I'm currently looking into buying a car in the U.S. I'd love to buy local, but I'm not willing to pay $10k extra for that convenience or due to some sense of national pride.
You may find this useful... (cutnpaste from elsewhere)
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http://www.ucanimport.com/ or my friends detailed instructions.....
1. Pick your vehicle - I used ebay, but then contacted the dealer directly. I also used autotrader.com. Avoid private deals no matter how tempting!! Also, to make it worthwhile, I found that the car has to be at least $30,000 CAD. Financing makes it MUCH more complicated - if necessary, I would get a line of credit through the bank and get a car loan AFTER the car is in Canada.
2. Check to see if your vehicle can be imported - most can, but it depends on age and seatbelts. This info is on riv.ca. This website walks you through requirements.
3. Check to see if you will pay duty. Cars built in Canada, US and Mexico are duty free. Japan is 6.1% duty. Check the VIN number - if it starts with a number 1,2,3,4 it is built in N. America. If it starts with J, it is Japanese built. It was a struggle for me to find the duty rates on foreign built cars. I had to phone Customs and Border Services Agency (CBSA). If duties need to be paid, this can hurt the financial transaction of the deal. (Some cars like Honda Accords are built in US and Japan, therefore, pick a US built VIN)
4. I chose not to have the car shipped. Into Canada, it's another $1,000 USD at least and brokers fees may kill you, so I drove mine.
5. Get a recall letter from the American manufacturer. This is critical. Also do a Carfax report - this is well worth the $20.
6. Phone the DMV in the state of which you are purchasing to see 2 things - if an In-Transit permit can be obtained so it can be driven out of the state and secondly, if a car being taken out of state is subject to state sales taxes. California is a bad one - they charge 7.25% state taxes if you are going to drive out of the lot regardless of where it will be registered - I bought my car in Illinois where I didn't have to pay the sales tax. FYI - Montana, Oregon, West Virginia do not have any sales taxes, so a vehicle purchased there is real easy.
BREAK
Do all those steps before making a deal with the seller
7. Buy car. DO NOT wire money. DO NOT pay a deposit with a credit card. If a deposit is required, fedex a cashier's check AFTER the seller fedexes a buyers order or a bill of sale that clearly states the deposit.
8. Get insurance from your Canadian insurance company - make sure you're covered in the states. All I needed was a VIN number and they faxed me the temporary insurance papers.
9. Get Alberta In-Transit permit (good in all of Canada). $25 for 7 days beginning the day you bring the car over the border. You need a copy of the sales receipt for this.
10. Get the US in-transit permit - the dealer hooked me up with this one. $10 in Illinois for 7 days
11. Take a certified cheque with you - the dealer may need to verify with the bank. I faxed a copy ahead of time.
12. When you are at the dealer, you NEED the ORIGINAL certificate of title. My dealer wanted to send it directly to Alberta registry and I had to fight to get it. In the US, proof of ownership is the title. The seller will sign the back of it over to you and you sign as well.
13. You have to fax documentation to US customs 3 days in advance - they have a worksheet that is not on the internet, so I had to phone and they sent it to me. I filled it out and faxed it, and the certificate of title to US customs.
14. Now you have 3 days of sightseeing. I spent an average of $125 hotel/food. Gas was $50 per day.
15. Crossing the border - stop at US customs first - provide the original certificate of title, they check the file, check the VIN on the systems, then physically check the cars VIN to the paperwork - this has to be an exact match.
16. Canada customs - do the normal declaration of goods and tell the agent you are importing the car. Go inside with the bill of sale. They will check the "red book" on the value. I bought mine for $27,000 USD ($29,000 CAD), but the book said $35,000 CAD. They are concerned that I may have paid $5,000 "under the table" HOWEVER, I had a bill of sale from a reputable dealer, I also had the original internet add AND I kept the sales price sticker that was in the window. The Cad customs agent could not argue the price I paid.
17. Fill out Form 1 at customs
18. CAD customs charged me the 6.1% duty, $100 air conditioning fee and GST (GST was applied to the cost of the car in Cad $, the duty and the a/c fee). Pay by credit card.
19. Park car in garage and wait for Customs to mail Form 2 (within 10 days).
This is what I'm waiting to do . . .
20. Take Form 1 and Form 2 to Canadian Tire to get federally inspected - no charge. Make repairs to bring to code - since I did all my research ahead of time, my car needs no repairs.
21. Take Form 1 and Form 2 to mechanic to get provincially inspected.
22. Register car.
23. Wait for Canadian Compliance sticker and put on doorframe.