Hi Everyone - well - I finally did it - bought myself an E-type! Yay!!!
Problem is - it’s in Connecticut and I’'m in Toronto, and there is this border-thing between us…
The car is bought and paid for and comes with all the necessary documents for shipping. The Garage from which I bought it suggested a bonded firm out of Arizona for it shipping, but when I phoned them they stated that they are no longer serving consumers (only dealerships) because of Covid.
I have contacted TFX in Toronto (does anyone have any experience with them?) but thought I should also ask here to see if anyone has any suggestions or experience with this sort of thing.
One last thing - what sort of idiot buys an E Type in November when they live in Canada??? Brrr.
I suggest, check the websites of the main auction houses…Mecum, Barrett Jackson, Bonhams…and see who they use to ship…probably have ones that can ship to Canada, probably have ones that have not too many complaints or problems, and specialize in special car shipping…with care and insurance etc, not just an ordinary shipper. Nick
Moving vans will take a car , it’s only 300 miles pic your weather and go get it on a trailer ,car club might have a covered one. I’ve towed mine 2000 miles twice. Shrink wrap you don’t have to go 80
I wouldn’t use a generic car hauler they’ve damaged my vehicles ( truck train) no way
Make a road trip do it yourself
Cheers Jim
I bought a car in Canada a few years ago, and did quite a lot of research in this topic.
Most of shippers you encounter (like TFX, I believe) are actually shipping BROKERS, so they can hand your car off to any trucker who’s going your direction. MOST of the time, it works out just fine, but I encountered some real horror stories.
The only shipping line I found where my car would stay on their truck was Reliable Carriers…yes, they’re a little more expensive, but they handle the entire shipment themselves, and their service is excellent.
A buddy of mine shipped a car with Reliable about 8-10 years ago, and it got damaged in a fluke accident along the way. They basically cut him a blank check, and said “get your car fixed to your satisfaction”…try that with some trucking line who has been hired by a broker.
Here’s a similar thread from last year. My reply is #4 in the thread. I used TFX to ship my non-running E-type from Ontario to Florida. Good experience - I recommend them!
A friend recently had to ship a car to a museum for part of a show they are staging and found it very hard to get a shipper lined up in the current climate.
In the end he bought a used enclosed trailer and cut a deal with another club member to tow it with his truck both ways, pay half the cost of the trailer and that guy gets to keep the trailer when all done.
Okay, not a practical solution for you but shows this may take some non-traditional thinking.
Thanks Guys - Yeah - so far I’m not finding it an easy task. But all of this helps.
I had hoped to go with a bonded company so that they could look after the importation, but I’ll have to see if that is going to be feasible. Might have to go down myself - although it’s not my preference… Sure I’ll bugger something up at the border and be there for days!!
Hi Bruce, bought a California E Type a year ago and used TFX to ship it to Northern Ontario. I thought they were great to deal with. Took a month overall, waiting for a truck to be going that route. Have you done all the Broker paperwork? I could look all of that info up also. The entire transaction went smoothly. Only the wait killed me! Oh, and buying a car sight unseen!
Don’t know if tings have changed, but used to be with a vehicle older than 15 years, one could just show up at the border with it, pay the GST (no import duty, I think) and go home. You’d pay the PST when you registered it at the licence office.
With older vehicles, there’s no requirement to go through the whole RIV nonsense. I went through that with three modern vehicles so far, but not any more.
The garage I’m dealing with has shipped to Canada before and they say that everything is in order for the car to go… I’m scouring the internet to see if there’s anything I need to I need to sort from up here…
That’s changed, or at least it was changed 5-6 years ago when a buddy bought a mid 70s Pontiac at Hershey and had to park it stateside for iirc 72 hours. He kept the car at my BIL’s place outside of Buffalo. Then he had to show up at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge in Niagara Falls and process the paperwork. It isn’t a simple transaction anymore.
Even working with Reliable, I had to work with a Customs Agent (I forget the proper term).
I do remember it would have been easier if I could have been there to drive the car across the border, but overall, it was very easy.
I got in touch with this lady (I’ll look up her contact info), gave her my details, the seller gave her his, then she worked with Reliable to make the magic happen. I was cc’d on all their emails, and it was clear that shuttling a vintage car across the border was as routine for them as buttering toast.
Ok, the lady I worked with as my Customs Broker was named Charlene Fox at a company called Dell Will.
She was recommended to me by a car dealer in the Midwest who shipped a lot of cars back and forth across the border. The guys at Reliable knew her by name.
I’d better look into the current situation myself in that case. I was intending to make a trip to Florida sometime next week to clear the remaining stuff out of my house, and was meaning to bring back my Florida titled '81 Honda C70 Passport which I’ve owned and used there for years.
I had to fill out quite a bit of paperwork to export my car from Canada to the US. Each side had requirements. One of the more interesting ones to me was the need to gain approval from the The Department of Canadian Heritage, which “is responsible for administering the Cultural Property Export and Import Act” (regulates the export of cultural property from Canada). While my car met the criteria for being on the “Control List”, it was determined that it was “not a machine that relate to the development of technology in Canada, or in general.” I therefore did not require a property export permit.
Overall, the whole process was a new experience for me. But, as US Federal employee, definitely not a surprise!
I expect it will be more straightforward for you, Clive, since you already have the title. You’ll likely need to notify border services of the date you’ll be bringing the car back with you and then show up at the processing facility at Lewiston-Queenston to complete the paperwork. It takes only ten minutes or so, depending on who’s ahead of you.
This place looks like it is close to Toronto. They have a show I have seen on the Motor Trend channel called Restoration Garage. I have seen episodes where they are shipping cars across the border to Pebble Beach etc. Maybe give them a call to see if they are willing to give any advice ? Just a thought.
