Overseas Car Shipping | Auto Transport To Canada

While Canada is not technically overseas from a U.S. perspective, it’s more or less treated the same in terms of car shipping. Just like shipping a car across the Atlantic or Pacific oceans, transporting it to our neighbors up north has the same set of rules and regulations, if a little more U.S.-friendly than other import laws. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at some of the basics and key details of having a car transported to Canada.

The first thing you’ll want to know about shipping a car to Canada is the most important online resource available: the Registry of Imported Vehicles. It’s the authority on bringing a vehicle into Canada from another country and you should absolutely consult it, even if you’re working with an experienced auto shipper. You can view their page on cost considerations by clicking here--it covers taxes, duties, and associated fees.

Luckily, shipping to Canada from the United States is relatively easy because of the relationship between the countries and their similar approach to imports and exports. If you were shipping, for example, to a country that has different levels of taxation, even physical requirements of the vehicle, it can be a little more tricky.

If you have questions about transporting a car to Canada, give us a call today to learn how we can help! Our staff of experts is on hand to answer your questions and we’re happy to give our complimentary estimates to all interested parties, no questions asked & no payment required.

Going To Canada With Your Car | Preparations & Concerns

Preparing your car to ship to another country is not entirely different from shipping it within the U.S. That said, many of our customers had a vehicle shipped so we’ll go over some of the basics that you’ll be required to do before having it picked up for delivery.

Keep it clean - You will need to clean the car, both inside and out, before a shipper will pick it up. This is so that any existing damages can easily be spotted and documented, as well as to prevent any items from shifting inside the vehicle during shipment. In most cases, the car needs to be empty when having it shipped overseas--the exception being if you use a shipping container.

Document everything - Any time you pay a decent chunk of change for a service like auto shipping, it’s a good idea to document everything possible, every step of the way. If you have a dispute after the fact, you will need some evidence to support your cause if you feel the transporter has damaged your vehicle. Though the industry does have a process for this with a document called the bill of lading, the additional documentation never hurts.

Know your options - It can be expensive to ship your car to another country and you can save money by understanding your options. Air freight is a speedy buy expensive options, whereas overland transport to Canada is the most affordable and likely the slowest method. If you use a shipping container or RORO car shipping, the cost/time tradeoff will fall somewhere in the middle. Any reputable and experienced international shipper should be able to explain the details of these options to you.