I could really use some good advice on importing a car from the US to Canada

[Avila]

So I live in Florida and my husband lives in Alberta. It's around 2800 miles one way. He doesn't have a car and I have a paid off 2006 Scion TC with only 25k miles on it. In Awesome conditon.
My first question is...If you were in my position, what would you do?
1) Drive it   2) Ship it   3) Sell it          (I've ruled out towing b/c the estimate I got for renting a Uhaul was over $4300.00 USD)
 
...taking into consideration...if it makes a difference
-I need to bring my cat (somehow)...so if anyone with experiance about moving their animal long distance has any tips or opinions about the best way to make it least-stressful for the animal, I'm all ears!
-I couldn't drive that far alone, so I would be paying for plane ticket back for whoever comes with me (probably around 400 dollars)
-the estimate I got for shipping the car was 2,000.00 USD, but I would have to ship all my other stuff and buy a plane ticket up there
-Selling the car would get me around 9-11k, but we need to have a car...so we would have to buy a used one...which seems silly because my car is paid off as of last month...and having car payments again so soon sounds depressing...

One other big deciding factor is whether or not I will have to pay taxes or anything on the car at the border if I do drive? I've read that new immigrants may be excused, anyone know anything about the rules...I can't seem to find a clear answer.

Any help is very  appreciated! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AllisonVSC]

I drove from South Carolina to Toronto which is less than half the distance you are going. It was doable but I wouldn't want to try 2800 mi on my own without LONG pauses along the route! Then I drove a uhaul up about 8 months later with a second driver. Both trips were exhausting.

I think if you combine shipping it, with the cost of shipping your stuff and flying yourself (and the cat) you might be close to $4300 (the cost to rent the uhaul). And, if you need the car, selling does seem to make sense to me either. Tough choices, it seems.

If you bring the car over has part of your goods to import and declare it when you land, the you can bring it duty and tax free, but there are import costs ($195 plus tax for the RIV), possibly an a/c excise tax, and modifications (varies depending on the type of work needed) and inspection fees (about $150 with taxes in Ontario) and registration fees ($125, I think, in Ontario). So it isn't exactly free either.

Hope that helps a little. Allison

[Avila]

  Yea, what I'm most nervous about is having to pay large fees at the border if I do drive it or ship it. If it's just a few hundred, that would be ok, but if I'm going to be paying a few thousand...then I'm leaning towards selling. Shipping the car would be around 2k, plus a 400(ish) plane ticket one-way plus the fee for carrying on a cat....I don't have any big items to ship with the exception of maybe my computer which im not sure about yet. I'm donating/ leaving my furniture with my parents, not that there's much of it....so additional shipping costs won't be a huge issue after the car...I'm really downsizing.
   
My husband is actually the one that needs the car, his new job requires it for his position...they are giving him a few months leeway(sp?). But I also have a feeling he will need to get one before I even get there...in which case we would end up with two cars. Although I have had a car since I was 16, and I think it will be a difficult adjustment using public transportation when I get a job up there. I really hate the thought of it...but I may have to sell. 

[AmericaninQuebec]

  Yea, what I'm most nervous about is having to pay large fees at the border if I do drive it or ship it. If it's just a few hundred, that would be ok, but if I'm going to be paying a few thousand...then I'm leaning towards selling. Shipping the car would be around 2k, plus a 400(ish) plane ticket one-way plus the fee for carrying on a cat....I don't have any big items to ship with the exception of maybe my computer which im not sure about yet. I'm donating/ leaving my furniture with my parents, not that there's much of it....so additional shipping costs won't be a huge issue after the car...I'm really downsizing.
   
My husband is actually the one that needs the car, his new job requires it for his position...they are giving him a few months leeway(sp?). But I also have a feeling he will need to get one before I even get there...in which case we would end up with two cars. Although I have had a car since I was 16, and I think it will be a difficult adjustment using public transportation when I get a job up there. I really hate the thought of it...but I may have to sell. 

You won't have to pay thousands on your car at the border if you are moving it once you have landed as a PR (or at the same time as your landing). It will cost, as AllisonVSC stated, a couple hundred dollars. Then you will have inspection and registration fees of a few hundred dollars more (not paid at the border but to the province's dmv).

I almost flew with my cat once, and it costs an additional $75+ one way on a domestic flight. Not certain if there are extra fees on a flight to Canada since it's an international flight.

One other thing to consider, you should call the U.S. border station where you'll be crossing the car into Canada if you do decide to drive it yourself. You will have to find out their procedures for exporting a car. Some let you fax the title to them 72 hrs in advance, others (like the one near me) require that you present the original title to them 72 hrs before you can export the car to Canada (meaning I will have to take my title in person to them and then wait 72 hrs to officially export/import it). You'll want to know that before you make such a long drive! There are no fees for the export, but you have to do it before you can import it on the Canadian side, and you can't reregister it in Canada without importing it.

[Avila]

Thanks for the replies!
 I'll really have to keep thinking about this. Driving sounds like a pain. Shipping sounds exspensive. Selling sounds easy...but then i'm carless.
When you cross the border, do they go through all your belongings...for instance...would they dissect my computer if I drove it up? I'm more or less just wondering what the experiance of crossing the border is like, about how long does it take? I'm scared to drive across the US only to be denied entry for something silly.

[AmericaninQuebec]

Thanks for the replies!
 I'll really have to keep thinking about this. Driving sounds like a pain. Shipping sounds exspensive. Selling sounds easy...but then i'm carless.
When you cross the border, do they go through all your belongings...for instance...would they dissect my computer if I drove it up? I'm more or less just wondering what the experiance of crossing the border is like, about how long does it take? I'm scared to drive across the US only to be denied entry for something silly.

I haven't done it yet, but I have heard it's pretty painless. Most people get through it all within 10 to 20 minutes. There are some fairly recent landing stories on the Buffalo thread if you click back a few pages. From what I've read even if you show up with a UHaul they don't really look at it, since you're supposed to have everything listed out on a paper for them. I sincerely doubt they'll do any dissecting of your computer.