Date:         Sat, 24 Mar 2012 19:03:14 -0700
Reply-To:     Poppie Jagersand <poppie.jagersand@YAHOO.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Poppie Jagersand <poppie.jagersand@YAHOO.CA>
Subject:      Re: [WetWesties] Canadian Importing Vanagon Westfalia to Canada:
              insurance while in US?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Joy Hecht Wrote:
>Do you know anything about this?  Now that I have Canadian permanent
>residence, I guess I ought to register it here, and I would also like to
>have it in a status where I can sell it.  But I am not keen on driving it
>back to the US - I don't know if I can do that without crossing the border,
>which is a long drive from St. John's NL.



I brought my Westy to Canada, crossing the border with a work permit just like you. I did not do anything special at the border, and kept the Westy registered in New York for a year or two. What prompted me to import it was that my US insurer didn't like to keep insuring it if I was living and working abroad. I just went to the customs office downtown in Edmonton and filled out a form. That form I had to take to an Alberta registry, then to a shop licensed to do out of province inspections. Only hiccup was the inspection. I took it to three different shops who gave three completely different lists of things that needed to be fixed. (One didn't like the rust, another though any rubber boots that looked crackled needed to be replaced,.. mostly just trying to make a bit of extra money in addition to the inspection fee. I went with the cheapest offer, replaced some of the supposedly needed things, but when some VW parts weren't obtainable he gave me the
 inspection certificate anyway. then it was just to insure and register locally. No restriction on selling afaik.
I didn't know about prior arrangements at the border point. I had been driving in and out of Canada for vacation purposes before. When crossing the border I had showed the Canadian work permit but they didn't inquire about the vehicle then.
Would be interested to hear what experience others have.

I'm about to get my Canadian PR, and even the customs officer who signed my list suggested I should go back to the US and pick up another vehicle. (Once settled in Canada one has to pay 5% GST and any provincial taxes on imports, but people who move can bring their household goods including vehicles exempt from tax)

Martin (and '82 Westy 1.9TD "Poppie")