snowshoveller

I'm over in the UK at the moment (for the next 10 months or so) and I'm considering picking up a classic car with a view to shipping it back to canada when i return.

I'm sure this has been talked about before but my mobile internet is a bit sluggish and searching will take ages,

Has anyone shipped an older uk car to canada recently? if so can you point me in the direction of good resources about this or links to agents, plus a ballpark cost would be.

cheers in advance

ss

el_richo

Would be interested in any answers also as i'm toying with the idea of shipping over a couple of TVRs

Essex_Man

http://www.canadiandriver.com/forum/ Try here.

mcdavis

Just in the planning process at the moment. Know that the vehicle needs to be at least 15 years old, then you need to comply with the Canadian restrictions (minimal) plus any which are province specific (more stringent).

Oakvillian

I shipped a 1985 Morgan, at the same time as transferring ownership from my father to myself, last summer. The UK end was handled by a bunch called Penguin, a shipping agent and freight forwarder based near my folks in Hampshire. They dealt with all the paperwork at the UK end (not completely fautlessly - read on...) and the car was put on a container bound for Montreal, thence on a train to Toronto.

A few points I wish I had known at the time:

• get the car cleaned (I mean really cleaned) and certified as such by a properly accredited service before leaving the UK. I was stung for a car wash in-bond (bonded carrier to take the container to a secure truck-wash facility, clean car in container, securely dispose of waste water, bonded carrier back to container terminal) because the CFIA inspectors decided there was some dirt in the sipes of the tyres.
• ensure you have booked passage to final destination. My UK shippers had only arranged passage to a Toronto container terminal. I cleared the car through customs there (actually a very easy process - the CBSA guys at Pearson Airport were extremely helpful and friendly) but then had to get another container lift to a different yard because there was no unloading or dunnage facility at the railhead terminal. Customs will ding you for import duty and GST if applicable. Have a good idea in advance of the value of the car in Canada - obviously this can't be a full appraisal as the car is still in bond at this point.
• The paperwork required for first registration of a UK import vehicle is not something the licensing offices see eveyr day. Be prepared too to receive different answers from everyone you speak to. Because I was dealing with an intra-family transfer, I was not liable for PST on the transfer of ownership; I had to get a notarised letter from my dad to prove this, but in three trips to the Ontario licensing office I was given three different versions of what I would require.
• In Ontario at least, insuring a classic (particularly a RHD classic) can be a challenge - there are only one or two brokers that deal with them, and usage restrictions can be quite severe for some policies. Shopping around isn't really an option when almost everyone you ask says "oh, no, we wouldn't insure that." You'll likely need an accredited appraiser (my insurance broker recommended three local ones) to inspect and value the car.

Ballpark cost is commensurate with any other container shipping quote - you pays your money and takes your choice on a 20ft container port-to-port or door-to-door. I can't remember offhand what we paid, but it was somewhere around the 2k pound mark. That's for port-to-railhead container shipping.

There's a cheaper option if you're within striking distance of Halifax - there's a roll-on-roll-off service from Europe (Southampton's the UK point of departure, I think) into Halifax. We were recommended against this for the Morgan, but it might be an option for a more robust vehicle...

snowshoveller

Thanks oakvillian, thats exactly the sort of info I needed, in fact I'm looking at a morgan 4 seater, did youhave any issues with kph speedos and lights etc'

cheers

simon

dbd33

I sent some Jeeps the other way, to Switzerland. We found than the cheapest method was to fly them with Lufthansa (otherwise we would have had to pay for transhipment at Rotterdam). Lufthansa offered a "drive on, drive off" service, it might be worth a few calls to see if such a thing still exists. Note that they didn't care what was in the cars, we filled them with spare tyres, someone emigrating might want to pack in domestic objects (small objects in the case of a Morgan).

Oakvillian

none at all. Speedo already has kph marked in small numbers, no issue with odometer being in miles. The safety inspection didn't pick up that the lights were RHD versions - one day I'll get around to changing them, when I've found a reasonable supplier of the Cibie units or a decent alternative, so that they dip the right way.

MikeUK

I used this for my Mini last year, not bad but took all the wax of the paint
Not something I'd use for a model in pristine condition

As for licensing It’ll help if they know the type model of the car, as the Mini is familiar to many over here as a result I bypassed many of the problems people encounter with more exotic models, and again I think applies to insurance to the mini appears on the Canadian Insurance companies books so getting a price wasn’t difficult.

The rarer and more exotic the model the harder it gets, It’s not impossible but you may find that the Forum’s for particular types of car will be you main source of sane information

Also get some idea about emission restrictions that may apply to your vehicle, I had to put a catalytic convertor on mine but after that everything was relatively straight forward

mcdavis

I have heard that they ask for almost every vehicle to be steam cleaned when it arrives, even if it has been thoroughly cleaned in the UK, its almost an unofficial tax !!!

MikeUK

Not true at all

My mini left the UK resonabaly clean, and arrived in Canada in slightly dirtier condition due to using a Ro-Ro ferry


But if you do drive a car up with dirt/mud in the wheel wells and on the tires you are handing them a gift

snowshoveller

Just to resurrect an old thread,

el_richo, did you investigate this any further yet? if so would you be able to share any pearls??

cheers in advance.
s

el_richo

No further yet. We're moving in the next 6 months so will start looking at it pretty soon though and will give you a shout as to what i find out.

snowshoveller

cool, likewise, we are probably heading back may/june.
I'd quite like to ship to somewhere on the east coast and drive it back to Winnipeg, taking a week or so. But we will see how things pan out

Jonny B

Just a note i found surprising, the Octane rating of the fuel starts at 87, you can get 89 and max ive seen is 91.

Ive considered moving my cheap classics over but finding it hard to justify. You may pay a tad more over here (ontario), especially depending on the exchange rate but many classic owners never take their care out if there is a threat of rain or grit/salt on the road and you can find many good quality lower mileage examples. Especially as the US is a driveable.

All the best,
JB