DeneMoore.Com

What to Buy

I strongly reccomend buying your vehicle from the Manheim auction in Los Angeles. My favorite is the Fontana Auction. I have an account which allows me to view their pre and post action results. Why southern california? because dealers all the wayup to Seattle attend this one because of the low vehicle market. they find it proffitable even after shipping the cars across 2 states.

• Which Vehicle to buy

Things you want to know about choosing a car is that any car made outside of north america will cost you a 7% duty at the Canadian border. What the border guard will actually be checking is the VN number. If it starts with a number, you are exempt. If it starts with a letter, they "may" ask you to pay. The border guards at Blaine are pretty relaxed. Also, if you purchase a brand new vehicle, you will have to pay the local state tax which you will not be refunded. So a new import vehicle is a bad idea. Some manufacturars like BMW and Mercedes charge $700 for the recall clearance letter and require you to pay $3,000 for a new speedometer in KM's.

here is a list of vehicles admissible into canada, aswell as any modifications required before registration:

 

What Will this Cost

• Here is the break down of all the costs.
I will go over the process later.

$500 Dealer fee for purchasing vehicle from auction.

$150-$250 auction fee, depending on value of vehicle.

$400-$600 Shipping your vehicle to Seattle.

$200 Federal Safety Inspection (paid at Canadian customs)

$100 Excise fee (paid at Canadian customs)

$90 Provincial Inspection

$90 Modifying daytime running lights. * not neccissary on most newer vehicles.

= $1700 approx

Plus

5% Gst (Paid at Canadian customs)

7% Pst (Paid at ICBC when insuring yoru vehicle)

How to Import your Vehicle

The Customs website is very imformative, but I will attempt to make things far more simple

1st step: buy your vehicle

2nd: Fill out American export paperwork. You can receive this through email or fax. I email this address:blaine-export@customs.treas.gov and request the "vehicle export package" I reccomend doing this prior to even starting. then you will be familiar with the information you will need to fill out.

You can also call them.

Name:	Vehicle Export Office
Phone:	(360) 332-2632
Fax:	(360) 332-2639

If you wish to use a different port of entry, here is a list of them

 

This paperwork needs to be filled out and faxed to the number above. You will then have to wait 72 business hours from the time you faxed it, before you can export your vehicle. When you arrive at the Blaine crossing, you will pull to the left right before the Canadian customs and park next to the American building. Go in there with your original title and transfer paper and they will stamp it. You then get back in your car, cut into the front of the canadian customs line and begin the canadian custom procedures.

IMPORTANT! you cannot use American financing, or your vehicle will have a "lean" on it and won't clear American customs. Pay cash or get a loan up here.

3rd step: clear Canadian customs

after telling the guy in the booth about your vehicle, he will tell you to go park. Do so and walk into the office as told, and grab a number as quick as you can. Exporting vehicles is a popular fad now and you will be in a line up of folks like you.

What you will need in your hand before you walk into the building is:

-vehicle registration, with new American stamp of approval

-DMV registration, which is required for them to give you your temporary 45 day permit. if you don't have it, they'll clear your car, but not give you your permit.

-$300 for fees and money to cover 5% G.S.T. (they take all forms of payment.)

When they call your number, just remeber to be friendly and honest. Everytime they wind up purposely undercharging me for something.

 

4rth step: Provincial inspection.

I go to KAM Auto in Surrey. He is the most relaxed I have found.

Telephone : 604-591-1531

He charges 89$ but you might get $69 if you meantion my name. if you call him ahead of time, he will get you in right away. I like getting this provincial inspection out of the way, plus its in a convenient location from the border. He will also do you day time running lights for the cheepest price.

 

5th step: Federal inspection

You paid for this at the Canadian customs. Heres the trick. although the Canadians may have told you they sent your paperwork off to Toronto and that you should hear back from them within 3 days, I would not suggest relying on that. When you get to a fax machine. Fax off your copy to RIV Canada. This will insure they will complete the process within a day. The last time I waited around for 4 days before I did this.

You will need to fax your recall letter to them aswell. You can get this from the following list

 

Some companies charge a fee. If you read the main site on this, you will see that they "also accept a printout from an authorized dealer." GM wanted to charge me $260, so I called the original dealer it was purchased form and they were happy to fax it to RIV Canada and even included my RIV case #

The dealership faxed my vehicle file that stated: "no current campaigns on this vehicle..."

 

ONCE you have done this they will then email you what you need to pass your federal inspection. If you have done your homework properly there should be no surprises.

When you decide to get up the courage to complete this at your nearest Canadian Tire, you will need the following.

- your car needs to have a sticker on the driver door listing things like manufactured date, vehicle weight, etc....

- any necissary modifications completed. hopefully none were required.

- a printout of what RIV emailed you.

 

Easy enough. just remember to bring your car with you as the ICBC agent will not be able to complete your insurance unless they see your car in the flesh. They will want all your transfer papers from the last time it was registered.

For people like us who buy vehicles from auctions, you may be going in with a large pile of transfer papers.. For me it was original owner to dealer, dealer to my dealer who bought it for me at the auction. then him to me. Make sure to go in when the place isn't busy.

 

One last thing. Insuring your vehicle prior to this is optional and can be done in 2 ways. the $18 riv permit is equal to your registration, as is the 45 day permit in canada. If you want actual coverage you can purchase this in america or canada. american insurance may not cover you in canada, so if this is a concern, then call up ICBC and get a 10 or 20 day binder. the 10 day runs around $70. You can pay for it over the phone, and complete it by fax. Then when you drive over the border, I just pop into my friends office on 8th which is right over the border. You then go in and sign the originals. they then tell you that you cant drive your vehicle for leisure untill it passes inspections, and actually require that you ask their permission each time you drive to an inspection.