Car import, Canada to US

[mapleleafmanny 11]

I'm reposting because I received no replies and I'm still confused.

***

I'm so lost and confused about this. How do I find out what sort of papers I need, if I need them, and whether my car is compliant?

I have a Hyundai Accent 2003 GS. I called Hyundai Canada and they sent me a compliance letter to Canadian safety standards. They are unable to give me one with US compliance, and neither can Hyundai USA. I can't seem to find a sticker under the hood or door frame that would say it's USA regulations compliant.

I wish there was a simple way to just look up the make/model and know whether it's compliant. I honestly don't want to go through a Registered Importer because the car isn't worth what that cost would be.

Basically, I'd love to know how to know for sure if I'll have trouble importing. Right now, I feel like the two options would be to sell it before I leave or to sell it after a year (which sounds like a hassle if you have to wait for a buyer).

[VeeNDee 44]

I have been having car importing issues myself. One thing I thought of that you could do is try phoning your local port of service or border. Since I am already in the USA dealing with this, I phoned the Seattle port of service and talked to someone who answered a few questions (unfortunately some were erroneous answers, sigh). If he didn't know he went to double check with someone else, but, still... ugh.

Maybe you will have better luck if you phone the port of service near you, or the port of entry where you are thinking of POEing. I am not sure where that is but I can give you the link I used and maybe you can follow the links to find your local information.

On a side note I phoned the POE in Blaine before I POEd to ask car import questions - one number transferred me elsewhere. The other number had an answering machine and I left a message, and I also emailed an email address. I never heard back from ANY of them. My best suggestion in that case may be to go there in person to ask your questions since you may have better luck.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/contacts/ports/wa/3001.xml

Hope that is of some help. Best wishes! My car importation journey isn't quite over yet either, sigh.

[mapleleafmanny 11]

I have been having car importing issues myself. One thing I thought of that you could do is try phoning your local port of service or border. Since I am already in the USA dealing with this, I phoned the Seattle port of service and talked to someone who answered a few questions (unfortunately some were erroneous answers, sigh). If he didn't know he went to double check with someone else, but, still... ugh.

Maybe you will have better luck if you phone the port of service near you, or the port of entry where you are thinking of POEing. I am not sure where that is but I can give you the link I used and maybe you can follow the links to find your local information.

On a side note I phoned the POE in Blaine before I POEd to ask car import questions - one number transferred me elsewhere. The other number had an answering machine and I left a message, and I also emailed an email address. I never heard back from ANY of them. My best suggestion in that case may be to go there in person to ask your questions since you may have better luck.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/contacts/ports/wa/3001.xml

Hope that is of some help. Best wishes! My car importation journey isn't quite over yet either, sigh.

Well, I've pretty much decided that I'll probably either sell the car before leaving, or even more likely, just "temporarily" have it in the States...then just come back across the border and resell it at a later time. There's pros and cons, but a car will be useful in the States until I get married. (to get around)

[VeeNDee 44]

Well, I've pretty much decided that I'll probably either sell the car before leaving, or even more likely, just "temporarily" have it in the States...then just come back across the border and resell it at a later time. There's pros and cons, but a car will be useful in the States until I get married. (to get around)

For awhile due to my importing frustrations I debated just selling the car after marriage back in Canada - but I am unsure if that will complicate things as far as taxes and earning money goes as a non-resident. Just worried about paperwork issues basically! I am trying to avoid earning money in Canada so that I won't have to file a 2013 tax return next year!

[mapleleafmanny 11]

For awhile due to my importing frustrations I debated just selling the car after marriage back in Canada - but I am unsure if that will complicate things as far as taxes and earning money goes as a non-resident. Just worried about paperwork issues basically! I am trying to avoid earning money in Canada so that I won't have to file a 2013 tax return next year!

Well, I'm already going to need to file a 2013 tax return since I'm still working, so not an issue there for me. I am worried as to how being in the states will affect my license (like can my car still be registered with Quebec plates even if my license is switched to Connecticut). Temporarily keeping it will facilitate the moving process, though in a way I feel guilty that doing so is just delaying the problem of selling a car in a country where I'm not living...maybe I can find a friend or garage that will"sell" it for me if I'm not on town...like if after marriage I were to drive it up to Canada, leave it there, and take the bus back with it unsold.

[VeeNDee 44]

Well, I'm already going to need to file a 2013 tax return since I'm still working, so not an issue there for me. I am worried as to how being in the states will affect my license (like can my car still be registered with Quebec plates even if my license is switched to Connecticut). Temporarily keeping it will facilitate the moving process, though in a way I feel guilty that doing so is just delaying the problem of selling a car in a country where I'm not living...maybe I can find a friend or garage that will"sell" it for me if I'm not on town...like if after marriage I were to drive it up to Canada, leave it there, and take the bus back with it unsold.

Good point about your tax return so I can see that earning the money from selling the car wouldn't really impact you in that way. I'm pretty sure that it would be a lot harder to sell a Canadian car down here. I'm kind of hoping to just use my car forever until it is a writeoff at some point and milk it for all its worth to avoid selling it.

My car down here still has BC license plates while in WA. Before leaving I bought something called "Category Z" car insurance which they tell me covers my car while I am living in the United States. I asked them specifically about if it covers me while I am in the process of immigration and they said it did. It was an extra $500 on top of the normal yearly insurance cost but they told me when I get plates down in WA, I can mail back the BC ones and get a refund for the months I didn't use it. I figured it was better to pay the money up front than to have an accident and not have the right insurance down here.

Edited February 22, 2013 by VeeNDee

[mapleleafmanny 11]

Good point about your tax return so I can see that earning the money from selling the car wouldn't really impact you in that way. I'm pretty sure that it would be a lot harder to sell a Canadian car down here. I'm kind of hoping to just use my car forever until it is a writeoff at some point and milk it for all its worth to avoid selling it.

My car down here still has BC license plates while in WA. Before leaving I bought something called "Category Z" car insurance which they tell me covers my car while I am living in the United States. I asked them specifically about if it covers me while I am in the process of immigration and they said it did. It was an extra $500 on top of the normal yearly insurance cost but they told me when I get plates down in WA, I can mail back the BC ones and get a refund for the months I didn't use it. I figured it was better to pay the money up front than to have an accident and not have the right insurance down here.

Hmm. From what I read, there were certain limitations to having a car in the States. The "temporary" bring over requires you to bring the car back to Canada within 1 years time...so I wouldn't be able to just run it to the ground (unless that happens withing a year!! haha). And another rules was that one can't sell it in the States. The only way you could keep it in the States longer then that one year is if you import it, or junk it. So yeah, it would be harder to sell a Canadian car, but I can't even do that with the rules.

I hadn't thought about needing to inform my insurance :/ still have a month and a half lol

[VeeNDee 44]

Hmm. From what I read, there were certain limitations to having a car in the States. The "temporary" bring over requires you to bring the car back to Canada within 1 years time...so I wouldn't be able to just run it to the ground (unless that happens withing a year!! haha). And another rules was that one can't sell it in the States. The only way you could keep it in the States longer then that one year is if you import it, or junk it. So yeah, it would be harder to sell a Canadian car, but I can't even do that with the rules.

I hadn't thought about needing to inform my insurance :/ still have a month and a half lol

Yeah a lot of last minute little costs creep up. I ended up not being able to use my work health insurance since it only covered me in the US if I was traveling, and I was immigrating. I couldn't get added to my now husband's health insurance until we had been married at least a month, so I had a gap of time without health insurance. I'm sure you know being Canadian too, that that is a scary concept! I ended up buying interm health insurance for just under 2 months. Thankfully I didn't need to use it at all but I felt a lot better actually having it. Cost me a bit more than normal since I included pre-existing condition changes to it. Think I paid around $230 for 2 months. I told my now husband "wow that was expensive!" and he laughed and said that was super cheap for even one month down there normally. Different attitudes right? Ugh.

Anyway back to the car thing, I am hoping to import my car so I will be able to sell it down here eventually. Just not sure who would want to buy a car with kilometers and a temperature gauge in Celcius hehe. It's partly electronic so trying to figure out if it's changeable. I can't import it yet because the guy I called at the port of service told me I needed EAD in order to import it. At first he told me I needed my greencard and I was like "uhh that can't be right!!" and he put me on hold to double check and corrected himself. I would have imported my car at POE but Toyota was being incredibly stupid at the time and refusing to issue compliance letters so I was unable to then.

I'm just kind of stuck in the middle at this point. Pretty sure I can import it now that I have a compliance letter but the officer doesn't know what he is talking about so I can't at the location just yet. And I don't want to at the border in case I get stuck in a one-way line over the border and can't get back in without AP! Agh! Personal nightmare so I am going to avoid that one.

[mapleleafmanny 11]

Yeah a lot of last minute little costs creep up. I ended up not being able to use my work health insurance since it only covered me in the US if I was traveling, and I was immigrating. I couldn't get added to my now husband's health insurance until we had been married at least a month, so I had a gap of time without health insurance. I'm sure you know being Canadian too, that that is a scary concept! I ended up buying interm health insurance for just under 2 months. Thankfully I didn't need to use it at all but I felt a lot better actually having it. Cost me a bit more than normal since I included pre-existing condition changes to it. Think I paid around $230 for 2 months. I told my now husband "wow that was expensive!" and he laughed and said that was super cheap for even one month down there normally. Different attitudes right? Ugh.

Anyway back to the car thing, I am hoping to import my car so I will be able to sell it down here eventually. Just not sure who would want to buy a car with kilometers and a temperature gauge in Celcius hehe. It's partly electronic so trying to figure out if it's changeable. I can't import it yet because the guy I called at the port of service told me I needed EAD in order to import it. At first he told me I needed my greencard and I was like "uhh that can't be right!!" and he put me on hold to double check and corrected himself. I would have imported my car at POE but Toyota was being incredibly stupid at the time and refusing to issue compliance letters so I was unable to then.

I'm just kind of stuck in the middle at this point. Pretty sure I can import it now that I have a compliance letter but the officer doesn't know what he is talking about so I can't at the location just yet. And I don't want to at the border in case I get stuck in a one-way line over the border and can't get back in without AP! Agh! Personal nightmare so I am going to avoid that one.

Haha, that is funny about the health insurance thing. I'll be covered as soon as we get married. That was another thing I hadn't thought of...interim health insurance.

I got a compliance letter from Hyundai, but it doesn't list the FWSSS (or whatever that acronym is) regulations it doesn't comply with. Also, I read that you need to keep the car at least two years before selling it if it's been imported...? Not 100% about that one though. I don't really want to keep the car two extra years...everything just seems to point back to selling it before or after. I read on some other threads that you can import it at a later date at the DMV? That might be an option for you...to at least look into.

[VeeNDee 44]

Haha, that is funny about the health insurance thing. I'll be covered as soon as we get married. That was another thing I hadn't thought of...interim health insurance.

I got a compliance letter from Hyundai, but it doesn't list the FWSSS (or whatever that acronym is) regulations it doesn't comply with. Also, I read that you need to keep the car at least two years before selling it if it's been imported...? Not 100% about that one though. I don't really want to keep the car two extra years...everything just seems to point back to selling it before or after. I read on some other threads that you can import it at a later date at the DMV? That might be an option for you...to at least look into.

I'm not sure about the FWSSS regulations. Maybe if it doesn't list any, that means your car is fully compliant? I'm okay with keeping the car 2 years. I like the car.. it was my first car and it's treated me well! It's 2005 and I am hoping it'll last a good time yet. If the guy at the port of service gives me more grief about importing the car I will definitely look into the DMV. For now I'm just twiddling my thumbs and waiting on EAD/AP! From what I've read I have 1 year to import it duty free and after that I'd have to pay duty on it so I definitely want to avoid that.

[mapleleafmanny 11]

I'm not sure about the FWSSS regulations. Maybe if it doesn't list any, that means your car is fully compliant? I'm okay with keeping the car 2 years. I like the car.. it was my first car and it's treated me well! It's 2005 and I am hoping it'll last a good time yet. If the guy at the port of service gives me more grief about importing the car I will definitely look into the DMV. For now I'm just twiddling my thumbs and waiting on EAD/AP! From what I've read I have 1 year to import it duty free and after that I'd have to pay duty on it so I definitely want to avoid that.

Yeah, for sure if it's a car you care about more, then it's worth the compliance. I bought the car fully knowing I wasn't needing quality, so I don't have deep ties to it. My car history is an ENTIRELY different story haha...cars hate me. There is the possibility that my fiancee and I will move within two years (job wise)...and we wouldn't necessarily want to trail around the car that long... if it lasts that long. It's an '03, but there is rust and 170,000km on it.

I hope you get your AP soon though...looking at your timeline, you should be well within that year mark

[carry 2]

quick question about moving a car in the US and all my other belongings.

Do we have to move everything the first time i cross with the sealed enveloppe? or i can move my furniture later in the year?

And do we have to make a list of everything i'M bringing with me that first time I cross and another list of items to follow?