The logistics of buying a car from Canada?

Otter74 · 06-02-2017, 10:03 AM

I am considering buying a car that is located in Vancouver. The car is an original Vancouver car that has never been in the US, but is a type also sold here. The car is legal to import to the US (it's over 25 years old, etc.) so I'm not too concerned about that aspect. What I am trying to learn about is the practical aspect. My plan would be to fly out and drive the car home.

Option 1 is to fly to Vancouver and do the transaction there. This seems easier from the ownership-transfer standpoint, but flying to Vancouver will cost me a lot more than flying to Seattle, and I am still waiting for my replacement passport (my old one was about to expire.) Doing it this way, I believe I need temporary insurance from ICBC to drive it until I leave Canada, not sure about plates (do they stay with the car or does the owner keep them, etc.) When I get to the border I have the title and bill of sale and I have sent this info to the border crossing at least 3 days in advance, etc. and I pay duty and am free to go.

Option 2 is to do the transaction in Washington state. As much as I would like to visit Vancouver, this is the more likely option for me. The owner is willing to drive across the border. I sent an email to ICBC (I think that is what it is called) with questions and they wrote me back suggesting their Insurance Customer Services dept. would be best equipped to help me, so I'll call them today when I have some time. What are the practical implications of this option, both for me and the seller?

I will learn more from the BC govt when I call them, but I figure there are plenty of people here who have some useful knowledge on this so I thought I'd ask.

Deschodt · 06-02-2017, 11:25 AM

Last time I did this was for a 356 15yrs ago... Went like this - flew to Vancouver island, declared I was carrying $$$ over 10K and why (at the time 356s were not expensive). Bought the car, did papers, got one day insurance at the same place / temp plate (was it at a bank?I can't recall, seller will know).

Drove to the US border, stopped to declare the car, filled a few forms, done. I could have had all sorts of contraband in there, nobody checked because the car was so cool ;-) Put the car on a transport in Seattle. Was a very cool trip, best part was driving a 356A in pitch black darkness on the freeway betwen vancouver and seattle, and "testing' the highbeams at 70 mph, which shut down the lights entirely.... underwear moment, i could not even see my hood, lights came back after taking high beams off...

Not sure which is best - don't know how you'd proceed if the seller drives the car to the US, I liked that the border folks took care of it on the spot - and it was pretty late too. I'm sure it works fine both ways...

Otter74 · 06-02-2017, 11:54 AM

Thanks. Doing it in BC seems pretty straightforward - the plates belong to the seller and as long as the car is on them he is technically liable for it, but when a sale is done there he keeps the plates and turns them in, the province gives me temporary insurance and plates and off I go.

I spoke to someone with ICBC and the province doesn't care whether a car is sold in BC or in the US. If he sells it to me in WA I will have to mail him the plates back eventually as he cannot un-insure the car in BC until he returns them or puts them on another car. I would of course have my own insurance and could claim against that if needed on the journey home, though he would be *technically* liable.

He could mail me the title after I pay him, which would allow me to get an IL title and plates and show up in WA and put my own plates on the car, but when he crossed the border he would be driving a car he technically didn't own any more and could possibly be questioned. That's about all I've learned so far.

Tom '74 911 · 06-02-2017, 04:44 PM

Do your research and be SURE you have all the required paperwork for the border crossing with "I's" dotted and "T's" crossed.

I did this with a car that was originally a US car, bought by a Canadian, transported to Canada by him & then bought by me in the US a few years later. He never registered it in Canada (it was an unfinished project car & never ran under his ownership).

I did A LOT of research beforehand & had all the appropriate paperwork and it was a total PITA to get it back across the border. I think a lot of that experience depends on which border agent you get - the jerk, or the nice one... I would not go through that again unless it was an exceptional situation. I'd consider having the seller drive it across the border & meeting him on the US side... Just be SURE you'll be able to register it in the US.

YMMV!

Tom

dedbird · dedbird's Garage

I did this last year, also in Vancouver, and it was pretty straightforward. Flew up on miles, won $500 at the casino in the hotel where I stayed, and drove it home the next day. It helped quite a bit that the dealer from whom I was buying the car sold a lot of cars into the US. Might be worth a call to a Vancouver dealership to ask about process. With the exchange rate they sell quite a few cars to Americans.

Showed up and car was better than described. I had to pay for three days of Canadian insurance. I seem to recall that they needed a title check at the border. Border crossing was easy. They went through the car with a fine tooth comb. I was glad that previous owner didn't have surprises left in there. I too looked at picking up in Seattle but determined it was much easier to do it in person. I had to pay duty based on purchase price which was not exorbitant, maybe $400 on a $20k car. I also seem to recall that by doing this in person I had everything I needed to title the car without issue in Colorado.

I'll see if I can find my paperwork and let you know what I had to get across without issue.

1990C4S · 06-02-2017, 05:42 PM

Unless it's a super deal or a very rare car I can't see why you would bother.

If you do the deal in the US be careful that you follow all the importation rules. Going from the US to Canada you can't skip the border and do the deal in Canada, the border is where the paperwork starts and taxes get collected. Maybe going south your way will be legal.

I think you need to check with the border agency, not BC, the province doesn't care about a car leaving the province.

dedbird · dedbird's Garage

1-202-325-8000 U.S. customs. I seem to recall they were helpful. I did need documentation from Land Rover North America that the car met US safety guidelines at the time of manufacture. They were also helpful with that but you may not need it if over 25 years old.

GWN7 · 06-02-2017, 07:17 PM

As mentioned call US Customs and ask them what you need to do. They just changed the export rules and the import rules might have changed also. You now need a broker to export a car from the US (about $200).

Here is some reading: https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/importing-car

Scott R · Scott R's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by dedbird

1-202-325-8000 U.S. customs. I seem to recall they were helpful. I did need documentation from Land Rover North America that the car met US safety guidelines at the time of manufacture. They were also helpful with that but you may not need it if over 25 years old.

Was this for a Defender if you don't mind me asking?

Won · 06-03-2017, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otter74

Thanks. Doing it in BC seems pretty straightforward - the plates belong to the seller and as long as the car is on them he is technically liable for it, but when a sale is done there he keeps the plates and turns them in, the province gives me temporary insurance and plates and off I go.

I spoke to someone with ICBC and the province doesn't care whether a car is sold in BC or in the US. If he sells it to me in WA I will have to mail him the plates back eventually as he cannot un-insure the car in BC until he returns them or puts them on another car. I would of course have my own insurance and could claim against that if needed on the journey home, though he would be *technically* liable.

He could mail me the title after I pay him, which would allow me to get an IL title and plates and show up in WA and put my own plates on the car, but when he crossed the border he would be driving a car he technically didn't own any more and could possibly be questioned. That's about all I've learned so far.

For both parties' sanity, please check the regulations carefully about taking a Canadian car into the US for the purpose of selling. I just remember a bad episode with one of the local Pelicans a few years back. Here's his post:

"Trust me when I say that a private party foreign national CANNOT import a vehicle into the US for sale.

I have received a 5-figure fine/penalty (the exact amount that I sold the car for) from the US Border Agency for trying to do just that, after doing my due diligence and investigation, and got "caught" declaring the cash from the sale while leaving the US.

We spent 3 hours in detention while writing statements and doing paperwork for "doing it wrong". When I asked them how I should have done it, they said that a private party foreign national cannot do it. Period, end of subject. Not sure how accurate that is, but he was wearing a gun, and I have the follow-up paperwork/invoice to prove how serious he was.

Either have the US citizen fly up here, pay for it, and then import it to the US for sale themselves, or spend the $400 and have a commercial broker do it.

The end result was that I basically gave away my car.

So yeah, the process is not at all the same as bringing a car INTO Canada."

Seahawk · 06-03-2017, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dedbird

1-202-325-8000 U.S. customs. I seem to recall they were helpful.

I am bringing an amphibious ATV (and a lot of parts) back from Nova Scotia in a few weeks. I am also buying the trailer from the guy I am going to haul everything back in.

I called Customs at the point of entry I will be re-entering the USA, Calais, Maine and they were extremely helpful. Minimal hassle - BOS, registrations and that is it.

dedbird · dedbird's Garage

Scott R,

No, it was an 09 lr3 HSE Lux with 60k on the clock, winch, and immaculate. They did have a defender that showed up after I made the deal.

OP, still looking for my paperwork and sorry for the brief hijack.

Otter74 · 06-21-2017, 08:24 AM

Update: I'm getting the car this weekend. I got my passport back in time and am just taking the train up from Seattle and driving the car back myself, to do it the easy way. Will take the ferry from Vancouver to Nanaimo, drive to Victoria, then take the car ferry to Port Townsend.

Otter74 · 01:58 AM

Did this on Sunday and it was easy-peasy. It was strongly recommended to me to avoid the Blaine crossing because the border traffic sucked and so did the drive from there to Seattle. Instead I took the ferry from Horsehoe Bay to Nanaimo and drove to Victoria, then took the 6AM ferry to Port Angeles and drove down the Olympic peninsula with a stop in the park. I told them I was importing the car, they told me to drive through and park in front of the trailer and take care of it in there. Gave them the bill of sale and BC registration, filled out the CBP form, paid $150 duty and was out in about 20 minutes. The plates stayed with the car (it has the only kind of plates the province issues that they don't take back when a car gets sold) so I can drive it home on them. Went by a branch of the provincial auto-everything agency (I forget what they're called) thinking I needed at least a binder of insurance to get to the border but the women there said no, that's only for residents and were generally a bit confused because they had never dealt with this situation before but were very good natured about everything. I got a temporary permit to drive the car for normal use (not allowed in antique plates) for like $30 just in case to cover myself and the seller. That visit was the hardest part of the whole process and took longer than importing the car did!