Importing into Canada?

Thanks for all the info and advice guys!,

I'll just keep looking and hope i find something with a seller that will assist with customs

 

When we moved back to Canada, after 5 years in Mexico, our wagon had AC, and they charged us $100.00 extra for having AC. Since we drove it up, and were planning to license it in Manitoba, they gave us 30 days to get it Safety Checked, Insured and replated with Manitoba plates. Since the Border was only 75 miles south, we took a leisurely trip down, and presented the documents. We paid no customs or sales taxes, because it was our daily driver in Mexico, just the AC fee, and the Licensing.

 

An extra fee for AC in Canada?

 

Air Conditioning, not Air Canada. Air Canada shoves the extra fees in and cuts off the shaft, once firmly tucked in, and no Vaseline. Obviously not an Air Canada fan, huh?

Yeah! In the prairies, we do get over 100* F (40C - plus). Gotta be one of the few non-Arctic places in the world where temperatures can swing by 150* from top to bottom.

 

Our creative Canadian government insists on collecting the $100.00 excise tax on all cars equiped with A/C - regardless of the age of the car (even though many of those cars were built before our illustrious public servants came up with the idea of the $100 A/C tax which I believe was in the '80's). This tax is charged only once during the lifetime of the car - typically, it is collected when the car is sold as a new vehicle in Canada but if the tax has not ever been paid on the car before you buy it (as in cars being brought into Canada from the US) then it will have to be paid at the time of importation (the Canada Customs people will ask you if the car has A/C or not). Sigh.....

 

As an aside, all six of my cars - 2 new and 4 old - have (factory) A/C and I had to pay the Canadian $100 Excise Tax on all of them at some point. However, I find that "climate warming" has made A/C a very desireable feature to have in any car - new or old (even in my '65 Futura convertible). I take no pleaure in having the sun beat on me during a light to light hike through the city in the middle of July or august, so I leave the top up and use the A/C. I do, however, enjoy the top down on a warm July or August evening.

 

This just proves that all politicians think alike.
Don't let them know that all Canadian driven cars have a heater and usually a radio of some sort.

If I buy a car from Canada I should get $100 back from the Canadian government.....right?

 

A way to be the 72 hour thing

I have imported quite a few trucks and motorcycles from all over the USA into Canada using various Border Crossings in different States. I did see someone suggested sending the payment ( in full ) for the vehicle and have the seller send you the title so you can send a copy of it to the Border crossing you are going to use. That will work but are you comfortable sending 3-4-5-6-7000 or more to someone you don't know and hope they are a genuine person and will send you the title. Don't forget you are sending money to a different country with no guarantees and if the seller decides to keep your money and not send the title what are you going to do cause you are hooped.. What I have done in the past is explain to the seller about then 72 hour rule and some know about it and some don't and if the don't get them to verify it with US Customs. Once you get that cleared with the seller I offer to send them a 500/1000 deposit and suggest they do this.. Take a front and back photocopy of the title and get the seller to fill it out as if he/she was filling out the original to you and fax or email a copy of the filled out copy to you. Doing it this way the seller has not altered the original title and still has the vehicle in their possession. You can fax the copy you received from the seller to US Customs 3 or more days before you leave Canada and if all is okay you are good to go. When you get to the sellers and you and he/she is satisfied with everything get the seller to fill out the original title the same way they did with then copy. When you get to the border show the filled out original title and bill of sale and you are good to go. When I did this ( and this may not work for everyone) I used to bring the balance of the purchase price with me in US cash because a lot of US and Canadian banks are skittish about bank drafts and money orders and can scare a seller into not accepting them. I had a friend that had a 30,000 bank draft from a Canadian bank and went to Washington State to buy a car and all was good with the seller before he left but when he went to the sellers bank to deposit the draft the lady there put a fear into the seller that the draft may be bogus and my friend came back to Canada with his 30k draft and no car. Sorry for the lengthy diatribe but I tried to cover all the different points and aspects of doing things this way.