Carmine
Old Man with a Hat
I've not said much on this because T-minus 24 hours and I'm still not sure it will happen. Long story short is that I've made arrangements to purchase a 1981 Dodge Mirada from a gentleman in Victoria, British Columbia.
The plan is supposed to be that he drives across the border declaring he has sold the car to a US citizen and fly home. He gets a US Customs form 7501. It gets stamped as exempt from safety and emissions because 1) it was compliant when new 2) it's 37 y/o. He thus continues onto Seattle, meeting me at the airport. He leaves his plates and insurance (and I've already insured it myself). I drive it down the coast over the coming week. Car gets left in Phoenix. I apply for MI title when I get home.
After previously investigating this, I called customs again just as a "spot check". Yesterday an agent says I need to be there at the border, which is possible, but an extra pain in the butt. The problem is, like most things governmental, if you talk to 10 people, you get 11 different answers.
And of course this contradicts their own recorded message that says "if you cannot bring the vehicle across yourself, you may authorize someone else to do it. This should be in the form of a letter and must contain the full name of the person driving the vehicle. That person must bring ID...blah blah".
If you go to the CBP.gov website, it's obviously written around the idea of people trying to import cars from (Pardon my expression) Sh*thole countries without emissions or safety glass. Believe it or not, very little about what I'm sure occurs most often, bring a car in from a "normal" country like Canada.
So if anyone has done this recently you insights are appreciated. Most appreciated would be a circumstance where the seller drove the car into the USA. That's the 3 hours of wasted time I'm trying to avoid.
And as promised, here's a pic of the car:
318/4 (factory), HD suspension, 3.23 SG, T-tops, buckets, console.
The plan is supposed to be that he drives across the border declaring he has sold the car to a US citizen and fly home. He gets a US Customs form 7501. It gets stamped as exempt from safety and emissions because 1) it was compliant when new 2) it's 37 y/o. He thus continues onto Seattle, meeting me at the airport. He leaves his plates and insurance (and I've already insured it myself). I drive it down the coast over the coming week. Car gets left in Phoenix. I apply for MI title when I get home.
After previously investigating this, I called customs again just as a "spot check". Yesterday an agent says I need to be there at the border, which is possible, but an extra pain in the butt. The problem is, like most things governmental, if you talk to 10 people, you get 11 different answers.
And of course this contradicts their own recorded message that says "if you cannot bring the vehicle across yourself, you may authorize someone else to do it. This should be in the form of a letter and must contain the full name of the person driving the vehicle. That person must bring ID...blah blah".
If you go to the CBP.gov website, it's obviously written around the idea of people trying to import cars from (Pardon my expression) Sh*thole countries without emissions or safety glass. Believe it or not, very little about what I'm sure occurs most often, bring a car in from a "normal" country like Canada.
So if anyone has done this recently you insights are appreciated. Most appreciated would be a circumstance where the seller drove the car into the USA. That's the 3 hours of wasted time I'm trying to avoid.
And as promised, here's a pic of the car:
318/4 (factory), HD suspension, 3.23 SG, T-tops, buckets, console.
