Importing my Canadian Car and Husband's US car back to US.

[daphoknee 4]

Hi everyone,

I've been looking at the threads in the Canadian portal on how to import a Canadian car and still have a few questions. Before I do list the questions, here's our situation: I have sent out the I130 form last month and it is already at NBC, we've received a file number. I'm just trying to do some stuff ahead of time to hopefully help "speed" things along on our end on the paperwork standpoint. This has brought me to working on importing MY Canadian car. My husband is the USC and moved to Canada as a PR (sponsored by myself) Oct 2011 and his car is a US 2010 Scion. He has had trouble adjusting from Sunny Florida to BUSY Toronto, so I get to do MORE paperwork and now move myself to Florida *yay*

1) How long is the compliance letter from Toyota good for? It'll be for my 2002 Celica. Since we are still awaiting NOA2, etc, am I doing the car stuff too early in advance?

2) Since my husband's car was purchased in US and definitely meets all the US requirements, is there anything we need to do for his car? We had to get his car checked when we exported out of US to Canada, had to install Daytime Lights to meet the Canadian standards, other than that, no other changes have been done. Since it was exported out of US to Canada, are we technically importing back to US?

Many Thanks!!!

[Rob & Monika 87]

1) From what I hear, Toyota doesn't even offer compliance letters anymore. I'm not sure if that really helps you any though.

2) If he still has the title from when it was registered in Florida, then he should not have to do anything special for his other than register it again there.

[daphoknee 4]

1) From what I hear, Toyota doesn't even offer compliance letters anymore. I'm not sure if that really helps you any though.

2) If he still has the title from when it was registered in Florida, then he should not have to do anything special for his other than register it again there.

I ended up just calling and they brought the compliance letters back in TODAY!!!!! So for any future Toyota importers, you can get your letter in a matter of weeks, from what the rep told me. They will you need to give them the VIN and take a picture of the sticker that should generally be in the inside portion on your door and email it to them. After they receive it, they'll take a little while to send the compliance letter to you.

I also did end up asking about my hubby's car and supposedly we need to get another Recall Clearance letter for his US car but need to call the Toyota US counterpart. I think I'll call CBP when I have the extra time just to be sure.

Thanks for your reply Rob & Monika!

[VeeNDee 44]

What? REALLY?!?!?!? Oh my goodness I am going to work on getting that WOOHOO!!! After our annoying POE experience we haven't even tried to import my Toyota yet. Finally some common sense must have hit someone. Although ha it almost sounds too good to be true... are you sure!??!?!?!?!?! Also, is the compliance for all cars or only some?

[YpsiFella 20]

When we went through this in 2006 we just took our Canadian vehicle to the US but made sure we had the compliance letter from Nissan. Then when we went to register it in Kentucky I took it to the County Clerk's office and they sent us to the Sherrif to get it assessed for fitness to drive in the US. The Sherrif looked it over and asked a question about the speedometer and odometer (because the primary indicator was kilos instead of miles). If it had not shown miles they would have made us get a new cluster in the panel but we were fine. He did a cursory review of the vehilce and signed it as fit.

The next hurdle was them wanting to charge us state sales tax on the value of the vehicle. I had my original purchase receipt that showed we had paid tax in Canada when we bought it. That got them to drop that.

The only issue you will face with the American vehicle is showing that you originally paid state tax for it somewhere.

This is dated info but I hope this helps.

[Krikit 1,163]

For the US vehicle, check this CBP link:

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/375/kw/returning

[daphoknee 4]

Hello everyone,

Just an update on my end!! I sent out my picture of the sticker on my Canadian Toyota and got a reply today!!! My car is compliant but because CBP does not like overly backdated compliance letters, they recommend I call in closer toward our moving date and they will send the letter then. So easy to do!!!!

What I'm worried about is the original purchase of my car, it was a private seller and I dont remember what paperwork IF ANY we have for my car.

There is a lien on my hubby's car from his US Bank, so hopefully we won't have any problems with bringing it back. It was "purchased" in Florida and we are going back to Florida..anyone think we may get taxed on that?

For the US vehicle, check this CBP link:

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/375/kw/returning

Thanks! Will def look into that!

[Rob & Monika 87]

No, you won't get taxed for the US car, nor get taxed for yours if it is your personal vehicle and you are moving with it unless you plan to sell it within 1 year of moving.

[Krikit 1,163]

What I'm worried about is the original purchase of my car, it was a private seller and I dont remember what paperwork IF ANY we have for my car.

There is a lien on my hubby's car from his US Bank, so hopefully we won't have any problems with bringing it back. It was "purchased" in Florida and we are going back to Florida..anyone think we may get taxed on that?

You don't need the original paperwork.... just the ownership. You do need a ballpark figure of the value. Use the Kelley Blue Book site http://www.kbb.com/ and lowball it, because they may make you pay County tax on it.

[Krikit 1,163]

No, you won't get taxed for the US car, nor get taxed for yours if it is your personal vehicle and you are moving with it unless you plan to sell it within 1 year of moving.

Not quite true. It all depends on the jurisdiction. They may have to fight to not pay the State taxes. (Having already paid them in the State of Florida they will, hopefully, have a record of that.) Or they may (probably will) get hit with County taxes. (Me) Still some others have been hit with no taxes at all. It's like dealing with CBP. Some of them know the policy and procedure; some don't. I tried fighting the county tax, but I saw it was a losing battle and just paid it.

Daphoknee,

When the foreign vehicle importer at the Tag Office does your paperwork, make sure they record the KM's as KM's.... and not as miles. Verify that this is also reflected in the paperwork they give you to sign. Also verify that this is correct in the registration document when you sign off and receive it. They made a total mess of mine. It was very frustrating.

Edited January 18, 2013 by Krikit

[Rob & Monika 87]

I guess I was just thinking about duty, didnt think about individual states.

[The Mean Lady 604]

check if your car has a us compliance sticker first.

i just notice mine under the hood of the car the other day.

ive seen they are also on doors.

[daphoknee 4]

check if your car has a us compliance sticker first.

i just notice mine under the hood of the car the other day.

ive seen they are also on doors.

Do you mean my car (Celica - Canadian car) or my hubby's (US - Scion)?

I already received confirmation that my car is compliant so just gotta get the letter from them closer to when we are going to move.

[daphoknee 4]

This is the email I received from Toyota in regards to my car's compliance:

Thank you for your e-mail.

Toyota Canada is pleased to advise that your 2002 Toyota Celica GT 5M vehicle is compliant.

It is our understanding that the Department of Transportation in the US may not accept back dated letters. When it is closer to your departure date please contact us at your earliest convenience to request your compliance letter. You may contact us at 1-888-869-6828, option 1 for English and 4 for Customer Service.

Having read in older posts in other threads, I was terrified about getting a letter from Toyota, now I"m just ecstatic that it feels like a walk in the park since they have decided to bring the compliance letter back

Good luck to all Toyota owners!!!

Not quite true. It all depends on the jurisdiction. They may have to fight to not pay the State taxes. (Having already paid them in the State of Florida they will, hopefully, have a record of that.) Or they may (probably will) get hit with County taxes. (Me) Still some others have been hit with no taxes at all. It's like dealing with CBP. Some of them know the policy and procedure; some don't. I tried fighting the county tax, but I saw it was a losing battle and just paid it.

Daphoknee,

When the foreign vehicle importer at the Tag Office does your paperwork, make sure they record the KM's as KM's.... and not as miles. Verify that this is also reflected in the paperwork they give you to sign. Also verify that this is correct in the registration document when you sign off and receive it. They made a total mess of mine. It was very frustrating.

Thank you Krikit!!! That's very helpful advice! I never thought of the KM and Miles bit. Also where can I go to find the info on possibly county tax?

Can anyone teach me how to quote a few people in one reply so I won't have to add so many replies/posts in this thread??

Edited January 19, 2013 by daphoknee

[The Mean Lady 604]

Do you mean my car (Celica - Canadian car) or my hubby's (US - Scion)?

I already received confirmation that my car is compliant so just gotta get the letter from them closer to when we are going to move.

I mean your canadian car.

Look under the hood and on the door and see if there is a sticker.

If there is a sticker. Then /done.

This is the email I received from Toyota in regards to my car's compliance:

Thank you for your e-mail.

Toyota Canada is pleased to advise that your 2002 Toyota Celica GT 5M vehicle is compliant.

It is our understanding that the Department of Transportation in the US may not accept back dated letters. When it is closer to your departure date please contact us at your earliest convenience to request your compliance letter. You may contact us at 1-888-869-6828, option 1 for English and 4 for Customer Service.

Having read in older posts in other threads, I was terrified about getting a letter from Toyota, now I"m just ecstatic that it feels like a walk in the park since they have decided to bring the compliance letter back

Good luck to all Toyota owners!!!

Thank you Krikit!!! That's very helpful advice! I never thought of the KM and Miles bit. Also where can I go to find the info on possibly county tax?

Can anyone teach me how to quote a few people in one reply so I won't have to add so many replies/posts in this thread??

If you reply to them all fast, it compiles them into one post.

Otherwise you do a lot of copy and pasting.