How to Import a Ferrari into Canada - Full Instructions - Sept/Oct 2014

I have just completed the process of sucessfully importing a 2000 Ferrari 360 (14 yrs old at time of import) into Canada (Alberta), and thought I'd share my experience with you on what to do and what not to do.
Its (only!) 26 easy steps (!?).

The rules keep changing so if you're looking at older posts then this one should be more up to date for the process in October 2014. I checked the RIV.ca website to make sure I could import the vehicle (14 years old), and found that the 8th digit of my VIN was an A signifying it was a USA spec model and could be imported. If it had a B then it means Euro Spec and that cannot be imported until its 15 years old. Under 15 years old has to go through RIV program, over 15 years doesnt. (BTW- if anyone is wondering the date of manufacture is considered the first of the month for the month/year shown on the VIN - a friend got this answered by minister of transport in Alberta - so dont let border guard tell you its the end of the month if you're right on the 15 year line). There are new rules for US exports that now require all vehicles (exported Oct-2014 onwards) to electronically notify US customs of the pending export through their AES system, rather than just faxing them details as before. Individuals cannot do this filing, only brokers, but its only $50-$100 fee depending on the broker, to file for you.

So I live in Calgary Alberta Canada, and I purchased a 2000 Ferrari 360 6-speed in rosso corsa on black from San Francisco Sports Cars (great company!).

The order events for me was: (other provinces may vary slightly)

1. Bought the car and paid the money, then emailed the Alberta Ferrari dealership and told them I'd just bought a car and was being anal about having all records, so I asked them to confirm that all recalls had been done. They looked it up and confirmed they had, so I asked them to take a screenshot of their dealer system showing my VIN and all campaigns done and their dates. I did NOT tell them I was importing the vehicle, I told them I already had it and I just wanted the records for my collection. I hear they can tell you to go to Ferrari HQ and get an official letter and they might charge me $000s if you are importing it! Tell them you're going to bring it there for service, they'll likely be more helpful.
2. I emailed RIV and asked them if a letter/email from any Ferrari dealership would be OK for proof all recalls were done, and they said yes and I got a case number to refer to if I had any problems.
3. Get bill of sale from dealer, scan and email this to my insurance company, and they give me 30-day pink card for insurance (permanent one is in the mail)
4. Use a broker to electronically file bill of sale and title to US customs 72-hrs before crossing the border with vehicle (about $75 from a broker)
5. I used a broker to complete all import forms (only $200 on top of notification fee see above), they were prepared and left for me at Coles brokers in Coutts on the Canadian side of the border.
6. Did a wire transfer to the broker to pay all the GST (5%) and duty (6.1% made in Italy vehicle) and $100 air conditioning fee I think. The broker pays Canadian customs for you, so theres nothing to pay at the border.
7. Went to the Alberta registry and got a 7 day 'in transit permit' for $30 - they say I can use this to drive vehicle back from border to home (Calgary) and to take it to get inspections in order to get it registered.
8. Drove the vehicle to the border (on a Saturday morning) at Sweetgrass MN/Coutts AB, and parked and went in to US customs with my email from them saying they'd received my 72-hr filing, the original title and original bill of sale. Note that 72hrs does not include weekends, and starts the morning after you file it. (Even though Sweetgrass is a 24x7 port - though I believe you cannot export a vehicle between 11pm and 6am)
9. Less than 5 minutes at the US border and they stamp my title and bill of sale as 'for export'
10. Drive to the Canadian side in the car and tell them I'm importing a vehicle (helps if the border guard is a young guy who like Ferrari's!), he'll tell you to pull into parking and go into the office. If you're using a broker, tell the border guard in the booth you need to get paperwork from the Coles office in Coutts (2 mins walk away) and he notes it down on the form before you go and park (Coles are open 6am-12pm 7 days a week!)
11. Pickup paperwork from Coles broker in Coutts - you MUST show them the original title stamped with 'for export' by US customs - otherwise they wont release the paperwork
12. Take the broker forms (Form 1 and a few other pieces they prepare) into Canadian customs office along with original bill of sale and title (both stamped by US customs).
13. They take all your paperwork, scan the barcodes on it, stamp the Form 1 (important - make sure they dont forget to stamp it!), then they told me all about how the RIV system works, asked me what the car was like to drive and asked how much it was new (just out of curiosity!). They told me there was no taxes or duty to pay - broker had taken car of all that. I was told that when you use a well known broker, they just scan the papers and dont give you a hard time, they are used to the broker filling everything out properly - worth using the broker just for that piece of mind! Also I've heard if you got the car very cheaply they can ask you for proof of payment (e.g. a wire transfer proof) and/or the website/ad showing the car advertised with the price - this is just so they're sure you arent under-declaring the value of the car and that you're paying all the tax you should.
14. After 10 minutes on the Canadian side, all forms are stamped and I'm good to go! Breath a big sigh of relief! Whole process at both borders was probably only 20 mins total!
15. Stick the in-transit fee on the window of the vehicle (I left the California plates on it too - but I didnt need to - thought I'd be less likely to be pulled over by the cops)
16. Drive home with big smile on face!
17. When home, went on to RIV web site immediately on Saturday night and paid $195 online quoting my VIN number, and my Case number (big red text on Form 1)
18. Monday, had my daytime running lights fitted by local exotic independent ($250 all in! - about 1hr labour plus a $120 relay part)
19. Waited until Tueday and emailed RIV asking for Form 2. They said that they hadnt received Form 1 faxed from Canadian customs yet (maybe I was supposed to send it, not sure??) anyway I scanned and emailed them copy of Form 1 to the support email address, AND I sent my email of all no outstanding recalls from the Alberta ferrari dealer to the recalls email adress, and crossed my fingers.
20. Next day them sent me an e-mail saying all was good and a link to download and print Form 2.
21. Next day went to Canadian tire with my Form 2, stamped Form 1, certificate of title, bill of sale etc. RIV inspections are quick so you just walk in and wait - I went 8am and they fitted me in right away. Wasnt going to leave the vehicle alone with the Canadian tire mechanic, so we walked around it together, and he looked for VIN number, daytime running lights, airbags and stickers, US certificate sticker of conformity on door jamb and that was about it. 5-10 mins and it's done! I have to pay $4 per tire environmental fee ('inspection' is already covered in $195 RIV fee), he stamps Forms 1 (bottom right) and completes and stamps Form 2 (bottom right) and faxes it to RIV while I am there. He tells me I'll receive a Canadian sticker of compliance in the mail that I have to fix in the door jamb (I've heard you can just keep it in your glove box if you dont want to stick it on).
22. Straight after Canadian tire (same morning) I go to the Alberta registry and request an out of province (OOP) inspection form ($9). I have to show them original title, Form 1, bill of sale, and driving license. Wierdly they didnt ask to see Form 2 - so I could have got this OOP form immediately after crossing border.
23. Same morning I take this OOP request form that I got from the registry and I take it along with the Ferrari to the local exotic independent (who fitted the DRLs earlier) who are registered to do OOP inspections. They login to a government Alberta website and print the necessary forms off (using the number on the request form I just got from the registry). They spend about 1.5hrs doing the inspection - which is a safety inspection covering lights, brakes, wipers etc etc), everything passes and they print off a pass form and we both sign it.
24. Same day, I take the OOP pass form to the registry, along with Form 1 and (this time) Form 2, original bill of sale, original title, certificate of insurance and driving license, pay $90 for 14-months registration, and they issue me with Alberta plates. Yay!
25. Put the plates on my car and rip up the 'in-transit' permit.
26. Drive home and have a well deserved beer! <- Step 26 is the most important step!

Hopefully this will help someone. I find because there are so many parties involved, communication of the entire process is very difficult online because each government or private agency only does their piece of the pie and the other parties often change their bit of the process, so the information is very distributed across many web sites and sources.

Bear in mind that these processes do change, this information was compiled Sept/Oct 2014, and is good for Alberta though most stuff apart from provincial taxes (PST/HST) and registry stuff should likely be the same.

One last thing to note... I bought my car in San Francisco, but if I'd collected it in person in California I would have had to pay 9% sales tax! So I had it shipped to Reno NV using Little Jakes Auto Transport (Mike the driver was absolutely fanastic BTW), and drove it back on California plates that the dealer had kindly left on. If he hadnt left the plates on, I was all ready to go to Nevada DMV in Reno and get a temporary movement permit (have to show bill of sale and insurance I believe) - but luckily I didnt have to do that, and only saw 2 cop cars on my 1800km (1200mile) journey back! Before I drove back I made sure I had some basic tools, some 5w40 oil, distilled water for cooling, and a fire extinquisher just in case!

Good luck, its all worth it in the end! Forza Ferrari!

 

You're right it's 6.1% more than if you bought in canada. Not sure what you mean by 15% but there's no provincial sales tax in alberta so it's just 5% federal gst.

 

Hi Gordon, I used Matt (nice helpful guy) at Customsquote.com, and they did all the paperwork, and the 72hr notification, and I picked it up at the Coles office.

Steve at Riegel Tuning in Calgary did the daytime running lights. If you don't know Steve then he's got a great reputation for knowing ferraris inside out for decades, and super honest. Highly recommended.