed!
If your prized car does not meet the eligibility requirements of the CCRA and Transport Canada, you will never see it sitting in your driveway. You will be required to export the car or destroy it under Customs supervision, at your expense. To make matters worse, you won't get a refund of the import levies you paid. Could there be a better incentive for consulting the authorities before trying to import a vehicle?
What Next?
If you live in southern Ontario, you have two options for importing a vehicle. You can only either cross at Detroit, MI or at Lewiston, NY. Even though Detroit may be a bit farther for some than Lewiston, you may want to consider it because only Detroit is open 24/7. Lewiston is only open Monday-Friday, 8am to 4pm.
Useful Links - How to Import Vehicle to Canada:
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Transport Canada
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Registrar of Imported Vehicles
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Vehicle Importation Guidelines
- List of Vehicles Admissible from the United States (PDF format)
The List of Vehicles Admissible from the United States is now available on the Registrar of Imported Vehicles' web site. This document is available in Portable Document Format. To view PDF documents you must use Adobe® Acrobat Reader. Visit the Adobe site to download the latest, free version.
Useful US Customs Automobile Export Links:
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/basic_trade/
Your vehicle export options to Southern Ontario:
Send fax with vehicle's title 72 hours prior to arrival and be sure to include the car's VIN in the cover letter in case the number in the title doesn't fax well.
Lewiston, NY (Queenston-Lewiston Bridge)
TEL: 1-716-282-1500 extension 3
FAX: 1-716-285-3565
Open 8am-4pm M-F
(We can store vehicle overnight if you arrive too late)
Detroit, MI (Ambassador Bridge)
2810 West Fort Street
Detroit, MI 48216-0000
313-226-3139 tel
313-226-5347 fax
Open 24-7
Directions to US Customs at the Ambassador Bridge
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Head north on I-75N |
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Take the Ambassador Bridge exit |
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Turn right onto Lafayette Blvd. W (entrance to tolls) |
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Turn sharp right just before tolls and head towards 23rd Street |
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Continue on 23rd Street to West Fort Street |
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Turn left onto West Fort Street |
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Turn left onto 22nd Street |
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Continue on 22nd Street for about 400 ft |
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Turn right onto access road to US Customs |
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Turn left onto intersecting road (appears to lead back to toll booths) |
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Follow this road and park in lot in front of US Customs. Do NOT approach inspection booths as you will have gone too far and you will have to make another circle around the US Customs building. Do not park in the back of the building where there appears to be a large number of truck unloading docks. |
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Go inside with your new car's title (and supporting documentation if necessary) and await further instructions from USCBP officers. |
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If you don't want to do it yourself - we will do it for you.
Our company JK AUTO imports vehicles from USA to Canada since 2001. Mostly we process salvage vehicles, but we also import brand new and used vehicles. Our customers buy on E-bay, on public auto aucions and they order vehicles via our dealership from dealer auctions all across USA. Our procedure is very straight forward - we pay all border crossing costs and deliver the vehicle to our customers, then customers pays us back.
Please call for details:
Jack Jackiewicz
- JK AUTO
39 Hirons Street
Toronto , Ontario
tel: 1-905-510-4455
fax: 1-866-653-0838
email: jkauto@car4sale.ca
What to do after my vehicle is imported to Canada ?
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GM Recall Clearance Policy for U.S. Vehicles Imported to Canada General Motors issued a bulletin to its dealers advising them about a new recall clearance policy for vehicles imported into Canada from the United States. A copy of the bulletin is linked below for vehicle importers who have requested a copy. General Motors of Canada Limited advised Transport Canada that it is the only authorized issuer of recall clearance documentation and a recall clearance letter will cost $235 per VIN. Download GM Recall Clearance Policy
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U.S. Antitrust Lawsuit Against Auto Manufacturers Reaching Key Hearings |
In the United States, lawsuits against vehicle manufacturers related to vehicle import and export have been ongoing for almost a full decade. Lawsuits were filed alleging that manufacturers colluded to stop export sales (back then from Canada to the United States specifically) by implementing non-export agreements, chargeback policies, warranty cancellation, creating blacklists and other tools to stop vehicles from crossing the border.Franchised Dealers in Colorado Protected from Punishment for Export Sales |
As NAATA members are aware, some U.S. states have passed legislation to protect franchised dealers from being punished by their manufacturers when vehicles ultimately end up being exported from the United States. Florida passed a law a few years ago protecting dealers from chargebacks if the manufacturer does not have proof the dealer had actual knowledge of export. If a vehicle is registered in the United States, the law deems a Florida dealer to have no knowledge of export.
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We are registered to the following auto auctions: |
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| http://www.yachtauctions.com | Yacht and motor boat search (WITH PICTURES) | |
| http://www.usauctions.com | YAHTS, MOTORBOATS, LARGE BOATS (WITH PICTURES) | |
| www.yahtsalvage.com | YAHTS, MOTORBOATS, LARGE BOATS (WITH PICTURES) | |
| www.npauctions.com | ATV, MOTORCYCLES, SKI&SEA DOO ( Call for dealer access ) | |
| www.autointernationales.com | SALVAGE AUCTION (WITH PICTURES) | |
| www.copart.com | SALVAGE AUCTION (WITH PICTURES) | |
| www.salvagedirect.com | SALVAGE AUCTION (WITH PICTURES) | |
| www.icangroup.ca | USED VEHICLE AUCTION | |
| www.impactauto.ca | BACK HOES, HEAVY TRUCKS, TRAILERS, SALVAGE AND USED VEHICLES (WITH PICTURES) | |
| www.iaai.com | SALVAGE AUCTION (WITH PICTURES) | |
| www.adesa.ca | ADESA CANADA AUCTION ( Call for dealer access ) | |
| www.manheim.com | TORONTO AUTO AUCTION ( Call for dealer access ) | |
| www.bscamerica.com | USED VEHICLE AUCTION | |
| www.onlane.com | NEW/USED VEHICLE AUCTION | |
