Moving car through U.S. from Canada on temporary registration?

Hello,

I'll be buying a car in another province in Canada and driving it
back through the U.S. to my home province with a temporary registration
permit. This means that the car will not have any plates in place and
will only have a temporary paper permit placed on the front window.

To me, this seems somewhat risky to drive long distances, through two
countries with no obvious plates on display.

Am I more likely to get stopped or hassled at the border in this
situation?

Has anyone done this before and have you had any problems?

Dave

On Sun, 8 Jan 2006, Hatunen wrote:

>> I'll be buying a car in another province in Canada and driving it back
>> through the U.S. with a temporary registration permit. This means that
>> the car will not have any plates in place and will only have a
>> temporary paper permit placed on the front window. Am I more likely to
>> get stopped or hassled at the border in this situation?
>
> My question would be, "Are the Americans going to try to charge me
> customs duties?"

No, they're not going to try to charge him Customs duties, because he's
not importing the car. This is much more than a matter of just answering a
US Customs agent's "Are you importing this vehicle?". The only way to do
so is with a fair stack of paperwork. Compliance letter from the
manufacturer, EPA 3251 form, DOT HS7 form, etc. Without that paperwork,
the answer is automatically "No, this vehicle is not being imported",
therefore no grounds upon which to charge duties or taxes.

I've driven across the US-Canada border a few times with newly-bought,
temporarily-tagged vehicles. In all cases, I had the sales paperwork,
proof of insurance and so forth with me. In one case, the US agent asked
to see it. In all cases, I was allowed through without hassle.

Thanks Daniel - I appreciate the info. As you assume, I'm not planning
on importing the car into the US - just driving it through the US to
another Canadian province..

Did you get stopped from highway patrol at all because you didn't have
plates? To me this seems more likely..

BTW - sorry for the multiple posts..

DP

Daniel J. Stern wrote:
> On Sun, 8 Jan 2006, Hatunen wrote:
>
> >> I'll be buying a car in another province in Canada and driving it back
> >> through the U.S. with a temporary registration permit. This means that
> >> the car will not have any plates in place and will only have a
> >> temporary paper permit placed on the front window. Am I more likely to
> >> get stopped or hassled at the border in this situation?
> >
> > My question would be, "Are the Americans going to try to charge me
> > customs duties?"
>
> No, they're not going to try to charge him Customs duties, because he's
> not importing the car. This is much more than a matter of just answering a
> US Customs agent's "Are you importing this vehicle?". The only way to do
> so is with a fair stack of paperwork. Compliance letter from the
> manufacturer, EPA 3251 form, DOT HS7 form, etc. Without that paperwork,
> the answer is automatically "No, this vehicle is not being imported",
> therefore no grounds upon which to charge duties or taxes.
>
> I've driven across the US-Canada border a few times with newly-bought,
> temporarily-tagged vehicles. In all cases, I had the sales paperwork,
> proof of insurance and so forth with me. In one case, the US agent asked
> to see it. In all cases, I was allowed through without hassle.

DP wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I'll be buying a car in another province in Canada and driving it
> back through the U.S. with a temporary registration permit. This means
> that the car will not have any plates in place and will only have a
> temporary paper permit placed on the front window.
>
> To me, this seems somewhat risky to drive long distances, through two
> countries with no plates.
>
> Am I more likely to get stopped or hassled at the border in this
> situation?
>
> Has anyone done this before and have you had any problems?
>

Temporary registration is only valid in the state or province in which it
is issued.
Yes, you are more likely to get stopped. The police may not push the issue,
since the regulations about use of temporary registrations sounds little
murky, but they are quite likely to check you out. You might have trouble
getting it across the border.

Your best bet would be to contact Canadian and American customs to see what
they require.

DP wrote:
> Thanks Daniel - I appreciate the info. As you assume, I'm not planning
> on importing the car into the US - just driving it through the US to
> another Canadian province..
>
> Did you get stopped from highway patrol at all because you didn't have
> plates? To me this seems more likely..
>
> BTW - sorry for the multiple posts..
>
> DP
>
> Daniel J. Stern wrote:
> > On Sun, 8 Jan 2006, Hatunen wrote:
> >
> > >> I'll be buying a car in another province in Canada and driving it back
> > >> through the U.S. with a temporary registration permit. This means that
> > >> the car will not have any plates in place and will only have a
> > >> temporary paper permit placed on the front window. Am I more likely to
> > >> get stopped or hassled at the border in this situation?
> > >
> > > My question would be, "Are the Americans going to try to charge me
> > > customs duties?"
> >
> > No, they're not going to try to charge him Customs duties, because he's
> > not importing the car. This is much more than a matter of just answering a
> > US Customs agent's "Are you importing this vehicle?". The only way to do
> > so is with a fair stack of paperwork. Compliance letter from the
> > manufacturer, EPA 3251 form, DOT HS7 form, etc. Without that paperwork,
> > the answer is automatically "No, this vehicle is not being imported",
> > therefore no grounds upon which to charge duties or taxes.
> >
> > I've driven across the US-Canada border a few times with newly-bought,
> > temporarily-tagged vehicles. In all cases, I had the sales paperwork,
> > proof of insurance and so forth with me. In one case, the US agent asked
> > to see it. In all cases, I was allowed through without hassle.

Inaddition to what Dave and Daniel said, most states I have been in (a
lot) require the temp registration to be in the back window. At least
in this state (Wa) a car with no tag and no temp displayed in the rear
is going to be stopped.

Harry K

Judy wrote:

> >>Am I more likely to get stopped or hassled at the border in this
> >>situation?
> >
> > My question would be, "Are the Americans going to try to charge
> > me customs duties?"
>
> My question to the OP is, "Why not contact the department of motor vehicles
> for answers?"

My answer to that one would be that the individual state DMV can only tell you
the requirements for that state. They don't know about the requirements for
other states or for customs. Accordingly, the best bet is for the OP to contact
the DMV in each state.

Personally, I have to question the advantage of travelling through the US to
ship a car from one part of Canada to another. Any slight advantage in time
and miles is likely to be outweighed by the hassles likely to be encountered.

I cross the US/Canadian border every day and I always see cars with
temporary plates. They seem to get through without a problem. This is
at the Detroit/Windsor tunnel. But like anything else, it likely
depends on the customs officers that you encounter.

GeoffP wrote:

> Why take the risk? Drive it through Canada. Or is there some reason I don't
> know about?
> Geoff.

A couple of reasons - its actually faster to go through the US when
you're down in Southern Ontario (instead of going up around Lake
Superior). We also want to make a bit of a vacation of it - going to
Chicago,etc..

Dave

I went from Detroit to New England via Canada back in the 1960's.
Except for the bug-coated windscreen in Ontario, I had no problem with
anyone but for a US Customs agent who wondered if the straw spare tire
cover I had still in the Studebaker box might have been made in Red
China and gave me a hassle about it.

Oh, the logo that Ortario Hydro-electric had at that time is the best I
have even seen. Made up for the bug-grease.

West-coast Yankee.

Ah yes, that part of Canada that actually extends southward past the
49th parallel so that for people in certain states, they have to go
*south* to visit Canada. Great question for Trivial Pursuit. Now, if
only the War of 1812 had gone a bit differently that land would be U.S.
. . .