Importing a Porsche from the US into Canada - Page 10

andyt11 · 02:29 PM

thanks for the quick response -

so let me just get this straight - for a car that is over 15 and therefore exempt from the RIV program.....

1 - get title and bill of sale to us customs 72hr ahead.

2 - present the car and papers at US customs, get papers stamped, and go to canadian customs.

3 - At canadian customs, no recall clearance letter is required or riv fee. Just duty and taxes.

4 - Get provincial safety. That is the same safety every car has to get prior to registration right?
And then good to go.

It is still just one tax to pay if it was a private sale?

GWN7 · 03:16 PM

1 - yes Faxed to the border crossing your bringing the car across at

2 - yes

3 - yes 6.1% duty and GST

4 - yes

Can't remember about the PST if I payed it on the last car I brought home. I picked it up in Portland and crossed in BC so I could do the CDN Rockies .......drove up the Okanagan to #1.....the ride thru Kicking Horse pass at "slightly" above the speed limt was well worth the trip.

The temp reg & insurance from MPIC is about $7 a day.....your local agent will be able to tell you about the PST & the cost of the temp ins/reg

Quote:

Originally Posted by andyt11

thanks for the quick response -

so let me just get this straight - for a car that is over 15 and therefore exempt from the RIV program.....

1 - get title and bill of sale to us customs 72hr ahead.

2 - present the car and papers at US customs, get papers stamped, and go to canadian customs.

3 - At canadian customs, no recall clearance letter is required or riv fee. Just duty and taxes.

4 - Get provincial safety. That is the same safety every car has to get prior to registration right?
And then good to go.

It is still just one tax to pay if it was a private sale?

andyt11 · 05-08-2009, 11:41 AM

Thanks a bundle. Sure nice to avoid the RIV hassle. I brought two atv's in last year and whilst its not that much trouble, you do have to make sure you do everything right, at the right time on the right piece of paper..... etc

Thanks for the info.

Andy

Trev928 · 05-14-2009, 10:07 PM

in BC you pay PST private sale or not.

So on a US import you pay all 3,PST GST and Duty

wannaownone · 05-28-2009, 06:39 PM

I'm just looking at a few options to import - this is great info, thanks!

Tomas95 · 06-07-2009, 08:32 AM

With the Canadian dollar what it is of late, the search for the right 911 can begin again south of the border.

Thanks to everyone who posted - it is invaluable. I will be sure to update the search, purchase, and the drive home!

Cheers,
Thom.

Jstrosek · 08-06-2009, 12:43 PM

Hello Guys!

I would greatly appreciate some help here:

i bought a Porsche from a California dealer. I need to get it transported to Montreal, Canada. Had 3 quotes from transporters and it runs between 2500-3000$CAD + broker and flight to come back, so it's pretty expensive.

Problem is if i buy the car and hit the CA roads with a temporary registration, i will need to pay 8.25% Cali taxes..

The car will be registred under my company's name, but it seems like i cannot get the taxes back even if it won't be used in USA at all.

Do you have any suggestion ?

Thank you

lindsaylaw · 08-14-2009, 03:17 PM

Hi. I am new to the forum but have read through this thread - which is amazing! Thanks, Christien for laying it out.
I am purchasing a 2004 Boxster S from NY. I called PCNA asking for the clearance letter for RIV and they said I had to have the vehicle inspected by a Cdn dealer - cost if $1250.00!!
This is clearly a cash grab by dealers to help compensate for fact that prices are better in the States. I am really annoyed

about this and am trying to figure out a way around this. This sounds like it is against NAFTA and an unfair trade practice. Should I threaten to sue? (I am a lawyer after all

) Any ideas?

lindsaylaw · 08-16-2009, 10:23 AM

To avoid the California tax, you could look at having the car transported out of State (Nevada?) and then driving it back from there (with temporary plates from your home province/state).

larman2001 · 08-19-2009, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lindsaylaw

Hi. I am new to the forum but have read through this thread - which is amazing! Thanks, Christien for laying it out.
I am purchasing a 2004 Boxster S from NY. I called PCNA asking for the clearance letter for RIV and they said I had to have the vehicle inspected by a Cdn dealer - cost if $1250.00!!
This is clearly a cash grab by dealers to help compensate for fact that prices are better in the States. I am really annoyed

about this and am trying to figure out a way around this. This sounds like it is against NAFTA and an unfair trade practice. Should I threaten to sue? (I am a lawyer after all

) Any ideas?

Hi,
I'm new here but have been following this forum as I'm also interested in purchasing a US C4S Cab shortly.

To the poster, is the reason they're asking you to get a Canadian inspection because it's not a Porsche Approved / Certified vehicle?

Just wondering because I'm looking at an '08' which is certified and would like to know if my situation would be different regarding the 'clearance letter'.

Hope I'm not thread jacking. That is not my intention.

Christien · Christien's Garage

lindsaylaw, NAFTA only covers items manufactured in North America. Porsches and Porsche parts do not qualify. (Though more often than not parts shipped here from the US are not billed duty.) I couldn't agree more that the CDN dealer inspection cost is a blatant cash grab. You can sue PCNA all you want, but I highly doubt you'll get anywhere. However, your legal skills may come in handy if you skip the CDN inspection and they decide to deny you warranty work.

To get the recall clearance letter to satisfy RIV, call a US dealership. Ask for the service manager, explain the situation and give him your VIN. A printout from their service computer with a business card photocopied onto it (showing the service manager's name and a Porsche logo) will suffice for the RIV inspection at Canadian Tire (at least it did for me). Not all service dept's will do this, but there are hundreds of dealerships in the US. Maybe offer them $50 or $100. I got one from the dealership in NC that did the PPI on the boxster I bought, no charge. He printed, photocopied and faxed it to me - took all of 20 minutes.

larman, no, it has nothing to do with the vehicle being CPO or Porsche approved. RIV (Registrar of Imported Vehicles) requires a letter from PCNA, Porsche Canada, or an authorized dealership/service centre stating that there are no open recalls on the vehicle. Or if there are, that they've been fulfilled. My recall printout stated there was a recall on the gas cap, so I bought one from a dealership in upstate New York and brought it with me to the RIV inspection. I didn't even open the package, just showed him the invoice which solved the recall. I think it's still in the UPS package in my garage somewhere

GWN7 · 08-19-2009, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jstrosek

Hello Guys!

I would greatly appreciate some help here:

i bought a Porsche from a California dealer. I need to get it transported to Montreal, Canada. Had 3 quotes from transporters and it runs between 2500-3000$CAD + broker and flight to come back, so it's pretty expensive.

Problem is if i buy the car and hit the CA roads with a temporary registration, i will need to pay 8.25% Cali taxes..

The car will be registred under my company's name, but it seems like i cannot get the taxes back even if it won't be used in USA at all.

Do you have any suggestion ?

Thank you

Buy your temp insurance/registration here before you pick the car up. That way it never enters the California system and you don't have to pay any tax. Then enjoy the drive home.

P.S. Get your recall letter from the dealership as part of the sales deal.

lindsaylaw · 08-19-2009, 07:45 PM

Christien - I did just that, got a fax from a US dealership showing no open campaigns and business card. I will keep my fingers crossed that it will work. I am bringing the car home tomorrow. Wish me luck!

P.S. I found out that I can't get the temp licence permit in Ontario until I have crossed the border with the car as they need the original title, bill of sale, RIV Form 1 and insurance. So I will drive across at Lewiston NY with my temp NY registration. I may go straight to the Ontario licence office or drive straight home - depending on time and traffic.

I really can't rave enough about this excellent thread as it has saved me time, money and (hopefully) headaches.

lindsaylaw · 08-20-2009, 05:25 PM

Happy to report that everything went smoothly on both US and Canadian sides - because I knew what to expect and understood the process. The Canada Customs agent told me it was 17% duty but I said, "I thought it is 6.1%". She checked and confirmed that I was right and then said it looked like I had gone through this process before.
Next jobs are temp permit, e-test and safety, DRL mod, and finally RIV inspection once I get my form. Off to bed now, though, as I was on the road at 4:30 a.m. - 800 kms roundtrip and 11 hours.

Christien · Christien's Garage

Congrats! Wish I saw your post 2 days ago - I don't think they actually require the RIV form for a trip permit. What you need is a "special" permit (they changed it all last July). Here's the MTO website:

Christien · Christien's Garage

Congrats! Wish I saw your post 2 days ago - I don't think they actually require the RIV form for a trip permit. What you need is a "special" permit (they changed it all last July). Here's the MTO website:

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/vehicle/temp.shtml

What you need for a US car is the permit form, original signed title and insurance policy info. It says nothing about the RIV form.

lindsaylaw · 08-21-2009, 01:56 PM

I took my documents to the licence office to get a 10 day/trip/temporary permit. The clerk there said I needed the RIV Form 1 stamped in the bottom corner - @ Cdn Tire. I called CT and the person said I would need by Forms 1 and 2 to have my RIV inspection. I explained that I won't have my Form 2 for 5 days. arrgh!

I then asked to speak with one of the techs. He told me to bring my Form 1 in and he would stamp it - which he did. I then took all to the MTO and obtained a temp "T" sticker and plates for the vehicle.
My safety and e-test are booked for Monday. Once I pass those, I will be able to get my regular reg'n.
While @ CT the tech showed me the actual Form 2 and said it will be a very straightforward process.

BTW - for those non-technical types like me who need specific instructions about changing the Speedo frm mph to kph, it is the clock dial button which must be turned left (not the trip reset). I found this out after messing around for longer than I wanted.

My husband is going to do the DRL hack this weekend.

I have had lots of fun driving around today - both top up and down.

I do need to get another key and the owner's manual. Any suggestions for money-saving options?

lindsaylaw · 08-24-2009, 08:12 PM

Couple of updates. The car passed the safety and emissions test today. I was sure it would but it is still a relief that it did.
I filed online with RIV on Friday. They sent me an email this a.m. asking for my clearance (no recall) document and supplied the fax number. I faxed in my dealer print out and within 2 hours had rec'd my RIV Form 2 (inspection) by email. That is fast turn around - especially for the government.

I may be willing to do this again soon! Maybe a 911?!!

Christien · Christien's Garage

Congratulations! Good to hear RIV treated you well - much better than my experience with them...

Stormer · 09-02-2009, 09:16 AM

I have a 2005 997 Carrera I just imported with little hassle so far. I have the inspection forms but I need to deal with the DRL issue. I am no where near a Porsche dealer and I would like to do a quick hack just to get through the inspection. The hacks I have seen for Boxters, Caymans and 996s don't work with the 997 fuse box. Does anyone have any info on this?

Thanks.