Buying a car from eBay/United States

[propr'one]

Originally Posted by dcramer

According to http://www.riv.ca/RIVExemptions.aspx it is 15 years, yes

So what fee did you pay if it is exempt ?

you still pay the RIV fee, you still do the RIV paperwork, just the 3rd of 4th line of the RIV form stays

Exemption (bunch of options, one being over 15 years old).

and the next line is "if you have checked any of the above boxes, skip the rest of the form".

i'm nearly 100% certain this is the case. It has been a few years since i did this (and the most recent time, i immediately got arrested after processing the paperwork, so, my memory may be hazy. a story for another time).

[dcramer]

I think 98's still have to go through RIV so the point is moot. MPH or KM doesn't matter. The real problem you will have is the letter from BMW. Last time I checked it will cost you 500 bucks, I used to be able to get them cheaper but I think BMW plugged that hole

[5ABIVT]

Doesn't it go by build date which might even be in 97? I figure December of 2013.. Should put the car at 15 years unless it was built the last day of the year

[dcramer]

You can try that argument... look it up in at RIV.ca I'm betting others have tried to use it.

I have no idea

[propr'one]

There is no argument to be made. It goes by production month and year, always has.

my 98 328i had a build date of 03/97

[5ABIVT]

So if the car has a build date earlier than December 98 I'm good and I don't need the $500 letter? I was pissed as hell last time I brought my ss from Cali and had to pay gm $500 for it. Total rip off.

[propr'one]

correct. if its 15 years old you do not need anything from BMW period.

all you need is us export stamp (a wise man recentkly told me CBSA actually doesn't give a **** about this)
riv form 1
pay taxes (duty at CBSA, HST at MTO)
Safety
emissions

done

[bigcletus]

Has anyone recently brought a late model BMW from the US ?? Since US models have both kms/mph will RIV accept that ?? I know DRLs have to be turned on, and the child anchor installed. I know I can get a recall letter from the US for about $25..Is there anything else?? I will be traveling back and forth so the US warranty will suffice..any issues will be fixed there.

[dcramer]

km or mph doesn't matter. I seem to recall something about not accepting the US recall letter. I'd phone RIV

[bigcletus]

I was just on the RIV web site and they say a recall letter from a US or Cdn dealer will suffice. So if the speedo is in both miles & kms, and the child anchor & DRL's are done (ll can be done in teh US), there is really nothing holding back the importation of the car. I'm looking for a recent experience.Does RIV "really" only allow BMW canada to sign off or will Cdn Tire do??

[Hej2002]

Great tread, thanks for the advice

[bmwm5lover]

So I am about to go through this on a later model car, and my head is starting to spin!

What two letters do I need? Recall AND???
A local BMW dealer is telling me that i need to bring the car to them for the recall letter, true?
I am planning on calling the border tomorrow to get some more info.
If I call BMW dealership in the states, will they be able to give me the letters, or do I have to do it here?

My understanding is all I need to have is the ownership sent to the border 72 hours prior to passing, then I do the rest there, go to BMW dealer with the car, get it checked, go to canadian tire, get it checked, get the sticker and do my safety emission?
am I off base?

[propr'one]

terry you got it. afaik admissibility is no longer required.

[bmwm5lover]

Originally Posted by propr'one

terry you got it. afaik admissibility is no longer required.

Got it, so title is all they need before I drive through, then straight to the dealer and then Canadian Tire. Hopefully its on the road by February.

[Steve-O]

I went through this process 4 years ago and it isn't that bad except the getting the recall letter, and this due to BMW Canada. Some manufactures have it on their website and you can print it out yourself.

In a nut shell, this is what you need to do:
1) 72 hours before you plan to cross, send a copy of the title and bill of sale to the US Customs at the border crossing you plan to bring the car across. They just check to make sure it isn't stolen, there are no liens etc.
2) Go get car and take it to border crossing.
3) Stop in at US customs with the original title and bill of sale. Assuming they found no issues, they stamp your papers saying it is ok to export the car
4) Cross the border and stop in at Canadian customs. Here you pay the GST, 6.1% duty (unless it was made in North America), the RIV fee ($150) and the AC fee ($1000. They will start the RIV import paperwork (form 1). If you got a really good deal on the car, it is a good idea to bring any supporting documentation such as printouts of the ad etc. There was a guy locally who tried to bring an Aston Martin across and said he only paid $30k for it. They didn't believe him, impounded the car and then found out he paid a lot more and they seized the car.
5) After you fill out all the forms and pay them, they send Form 1 to the RIV for you. If you have your recall letter, they may send it also. Make sure you get a copy of the Form 1 also. If they send your recall letter, make sure you keep the original.
6) Drive home and park the car. Technically you are not allowed to drive the car as it is not yet registered (at least that is the case in New Brunswick, it might be different in Ontario)
7) In a couple of weeks you will get mail from the RIV saying your recall letter was accepted if you sent it or you need to provide one.
8) Once they have a satisfactory recall letter, they will issue you a Form 2 which states what changes you need to make to your car to meet Canadian standards (daytime running lights etc).
9) Once you make those changes, then you take the car in Canadian Tire and they verify it was done properly. They fill out Form 2 saying all it good and send it off to the RIV.
10) You take your copy of Form 2 into the DMV and then get it registered and pay the PST
11) A few weeks later RIV sends you a sticker to put on your door sill

Now getting the bloody recall letter.... RIV only needs proof that all recalls are done. There are 3 acceptable forms of this:
1) A letter from US or Canadian manufactures head office saying it is good
- BMW USA will not do this
- BMW Canada will make you take it to a dealer, pay them to do all the work and then charge you $500 for the letter. I have heard that in the newer cars they might make you change your entire gauge cluster which is not cheap. It might be worth calling your local dealer to see what say is required for the vehicle you are importing and how much it is going to cost.
2) A printout from an American or Canadian dealership’s vehicle service database
- US BMW dealers are not supposed to do this
- See above for what the Canadian dealers will do for you
3) Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (OEM) web site.
- BMW does not provide this

I was lucky. I made it a condition of the sale that the previous owner get the printout from his dealership's database. It says right on it "no outstanding recalls". It also says at the top "not to be printed and given to customer". But the PO had a good relationship with the dealership and they printed it out. The RIV accepted it and I had no issues. I have heard that the further south you go, the more likely a BMW dealership is to do this. The ones along the border generally do not.

I had Canadian Customs send my proof of recall to the RIV. But 2 weeks later I got a letter from them saying I needed to provide proof of no recalls. I called them up and said that Canada customs sent it. She didn't see it on my file, so I scanned and emailed it to them and it was accepted. I don't know if customs didn't send it, or they did and it wasn't accepted. But it worked the 2nd time.

The RIV has a decent online portal where you can track the progress of your case, make payments (if you didn't at the border) and also provide further documentation such as recall letters.

Finally, Canadian customs just looks at the VIN number to determine where the car was manufactured for duty purposes. Mine starts with a 4, which indicates Germany. So they made me pay the duty, even though all Z3s were built in Spartanburg South Carolina. After I got the car through the RIV process and registered, I sent a letter to BMW Canada asking if my car was made in Germany or the US. The replied with a letter on BMW letterhead stating my car (and my VIN) was in fact built in the US. I sent that letter and the duty refund application to Canada customs and got my duty (plus interest) back.

This was 4 years ago, I don't know if much has changed. If you have any more questions, let me know. Sorry for the long reply.