Vehicle importation into Canada

[bennyb2k4 at sympatico.ca (Ben Beacock)]

A few things Jay and I have found importing vehicles:

- towing them back makes life easier, and makes the car look like its
worth less (make it not run too)
- A/C costs ~$100 to import for environmental fees.  We got away with it
on the 16V because the heater control panel wasn't there.  He even got
in the car and looked
- when they ask for the Canadian compliance sticker, say its there.
They've never actually checked
- certain US customs crossings will let you fax them the title
beforehand, so you can do it in one trip
- never ever ever ever tell them you bought the car on ebay.  They'll
make you give up your login and password, and actually check what you
bid on it (is that legal?). I stalled and gave a wrong password but then
had to give the real one. After an hour of interrogation I caved.  
- have proof of how you paid for the car.  Bank slips or money order
receipts.  You could theoretically take less money out than you paid for
it, then deposit it again and throw out the deposit slip. Then get the
guy to write the receipt for what you withdrew from your account.
- when they write up the new ownership for the car, make sure they use
'RAB' for a rabbit, not 'RBT' because then they think it's a 'rebuilt'
car when you go to renew your plates.

Ben 
81 Scirocco 2L16V EFI (Ontario born)
81  Caddy 2L16V (from Maryland)
87 Scirocco 16V (jay's/mine from Michigan)
79 Scirocco (jay's also from Michigan)


-----Original Message-----
From: scirocco-l-bounces@scirocco.org
[mailto:scirocco-l-bounces@scirocco.org] On Behalf Of Cathy Boyko
Sent: July 1, 2003 1:12 AM
To: scirocco-l@scirocco.org
Subject: Vehicle importation into Canada

Just for the few Canucks who are looking for a nice southern car, and
don't
know the deal at the border. I don't have plates yet, so may be a bit
early in
posting this, but I think I'm just a safety and a plate away. I'm hoping
the
"rebult salvage" won't be an issue, but I have hookups if it is. That's
something you may want to check before you go into it. And I think they
will
likely check the equipment matches what was available here.

Here's what I did and it worked so far, so you can add this to your
archives.
Locate your car, and talk to every concievable authority involved if you
can
manage it, for your own piece of mind. I was really lucky and the PO was
very
relaxed about the timelines, and this helps enormously. I also had the
"softening of the husband" issue to deal with. 

Then go check out the car, and buy it. This will be your first trip, and
you
need to take the title back with you, in the case of Ohio, it needed to
be
notarized, an extra step I hadn't anticipated, but then I didn't really
need a
bill of sale. Finding a notary on a Sunday could be an issue, I'd have
the
seller get that arranged before you head down. The US customs guys will
need
the title 72 hours before you actually export the car, they'll copy and
stamp
it, and give it back to you. Only specific border crossings can do this
BTW.
Where you leave the car would be another issue, I had a friend store it
in his
hangar...

Then you plan out trip number two, complete with any repair stuff and a
second
driver. Keep the bills for any parts you buy, and get them in Canada,
since
Canadian Customs will add it to the value of the car otherwise. They
also
tried to nick me for labour, so keep your nails really dirty to prove
you did
it yourself, and tell them the car really didn't improve.
SO off you go to get your new baby, having insured the new car before
you go,
my insurance screwed up the VIN on the slip, (used the 16V VIN) so it'd
likely
be good to double check that too. And do whatever you need to to get the
car
roadworthy, and you will likely want a temp tag. In Ohio, it's like
$5.25US,
and good for 30 days. This was actually the toughest thing, since the
computer
is set up for US citizens, so I had to wait for the clerks to call
through.
One of the guys at the border did ask to see my plate documents, so it's
a
good thing I had them.

I didn't realize the US customs car guys only work during hours that are
impossible for working folks, Mon-Fri 8-4, so when I got to the border,
I
thought I was screwed. Nope, they let me go through, and then to CDN
customs,
they'll likely pull you over anyway if your plates and citizenship don't
mesh.
I had the used car package from my 80 with me to verify the
worthlessness of
the car (old watercoolers are officially worth $0 here, BTW), and the
notarized title as proof of "what I paid for it" ($333 on paper). Since
I was
over for more than 48 hours, I could use my $200 tax exemption, and
ended up
paying $32.50 or something in taxes and duties. Not exactly expensive.
And you
have to make sure you point out that the car is over 15 years old, once
they
have a box on the form to check off, it's gravy. I had to go back to US
customs today to have the car cleared for export, even though
technically I
had already imported it. They made me pull the car up, but never even
looked
at it, one stamp, and it's Canadian now.

Odd things? Well, it was like VW day at Canadian Customs, an air cooler
pulled
in right after me, and a MkIII Golf beside me. And on the second trip, I
had
to get gas, and another 79 was at the pumps, this one a Trans Am. Ah,
memories.
But the wierdest thing was they never once even looked at the car, no
verification of VIN, no strip search, nothing. I was kinda worried since
we
had a shitload of tools and part in it. Wierd eh?
 
So sorry to be long, but I thought it may be useful to someone sometime.
It
was really easy enough if you do your homework. So hopefully the
remaining
paperwork goes as well. But that's normal Ontario used car crap anyway.

Well, that's it from me. cathy



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