On 09/13/02 12:25 PM, "GSFuqua1@aol.com" wrote:
> Can anyone give me some assistance/guidance on what is required/necessary to
> import a 1967 built British Sports Car into the US from Canada? Thank you.
>
> Gary Fuqua
> gsfuqua1@aol.com
I just went through this when I bought my '74 TR6 in April and brought it to
Ohio. Here's what I did:
1) The first thing they ask when you cross back into the US is whether
you've bought anything during your visit to Canada. News flash: answering
"Yes... the car I'm driving" is a pain in the butt. Since I was buying the
car from a seller in Windsor (which is near the US border) I asked the
seller to drive the car over the border for me. We physically completed the
transaction in Detroit. He was all too happy to do this because I paid for
the car in US dollars, which all Canadians love these days.
2) The seller signed over his Canadian title to me and gave me a receipt
for the amount paid. He then has an obligation to notify the Canadian
government that he no longer owns the car.
3) I took the Canadian title with the seller's signature to the Ohio BMV
where I had to have an inspection and pay Ohio sales tax on the sale price
of the car. Once I completed this, the BMV issued me an Ohio title. It's
important to note a couple of things that might have been unique to Ohio.
First, the "inspection" is performed by the BMV and is only to confirm that
the VIN on the title matches the car - nothing else. They didn't care about
emissions, safety etc. Second, when I paid the sales tax, they accepted the
seller's receipt as proof of the sale amount. (I suppose the receipt I
presented could have had any amount on it, but that's between a person and
their conscious).
The fact that I had a Canadian title was completely irrelevant to Ohio. I
was told that this was the exact same process that would have been required
had I bought the car in Indiana or any other out-of-state location.
4) I took the Ohio title to a Deputy Registrar office and got my license
plates.
That's it.
I never had to deal with Customs or import taxes etc. I didn't want to test
this theory, but supposedly I'm only guilty of avoiding some paperwork. I
was told that NAFTA eliminated import taxes between the US and Canada. Your
mileage may vary.
The only hitch was that since I DROVE my car back to Ohio I needed license
plates - and I couldn't get plates without the title. So I had to put a set
of plates from another car on it for the trip. I was told by the BMV that
this is technically a no-no, but the state looks the other way as long as
you 1) have the title to the car you're driving 2) no longer own the "other"
car and 3) limit this behavior to a single trip. Sounds fishy, I realize,
but I took my chances and survived.
john
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