Importing car from Canada to US - buy used car north of the border

[whateverdude]

I'm looking at the 2009-2012 Mazda5's, which come in a manual transmission.  There are more of these available in Canada than there are in the US.

Has anyone imported a used car across the border?  I found a few articles online, seems like you just need a manufacturer stamp of approval it meets US emissions and safety standards, and you gotta pay some fees.

How was the process?  Any tips?  Cheers.

[RWD]

Canada uses salt on their roads in the winter. Older Mazdas are well known for having issues with rust. That would be my number one concern.

[travel2020]

I’ve gone through the process in both directions due to past moves across the border. The paperwork itself in’t too bad but you do need to do some homework before the actual purchase.

Before you purchase in Canada, you should verify that the Canadian model is eligible to be imported to the US. Canada and US have different standards and some car models (esp those manufactured outside North America) need changes to become compliant which can make the car too expensive.

There are various import brokers that specialize in auto imports and they may be able to provide initial feedback on a specific model’s eligibility, etc. i think you may also need to engage a broker for the actual import process but I’m not entirely sure as it’s been a while.

[AMandM]

Before you purchase in Canada, you should verify that the Canadian model is eligible to be imported to the US. Canada and US have different standards and some car models (esp those manufactured outside North America) need changes to become compliant which can make the car too expensive.

This.

When my father stopped driving, he wanted to give his car (in Quebec) to my daughter (in Maryland). It didn't have TPMS built in to the tires/dashboard display, which was required for it to be registered in MD. Retrofitting would have cost several thousand dollars, almost as much as the car was worth at the time.

IIRC, there is an online tool to check whether a car is importable. I think I found it from the state motor vehicles website, or maybe the US Customs and Border Patrol one.

[daverobev]

Unless it's from Vancouver just don't. And even then it's probably not worth it.

https://forums.redflagdeals.com/best-solution-mazda-3s-rust-2085368/