Driving Canadian car in the United States

[d3shock]

Hi, I am a Canadian citizen living in Austin, Texas until the end of April on an internship (J-1 visa status).

This is the situation: I'm considering getting my car ('01 Honda Civic) down here from Toronto. I was looking into the option of having someone (likely my parents) drive the car to Detroit where I could pick it up and drive it back down here to Austin. I am currently renting a car and have non-owners liability insurance through Progressive, but the rental costs are relatively high. My questions are:

1) The car is under my dad's name, does this complicate matters in any way?
2) What, if any, paperwork is there that I/my parents need to fill out?
3) I was an "Occasional Driver" under my parents' insurance policy up until January. They removed me from their plan when I came to Austin in January.
4) Do i need to get a vehicle inspection/texas tags/plates on the car? what about emissions testing? (not sure if its the same, but I know people at work who drove their cars from out of state and don't need to do this b/c its short term ie. 3-4 months)
5) Are the daytime running lights an issue?

Please let me know if you have any information for me, or know where I would go to find out more, as I would like to settle everything by Feb 18th if possible. Thanks, and appreciate any help I can get.

[Reba]

If you're leaving the States in April, then you wouldn't need to import the car or put Texas tags on it. If you plan to stay in the States indefinitely, then you would need to register the car and get Texas tags and insurance.

One issue will definitely be the ownership of the car and lack of insurance in your name. If your Dad will sign over ownership to your name, license it in your name, that would be best. You'd also need full time insurance from Ontario. You can't even license a car in Ontario without insurance.

It shouldn't be an issue to have your parents drive across the border for you.

[Steven]

Yeah, transfer the title, so then it is part of your personal effects. Declare it on the US Customs form as part of your personal effects. They don't care if it's a Canadian spec. vehicle. You may have to get the EPA emissions test done. This is separate from any periodical State inspection requirement, it has to be done at an EPA-approved test centre and there aren't many, they're usually near sea ports or land border POEs. Check with the EPA and CBP.

The import form is also on the CBP website, www.cbp.gov

Obviously you'll need to get car insurance, but you can get that now, you just need the VIN. You might even be able to register it and get the tags before you import it, depending on State law, depends on how lax they are on doing the title transfer.

[warmsummerrain69]

Can an american drive into the US with a canadian car? Should I be on the insurance? Will it be a problem that I have a canadian license? I do not wish to import the car at this time. I want to drive home for awhile but what do I need to drive the car into the country? I should mention its still under a lease, will this be a problem? As well it is not in my name, it is in my fiancee's name. Thank you so much for your help.

[Reba]

answered in the thread you posted in the General forum.