Importing Car, Crossing Border on Old US Plates

[plank]

I checked with transport Canada and CBSA that they are fine with getting a letter from the Lender and my Lender said he is ok with export and it was cool for me. After seeing Croaker's post I was thrown off little bit and want to confirm if that is the case(paying off my lender in U.S before the vehicle could be registered) and I am heading to Toronto. If any one has any more info on this please share. Thanks in advance

[links18]

Some US auto lenders will allow you to "transfer" the lien to Canada. I imagine the bigger finance companies with wings in both countries are the most likely to allow you to do this. I once heard that Ford Motor credit will allow this, but I can't guarantee they still do.  As long as the lien can legally be registered in Canada, I imagine you won't have a problem registering the vehicle in any Canadian province. You are supposed to fax the vehicle title to US Customs 72 hours before you cross the border with the car when you are exporting it and one of the things they will check is to see that there are no liens. So you if you find a lender willing to let you transfer the lien to Canada, then I would suggest checking with US customs also to see what documentation they need to ensure that the car can be exported.

As far as how long can you drive the car in Canada with US plates after you move it depends on the province. Manitoba gives you 3 months after you move to register the car there. A US plated vehicle being regularly in Canada, particularly if it is not from a border state, will stick out more than a Canadian one driven in the US, so beware.

[croaker]

I did export the car from the US.  I mentioned that I completed the RIV process and have my Canadian certification sticker.  RIV said I am all good as far as they are concerned.

I have a letter from the lien holder that authorizes me to take the car out of the US for 90 days.  They would not give me free reign with the car in Canada but the plan was either to pay off the car or continue to get 90 day extension letters.  If you have any more questions please ask.  Basically, you can get a letter but life is tough if you do not pay off the car and get the title.

The Canadian motor vehicle office said they would not register the car because I only had a 90 day letter.  They said they would register the car if I had a letter that was good for the length of my loan period. 

I really do not want to drive my car illegally.  It is done the importation process but still registered and insured in the US.  It sounds like the car should be registered in Canada if driven by a Canadian resident.

Hi

Hi Croaker, Could you confirm if the car loan(from U.S financial institution) has to be paid off before registering vehicle in any province in Canada? Is it true for all provinces or just some? could you give more details regarding this as I am trying to import my car to Canada from U.S which is on lien? Thanks a lot

I will take a guess that Croaker didn't export the car from the US.  http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/basic_trade/export_docs/motor_vehicle.xml  or s/he had a letter from the lender allowing him/her to export the car, very unusual.

PMM

[croaker]

I have a Ford and the 90 day letter was the best I could get.  They are willing to renew it, assuming I keep my payments up and on time. 

If I got financing from a Canadian institution (i.e., a bank) I could register the car without any problems.  My life is complicated by the fact that the lienholder is in the US.  I am leaning towards paying the car off in full.

Some US auto lenders will allow you to "transfer" the lien to Canada. I imagine the bigger finance companies with wings in both countries are the most likely to allow you to do this. I once heard that Ford Motor credit will allow this, but I can't guarantee they still do.  As long as the lien can legally be registered in Canada, I imagine you won't have a problem registering the vehicle in any Canadian province. You are supposed to fax the vehicle title to US Customs 72 hours before you cross the border with the car when you are exporting it and one of the things they will check is to see that there are no liens. So you if you find a lender willing to let you transfer the lien to Canada, then I would suggest checking with US customs also to see what documentation they need to ensure that the car can be exported.

As far as how long can you drive the car in Canada with US plates after you move it depends on the province. Manitoba gives you 3 months after you move to register the car there. A US plated vehicle being regularly in Canada, particularly if it is not from a border state, will stick out more than a Canadian one driven in the US, so beware.

[plank]

Thank you very much Croaker, Links18 and PMM, I think it is more clear to me now. I guess if I get an letter with no stress on time line it may work... I will check with my financial institution again

[croaker]

Plank, I think it may be hard to get a letter with no time limit.  They will want to keep their property on a short leash.

[links18]

I have a Ford and the 90 day letter was the best I could get.  They are willing to renew it, assuming I keep my payments up and on time. 

If I got financing from a Canadian institution (i.e., a bank) I could register the car without any problems.  My life is complicated by the fact that the lienholder is in the US.  I am leaning towards paying the car off in full.

Is the car financed through Ford Motor Credit Corporation or is it just a Ford financed from some other institution? Now that the car has been legally imported to Canada, it might be easier for you to get a Canadian lender to refinance the vehicle, since the car is located in Canada, they can collect on their collateral easily if need be. Do you have a valid Vehicle Import Form 1 executed by CBSA? If so, it seems strange to me that the provincial authorities won't register the lien. An American creditor can sue you in Canada just about as easily as a Canadian one can. It seem there should be more reciprocity in this situation.......

[croaker]

Is the car financed through Ford Motor Credit Corporation or is it just a Ford financed from some other institution? Now that the car has been legally imported to Canada, it might be easier for you to get a Canadian lender to refinance the vehicle, since the car is located in Canada, they can collect on their collateral easily if need be. Do you have a valid Vehicle Import Form 1 executed by CBSA? If so, it seems strange to me that the provincial authorities won't register the lien. An American creditor can sue you in Canada just about as easily as a Canadian one can. It seem there should be more reciprocity in this situation.......

As I said, I have finished the importation process.  The provincial authorities won't register the car because my export authorization letter from Ford is only for 90 days.  They don't want to register a car that can be recalled to the US.

Ford inexplicably cannot just transfer the financing payments to Ford Canada.  I may try this again. 

If I got a Canadian lender to refinance, Ford would be paid off and my problems regarding registration in the province would be solved.