So i know the question of importing a car from Canada to the US has been asked a lot. My question how ever is slightly different. I am a US citizen that lives in California, but my family owns a residence in British Columbia, so i was wondering if its possible to buy a Canadian car register it to the house in BC, but be able to drive it in the states? I can see some of the holes in this idea, but want to know what can and has been done.

 

I can't really see how this will work to be honest.

In British Columbia the registration AND insurance of cars is done through ICBC (The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia) and it's government owned. If you register a car in BC, you have to get at least basic insurance from ICBC - no way around it. As far as I know, you can't get insurance/registration without being a BC resident with a BC driver's license.

Have a look: http://www.icbc.com/

It's one thing to have a car registered in BC and drive it in another province, but in another country you will run into issues. Besides, owning a car in BC is no picnic... insurance is crazy expensive and your car has to pass emissions testing every year, but you'd likely have to do that in Cali too. I guess anything can be done, but I doubt it would be worth the hassle and expense.

 

Thank you for the information, pretty much what i wanted to know.

 

something i found out when i purchased a car in b.c. was that a person can buy temp
insurance and registration from icbc and not be from b.c. (I'm from alberta)
and have it for someone elses car.
I purchased the car but it was still registered to the last owner and purchased temp
insurance and registration that gave me full coverage to drive it home for up to (i think they said)
a week.
I got 4 days worth to drive it around while i was in vancouver for a couple days then
took two days to drive it home.
it had to stay in the last owners name on the system or they wanted me to pay sales tax
which hell would have had to have frozen over before I would have paid that lol
matt

 

A good thought, but it wouldn't work.

You *could* do it, but if you were involved in an accident, your insurance wouldn't pay out.

Even within canada, you must insure your vehicle where it is primarily operated. If you spend more than six months outside of the province where you have your insurance, your policy is in fact voided. It's a clause written into the policy.

Additionally, there is a seperate clause written in for U.S. Exposure, it varys from company to company, but it can be as low as 90 days, or as much as 6 months of U.S. exposure before the policy is voided.

-Geoff

 

Hmm, I didn't know that!

I had a run in with the law when I worked in the US. I I lived and worked in VA for 2 years. I only had my Mx-3 down there for 3 months the one summer. One day I got pulled over in my Mx-3. First it was because of my underglow neons. I was told they were illegal, but I didn't drive with them on. We were at a meet and this known harassing cop was waiting in the parking lot for people to leave so I left first, being from out of country, figured I was immune to their specific laws on vehicle modification since my car wasn't registered or licensed for their state. I got a ticket not because they were on (i turned them off before pulling out of the lot), but because my vehicle was equipped with them! He asked me how long I was in the US for and I was honest saying a year and a half (at the time) but apparently he loved that answer, cause he slapped me with a no license, no registration and no inspection tickets (VA puts a sticker on the bottom of their windshield and needs to be renewed). I actually couldn't register my vehicle to the US or even get a VA license since I didn't have any ties to the VA/US, it was a Canadian company, so i was being paid from back in Canadian, I lived out of a condo paid for by work, which was stated in my VISA application paperwork. I ended up taking it to coutt and got off on all charges (which pissed off the cop HUGE), but the underglow neons was acquitted cause the car was back in Canada, so stupidly enough that one applies for some reason.

In the end, if you live in CA, but you have the car registered and plated in BC, you can do it, but you'll have to deal with making the car legal in both state and province at the same time....I can't see that being fun.

 

(I deleted your story and only quoted the relevant part)

That's a misleading statement.

If your car is plated and insured in BC and you are living in California for more than 6 months and are involved in an accident, ICBC will find out, they will void your policy and you will be sued by the other party of the accident (assuming it's more than a single vehicle collision).

You "can" do this, but all you will end up with is a policy that will not respond under any circumstances and is only good for avoiding a "no insurance" ticket.

-Geoff

 

I had ICBC for four years while in school in Florida without any problem.
They have policies for people who travel in the states, not work, but reside as a temporary resident. I only had to come back to BC once a year to register.

 

Does BC have its insurance provincially run, or it is all privatized like Alberta did a while ago...?


J.

 

Auto Insurance in BC is provincially run, by ICBC

-Geoff