Well over the last few months, and in particular the last couple of days, I have benefited from the sage advice of many of the people on this site. I'm happy to be able to give something back. The following is my experience importing a vintage (15 year old plus) bike from the US into Canada.
I purchased my newly acquired purple 1973 Honda CB350G K5 twin off Craigslist in Freeland Michigan. I happened to be in London Ontario when I saw the ad so it was only a three hour drive through Sarnia / Port Huron to go get it. The border point where I crossed may be important i and of itself, since I have heard that some crossings require pre-work to be done, but this is the second vehicle I have brought in from Michigan and both were a the same border point, neither required pre work of any kind, and both went easily and quickly.
Essentially what I did was:
- Bought the bike in the US for $1000 American
- Obtained the registration and a bill of sale from the seller
- Drove it to the border inside my VW Van
- At the border I told them I had bought the motorcycle in the US and was bringing it back for personal use
- Flirted shamelessly with the female customs agents
- They filled out a "Vehicle Import Form 1" 13-0132 (0611-05)
- Under the VIN number they drew a line through leftover boxes due to my 11 digit VIN. Apparently Not doing so can cause
problems later
- I paid GST on the purchase price in Canadian Dollars. ($1000 x 1.0183) x 5% = $50.92
- They stamped the form twice, the second stamp being the most important as it exempted the bike from the Registrar of
Imported Vehicles Program (RIV).
- Once back in Ontario I took the bike via my van to get the safety certification for $40
- I obtained insurance
- I went to the MTO with all the documents and paid PST on the bike ($1000 x 1.0183) x 8% = $81.46
There were a few incidental fees I also paid that others may not encounter. For instance I wanted to reuse an old plate but did not have the green plate portion of the old ownership so I had to pay a fee to replace the missing document. I also grabbed a drivers abstract and paid for the plate until August 2010 (2 years and three months). Total was $207.96 (that includes the $81.46 PST mentioned above). Add the $50.92 GST and $40 certification and the total cost was $298.88. Again this excludes the cost of a new plate and includes a registration sticker valid for 27 months.
Add the cost of the bike $1018.30 and the whole deal cost $1317.18 plus gas costs to and from the seller.
No snags, no problems, no fuss
One SMALL word of warning. If you rent a one way uHaul in the US to do the same thing Canadian Customs may have an issue since you're not returning the uHaul to the States.. I cannot recall why it's an issue, but recall a Canadian Customs agent mentioning it was an issue to me at a separate unrelated occasion. Fortunately they were in a good mood and just let it go.
Hope this helps, and I wish you an experience as smooth as mine.
Christopher
I purchased my newly acquired purple 1973 Honda CB350G K5 twin off Craigslist in Freeland Michigan. I happened to be in London Ontario when I saw the ad so it was only a three hour drive through Sarnia / Port Huron to go get it. The border point where I crossed may be important i and of itself, since I have heard that some crossings require pre-work to be done, but this is the second vehicle I have brought in from Michigan and both were a the same border point, neither required pre work of any kind, and both went easily and quickly.
Essentially what I did was:
- Bought the bike in the US for $1000 American
- Obtained the registration and a bill of sale from the seller
- Drove it to the border inside my VW Van
- At the border I told them I had bought the motorcycle in the US and was bringing it back for personal use
- Flirted shamelessly with the female customs agents
- They filled out a "Vehicle Import Form 1" 13-0132 (0611-05)
- Under the VIN number they drew a line through leftover boxes due to my 11 digit VIN. Apparently Not doing so can cause
problems later
- I paid GST on the purchase price in Canadian Dollars. ($1000 x 1.0183) x 5% = $50.92
- They stamped the form twice, the second stamp being the most important as it exempted the bike from the Registrar of
Imported Vehicles Program (RIV).
- Once back in Ontario I took the bike via my van to get the safety certification for $40
- I obtained insurance
- I went to the MTO with all the documents and paid PST on the bike ($1000 x 1.0183) x 8% = $81.46
There were a few incidental fees I also paid that others may not encounter. For instance I wanted to reuse an old plate but did not have the green plate portion of the old ownership so I had to pay a fee to replace the missing document. I also grabbed a drivers abstract and paid for the plate until August 2010 (2 years and three months). Total was $207.96 (that includes the $81.46 PST mentioned above). Add the $50.92 GST and $40 certification and the total cost was $298.88. Again this excludes the cost of a new plate and includes a registration sticker valid for 27 months.
Add the cost of the bike $1018.30 and the whole deal cost $1317.18 plus gas costs to and from the seller.
No snags, no problems, no fuss
One SMALL word of warning. If you rent a one way uHaul in the US to do the same thing Canadian Customs may have an issue since you're not returning the uHaul to the States.. I cannot recall why it's an issue, but recall a Canadian Customs agent mentioning it was an issue to me at a separate unrelated occasion. Fortunately they were in a good mood and just let it go.
Hope this helps, and I wish you an experience as smooth as mine.
Christopher
