Importing a vehicle into Canada from US

[Wellgeo03]

Hey everyone, looking for a little advice.

I am considering importing a truck into Canada, and have been told by Transport Canada that if the exhaust has been modified it would not be admissible.

The truck is a square, and well over the 15 year old limit where it is not required to be registered with RIV.

The truck is totally stock with very low miles, except for the exhaust. The factory single has been replace with a Magnaflow dual system.

Has anyone recently imported a vehicle and can shed some light on whether I will get turned around at the border for the Magnaflow?

[motornut]

I thought they were more concerned with it having cats then muffler types
but then weight and years come into play too for cats
stock but I'd ask too about any, maybe, carb,or Charcoal Canister hook ups being blocked off

[Wrecked1982]

cant you still import it like if it was an off road vehicule only? just go to your province motor inspection afterward

[Wellgeo03]

You guys might be right. The owner told me the stock exhaust was a single pipe, and it now has Magnaflow true duals. He does not know if it had a cat on it from factory, but it does not now. I have not asked about the charcoal canister.

I believe if you import as an off road vehicle, it will be branded as such, and cannot be registered for on road use afterward, but I am not totally sure on this either. This is the first one I have tried to bring up here.

[Wellgeo03]

As with all Government bs it is nearly impossible to get a solid answer, and every time you call, you talk to someone else and get a different answer.

[Wrecked1982]

well here in qc off road vehicule or unregistered cars for x number of years can always be back on the road as long as they passe mechanical inspection. i dont know if this is true but i heard a couple of times guys saying they imported car and once at the border if they let you in the car gets a transit sticker good for a given number of day to get to the inspection.of course paper works have to be ok

[Luci Fur]

From my understanding you want to have all your ducks in order (paperwork) and give the broker & boarder a 72 hour heads up.

This will make it easier to get across than having to leave the truck at the boarder for a few days till they get to it.

My buddy just did this a few months ago from Blaine,Washington into Surrey, B.C.

Ill contact him and get you all the details, his process was.

[classicchev]

Dont worry about how the vehicle looks, drives or anything. They do not care at all, they are glad to just get more old crap out of the country.

Brought too many across, one had no drivetrain at all, never had an issue EVER!!!!

[notallthere]

You have to import it through the RIV program. Pay the taxes for the vehicle in the province and bring the vehicle up to safe standards for the province.

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publicati...f5048-eng.html

[cory d]

Originally Posted by Luci Fur

My buddy just did this a few months ago from Blaine,Washington into Surrey, B.C.

thats a long haul!

are you finding better deal on the other side of the fence?

[Luci Fur]

Originally Posted by cory d

thats a long haul!

are you finding better deal on the other side of the fence?

You guys always have better deals south of the border, the futher you go the better deal.

From Surrey, BC to Blaine WA. is only 30 to 35 min. Thats not including the wait at the border though, lol.

[lowridergmc]

ok i just did this with a 76 blazer,portland to sask.you will have no problems
that truck will be exempt from RIV due to its age.also no provincial inspection if the vehicle is older that 25years in sask.i bought it went to sgi and put insurence on it(still not legal to drive-but insured) and drove it home.must fax title to the boarder crossing you are using 72 hours before you cross.also have
your bank statement showing where you took your money out and have all the emails between you and the seller printed off to show them at the boarder.dont lie about the price.stop at the US side and they will stamp the title for export
then proceed to canadian side.show them the title,bill of sale,fill out paper work and your should be good to go.

[bilfman]

Originally Posted by lowridergmc

ok i just did this with a 76 blazer,portland to sask.you will have no problems
that truck will be exempt from RIV due to its age.also no provincial inspection if the vehicle is older that 25years in sask.i bought it went to sgi and put insurence on it(still not legal to drive-but insured) and drove it home.must fax title to the boarder crossing you are using 72 hours before you cross.also have
your bank statement showing where you took your money out and have all the emails between you and the seller printed off to show them at the boarder.dont lie about the price.stop at the US side and they will stamp the title for export
then proceed to canadian side.show them the title,bill of sale,fill out paper work and your should be good to go.

Just like he said, I did this too and there were no problems. As for insuring it here I just insured it as antique. Easy mode. Canadian side gives you a sheet for insuring at SGI. Neither the American or Canadian side give a crap about mods on the vehicle. Canadian side will tack on another $100 charge if the unit has air conditioning. The hardest part is getting your stuff to the American side 72 hrs prior. But if you plan a 3 day trip, no worries. I had a good repoire with the guy I bought it from and he faxed me the title and bill of sale while I was still in Canada. I sent the to the Americans before I left, so the 72 hrs was a piece of cake. You do have to know which crossing you are coming across at and send your stuff there.

[Gordonr1973]

I brough up 2 trucks and had no problems.

They are not going to inspect your truck's exhaust system at the border. The border crossing just does paperwork (unless you get picked for a random search).

If it is necessary to have your truck inspected, try to take it to someone you know and have them 'tick the right boxes' if you can. (Not that I did that.)

My second truck I brought up was a 2006 Ford Dually King Ranch Crewcab longbox with a dual 6 inch stainless exhaust....definitely not factory and definitely didn't cause an issue with the inspection.

Where you would have an issue is if you brough back some jacked up beast with nitrous and 40 inch wheels ---- when you call the government remember you are talking to a bureaucrat that most likely has little to no idea of what happens in the real world (I used to be one before I quit) so take their advice with a grain of salt

[red450ih]

This might help.

http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/tocanada.html

[Wellgeo03]

Well I think you guys are all basically bang on. I ended up talking to a broker who said it should be no problem. He basically said that they are mostly worried about the big lifts, tires, or body mods.
It sounds like a pretty simple process, on the old trucks, however for piece of mind I hired the broker to look after the paperwork for me. He is only charging $200 flat and all I will have to do is pick up the paper work package and had it off to the customs agents. It basically just streamlines the process and could potentially save an easy $200 worth of hassle at customs if someone there is having a bad day and decides to take it out on me.

The gentleman who owns the truck has be excellent to deal with and has sent me copies of the title and bill of sale so I can get the process started well in advance.

I can't make the trip to pick it up until mid March, so the guy is really helping me out by holding it for me. So far, other than being unfamiliar, it seems like it will be a good experience. I think once I bring this one up and see the process entirely, I would feel fine with just importing on my own next time.

I will let you all know how it goes.

One thing I am not sure of yet is how to show customs a record of the payment for the vehicle if I call my bank and have the money wired to the seller once I get there and view the truck. Would being able to pull of my online bank statement on my phone work? I am not that excited about showing a random customs official my bank statement though.

Any suggestions on this?
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