Importing a car to Canada - some questions

[mapleleafs2011]

So my wife has already landed and we now plan on importing her car.

I went to the dealership to ask for a recall clearance letter, they said there was an actual recall on the car (for the spare tire) and they'll have to service it before releasing it/providing the letter.

Anyways I was checking the RIV website and I was curious what the actual requirements are. I thought if the car appears on the list of admissible vehicles, and I have a recall clearance letter that should be enough.

I went through the "checklist" creator the website provided and it lists the following that is checked for:


* Recall clearance letter
* The vehicle must bear a manufacturer's valid U.S. Statement of Compliance (SOC) label at the time of import/inspection.
* Valid alpha-numeric 17-digit Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
* Metric speedometer
* Odometer labels
* Daytime running lights
* Child restraint tether anchorage hardware kit
* Child restraint tether anchorage point locations (see Transport Canada's List of Vehicles Admissible from the United States)
* French supplementary restraint system label for airbags that require periodic maintenance
* Air bag equipped vehicles are required to have functioning air bags at the time of inspection.
* If the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of the vehicle is less than 10,000 lbs., and the manufacture date is after September 1, 2007, it must be equipped with an electronic immobilizer system that meets Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS) 114.


Everything seems to be fine with the exception of "* French supplementary restraint system label for airbags that require periodic maintenance" Since this is a US car, I assume it doesn't have this. Where would I get these labels from? Are they actually even checked for? Or am I just overlooking this? If the vehicle is "admissible" based on the list, it should already have all these points and I don't need to worry any further.

Also, since my wife is insured for the month in the US, we should not have to get any Canadian insurance yet until we get it registered to the province correct?

edit: One last thing, the car title\registration is under her old last name (she was previously married,) We should be okay if I provide them with a divorce documentation I assume?

 

[Sarnia]

Imported a car into Ontario recently and the lack of a French translation was not an issue. No one checked for this or asked about it. Importing into Quebec may be a different issue - I don't know.

Your wife may be insured for the month in the U.S. but make sure the U.S. insurance company provides coverage for driving in Canada as well. She should also request a Canadian Insurance Card for driving the car temporarily in Canada. She can use the U.S. insurance until she registers the car in Canada. At that point, she will need proof of insurance from a Canadian insurance company.

Old last name in registration - should be fine as long as you have the documentation to prove it.

 

[mapleleafs2011]

Thanks,

Importing the seems pretty straight forward then.

 

[mapleleafs2011]

So I just talked with US Customs and they said I'll need to head over to the port of entry to pickup a vehicle export package, get it filled out and leave it with them for 72hours?

When I was researching, I thought I was able to fax them title, registration, and sales reciept and that should be enough no?

I plan on crossing through the peace arch at Blaine, WA.


Can anyone with experience provide any information? If that really is the case, am I allowed to fill out the package, goto canada with the vehicle for 72hours, return to the border to finish the export so I can import into canada then?