Hello guys, Do any of you have any personal experience importing a car from the US ? I have heard of the 72 hour rule. I am concerned as to what exactly has to be done with the "title" as far as the current owner and previous owners. The original title owner has signed off on it years ago, and a bill of sale from the current owner... is that enough ? This title stuff is a little confusing to me. It is a '70 Lemans if age has any bearing and it is coming through Buffalo to Ontario. Thanks !
I may be corrected on this, but I think it's best if the seller has a title in his name. If I understand your question correctly, the seller has a bill of sale and a title in the name of the former owner. This could make it tougher. When I bought my 67 Nova in Nebraska, the seller was a friend of mine and he had the same thing as you are talking about. I asked him to get a title in his name, which he did. I think it was only about $15. That way, the bill of sale and title are all the same guy.
Yes, get the title faxed at least 72 hours ahead to the crossing you are using. After it has been faxed, call to confirm that they have the title copy there, get the agent's name who confirms it and write the date, time and agent's down just to be safe. Make sure you have all your paperwork in order, and arrive at the border very organized. It will flow much smoother.
Don't forget you have to stop at the US side on your way back with the car!
DON'T try anything funny with the bill of sale as far as price. Pay your taxes and duties that are due. Without elaborating, they know every trick in the book and if you cheat, you will likely get caught and pay a lot more than if you are honest about it. It's just not worth it.
The nice thing is, because it's more than 15 years old, you don't have to do the pain in the butt RIV program to import the car. That saves you time, money and grief!
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
As stated before make sure the Title and bill of sale are in the same name. You can go to the US customs website and download the form you need. Then fax that completed form,title and bill of sale. You will get an email from customs that is OK to export. Stop at US customs and show the original bill of sale and title and your on your way. Canada is GST only and $100 if the car has A/C. There should be acouple of storage places on the US that charge a few dollars a day to keep the car till it clears. I bought my GTO in Ohio last year and it was painless across the border.
I guess you should also be aware that if they don't like/believe your declared purchase price, they will just appraise the car and charge you accordingly.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
A couple of weeks ago at a coffee shop one of the guys related a story of someone he knew trying to cheat on his purchase price by $10,000 on a vehicle. He ended up a lot poorer for his efforts.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
We are only talking 5% GST on a $4000 car, I agree not worth the gamble for $200 tax and I wouldn't do it ! It is the title thing that has me stumped. The way I understand it I would have to have a paper trail from owner 1 to 2, 2 to3, 3-4 etc. which can't be. There must be some leway there. I am going to call Lewiston US Customs Monday for the straight scoop. I also see online there are a few brokers in Toronto who advertize $250 and up to broker a car. Might be worth the money and just pick it up in Toronto...........
The posted info is correct... I faxed my title to U.S. customs, and kept my transaction receipt.. I took title, to U.S.customs and had it "stamped".. Waited 15 min in line, and 2-3 min while they looked it up, and stamped it. Went over bridge, and was directed to Canadian customs area. A lady customs officer verifed the year of build. (inside drivers door 1971) We went in, and a officer filled out the FORM 1.. The title was, in the name of the previous owner, and signed off by seller, to me.. The receipt, was made out to me, on a State of Oregon form, and I paid 5%, and found out that the "Form 1" was free (reg $195.00+gst) on cars, over 15 years old. They NEVER looked at car, or inside it, and did not look at Andrew's truck or trailer... (They also told me ,they dont look for U.S. stamp on old cars, just newer stuff, that has to have FORM 1 sent in to Toronto) If you dont have anything to hide, and don't lie, its a piece of cake! I was so nervous, I thought I was going to throw up lol
We are only talking 5% GST on a $4000 car, I agree not worth the gamble for $200 tax and I wouldn't do it ! It is the title thing that has me stumped. The way I understand it I would have to have a paper trail from owner 1 to 2, 2 to3, 3-4 etc. which can't be. There must be some leway there. I am going to call Lewiston US Customs Monday for the straight scoop. I also see online there are a few brokers in Toronto who advertize $250 and up to broker a car. Might be worth the money and just pick it up in Toronto...........
The back of the American titles, has the name of the last owner, and then a series of lines to be filled out by the owner, to sign off on..If I had your e-mail I would show you the back of my TITLE
He is a straight up guy, owns 4 R/A 4 cars, Judges, SD's I nearly wet myself. He tells me it takes 8 weeks to get a transferable title, once he has paid tax on the purchase and has it insured.
You are right If the seller has the Title, then, it should not be a problem to do.. When I bought my truck off dealer in Houston Tx, we had to wait 30 days to get title... In all 3 vehicles, I bought, the ownership was just signed off, as we do in Ontario...
So ,in the most simplest terms, if the seller is the most recent person to sign off and he provides me with a reciept all is well. Regardless of who is the original name on the title. I never thought I would say things are alot easier in Ontario with our ownerships !
I brought a 1996 half ton into Canada in June of 2007 which I purchased from a dealer on ebay located in Rochester, New York. I researched the daylights out of this and did everything I possibly could to comply with both sides of the border. Yes, I did fax the title to the US side at Lewiston, which is where I was told by the US authorities at Buffalo would be the only place I could bring the vehicle over at. I had the title in hand, a copy of the recall notices by the manufacturer, which is required, the bill of sale and I reached the Homeland Security Office at 4:45pm, and they were closed. I was going to leave the vehicle at a friends place in Buffalo when I met another individual from Missassauga with the same problem. He suggested I wait a few minutes while he made some calls. He eventually reached the Canadian side who advised that the 72 hr. notice was an American regulation and if we brought them over they would process same. We drove over together, absolutely no lies or misrepresentations by us as to what we paid, provided all documentation we had and were in and out in no more than 10 minutes. This might be different if you are trailering a car although I doubt it. I brought a 64 Ranchero over quite a few years ago exactly the same way although there were not the same regulations back then. Anyway, I contacted the broker in Toronto that you MUST go through, had it checked by Canadian Tire, which you also must go through, although this is a freebee, and attended at the license bureau and registered same. Note that if you are bringing in a vehicle not produced in the USA or Canada the requirements can be cost prohibitive, ie, BMW, Mercedes, Porche, etc. Hope this helps you somewhat.
This is correct! only difference is that the older cars, do not need recall notice lol and dont need to go to CTC. I took my title, to licence office, with GST paid receipt, and got it changed over .. When I get it appraised for insurance, and safety done, I can add licence plates.. Until I do, I use a dealer tag.
Well you guys have all covered the Canadian side with some good advice. Let me try to tackle the U.S. side of the story. First of all I had a dealers license for quite awhile and have purchased vehicles in at least 15-20 different states in the U.S. I have also purchased 4 cars in Canada and imported into the U.S. On top of that I transport antique and classics for individuals in the U.S. and Canada and cross the border with cars belonging to other people quite often. I was held up one time hauling a 67 vette into Canada because the Canadian buyer thought about claiming he paid 30k for the car when he actually paid 50k. Canadian customs called the seller in the U.S. held the two of us for a couple hours and separated us in order to see if we would both tell the same story. When they discovered I was not involved in the purchase or sale, they questioned my experience and asked my opinion on the value of the vette. Buyer claimed it was all a misunderstanding, produced paperwork for the 50k, paid all the taxes and we were on our way.
In terms of your seller in the U.S., he did not transfer the title into his name, in order to avoid paying sales tax on the purchase. If the title is from the state in which he lives, he needs to go to the state office and it will cost him about $15-20 transfer fee plus in some states a penalty for not transfering the title when he bought the car. In addition, he will need to pay sales tax of 6-8% again depending on the state he lives in. The reason he is feeding you a line of crap on the paperwork is to avoid these expenses.
MAKE NO MISTAKE, IN ORDER TO MOVE THIS CAR ANYPLACE, YOU NEED A U.S. TITLE IN HIS NAME SIGNED OVER TO YOU. YOU ALSO NEED A BILL OF SALE FROM HIM WITH THE VIN AND SELLING PRICE. No broker can make this import happen with the paperwork you have described.
My guess is, your seller has a title signed off by the person he purchased the car from and it probably is from a U.S. state other than the one he lives in. That's more than likely why he is claiming an extended wait for a title in his name. Here in the states, we call that a foreign title or out of state title. Every state (all 50 of them) has their own set of rules on how to handle transferring a title from a seller in one state to a buyer in another state. The most common procedure is for the buyer to get a police agency to inspect the vehicle and complete an inspection form. The main purpose here is for the police officer to verify the vin# on the car matches the # on the title and run a check to verify it is not a stolden vehicle. If my guess is true, your seller does not want to go through this procedure and then he still has all the taxes and fee's to pay.
BAJAGOLD70 -- you should not take delivery of the vehicle until the seller has a U.S. title, in his name and signed off by him indicating transfer of ownership to you. That along with a bill of sale is all you need and you do not need the services of a broker, you can do it yourself. Any questions, contact me.
Well boys it is done ! And now I know how it is done. It is not as bad as I thought. Faxed the vin 72 hrs ahead, kept my fax confimation ( you have to program your fax machine to do this !) Called and left a vin enquiry on the answering machine. Got a call back clear to "present" vehicle. I asked if that meant all is well, he said no, you are clear to present. SO... I now had permission to take a 400 km round trip and cross my fingers. Not even 5 minutes in the US office. Stamped. Asked for no reciept , ID or anything. I asked about 3rd party sales and he replied they don't care who's name is on the title just that you have it. Canadian side just like 427carl said. Examined it and pd GST and out. I am not saying it is always going to be that easy but it all seemed to fall in place for me. I swear I lost 5 lbs and a lot of sleep worrying about this. The biggest thing was getting turned back... then what ?? I don't want to even think about that ! Do your research, have your paperwork in order and tell the truth ! PS. I might ad this is how it was handled at the Lewiston NY/Queenston bridge. Could be different rules at different crossings in different states. FWIW
Very good. I was really nervous bringing my first car back too. I'm glad the experience was "painless" for you too but like you said and Carl agreed. Tell the truth and have everything in order. The next 6 or 7 get easier. Well done
This is what i do for i living,Lewiston border is only open mon-fri,8-5 and don,t show up at 10 mins to 5 or they get cranky. Us customs only wants to see orginal title that was faxed 72 hours prior.Recemened broker is pennisula they do the majority of the cars that cross.
lol
