racer484

I had actually got the Recall Clearance in the form of a VIN check and sent it in to RIV. Somehow RIV misplaced or misfiled it. They called me and said they wouldn't process the Form 2 unless I provided the recall clearance. Luckily I still had the original copy.

Himura357

This is good to know. Just goes to show how random it can be.

I wasn't even asked for it by anyone, at any time. I got my RIV sticker for the car in the mail last week.

Zyepher

I don't get it, people say you must go to the American side of the border before going to the canadian side when importing a vehicle.

All you have to do is simply drive thru the Canadian border, don't waste your time with those ****s.

Himura357

From what I understand, failing to export a car properly puts a flag on your name and information so that the next time you come in to the united states they can lay massive fines and impound your car. Not sure, could be even worse.

Also, I have heard some stories about them not letting continue the import process (form 1) if your car has not been exported correctly, although I cannot confirm. What I can confirm is that at the Canadian bord, they did ask to see my STAMPED title.

Besides, it takes all of 10 minutes to have them look at your car and stamp your title so you don't have to worry. Why not just do it the right way?

zenairdave

Wow. you really played with fire there. Do not mess/lie to border guys unless you want to risk loosing your new purchase and being prevented from entering the usa for a very long time. The only thing I heard that did not sound right is once you get into canada your temp usa permit is worth zero and you are supposed to have your car on a trailer or find a way to get a temp ontario permit. Also cars made in japan will have a 6.1% duty added at the border plus HST. that is likely why you think you got a tax on a tax. And the canadian tire inspection is not free, you paid it to the RIV folks ahead of time. The recall clearance letter is important to get the form two but the RIV folks have been very slow lately and they may have assisted you by looking it up themselves. Don't count on that though.

06Estukay

Yep! Do not screw around with the border guys!

I tried to pull off the exact same thing back in '06. I bought a 2001 Ducati 748S for $6,500. When I got to the border, I went through customs and started to deal with a female agent. I was thinking, "sweet, she won't know the value", so I claimed $3k as I originally planned. As she was doing the paper work, some dude walks behind her, looks at the paper work, then looks at the shiny red 748s (only had 3,000 miles when I got it) in the back of my pick up truck. He then says to me, "Nice 748! Those Marchessini 5 spoke wheels came standard only on the S model, right?". I'm thinking, "I'm fooked". He looks at the price that I claimed, and that was it lol. He tells the other border agent to hold on while he went to look up the value. He did a search on craigslist, ebay, etc and said the bike is worth closer to $10k.

He then interrogated me for hours! I had a fake bill of sale, as well as a money order made out for $3k usd. The dude still didn't believe me, even after calling the previous owner! He was getting really pissed off because he had nothing on me. So he started searching the pickup truck that I had rented, we emptied our pockets, bags, everything... In ones of my pockets, I had a receipt from Scotiabank, showing that I withdrew $3,500 cash in US funds. Can you say busted? LOL. In the end, he said, "look, just come clean with me, otherwise I will impound the bike." I told him the truth, and that was it.

So yah, I was charged a 40% penalty! The charges could have been much more severe. They have the right to seize the vehicle and take as much time as they need to run a full investigation. Pending on the outcome, you could get your car back, or not.

Also, the past 5 years have been hell when going through airports. I used to travel a lot for work, and I was stopped and searched by customs every time I re-entered Canada. A few of the customs agents actually questioned me about the "incident that occurred back in 2006" lol. They keep it on record for approximately 7 years if I remember....

So moral of the story - don't lie about the value of your vehicle. A few hundred bucks of potential savings is not worth losing thousands more, your car altogether, or having years of hassle with Canadian customs

Himura357

^

dc24me

Great thread, worthy of being stickied.

Himura357

Bumping. Had a few people PM me about importing but couldn't find this thread.

Also, they say you should attach the RIV sticker on the inner body in between the driver door but the damn sticker is way to big. Plus, it's not that sticky...

I just put mine in the rear centre console. Hidden, but still there.

VTECMAN99

I used Derek Collini at http://usautoimport.ca/