The process was surprisingly easy. I purchased the car through eBay from a dealer in Kansas city (Premiere Auto). The dealer faxed the US Customs (at the border crossing) the bill of sale and transfer of title which they require 72 hours prior to the car crossing the border. Then he mailed the original documents to me in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Meanwhile, via the internet, I found a carrier to ship the car to the US-Canadian border, which cost me $900.00 — cheaper and easier than flying to Kansas and driving the car back.
I had the carrier phone me 2 hours before arriving at the border to give me time to drive there and meet him. That worked out perfectly. He drove it off the truck's ramp and I drove it a few 100 feet to the Canadian Customs office.
The Canadian customs sent me directly to the US Customs to get the car inspected. That amounted to a fat female officer looking at the car for 30 seconds and stamping an official form. Now back to the Canadian Customs.
Getting through customs would have been a breeze, except for one thing. There was great confusion as to the car's origin. Inside the Z3's door is a code that starts with a "W" indicating Germany as its origin. But the dealer had informed me it was manufactured in South Carolina. This is very important: If Germany is the car's origin, it is considered a foriegn car and subject to a huge import tax ($2-3000.00!) After an hour of phone calls, the officer informed me that the parts originated in Germany, but the assembly was completed in the States. This only added to the confusion, since the officer was not sure about what was meant by "origin". Many more phone calls later it was determined that since it was made in the States, it was not a foriegn car! I was issued a "Form 1" document and off I went!
The Form 1 has to be sent to Ottawa (fax it, don't mail it!) You are then issued a Form 2 (ask for it to be faxed or emailed to you.) This form allows you to have the car inspected for 1) Safety— which is any garage you like and 2) Canadian Standards— which is Canadian Tire (the official place to have imported cars inspected to ensure they meet Canadian standards). These are two separate inspections. [TIP: When you have the car inspected for safety, take it to a garage that knows what the next inspection is looking for so you can have them make any changes at this time. Then, you can just give the paperwork to the inspectors at Canadian Tire and be on your way in ten minutes. In my case, the garage altered the headlights to come on automatically when the car is started.
Finally, you go to any Autopac agent and get your car insured. That's it!
This may sound like a lot of work but it was nothing compared to what I expected. All my friends had horror stories to keep me awake at night, but that's what friends do at times like this when you are about to have an operation, or take a trip to Mexico.
By the way, there is NO duty to pay. Just PST and GST.
