importing/buying a car from Canada

[A12pilot]

Afternoon Folks!

A friend of mine found a car in Canada he wants to buy, but he's not sure of what's involved in getting it over here. Figured this would be the place to ask! What's involved tax wise, customs, shippers, etc. Is this something that Reliable or the like will handle for you? Thanks guys!

Dave

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

I can put you in touch with a friend who recently bought and drove a Beaumont to the US.

All the costs are for cars going the other way:-(

Ryan

[njsteve]

LOL.

Go here and see what I had to go through trying to get a title for my 72 Firebird I found in British Columbia:

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/487291/15

Here is the gist of it:
<span style="font-style: italic">
The entire titling process for a vehicle coming from a “foreign” country to NJ is insane. You cannot get a title for a car coming from a foreign country at the local DMV. You have to send all of your paperwork to the special “Foreign Title Unit” in Trenton, after calling them, of course, and getting an exact list of what they need. Then when they get the package, it takes them at least 2 weeks before they look at it. When they do look at it, they only go as far as the first problem they see with the first document, immediately stop all work and send a letter telling you there is an issue with that document. For example, I have a letter that says the Canadian Title and registration are missing from the package. I call them back and tell them that British Columbia does not issue titles; they only issue a combination registration and insurance form on their cars. The clerk then has to research that issue. Several days pass and the clerk then says &quot;You're right about the title&quot; but we need that British Columbia registration form. I asked them why they didn’t request that in the first place? No real answer. I then tell them that in Canada the seller is required by law to retain the upper half of the form. She says they need the entire form. Luckily the seller in this case gave me both halves of the form. (Thank you Grant!) The clerk said I have to send in the original to them, by certified mail. She tells me that NJ DMV can only take original documents or original carbon copies. No copies are permitted.

So another week passes and I call them back. I am then told that since I had not included a check for the sales tax on the car, they could not proceed any further. I tell them that I included the $80 they requested for the titling process and that no other funds were requested by the DMV at the time. The clerk says, “Well, we need the check to proceed.” I asked what the amount was. She wouldn’t tell me, only that it was 7% of the sale price. So I had to get a calculator out and figure the amount out while I had her on the phone and then ask her if that was the right amount she needed? She said yes. I then sent her the check... by certified mail.

Another week passes and I call them back, the package has now been transferred to another clerk who tells me that they need the Customs Brokers paperwork. I tell them they have it. She tells me that need the original not the certified copy that is in the file. She says that the certified copy that is in the file appears to have been a fax that was notarized by the Customs Broker. I tell her that is how US Customs sends the finished forms back to the brokerage company. She then recites that the DMV can only take original documents or carbon copies. I asked her how am I supposed to get the original document which is in the custody of the United States Customs Service? She simply recites again, that the DMV can only take original documents or carbon copies. New Jersey DMV does not recognize certified copies. The DMV says it has to be the original document or a carbon copy from the original form made at the time of the transaction. So, even if the original form was a computer generated print out, it has to be from the original computer, printed out from the original printer at that location!!!!!!!!! I kid you not. It's like they haven't even entered the 20th century, let alone the 21st.

So, after several days of attempting contact with the Customs broker, I get through and I get another certified copy of the exact same document, only this one is larger and doesn’t have a fax header at the top. I send it certified mail to the DMV.

After several more days I call the DMV again. By now I am on a first name basis with all the clerks in the unit. I hear them sigh heavily whenever they pick up the phone and realize it’s me. The clerk now says she received the Customs Broker form but that wasn’t the form that they actually needed. They actually needed the original carbon copy of the Bill of Lading to prove that the car is in the United States. Once again I ask why they didn’t request that document from me four weeks ago? I didn’t get an answer. So I send them the original pink “carbon copy” of the Bill of Lading...this time by FedEx, since the clerk assured me that this was the final key to unlocking the puzzle of my title. (Silly me for believing her).

So, another week passes and I call the DMV and ask if the title has been issued. They said no. I ask why? They say it is because the US Customs Form 7501 did not have a US Customs official raised stamp on it. I told them it does: it has the notary stamp from the customs broker and under the business records exception of the rules of evidence used by every court of law in the United States of America; that is considered to be an officially recognized original document... And in perfect Abbott and Costello “Who’s on First” tone of voice, she then recites that the DMV can only take original documents or carbon copies as New Jersey DMV does not recognize certified copies. That is when the whole insanity started with the fact that Broker notarized the copy of the form that he received from US Customs for the transaction. According to NJ DMV, that is considered a forgery of another person’s signature, so now the title process is dead in the water until I can provide them with THE ORIGINAL UNITED STATES CUSTOMS FORM 7501 for this car’s entry in to the United States.

So I then contact the broker in Canada to get them to get an official US Customs stamp on the document. They tell me that the document has to be hand carried to the Niagara Falls Customs station where the car entered the US and that it would take at least 48 hours once US Customs has the document, before the broker would get it back. So I wait...a week goes by and now the customs broker is ignoring my calls. (As it turned out the brokerage was sold to a new company, who was not retaining the old staff, so no one really cared any more, about getting me my document). So I get the shipping company owner at TFX International involved (as I previously described a page or two ago) and he raises Holy Hell with the broker on a Sunday night and within 3 days I have the official stamped document in hand. Of course it is not a raised, embossed stamp, but a red ink stamp on the form. I then send it via FedEx to the DMV. I also call the clerk at the DMV and tell him it is on its way. It arrives on Friday. I call the clerk handling my “package” to tell him that the FedEx tracking indicates it has been delivered. Of course he is out on leave that day. I am asked to call back Monday.

I call back Monday and the clerk says the mail has not been delivered from the front office yet but he will call when it gets to his desk, if there are any problems.

On Tuesday, the clerk leaves me the message that the title was processed. I call him back and ask him to define exactly what “processed” actually means. He laughs and says that it means I have a title now and that it was being mailed out that day...by regular mail.

I also asked him if I now hold the record for the longest time to issue a NJ title for an American vehicle entering the state from a “foreign” country.

He says “No, not even in the top five.”</span>

[njsteve]

By the way, TFX International was the Canadian transport company I used. http://www.tfxinternational.com/ They were excellent. I would recommend using them over a U.S. based company. One of the reasons is that Canada has some crazy laws on truck size and TFX has the correct truck and trailers available at all times. I checked with Reliable and they indicated that I would have had to wait quite a while for the specific sized truck to travel over the border and into B.C. for for a full trailer load before they would pick my car up. That would have added a month or more to my trip instead of TFX picking it up within days of my reservation call.

[A12pilot]

Gooood....grief!!! <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/frown.gif I knew I left NJ for a reason! That's less than encouraging. I can't say the DMV process is any better here in Texas. Some days, they don't let the lines move at all. They call those, weekdays. <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/thumbsdown.gif I told him it might be better to just get something here in the states just for the ease of the transaction. Good note on TFX trucking though. I'll pass that along.

Cheers <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif

Dave

[Don_Lightfoot]

What a horror story Steve. Wonder if it is a combination of errors or some kind of problem with New Jersey. All my previous Musclecars have been sold to Americans and they never had any problems whatsoever getting them registered with their State's DMV (California, Michigan and Texas). A proper carrier can handle all the customs situations on the buyer's behalf. The purchasers of my previous cars all used Mackie Transport out of Oshawa. There are obviously other qualified carriers as well.

[Jim_Hauls]

A condition of the sale should include delivery by the Canadian owner or their rep
to a point on the US side of the border - that way you know the car can be imported.

If the Seller balks at that - walk away ...

You don't want to buy a car that can't be imported &amp; turn around to have to sell it
at a loss in Canada ...

Generally it is best to buy a vehicle with final assembly in the states that was imported
into Canada &amp; has a paper trail to prove it ....


Jim

[njsteve]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Don_Lightfoot</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What a horror story Steve. Wonder if it is a combination of errors or some kind of problem with New Jersey. </div></div>

It's a Joysey thing! <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/rolleyes.gif

And keep in mind the car was built in Ohio and originally shipped to Ontario as a US production vehicle in 1972. Ugh!

[Zedder]

The vehicle cannot be brought into the US by the Canadian owner and sold. It must be imported by the US buyer. I've sold at least 10 muscle cars to Americans over the past 20 years and none have every had a problem getting a title. This sounds like a NJ thing.

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

This is my understanding as well, when I brought my car to Chicago the border was very interested to know that I would not sell the car while I was in the US.

Ryan

[Canuck]

The Canadian seller can do the import. I have sold my cars by arranging all the import and delivering the cars to the US border town.

[BJCHEV396]

I used TFX to ship my Nova to K.C.and they were excellent!