Albert Vandervelde
Importing a Truck
In order to bring a vehicle into Canada you need to start with the Register of Imported Vehicles. Give them a call they were great to deal with. They will ask you a few questions to assess if the vehicle make and model you are interested in with be admissible into Canada.
by Albert Vandervelde
Over 40,000 vehicles were imported in Canada last year. That’s a pretty big number and even with the dollar at par or slightly under at times, its not so much for a price advantage (there can be if you are careful) as it is selection. I’ve been after a Dually for some time now for a new tow rig and when shopping used (a new one loaded is near $80,000 for all the brands – yikes!) the selection of trucks with the options I wanted, in the years I wanted was very slim in the west - hovering on none actually. I decided to expand my search and look into the USA and import my first vehicle.
Even searching the for sale ads the past 4 months (I found autotrader.com had by far the best selection) I was left on average under 15 trucks to pick from at a time USA wide. I was quite picky, wanting a Chevy 2006-2007 Classic, full load leather, 4x4, under 100K miles (preferable lower) and I wanted it in my driveway for under $29,0000.00 less taxes. Sound easy right? I had to factor current exchange rates, as a 1/2 a point made several hundreds of dollars difference, flight costs – mine got expensive close to Christmas, and travel distance (fuel, hotels). I found a truck in Tulsa, Oklahoma that fit the bill with 72,000 miles ,a clean carfax report and a owner willing to deal with a Canuck. End result was $28,500.00 travel included (no tax as this was a business purchase for me).
In order to bring a vehicle into Canada you need to start with the Register of Imported Vehicles. Give them a call they were great to deal with. They will ask you a few questions to assess if the vehicle make and model you are interested in with be admissible into Canada. You also need a recall check done. The web site only listed the GM offices in Oshawa who wanted $300.00 for the letter, where my local dealer provided me with one for free when I supplied the VIN from the vehicle I wanted to purchase. RIV then had me pre fax the recall notice to make sure it was acceptable to them.
Once I had the vehicle in hand I asked the persons bank (he had a loan and in the USA the title was held by his bank so they needed to release the title) to fax the registration to the border I was going to cross. The vehicle registration must be sent to the USA side of the crossing you are using 72 hours before you cross. The USA customs web site lists all the locations. Call your crossing before hand (call them after you fax as well to make sure they received it). Oroville, WA only needed the registration sent, others may ask you for other documents such as a bill of sale. Make sure you generate a bill of sale both you and the seller can sign – make a couple copies sign them all – its worth it (copy the title as well as any other documents you have). It took me three days to drive back so it wasn’t an issue for me but keep in mind you need that three days for the USA customs to release your vehicle (trailers and non motorized vehicles not included).
At the USA side I walked my documents into the USA customs office. An officer came out checked the VIN to the paperwork, stamped it and off I went to pay my taxes on the Canada side. He actually said to me hope you brought your wallet!
A Form 1 needs to be filled out at Canada Customs – pretty straight forward. In my case I imported it through my business so I could claim the (HST) taxes back so I had some extra paperwork but the Form 1 is all that’s needed at the border for a personal purchase. You may have to pay excise taxes for things like Air Conditioning as well ($100.00 for me)
With taxes paid and my Form 1 in hand I could then go onto the RIV web site and enter the truck information and pay the $185.00 RIV fee. This fee covers the Federal part of the inspection process as well. RIV then generates a form for you to take into a Federal inspection agent (Canadian Tire for most) where you get a site inspection on the truck. They also charged me a tire recycling levy.
From here a provincial inspection was also needed and can be done at any inspection facility – you do not need to use Canadian Tire for this but that is your option. I used Trent at Truckworks in Kelowna and $85.00 later my truck was cleared with a clean bill of health and the next stop was autoplan insurance and enjoying my new truck.
In BC I was able to get a liability policy so I could drive the truck home. Every state and province differs in their requirements, call the local DMV to check their laws where you are purchasing. In Oklahoma the plates stay with the truck so I did not need a local vehicle permit (and now I have a souvenir Oklahoma plate) – they don’t even sell them. In some states you may be required to buy a local permit. Also check and make sure their permit allows you to travel outside the state – you might need one for the next state over – or two or three.
While it seems complicated it really was not that bad, the worst part was opening up the dash and adding a jumper wire to the headlight switch so the daytime running lights stayed on. Also note on my RIV forms in bold letters it said NO LIFT KITS for trucks so you might want to keep that in mind as well. Good luck truck hunting!
RIV:
USA Customs port of entry search:
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/contacts/ports/
See the full story in Volume 14 Issue 1