Canadian cars

[Grimor]

There's a car in Canada I'd like to purchase, deals pretty much done. But I'm wondering about getting it back home, duties, fees, etc...

Seems I need a letter from the MFG stating it meets DOT and EPA standards, or it can be listed as compliant already. I have seen their list, and it's not actually a list of vehicles but more a "if it meets this Canada standard, then it's good here" kinda thing.

Has anyone every purchased a vehicle from Mexico/Canada and tried to bring it back to the states?

 

[neohio]

I imported my truck into Ohio 2 or 3 years after I had bought a house and lived here.

I put it off for a long time assuming I would have to drive it back to Buffalo, into Canada, and then back into Buffalo to get all the proper import paperwork.

In the end it was stupid simple! I took the truck to the Ohio BMV, went to the title counter, asked what I needed to import it. Well, they were not 100% sure. So in the end the transfered the title to me showing it was from California. I did bullshit my way through the entire ordeal. I paid a few "inspection" fees though. One was to walk out to the truck and verify the VIN in the windshield matched the one on my ownership. Then another agent came out to visually verify it had proper emissions equipment on it. They didn't even open the hood, I explained it was built in Indiana or another state. They accepted that and walked back in.

I still had the original bill of sale to show what I paid for it way back when. Thinking they would charge me sales tax on the current value. in the end, they didn't charge me a dime. I ended up getting plates and walking out of the BMV for a little over $100.


Biggest thing is going to be conforming to American emission standards. Under the hood should be a sticker saying the vehicle conforms to US and Canadian emissions that were in place when the vehicle was built.

 

[RayVoy]

AFAIK, Canadian cars meet US emission standards, except for CA.

Depending upon year and model, there might be a few "odd per state" problems. For example, NY required (at one time) that headlights be on when wipers are on. We require the DDLs to be on under all conditions with "newer cars", so that requirement is covered.

The headlight switch assembly will not have a DDL disable position.

If the vehicle was made for the Canadian market (it could have been assembled in the US), it will have kilometers as the large spedo dial (miles will be there, just as the small dial), gauges will be in metric.