buying a car before moving to Canada

[mameelynn]

Hi,
I'm a Canadian married to an American and we are in the process of getting his PR.  We have three small children and are looking to get a van before we move and import it up with us but I need to know if the "own the vehicle for 6 months" rule is that we have to own it out right for 6 months to get to claim it duty free or if we can have it for those 6 months and be paying it off in that time?  We would rather be able to get a newer car and pay it off before we move up to Canada but if we have to own it out right for all the 6 months we would have to buy something older with the cash we have.  Thanks!!

[BZ Mom]

Hi,

The "own the vehicle for 6 months" means that you should have bought the vehicle 6 months before you import. One of the most important documents for importation is the title, so if you have not fully paid for the vehicle, you can't have the title. If the vehicle is under financing, in lieu of the title, you need the consent of the financing company to be able to bring the car out of the US. Not all financing companies allow this.