[V8] Bringging Canadian cars to the US

Tue Feb 10 23:27:52 PST 2009

What bit of the body are the decals stuck to.  It might be possible and not
overly labor intensive to switch body bits with a DOT car of the same color.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: v8-bounces at audifans.com 
> [mailto:v8-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of Gunter Lorberg
> Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 11:15 PM
> To: V8 at audifans.com
> Subject: Re: [V8] Bringging Canadian cars to the US
> 
> 
> I never expected this much interest in my V8's!
> 
> This thread has jogged my memory.  I moved down to Cleveland 
> for a year in '03.  First moved down with a Jetta 
> TD--Canadian-spec.  My Ontario-based Insurance company 
> offered to provide coverage until I was able to secure 
> insurance through a US firm--I was told I needed to register 
> the car and get Ohio plates.  To get Ohio plates, I had to go 
> to a US customs inspection site (there was one in Cleveland) 
> where some guy physically inspected the car--for about one 
> minute.  He checked it over and couldn't find the US DOT 
> decals he was looking for....I got the sense that the process 
> was going to come to a complete hault.  I showed him whatever 
> decals there were on the car (Canadian) and pointed to 
> another one on the front of the car indicating that the car 
> met California emissions......he kind of nodded and signed 
> off on the form.  He was sympathetic and thankfully not a 
> stickler.  That was a close call.
> 
> I brought the red V8 down to Cleveland a few months later but 
> only after negotiating a deal with the insurance company that 
> had insured the Jetta....they were agreeable to insurancing 
> the V8 even though it had Canadian plates on it..on condition 
> that I wouldn't be living in the US for more than one year.
> 
> I'm sorry that I may have mislead you earlier as I noted that 
> I had gotten Ohio plates....just forget the details....the 
> car was a Canadian spec Jetta.  
> 
> I bought the black V8 for my ex-GF (German) who was at 
> Cornell for a couple of years.  She rented a duplex in Ithaca 
> for a couple of years, and drove the V8 around locally (she 
> was an excellent driver--German driver training programs are 
> impressive).....it kept Ontario plates and Ontario-based 
> insurance under my name.  In hindsight I probably stretched 
> things a little there but in the end no harm came of it.
> 
> At the end of the day, I am beginning to realize that 
> registering these V8's in the US will pose a challenge.  They 
> are not DOT-spec---let me correct myself---they only lack the 
> DOT decal--makes me wonder whether someone could lift a DOT 
> decal from another US-spec parted-out V8
> 
> If the DOT matter can't be sorted out, these V8's might just 
> be a collection of parts for someone in the US.
> 
> Could also be a challenge to just get them across the border. 
>  I would probably have to drive them across myself with the 
> plates that are currently on the cars.......at Niagara Falls 
> or Watertown (NY).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Scott DeWitt <sdewitt at stx.rr.com>
> To: ron_01056 at yahoo.com; v8 at audifans.com; Karl D. 
> Middlebrooks <benzeenprophet at hotmail.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 9:53:46 PM
> Subject: Re: [V8] Bringging Canadian cars to the US
> 
> You can only bring cars over as parts if the drivetrain is 
> incomplete, namely the engine is removed. Any and all 
> vehciles privately imported must meet US saftey and emissions 
> standards. It either must be 25 years old or older, or 
> federalized to meet US emissions and saftey standards for the 
> year of manufacture. 
> 
> It is a myth that you can import vehicles from other 
> countries into the United States by first bringing the car 
> into Canada. 
> 
> To import a Candian vehicle into the US without having it 
> federalized you must have documetation from the manufacturer 
> that the vehicle meets US satftey and emission standards. 
> Just because it meets Canadian standards does not mean the 
> vehicle will meet US standards.
> 
> 
> 
> ---- "Karl D. Middlebrooks" <benzeenprophet at hotmail.com> wrote: 
> > They do not need to be sold as parts cars. While I'm not sure of the
> > procedure, I do know that my 93 began its life as a 
> Canadian car before it 
> > was registered in California by the previous owner (it's 
> got some sticker in 
> > the door indicating that it's a Canadian car). The 
> California title I 
> > received was not branded in any way, nor is my Oregon title.
> > 
> > Of course, the gubmint could have made things more difficult in the
> > meantime, but I did a little research a while back trying 
> to get a Lotus 
> > Esprit into the country from the UK, and if I could have 
> gotten the thing to 
> > Canada, then it was no problem to bring into the US. I 
> couldn't get it to 
> > Canada, because Canada (if I recall correctly) was even 
> more restrictive 
> > than the US on bringing entire cars into the country from overseas.
> > 
> > Anywho, check this out: It has lots of good links to it. It 
> was what I 
> > dug
> > through when I was doing my research:
> > 
> > 
> http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_import_a_used_car_from_canada_to_
> > the_US
> > 
> > --------------------------------------------------
> > From: "Ron Wainwright" <ron_01056 at yahoo.com>
> > Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 3:10 PM
> > To: <v8 at audifans.com>
> > Subject: [V8] Bringging Canadian cars to the US
> > 
> > > So........ looks like I need to know what it's going to 
> take to get 
> > > these
> > > two V8's to the States.
> > > Do they need to be sold as parts cars? Or could I drive 
> the good one over 
> > > the boarder & haul the other one? haul both?
> > >
> > > Ron
> > >
> > >
> > >
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