I am in the process of purchasing a 68 GMC 1500 from a private seller in the US. He will deliver to the border at Manitoba.
I am looking for any advice from others who have similar experience. How did you write the bill of sale to protect yourself, getting paper work to the border, etc.
You must get an ITN number from a US broker. You need all the sellers info , vin # and price you are paying. You need to send copy of clear title to the US side of border 72 hours ahead of entry. Bring advertisements of where you seen it for sale. Bring copies of payment cheques. Have him bring bill of sale and original title. Show this at US export office to clear truck to leave the US. Broker will send ITN # to the export office for you. US export office will stamp your papers. Head to Canada side and file import papers. Pay some taxes. Go see Carl for show and tell over coffee
-- Edited by 70 SS ACADIAN on Tuesday 7th of January 2020 09:37:47 AM
You must get an ITN number from a US broker. You need all the sellers info , vin # and price you are paying. You need to send copy of clear title to the US side of border 72 hours ahead of entry. Bring advertisements of where you seen it for sale. Bring copies of payment cheques. Have him bring bill of sale and original title. Show this at US export office to clear truck to leave the US. Broker will send ITN # to the export office for you. US export office will stamp your papers. Head to Canada side and file import papers. Pay some taxes. Go see Carl for show and tell over coffee
-- Edited by 70 SS ACADIAN on Tuesday 7th of January 2020 06:48:24 AM
Hire a broker to do this and have them charge all the taxes and what not in advance. They will know what to do and have everything ready so you can meet him at the border and bring it through fairly problem free.
You must get an ITN number from a US broker. You need all the sellers info , vin # and price you are paying. You need to send copy of clear title to the US side of border 72 hours ahead of entry. Bring advertisements of where you seen it for sale. Bring copies of payment cheques. Have him bring bill of sale and original title. Show this at US export office to clear truck to leave the US. Broker will send ITN # to the export office for you. US export office will stamp your papers. Head to Canada side and file import papers. Pay some taxes. Go see Carl for show and tell over coffee
-- Edited by 70 SS ACADIAN on Tuesday 7th of January 2020 09:37:47 AM
Holy guacamole that sounds like a ton of work. No trucks for sale in your more local area. Good luck with the transaction.
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1957 Pontiac Pathfinder Deluxe sedan restored 261 six
1974 Chevrolet Caprice Estate wagon low mileage original 400 V-8
Thanks everybody. I appreciate your input and will definitely find a broker. I am going to call another member who recently imported a car into MB and get the name of the broker he used.
Great advice
Thanks
Imported a 78 back in October that I bought from a private vendor at the flea market at Hershey. When I got the temporary PA plate so I could drive it I also got a notarized bill of sale ( $US95 total )
The 72 hour wait on the US side and getting their clearance was the biggest headache. I used a professional for this part ( I paid $US150, and now understand I chose one of the more expensive ones, but they were good ) You also have to tell them if you'll be driving or traillering the purchase.
The Canadian side, since its more than 15 years old is straight forwarded and easily done by yourself.
If you need names/numbers etc PM me and I walk you thru it
I used a broker, Border Buddy .com. You can get a quotation of the cost to import the vehicle online from Border Buddy.
You do need a ITN and I think BB charged $125 Cdn for that part of the paperwork and then BB did all the other paper work. My total cost was $428, but you also pay some GST in that $428 (but no pst on the purchase of the vehicle, you pay that at the time of registration). When they give you a quote, they will include the PST but you will not have to pay that amount at this time, so the quote may look larger than it is actually is. I have used BB on two occasions now and had success both times. You can get an ITN from Mikes Parcel Pickup in Pembina for $75 US, but you still have all the other documentation to do so I figured for a few extra few dollars, I am just getting the broker to do everything. I had the vehicle dropped at Mikes Parcel Pickup in Pembina and I think they charged me $25 / week for storage.
The ITN needs to be at the border I think 72 hours prior to crossing so that is very important to have the info there prior to crossing or you are SOL. So, is what I did, I gave BB the job to do the paper work, provided them with a copy of the original title assigned to me, passport photocopy and they did the rest. They generated the paperwork and emailed me a copy of everything and when it was time to go pick up my sunbaked 78 Silverado in Pembina, I picked up a friend in Morris and dragged him along with me so he could drive my truck home. I drove the 78, which is on its last driving legs.
You need to take your original title along with you as well as your bill of sale to the border when you are going to import it. Make sure your bill of sale includes both purchaser and sellers name, address, phone number, vin # of the vehicle, dollar amount paid for the vehicle, date of sale, paid in full, signatures, etc. Also, if the title is in two names, get both names of the seller on the bill of sale document as MPI is very strict on that. If the title has two names, and there is only one name on the bill of sale, MPI will reject it and will not generate a new ownership document, thus, you have to go back to the seller for a new bill of sale.
Go through the border, pick up your new toy, and head north and stop at the US side and go inside the building. Take your title, bill of sale, passport and documentation and the US will side will stamp the title that the vehicle is exported from the US. Then, head over to the Cdn side and re-enter Canada. Technically, if you are using a broker, you should go through the commercial side which may or may not include a kilometer of semi trucks lined up. If you are importing the vehicle without a broker, you can go through the regular crossing lines which could be shorter. I actually went through the regular crossing and they let me go through but I had to park and walk over to the commercial building on the east side. They do their thing in there, all my fees were paid up front through the broker and I was cleared to go!
I pay a broker in Chicago $35 to file the ITN paper work and send to the port of entre. The rest I do myself
This is good if you know what you are doing but if you miss something it can mean delays. I just brought up my 64 Chevy last spring and Was so happy I had hired a broker as I fired the first transport company as they were dishonest with their equipment and had to he hire and my broker was able to quickly change what was needed to save delays at the border.
Sounds like were all telling the same story even though we've used slightly different avenues to get there.
One interesting point is about the names on the American title ( ownership paper ). The title of the car I bought had 2 names ( the guy I dealt with and his girlfriend ) but contained the word "or" between them. He signed off on the title and notarized bill of sale and I never thought anything about it until you posted here. I was never questioned about this on either side of the border.
Years ago I bought a car off a guy in Winnipeg, about $10,000. He and his girlfriend (who I didn't meet) weren't married but the car was in both their names.
Made the cheque out to Mike _______ and Mary _______. He wanted it only his name but my credit union said the ownership has both names, make the cheque in both names. Took possession of the car about a week before we went on vacation for a week (not with that car).
I get home and find the cheque hasn't been cashed, frantic messages on my answering machine from Mike. He wants me to bring the car back and he will give my cheque back. Not a chance, it was a beautiful car, low miles, exactly what I'd been looking for. He tried to deposit the cheque in his account, bank won't do it because it's not a joint account. Turns out they were split up. She's mad and won't endorse the cheque because she says he sold the car too cheap. I felt bad for him but I'd already paid the taxes etc and was happy with the car. I guess finally they met at the lawyer's office and worked something out, so he told me on a phone call later.
Good lesson for me, if it's in two names, it MEANS two owners, no questions asked! I was glad it worked out for all involved eventually but it was sure a hassle.
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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
I did a lot of research/homework. Phoned both border crossings (St. Stephen, NB & Calais, Maine) to get their take on things. They were both very accommodating and helpful on the phone. Also, spoke several times to the owner of the car in Freeport, Maine prior to the transaction. It helped that he was also very knowledgeable in exporting cars.
I had all the necessary paperwork faxed to the border days ahead of our arrival.
I hired a PEI "trailer guy" that did monthly car and camping trailer imports and I rode shotgun.
The car owner drove it up to the border, stayed on the U.S. side, we crossed and met him there in a parking lot and transferred the car to our trailer.
It was all very smooth and pretty easy with all the research and homework done upfront and having advice from people with experience. Dot your Is and cross your Ts!
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Prince Edward Island
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
Sounds like were all telling the same story even though we've used slightly different avenues to get there.
One interesting point is about the names on the American title ( ownership paper ). The title of the car I bought had 2 names ( the guy I dealt with and his girlfriend ) but contained the word "or" between them. He signed off on the title and notarized bill of sale and I never thought anything about it until you posted here. I was never questioned about this on either side of the border.
You are bang on with the "OR". Mine actually said (owners fake name) Bob OR Susie. After MPI check it all out and after three visits to MPI, they issued an Ownership document.
But, had the title said "Bob and Susie" I would have had to get a new BOS that included both Bob's and Susie's name on the BOS, which would have been my third bill of sale as my first BOS did not have the owners full address.
Big PIA, but something to be aware of when purchasing and receiving a title and BOS with regards to ownership. MPI is just doing their job.
Hey folks. A follow-up to this thread. Firstly i want to thank everyone for their valuable and helpful input. Everything went quite smoothly other than the truck arrived at the border in Pembina ND on one of the coldest nights of the winter with a regular temp at -30C overnight. After a bit of a scare with the truck not willing to start by the owners at parcel delivery service, on arrival we quickly learned that the choke cable was busted and with some manual pressure, it fired up within seconds and after warming the engine (no heat inside but used a tent heater), drove it the roughly 60 miles to Winnipeg. As for the process, easy as pie once done as described above. I did hire a broker to do all of the paperwork which went very smoothly but the very friendly and chatty Officer on the Canadian side did say he thought it was easy for any individual to do the Canadian paperwork themselves. He was probably right. The difference in the friendliness and attempts at intimidation on the different sides of the border was actually laughable but that's a different subject.
Would import anytime based on managing all of the discussions shared in this thread. thanks again Kim
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
