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Why do many people want to import their cars from the States to Canada?

bonsai

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Oct 24, 2009
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AllisonVSC said:
Yes, that is for one year. You can pay all at once, in three payments, or monthly. I went ahead and paid the whole amount. It saved a few bucks...they tack on fees if you make payments. Plus I don't have any income so making monthly payments didn't really make sense to me. The monthly payments would have been about $150.

My agent said we could get a discount (of like 10%) if my partner also took their insurance. He just hasn't changed over yet. I got a horrendous quote from his insurance company, probably because of his less than stellar driving record, lol.
Haha thanks. Right now I don't know if I will still transfer my car. Somebody is willing to buy it from me. But if not, at least I know what to do already. Thanks :p
 

AllisonVSC

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Nov 5, 2009
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where will you be moving to, Bonsai? If it's downtown in one of the big cities like Montreal and Toronto you'll be just fine without a car.
 

kumbu.bumbu

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J1visa said:
Should I sell my car in the US and then buy a new one in Canada or should I buy a new car in the US and then drive it to Canada. My current car is not good enough for driving 20 hours from my current location to my future location in Canada.
The car that is imported should have been purchased by the new resident before certain time I believe it is about one year or 6 months. Otherwise it would be considered as new car and you will have to pay HST excise etc. I imported the car I owned for 3 years when I landed and I just paid around 500 in total for completing the registration.
New car prices are high in Canada comparing US. I heard even after paying HST at the border you save a lot of money when you import a car from US.
 

can_usa_97

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May 22, 2010
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For anyone else who might be curious, I had asked somewhere (can't remember the specific thread but this seems to have become the goto for cars) about having my name on the title to import one of our vehicles. I just got off the phone with the RIV and indeed, to avoid the over 10K taxing my name would need to be on the document. However, in our case, it seems only to be like 600-800 over, and in which case the tax would be just 30-40$ and likely not worth the fee of $70 for a new title here for us.

The gentleman did indicate that I was going to have to pay the excess on the A/C though. :(
 

J1visa

Star Member
Jul 5, 2009
82
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Selling my US car in Canada

Hello everyone,

I have just been approved for the US immigration visa and do not want to drive 30 hours back with my car to resettle down in the States. If I sell my car now in Canada (I drove and imported my car from the US to Canada 6 months ago), do I have to pay for PST/GST or any tax, etc? When I imported my car I did not pay for anything.

The car is very good if you or someone you know want to buy a car, please drop me a message. Actually, I love this car and do not want to sell it but all of my relatives scare me of long time driving under snow. There is already snow where I am living now, so you know where it is right ;D.
 
A

anushauc

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Re: Selling my US car in Canada

J1visa said:
Hello everyone,

I have just been approved for the US immigration visa and do not want to drive 30 hours back with my car to resettle down in the States. If I sell my car now in Canada (I drove and imported my car from the US to Canada 6 months ago), do I have to pay for PST/GST or any tax, etc? When I imported my car I did not pay for anything.

The car is very good if you or someone you know want to buy a car, please drop me a message. Actually, I love this car and do not want to sell it but all of my relatives scare me of long time driving under snow. There is already snow where I am living now, so you know where it is right ;D.
I believe you are in Calgary or up North. If you are in Toronto, PM with details/ info of car !

Regards,
Anusha & Chari
 

kumbu.bumbu

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Re: Selling my US car in Canada

J1visa said:
Hello everyone,

I have just been approved for the US immigration visa and do not want to drive 30 hours back with my car to resettle down in the States. If I sell my car now in Canada (I drove and imported my car from the US to Canada 6 months ago), do I have to pay for PST/GST or any tax, etc? When I imported my car I did not pay for anything.

The car is very good if you or someone you know want to buy a car, please drop me a message. Actually, I love this car and do not want to sell it but all of my relatives scare me of long time driving under snow. There is already snow where I am living now, so you know where it is right ;D.
If you sell it within one year of the import you would have to pay the import duty.
 

J1visa

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Jul 5, 2009
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@anushauc: Sorry my friend, I am not in Toronto, anyone near Alberta/Saskatchewan want to buy a car?
@ kumbu.bumbu : are you sure I have to pay for import duty?
 

AllisonVSC

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Nov 5, 2009
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J1visa said:
@ anushauc: Sorry my friend, I am not in Toronto, anyone near Alberta/Saskatchewan want to buy a car?
@ kumbu.bumbu : are you sure I have to pay for import duty?
When you import your goods you are told that you can not sell your property within one year of landing. I don't remember the exact reason or consequence of selling within the year, but I suspect it had to do with import duty.
 

kumbu.bumbu

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J1visa said:
@ anushauc: Sorry my friend, I am not in Toronto, anyone near Alberta/Saskatchewan want to buy a car?
@ kumbu.bumbu : are you sure I have to pay for import duty?
I asked the officer when he told I cannot sell the car for year why? He told I was allowed to import it duty free since I owned it for a period and importing it for personal use. If I sell sell it I have to pay the duty.