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Message started by bunracer on Feb 2nd, 2015 at 12:49pm

Title: Importing 1986 Honda
Post by bunracer on Feb 2nd, 2015 at 12:49pm
Has anyone gone through the process of importing a car from the states that you have registered for street use ?

Title: Re: Importing 1986 Honda
Post by Darwin on Feb 2nd, 2015 at 12:54pm
Yep, brought a car up from San Fran last year.  Presently registered in BC and doing daily driving service.

Title: Re: Importing 1986 Honda
Post by bunracer on Feb 2nd, 2015 at 1:05pm
OK I guess I didn't ask the question properly. What is the process to import such a car into BC ?

Title: Re: Importing 1986 Honda
Post by Mike_the_Oldest on Feb 2nd, 2015 at 2:42pm
If I were bringing a car into Canada I'd first ask the Canada Border Services folks what they wanted.

They're going to charge you all the GST and PST they can. I don't know about imort duties. Might depend on what you're bringing in.

Phone CBS. It will be worth it.

Failing that, I'd have a broker involved.

Title: Re: Importing 1986 Honda
Post by Darwin on Feb 2nd, 2015 at 3:58pm

bunracer wrote on Feb 2nd, 2015 at 1:05pm:
OK I guess I didn't ask the question properly. What is the process to import such a car into BC ?

Here's what I posted on the Corvette Forum:

Part 1:

I started at the Transport Canada Page: http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/motorvehiclesafety/safevehicles-importation-usa-index-445.htm

This will give you the general info on admissibility, procedure, etc.

That quickly leads you to the Registrar of Imported Vehicles: http://www.riv.ca/ImportingAVehicle.aspx

They have a really good checklist that gets generated with your specific info, once you start to figure out the general parameters of your import: http://www.riv.ca/ImporterChecklist.aspx

There is also the US side to deal with, that's laid out fairly well in the checklist but the gist of the process is this:

0. Find the right car, and a seller willing to play ball.
1. Confirm vehicle admissibility (if 15 years old or more, things get a lot simpler).
2. Get a recall clearance document from a Dealer (RIV is fairly specific as to what is admissible), then get that to RIV for approval. Once approved, the 30 day clock starts ticking to complete the import process.
3. Determine which border crossing you'll use (not all of them handle this, the checklist tool has a drop down menu). Call them to confirm the procedure, they may differ, but it should be as follows.
4. Buy the car: you will need a clean tittle in your physical presence, this is critical. You will also need a detailed bill of sale, you can make one of these up yourself.
5. Fax the bill of sale & title to the Dept of Homeland Security at the designated border crossing. This process may differ, and may have changed by the time you do your import - they are phasing in a new internet based procedure very soon. I got through the old school way. They need 72 hrs from receiving the docs to when they will process the export.

Title: Re: Importing 1986 Honda
Post by Darwin on Feb 2nd, 2015 at 4:00pm
Part 2:

6. Get the car to the border and meet with Homeland Security in 3 days (this is where the cool road trip comes in). Note: you'll need some kind of insurance from your home province, and may need permits for the states/provinces you're driving through. This part can get tricky, it helps to have a plate on the car during the drive to keep a low profile, the CA plate went with the car but other states may differ.
7. Have Homeland Security 'export' the car, then meet with the Canada Border Services, pay GST & and a/c tax and fill out a Form 1.
8. Get a copy of the Form 1 to RIV, then get a Form 2 from them (federal inspection checklist).
9. Have the car inspected by a designated facility (RIV checklist) for the federal inspection, and have the provincial done at the same time. They should fax the federal form to RIV, and they'll approve the import and send you an additional door sticker.
10. Take your paperwork to a provincial insurance agent, pay the PST, register the car and get plates/insurance.

I did a variation on the theme, as I paid the PST in SK and got a plate and 1 month of insurance so I could drive the car to BC, then had the inspection done there.

Sounds harder than it is, but I'm a details oriented kind of guy...

If you're bringing in a car older than 15 years, I believe there is a somewhat streamlined process - like, no recall clearance letter - but don't quote me on that!

Cheers!

Title: Re: Importing 1986 Honda
Post by Fastist12 on Feb 3rd, 2015 at 10:33am
Sent you a PM Paul with the info you need   

Title: Re: Importing 1986 Honda
Post by bunracer on Feb 3rd, 2015 at 11:57am
Thanks Curt, sent one back at ya.

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