Need help importing a car from Windsor, Ontario to the US

Before complicating things I suggest that you call the border and check on requirements. You can actually call the local border patrol and talk to them. With the right paperwork you should just be able to drive it home. I researched this a few years ago for an e9 in Vancouver, and it seemed surprisingly straight forward.
 
What year is it?
Are you gonna be with the car?
I import 1972 2002tii in Sep 2015.
Did all the work myself . I drove it across the border. It is not difficult. If you are not gonna be with the car whole different story.
If you bring it as a dealer is also different and you have to use an importer...
 
What year is it?
Are you gonna be with the car?
I import 1972 2002tii in Sep 2015.
Did all the work myself . I drove it across the border. It is not difficult. If you are not gonna be with the car whole different story.
If you bring it as a dealer is also different and you have to use an...

Thanks for the quick replies.

Its a '75 2002.

I'm not going to be with the car. Ideally it comes across somehow, sits somewhere and then I arrange for trucking. It needs to go to NH first and then to me in FL
 
If your vehicle is over 25 years old it's very simple. Two forms and you can fill out very easily. You can download it and have it filled out ahead of time.
Below is the best explanation you will find on internet :
https://www.google.com/search?q=how...F-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari#kpvalbx=1

Importers cost rather expensive at least a $1,000 based on value purchased ...

At my Son's graduation dinner party. Will post more tonight when I get home.

Best wishes
Tony P.
 
Thanks, Tony. Enjoy your son's graduation party!

Ideally, a truck picks it up in Windsor with all of the necessary paperwork, which looks pretty straightforward, and then either continues on to NH or drops it somewhere in Detroit. The car did start out as a US spec car so it should have the stickers and conversions but the stickers are not needed anyway since the car is > 25 years old.

Or...a "new friend" in Detroit could buy it, bring it across and then sell it to me. It would have to be someone with a connection to this board.

Keep the suggestions coming. I've got to get this figured out in the next 10 days or I lose it.
 
Well , There are few classics car transport companies based in Canada(I couldn't find any in Us) that do the broker service. They are Licensed and bonded as broker . Almost all classic car dealers in Cananda have a working relationship with such truck companies .... you should be able to look them up, or call any classic car dealers in Canada and they should be able to help you.
From my calculation for a one time customer the trucking company will charge in neighborhoods of 600 to 700 for brokerage fee. This is based on dedacting my estimate of shipping charge (based on distance) and couple of quote I received back last year when I was contempling buying a nice looking 73csi last year in Calgary which didn't work out ..
You best option (least costly) If your friend buy it for you and bring it across then you can buy it from him.
Please have in mind the broker will fill out a lot more paperwork than an individual. So you still have to fill out some of this paperwork perhaps more any ways .....so using a broker, I guess, have more paperwork for (not sure)
Few more points / reminders:

You should have a sales agreement or some sort , or intent to buy between you and the seller ( or your friend and the seller) before you send anyone that way. Have a copy with you when you cross the border. Perhaps even copy of the ad and how you found the car. This will help you show your intent for entering to Canada with plenty of cash in your pocket...
2- if you carry cash across the border declare it on BOTH SIDE... A) on the Amercian side first and B) immediately after , with Canadian authorities. They are next to each other. Also call the US Custome and border control for that location and let them know what your plan is. That will help you or friend get a feel easier about it.
3- you will be required to pay 2.5 percent of buying price as tarrif upon arrival at the border. However you handel the bill of sale it's up to you... so a bill of is what is used to calculate your buying price for authorities at the US customs. You pay in right there. They will stamp the paperwork you filled out and you leave with car either on trailer or drive it across.
4- transfer of title is different in Canada. You don't get neither the Title nor the TAG ( you will be tagless upon arrival into us ... may be your friend wants to take his trailer with him(best option I say) . So only one person is required to go and pick it up too. If you decide to drive into US each state bordering Canada can sell you "three day temporary tag"for like $30. I had to buy one in washington state and spent two hour finding out where to buy it (drugstore in my case) and drive 25 miles to get there . I asked the dealership to evaluate the car for long trip . I drove the my car from ChiliWack to Seattle and left it at BMw dealership waiting pick up by transport company for three week. I prearranged that for service in advance with a particular date .They charged me $130 for inspecting the car and list of items it needs , and telling me the car is not road worthy and I asked to keep it there for three weeks. That was really the main reason I did that as I already knew the car had been sitting for 10 years and even though the seller has brought it back to life it still had plenty work to do.

All and all it is really easy once you exprecine once... and it was I might add a little exciting process..

Sorry for the long response ...
 
Owner driving it into us is not a good option I think....
To get title you have to have US customs stamping your paper work and showing you ha rapid the tariffs .
 
My experience dates back about a dozen years when I flew to Vancouver to buy a US built car that was more than 25 years old and drove it back. The seller was Canadian and had a bank account at a US bank on the US side of the border. The cash was handled by way of a wire transfer. I had picked up a trip permit from my local DMV before leaving for Canada. At the border, the Canadian folks waived me through. On the US side I completed a form, waited for the US Customs people to process the paperwork, (maybe 30 minutes) and I was on my way. Simple except for having to drive 975 miles to get it home. Coincidentally, the car was also in Chilliwack, BC.
 
Closing the loop on this.

Most certainly and in hindsight, picking up and paying for this car in person would have been cheaper and easier. Alas, I was 1,000 miles away and not able to do that for a variety of reasons. Instead, I did finally hook up with a NY based importer who picked up and shuttled the car through the various import stages even transporting it to NH which was its first stop (Mario Langsten's shop) before being forward onto me. It was a learning exercise and sometimes frustrating due to the lack of communication along the way but it all worked out. It arrived a couple of weeks ago.

Registration was a breeze though I did have to drive to a regional DMV in Jacksonville to get the VIN notarized.

For a car that has spent the last 20+ years in Canada and Ohio before that, I'd say its never been driven in the Winter. There is more rust under the trim (and not very much) then there is underneath. Freshly aligned and with a new, uncracked center glasspack, it now runs great though I'd forgotten the steering effort required on these made even harder on this one due to the 15s. I've got a small list things to do but I drive it every evening now.

Thanks again for the advice.

Now if I can just find a curve down here in FL...
 

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Keep in mind that California plays by its own set of rules...


"
If the vehicle was not originally manufactured to meet CARB and EPA emission requirements and DOT FMVSS, the vehicle cannot be registered in California, unless the owner of the vehicle qualifies for one of the following exemptions. The vehicle was:

  • Obtained as part of divorce, dissolution, legal separation, or inheritance.
  • Purchased to replace a California-registered vehicle which was damaged, became inoperative beyond reasonable repair, or stolen while out of state.
  • Acquired while the owner was a resident of, or on active military duty in, another state or country where the vehicle was registered in their name for at least one year.
  • Manufactured with an engine displacement of less than 50 cubic centimeters."
 
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