steff123

Has anyone had any experience so far in importing a vehicle into Canada from countries other than the US.
In my case the car would be from mainland europe, ( right hand traffic) and OLDER than 15 years.

Sharing any experiences would help me a lot.

MillieF

Steff, not really, but we are thinking of doing so.....we have a 1959 suicide door 2CV, that is a restoration project. We, and our goods, are in France, though I am in Fredericton till next week, and my husband is in Vancouver doing a check ride. When he comes back I will ask him to respond. I want to keep my 2CV, I drove one before through Europe to Egypt, I have an odd attachment to them.

steff123

To me it's a little the same like you described.

Just let me know how you get on with it, which shipping companies you used, and how the paper work went?

MikeUK

Done it

Brought a 1992 Mini into Canada a few years ago

You have options
1. put in a container and ship it, expensive but good for the expensive collectable you can’t or won’t risk scratching
2. Ship it RORO ferry, cheaper but involves many transfers and is exposed during the journey

There are many companies out there that will ship cars, it helps if you also use a broker, it will just make it a little easier to get through the tax and import hurdles..

Oakvillian

I've also done this. It's not actually very complicated for a vehicle over 15 years old. In my case, things were complicated by the fact it was an intra-family transfer of ownership from my dad to me, so there were extra affidavits to be presented to the provincial licensing people, but as far as actually importing it, it was v simple (if a little tedious).

In my case, from memory, all I needed to do was take the import paperwork to the customs office at the airport, get the thing cleared through customs (there may be import duties and/or GST to be paid depending on its ownership history and whether it is declared on your goods to follow list, etc etc) and present the stamped form to the shipping company, who then released it from bond. The car was shipped by container from Southampton to Toronto via Montreal. The only real embuggerance in the whole process was in Montreal - the food inspection agency declared that the tyres had mud on them, so it had to be cleaned, in bond, at vast expense.

Once it arrived in Toronto, I had it trans-shipped out of the railhead depot to a container depot that had drive-off access. I had an insurance cover note on the basis of the chassis number, drove it home on the UK registration, and got a safety certificate (no e-test was required) a couple of days later. Registering it on Ontario plates was a bit more complex - that's when I had to get a notarised letter from my father declaring that transfer of ownership was legitimate- that got me out of paying PST.

Of course, the tax situation will vary depending on what province you're in - and will have changed in Ontario from my experience as it's now HST. I don't know how this would effect what you pay to whom. In theory, if you're bringing the car in as part of your personal effects and it's declared on your goods to follow list, there should be no tax or duty payable, but you may have a hard time convincing people of that!

steff123

Thank you for sharing the whole experience. In my case it's about a 1995 Volkswagen.

So, the car is simply driven into the container? and handbreak pulled? - like on a car ferry. RORO, would mean you drive it personally to the port, have it shipped and pick it up in Canada at the port? or could I bring it to a container anywhere else, where they have container terminals?

The insurance cover note was from your insurance in the UK?
Can the paperwork at customs be done in one day?

How much did it cost you? Shipping? and the paperwork once it arrived at the customs in Canada?

Apart from your ownership transfer (which would not be applicable in my case) would then getting Ontario License plates be a problem for me?

Piff Poff

Putting a car into a container doe s NOT mean damage will not happen. We sent a vehicle the other way, in a container, when it arrived it had been scrapped all down one rear quarter, to the point a tyre also had to be replaces as it was so damaged.

MikeUK

Ouch!!!!

I opted for RORO as I really couldn't justify the cost for the Mini knowing I had some bodywork to do when I got it here.

But the big sell from the shipping company was all about reducing the risk of damage..

brookel

Hi, we're taking OH's Toyota surf in Jan 2012 (it's over 15 years old). It's going in a sole use container(20ft), and we're stacking our household stuff around it. We're going with GB Liners for £3500. As suggested here on BE haggle if you decide to take out the shipping companies insurance

in the woods

I have shipped cars before both roll on and container no problems with roll on but had damage in container big scrap on the hood and nice footprints over the car. you might need a new battery after a roll on as they leave the lights on all cars so less risk of fire

Atlantic Xpat

Eh? I don't believe this is the case.

dbd33

I sent some Jeeps to CH years ago, RORO with Lufthansa; no illumination required. Perhaps if the car is going by ship through pirate infested waters, so as to make it look like an ocean liner?

Atlantic Xpat

Techically RORO is ships not planes but the point is valid. I spent the first few years of my career shipping new cars around Europe for Ford. Can you imagine the bother of jumpstarting 500 Ford Fiestas because somebody thought it was a good idea to leave the lights on during shipment?

dbd33

Oh. The cars did RO and RO.

Steve_

I've shipped cars by container, the one piece of advice I've seen in shipping documents is to never use your car as a shipping container, good chance anything in the car will get stolen. I speak from personal experience.