Importing modded car from the states?
 

Anyone done this? Canadian gov website says cars cant be modded at all to be eligible for importing but iv read elsewhere that they dont actually look at the car at the border. Looking to hopefully import an 05 c6 but it does have z06 fenders, hci and exhaust done so its pretty loud. Can anyone with some experience chime in on this? Any tips would be appreciated.

Never heard of that.. I've imported several bikes and a car.

The car has to be on the admissible list, unless it's a 15 years or older, then they're admissible by default. Nobody checks for mods, they barely even look at the car.

http://www.tc.gc.ca/motorvehiclesafety/safevehicles/importation/usa/vafus/list2/menu.htm

It's on that list but the car has full exaust, headers back with no cats and is cammed. Could hear from a mile away that its modded lol. Also not sure how tough canadian tire would be on me getting the riv inspection if i made it into canada. Barely looking at the car is all it takes to guess its modded. Actually could probs do blindfolded haha.

I imported a highly modified car.

You heard correctly that at the border they don't even look at it. The issue comes later.

The rules are different for cars under 15 years old vs over 15 years old. If over 15 the car needs to be certified just like any car exchange in your province. That is it. (It looks like the car you are contemplating is on the edge re 15 years. The 15 year definition is based on the date of manufacture not model year so an early 2005 might qualify depending upon the build date.)

If the car is newer you not only need it to be certified you will require a certificate that says the car meets federal standards. Basically that requires proof that all safety recalls have been done on the car, that it has daytime running lights, and that safety related warnings on the car (airbag warnings for instance) are in both English and French. I also believe that the speedo has to be metric. In the entire country Canadian Tire is the only place that can give you the certificate of compliance.

When I bought my car it did not qualify as 15 years old but was within months. I got the seller to hold the car until it qualified. Saves a lot of hassle.

When I bought mine a drive clean was required but is not now. That might have been a stopper for you but not now.

So a long story to say that if over 15 years old; mods are not a real issue so long as the car can be certified. Same likely holds for newer cars.

A word of advice....when you cross the border don't lowball what you paid for the vehicle.

The CBSA went as far as looking online for the sale ads to verify value of purchase, so yes don't try to hide that unless you very carefully cover your bases.

Yeah i wouldnt mess with the taxes end of it. Cars manufacture date is oct 2004....so close yet so far...unless they go just by the year lol.

They won't.....see if seller will store it for you OR you buy now and you store it in the US until October.

Im thinking ill try to cross with it and if i get denied just store it in the us till October. Called canadian tire and spoke with the riv inspecter and he doesnt care about mods just day time running lights haha. So if i can get home then i should be ok.

Are you contemplating bringing it yourself? If yes there are other issues..

If so planning on driving it over?

Yeah i was planning on flying out and driving it back. So what are these other issues?

They changed the rules importing the vehicle. I think you have to import it through a broker.
The Canadian border only wants to see a bill of sale so you can pay the tax.
Your biggest issue will be Canadian Tire, they can be pretty picky. As an example my truck failed because the day time running lights would turn off using the headlight switch.
Good luck

Spoke to the Canadian tire inspector today and yeah he said he only cares about the running lights so ill just make sute they are wired to stay on begore the riv inspection. When your truck failed did you just get to make the fix and go again?

The rules are US ones to export the vehicle not Canadian. You need to get authority from US authorities to export it. A few years ago you could simply email them with the VIN included. They would reply saying ok then you would present that reply, and the car, on the US side before coming to Canada. As stated elsewhere now the email and VIN have to be initiated by an authorized entity. Generally brokers do it. You do not necessarily need a full service brokerage though. Some will do just this process for as little as $25. You must start the process about a week in advance though.

Assuming you spend the $25 and get the approval when you get to Canadian Customs you will have to pay the GST at the border. (no duty) Once you pay they will give you a form you must present when you apply for an Ontario permit. Service Ontario will require that form, the Cdn Tire certificate of compliance (if under 15) and the fitness certificate. Here you will pay the PST.

The second issue if you drive across yourself is a licence plate! When you cross the border the US plate will not be valid. So there are two options........take your chances or go to a Service Ontario location at the border and get a temporary permit For me this was almost a stopper and became my motivation to trailer the car.

Yeah im aware of getting the itn requires a broker and havnt decided if ill go full on broker or just online but the plate thing does seem weird. I live in Alberta so no pst :)

I had my mechanic fix it and returned to Canadian Tire. There was no extra charge for the follow up.

Happy to hear this if something comes up!
Did they care about having the speedo being in miles or no french saftey labels?

Your mileage may vary here, but the CBSA didn't give a rats ass about any of the US export papers any time I imported vehicles. It wasn't a requirement on their end. It occurred to me the third time around that I might as well just drive or trailer the vehicle straight to Canada without at all bothering with the US side of the transaction. All they wanted at the border was proof of sale.

It's been about five years though.

Yeah i dont think they do but i heard you can get yourself into some serious shit returning to the states afterward.

The second issue if you drive across yourself is a licence plate! When you cross the border the US plate will not be valid. So there are two options........take your chances or go to a Service Ontario location at the border and get a temporary permit For me this was almost a stopper and became my motivation to trailer the car.[/QUOTE]


I drove across several states, in to Canada (Ontario) then had the necessary inspection done and licensing with a temporary US plate. (Paper). I did this a few times no issues. I also had valid insurance on the vehicle through my insurance company before I picked the car up in the US. I found the standard of the inspection varied from one Canadian Tire to the other. One location would not give approval unless they were allowed to put KPH stickers on the speedo, even though they were there(KPH were in smaller numbers). They said KPH had to be larger????BS. Another place was satisfied with a piece of tape over the automatic headlight sensor to enable the headlights to stay on constantly.

I imported a Tahoe, it already had bilingual labels from the factory. The speedo wasn't an issue. The km font is smaller than mph.

One other thing, I purchased from a dealer. I let my insurance company what I was doing and they gave me a letter stating the vehicle I was purchasing had insurance. The dealer gave me a temp. tag (North Carolina). The Border U.S. and Canada didn't care. I even drove around in Ontario with the temp. tag while I was getting the documentation sorted out.