Crossing US to Canada for Landing on my Own Car

[edufizz]

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone can give me some guidance on my plan.
We are planning to move up from the US to Canada before the end of this year and for our "main moving", we are going to send out one of the PODS, however for our "light moving", I own a full-paid car that I was planning to cross the border with the whole family and a small UHAUL trailer attached with light belongings for our first weeks in Canada until the POD arrives. Now, I have been searching for the whole "importation of vehicle from the US" and the legwork on that is insane but I also don't want to pay $$$$ to rent a car so do you think I could drive on own car for the crossing and after I get to my destination, having a friend bring the car back to the US so they can sell here? Anyone had an experience similar to this?
Thank you in advance for everyone's help!

 

[Mort Sinclair]

Why wouldn't you want to import the car you already own?

 

[edufizz]

Why wouldn't you want to import the car you already own?

I started "scratching the surface" about that process and even that is still a possibility, they make that as hard and discouraging that unless you really have to import the car, you don't want to take that route.

 

[Mort Sinclair]

That's not really true. Yes, it's a pain to do, but it's the U.S. side that exports. Canada doesn't care as long as the car meets Canadian specifications. There is a lot of documentation on this site about exporting to make the process easier. It's just a matter of being methodical and patient. Cars in Canada are significantly more expensive, so it might be worth your time.

 

[edufizz]

That's not really true. Yes, it's a pain to do, but it's the U.S. side that imports. Canada doesn't care as long as the car meets Canadian specifications. There is a lot of documentation on this site about importing to make the process easier. It's just a matter of being methodical and patient. Cars in Canada are significantly more expensive, so it might be worth your time.

Mort,
Based on your own experience, yep, I agree that is a process that can be done. This is just me taking the easy route because, as you imagine, planning this move between house, two business and everything else is quite something. Good thing is that I still have some time to get done. Thank you Sir!

 

[jaydoshi3292]

I imported my car and it is easier than it seems. You just have to do an AES filing through an agent and that's all there is for exporting from US. For Canada, you just need to fill the RIV form online, very straight-forward, send recall clearance letter to RIV and then cross the border. They will do the rest and after that, you have 45 days to just get safety test done and get car registered with Ontario. There are small things like waiting for RIV to send safety sheet and things but you don't actually have to do anything. You can go to RIV.ca and they will give you a step-by-step process along with all the information you need including port of entry operating hours and everything.

Also, make sure everything that will be following is on your B4. You can also throw your car on there even if you decide you don't want to import it just to be on safe side. I considered selling my car and just buying a new one in Ontario, but they have 13% tax here as compared to 6.5% in US on cars which amounts to couple thousand dollars