Crazy Canuck

I imported my '04 in '07 also from Illinois.

I had the dealer that did the PPI, Napleton I think, print off an outstanding recall report. That's all I needed for the proof that there were no recalls outstanding.

Fly there, inspect the car prior to payment (i had my sister go into the bank with a letter I signed) drive it home. Export legally at US customs in Port Huron (had to prove I sent the fax 3 business days prior), roll into Sarnia, Canada, pay tax, drive home. Easy peasy. Had the car inspected at Canadian Tire.

bigmacsmallfries

Guys, so I have a question. I bought a car. Is there any legal possible way I can drive a GT3 back into Ontario myself?

When I contacted my insurance company, I was told that with the temporary plates that the dealership would provide me with fall into a 'grey' area in which I can't be insured by my own insurance company until the car is actually in Ontario. Also, driving with the dealership's plates is illegal, and so is removing a license plate from another car I currently own to use for the imported car.

As far as anyone knows, is there any possible way that's legal for me to pick up this car? I hear a transport company is a must, and people have just taken a chance in the past.

wc11

I too was given a temporary transport permit but was told back in 2011 that it was only good in the US.
So in the end, they delivered the car to the border. I rented a $49 uHaul car trailer, hooked up to my 4Runner, went to the Fashion outlet mall parking lot, with many others I might add, and then brought the car home myself. Why pay $6-800 if you don't have to.
Easy as pie and the insurance was in effect as soon as I crossed the border.

I suppose you could put some type of plate on the car but, it is illegal as the car is not yet legally registered.

Mumbles

I drove mine over the border with a 60 day temp plate from the dealer. Drove her around for a while on that plate. My insurance covered me whether the cars on a flatbed or the road. I had a temp insurance permit when I picked the car up just in case.

thequest

I drove my Cayman over with a temp NJ tag. It was fully insured by State Farm.

I got a recall letter from the dealer in the US that I was getting a PPI done from. Not a peep about whether they were doing something they weren't supposed to do.

I was also able to turn on DRL and switch everything to metric myself. I think my Cayman having nav may have made switching on DRL easy but I don't remember. This was all last year.

Christien

Find a better insurance company, or at least a better rep. There's no reason they can't insure the car, whether it's plated or not, regardless of whether it's in Canada, the US, or on the moon.

Turbodan

I drove with a virginia temporary permit and used it for a few days in Canada, and had insurance all the time.
Congrats on the purchase.
Will we be seeing you at Mosport this year? Does this car have the coolant pipes repaired yet?

Crazy Canuck

I had no problem with my insurance company when I brought mine back in 2007. I drove mine back from Chicago with a temporary transit. It was a little piece of paper the size of a business card stuck to the rear window. Perfect for the 407.

porsche0nut

Congratulations! We need pics!

You shouldn't have a problem once sorted... I imported mine and drove it back from North Carolina with temp insurance and the previous owners plates. It's fairly common I believe to drive them back, and a fantastic way to get acquainted with your new toy!

bigmacsmallfries

Thanks for all the responses!

I guess maybe the insurance rep I'm interacting with isn't sure of the rules. She made it clear that this part of the law falls in a 'grey' area, and it can't be fully insured until it's back in Ontario. Not sure about the logic or reasoning, or whether it's true.

I need to contact RIV directly to get a solid answer to my question just to be 100% sure.

Would love to get 'acquainted' with the car on the ride back. I got a GT3 RS, however, it will be 2-4 weeks before I have it as I may just get a transport company to take care of it. I plan on joining a Porsche club possibly, maybe later in the summer consider Mosport. I plan on having extensive track time at Goodwood Kartways before taking the GT3 on the track for some 8/10ths fun.

And is the coolant pipe repair imperative? I don't know the seriousness of the problem.

Looking forward to meeting you guys in future events!

Ronan

Coolant pipe is required for any PCA event to my knowledge. When it goes it can have catastrophic consequences. Option is to use water wetter for instance instead of coolant but not sure of rules. It's not a complicated fix but they have to drop the engine to do it.

Turbodan

What Ronan said is correct, except some people do it without dropping the engine. Water wetter can be used as Ronan said.
I am interested in what RIV says...should be interesting.
does it have pccb? if so you may want to consider switching to steel rotors if you plan to track it.

BeachBoy

I have not read all the answers but here's my experience importing a BMW and Volvo (both where the RIV/TC incorrectly says you need to have stuff done at the dealership).

For insurance, my insurace was covering the car, whatever the plate that was on. First car was driven back with the seller's plate (that I shipped back after), second car with a temp plate from NJ state. In both cases I was fully insured.

For the recall letter, the only thing RIV wants is a dealer letterhead, stamped (really important) printout stating that all recalls have been done. I have used that successfully both times when the website stated I needed a dealer-issued ($$$) specific letter, some companies like BMW charges thousands for that letter.

If it doens't have DRLs then you need that but it can be done anywhere.

tcsracing1

I have imported two GT3RS porsches from California to Canada.

CPO will be honored once the canadian porsche dealer inspects the car.

Recall letters are no longer required. It would be rare if RIV request it, however the Porsche dealer in Canada will provide it for you during their inspection.

Child seat anchors are not required in 2 seat GT3/GT2 models by the RIV.

Have your Porsche dealer program daytime running lights during inspection.

You will probably need to make up some french/english airbag stickers for the Sun visors if RIV form requests it.
Visit a Porsche dealer and take a cell phone picture of a canadian french/english sunvisor and have a decal company produce them for you. Dosnt have to be exact. Just enough to shut up RIV inspection.

Canadian tire will look for daytime running lights and french/english sunvisor if it is on the RIV form.
Again, Once you recieve the RIV form you will then know what is required.

Have you registered with RIV?

For driving the car through the USA some states require you pay sales tax if you drive the car off their lot.
Did you pay sales tax in Illinois? FWIW i never pay sales tax in the usa on a vehicle purchase that i am importing to canada.
Sometimes i have to provide bill of lading stating vehicle is being picked up by car carrier...... such a racket... money grab by the state is all it is.

For driving in USA, typically a canadian dealer plate would suffice but if you are not a dealer you will want an in-transit permit (temporary plate) from the american car dealership if possible. Can be hard to get if you did not pay the state tax on the sale. Again, varies by state. If lucky they will issue a temp plate and only charge you a small fee for a 24-48 hour plate.

Your canadian insurance company should be able to insure your car based on the VIN number and bill of sale while you drive through the USA to canada. You may want to increase your liability to be increased depending on your policy.
$2 million in USA should suffice since they sue everybody.... Or you can stick with $1 million like in canada. I believe the USA only requires $500k liability funny enough...

What color did you find and what price did you get it for?

Turbodan

some good info from TCS, I believe Canadian Tire has the stickers for about $5 if they request them.