Depends on the manufacturer.

Most will honour the warranty.

Currently Honda/Acura will not, and anything Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge they will not.

ive been told that if your a dual citizen you do not have to pay a bunch of the taxes..
truth or just rumours?

Not true.

The X5 cost over 90K before tax here at BMW Dealer. But in the US, it's only cost 70K. So can i purchase a brand new car in US BWW dealer and export it to Canada?

lowside, thanks for all the info...this helps much more than the RIV site. Anyways, one question. Lets say I meet a guy in the US to buy the car, bring the car to a shipper, and have them ship it and I pick it back up in WA...do I need to 'register' or do anything at his local state DMV? or can I just get him to drive the car to the shipping yard before he takes his plates off and sign over the car? ie can I just bring the car straight to the shipper and sign over the car in the lot. (that way I don't need insurance or whatever to drive it to the yard)

I've got similar question, what if the guy who selling the car still owes money to the bank,and the bank has the title on that car and will release it one month after he'll pay it off with the money he'll get for the car. Can he drive it over the border and sell it to me here(thru notary or some thing like that)
Thank you!

No, they just sign the title over to you on the back of it.

No. The safest way of doing it is rather than paying the seller, directly pay the bank who holds the title. But there are no guarantees when there is no physical title in front of you. The seller cant do anything in Canada.

Hey Lowside,

The vehicle I'm buying...the finance company holds the title...and they said after they get the money they will release the title, but the title is a electronic copy since the car was financed from them when new, so they will send it to the DMV and DMV will print me a new title and mail it directly to me...(this info was all from nissan finance USA). Does that sound right? does that mean I can't cross the border with the car for like 3 weeks?

edit: Just asked RIV, they said I can either have a title, or a MCO (Manufacturers Certificate of Origin), but I've never heard of that...hmm...where to get this?

re: Exise Tax based on fuel consumption


Does anyone know if there are any exemptions? ie. classic, over 15 years, etc...?

Thanks

This only applies to models with model year 2007 or newer.

Tax based on fuel consumption
 

soo its only to 2007 and newer models?? like a 2002 is ok I dont have to pay this new tax???

Exactly.

Thanks a lot fr answering! Another one for you: How to check a car in states for linens and accident history? And what should I do if I want to trade my car in or sell it over there ?
Serguei.

Please read the entire thread before asking questions.

There is no central database to check about accidents. Carfax is a good start, a good bodyshop is a better guide.

The short answer about trading your car is you cant - you'd have to import your car into the US which with the current US dollar is pretty much silly.

Thanks again for the info. Process went exactly as you posted and was a lot easier than it seemed when initially read.

I might be buying a motorcycle down there (strictly for parts). Do I need to go through the process even if I don't plan on reg'ing it?

Thanks

If you're going to do it for parts, you can bring it in as parts. The process will be a little different than normal, I'm not 100% sure what the differences are. You wont be doing a form 1 or any of that stuff.

Is there a place near the border where one can leave a car for the 3-4 day wait between purchasing the car and crossing the border? I'm looking at a car south of Seattle and don't want to drive all the way there twice....

There are a few places such as the gas station just across the truck border that will let you leave it with them for a couple bucks a day.

There's a storage place 10 minutes from the border that charges $6/day

Part 1, Step 4 can be completed via email as well.
cbp.blaine-export@dhs.gov

emailed them requesting the forms.
i scanned & emailed back the required documents, received a response within hrs notifying me that the papers have been received & when i may cross the border with my vehicle.
i called the number provided, but they didnt respond to the vmsg's i left.

on another note, anyone purchase a honda and try to request a recall clearance letter? i dont know if it was just the snooty b!tch that i got, but she was trying to make a statement to me about needing to have a US drivers license, US registration, US insurance, (imagine her saying U. S. really loudly & slowly)
citing that Honda US & Canada have an agreement not to compete with each other.

fuck them, i purchased this vehicle legitimately, and i want a letter stating that theres nothing that requires a recall. can they deny me my letter?

it should also be noted that getting binder insurance while you are in the U.S. is a PIA, or cannot be done.

in order to get binder insurance you must have the VIN# of the car you are buying.... but what are you supposed to do, if you do not know the VIN# of the exact car? what if you are driving or flying down to the U.S. somewhere and will be looking at a few different cars, and deciding while you are down there which car you want to buy?

i tried phoning from seattle, with the VIN# of the car i bought, to ICBC to get binder insurance over the phone, or through faxing documents... IT DID NOT HAPPEN. you have to be present in an Autoplan agent to get the binder insurance...

so i kept asking my self 'how can they expect you to be two places at once?'

or is this just another way to make it a P.I.A. to import a car?

luckily, the car i bought was only in Seattle. So the guy i bought it from was kind enough to let me keep it at his house, after i had bought it so i could drive back up to BC and get binder insurance and come down a few days later to drive the car to the Border to have it parked for 3 days.

Anyone have any contact info for any of these storage places?

The RIV website says:

All vehicles (except buses) that are over 15 years or older by the date of manufacture are exempt from the Registrar of Imported Vehicles program. You must be able to prove the age of the vehicle to a Customs officer.

What specifically does this mean? Which steps in the first post of this thread can be considered skipped assuming that the car is 15 years or older?

All the US side is the same, everything regarding the title, bill of sale, etc is the same. The difference is you are not required to pay the $209 to the RIV, not required to do a federal inspection (ie you dont need DRL).

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