Insurance on U.S. bike purchase

[ronk1200lt]

Has anyone purchased a bike in the U.S. and rode it back to Canada? How did you handle insurance and registration while the bike was in transit?

[HammerStar]

Not sure about Alberta, but a standard insurance policy in Ontario allows you to "obtain" a new or replacement vehicle and be covered as long as the company is notified of the acquisition within 14 days. Check with your broker for sure - it certainly is a gray area. I used the "14 day" rule to bring a bike in several years ago. The broker at the time told me about the existence of the rule, but didn't want to know the details of what I was doing. I did not actually start insurance coverage for another month or six weeks until all of the clearance formalities were completed. Obviously no accidents etc. in transit.

For registration the previous owner was kind enough to leave his plates on the bike, signed off the title and allowed me to mail the plates back after I got home. Temporary transit permit from the state where the bike is located is another option. Final, and least desirable is simply slap on your Canadian plate and hope you don't get stopped - the border inspection people on either side of the border do not care, or pay any attention to the licence plate.

If your purchase is another BMW, the Canadian distributer has recently become even more vindictive to purchasers bringing in vehicles from the US. They are now charging $350 for a letter of admissability, demanding that instrument clusters be changing to metric from imperial ($1000-$1500) and also charging another $500 for a recall clearance letters, what a bunch of stupid pricks!!!

Steve Collier
'05 KLT

[ajs]

Again. I don't know about Alberta insurance and registration laws, but when I bought a bike in Florida two years ago the original plan was to ride it home from there. The two issues I had to resolve to do that was registration and insurance. If I could show proof of insurance I could get a temporary Florida reg. after I paid applicable Florida taxes, but it was only good in the state of Florida. I didn't go any further with that plan because I was going to be illegal OR have to get state registration for each state I rode in and the insurance became an issue again.

I tried to buy insurance coverage from my local broker but I couldn't do that until the bike was registered in my name in Canada.

My choice was to then ride the bike with either the original owners plate on it or my Canadian registered plate and no insurance. This would work fine until I was stopped by a LEO somewhere on my way back home or I was involved in an accident. I am sure it has been done many times before by both cage and bike purchasers.

I decided the so far so good approach was too risky. I was really looking forward to the ride, though. In the end, the seller volunteered to trailer the bike to the border crossing point at Calais Maine all the way from mid central Florida. Believe me he was extremely helpful, to the point where I thought he might be dumping a problem bike on me.

I have had it for two riding seasons now and have been wearing a big grin on my face ever since. This has been a non issue bike, just a great time riding it.

I could see no legal resolution to the registration / insurance issues as it applies to a Nova Scotia resident. This is my experience, I don't know how things work in Alberta. FWIW my local insurance broker advised me they are not allowed to sell insurance outside their license jurisdiction nor is any other broker. That is why I had to land the bike in Canada first. HTH

[ronk1200lt]

Not sure about Alberta, but a standard insurance policy in Ontario allows you to "obtain" a new or replacement vehicle and be covered as long as the company is notified of the acquisition within 14 days. Check with your broker for sure - it certainly is a gray area. I used the "14 day" rule to bring a bike in several years ago. The broker at the time told me about the existence of the rule, but didn't want to know the details of what I was doing. I did not actually start insurance coverage for another month or six weeks until all of the clearance formalities were completed. Obviously no accidents etc. in transit.

For registration the previous owner was kind enough to leave his plates on the bike, signed off the title and allowed me to mail the plates back after I got home. Temporary transit permit from the state where the bike is located is another option. Final, and least desirable is simply slap on your Canadian plate and hope you don't get stopped - the border inspection people on either side of the border do not care, or pay any attention to the licence plate.

If your purchase is another BMW, the Canadian distributer has recently become even more vindictive to purchasers bringing in vehicles from the US. They are now charging $350 for a letter of admissability, demanding that instrument clusters be changing to metric from imperial ($1000-$1500) and also charging another $500 for a recall clearance letters, what a bunch of stupid pricks!!!

Steve Collier
'05 KLT
Thanks for the information Guys! Chris are you saying that the speedometer has to be converted to metric before BMW will give you a clearance letter to bring it across the border? I am looking at a 2005 LT for $13,000 U.S. with about 18,000 miles on it. At that price it is a good deal. With transportation, a $500 BMW letter, $1,000 metric conversion. You start wondering if it is worth the hassle.

[kriach]

Ron,

You may also run into warranty issues with your local dealer on a US bike. I was speaking with my dealer in Calgary and was told that BMW Canada takes a very dim view of US bikes and is not good about warranty claims on them. Before everyone jumps on me about "Factory Warranty" BMW NA and BMW Canada are seperate companies and not affiliated. I really don't know if you would have problems I am just relaying what I have been told.


regards

Ken

[ajs]

On the warranty issue I have had warranty work performed on my bike twice since I brought it across the border. The first was the replacement of an out of spec (warped) front rotor early this spring. This replacement was deemed necessary as a result of the dealer doing a check for what might cause a slight pulsing of the front brakes. The last one was at my request and it was performed this summer. It involved replacement of some tupperware as the result of chrome peeling. In both cases there was no problem with the dealer and since I didn't hear anything back after the work was performed, I am assuming there was no problem with BMW Canada.

[HammerStar]

The $500 charge for a recall clearance letter has been in place for about six months. The charge is levied at the dealer of your choice in Canada, but the bike must be at the dealer for a 10 minute inspection - could be an issue in an Edmonton winter. There had been a way around this until recently by having a "vehicle history report" completed at a US dealer prior to export, in most cases that would satisfy the requirements of the Registrar of Imported vehicles. As of Nov 26th BMW has told all US dealers (in no uncertain terms) that they are NOT to give out these computer printouts or they will loose their dealership. If you are buying at a US dealer by all means ask for the report, or if the seller has a good relationship with his dealer he may be able to get the report for you. The interesting thing is that BMWNA is co-operative in providing the letter (at no charge) for their customer if he is moving to Canada and wants to take the bike with him. Obviously the charges are not on a recovery of costs basis, they are entirely punitive as they want their customers to dance to their rules, or else. Certainly doesn't make me feel good about buying anything from BMW Canada, or supporting the dealers here. From what I can gather some of the dealers are very much against this program, and other support it as they believe it will bolster their sales........I don't know about that.

In regards to the instrument cluster change, according to other forum reports BMW Canada is now demanding that the dealer inspecting the vehicle in Canada must change the cluster to metric prior to them issuing the $500 recall clearance letter for upwards of $1000, and they are also telling the dealers to charge another $1000 to do the 5 minute software reprogramming for activation of the daytime running lights on cars. Check with Argyll to be sure of all the charges first, and remember some of these are very recent changes - not everyone may be aware of them yet.

In my case the thought of these charges certainly don't make me think I should run down to my local dealer and happily pay whatever he is asking for the priveledge of buying a "Canadian" bike. BMW seems to have very conveniently forgotten their half-hearted apologies for significant price increases as the Canadian dollar fell over the last 30 years and they are not about to react to its' significant rise in recent times. Inspite of all said here there has been some move to bring bike pricing much closer to US pricing with the dollar at parity (and above), but parts and accessories remain 40-60% higher in Canada and pricing on cars is still significantly higher.

Rant over for now............

Steve Collier
'05 KLT

[HammerStar]

Forgot to answer the warranty issue. BMW had decided to not allow warranty work on bikes imported from the US until they realized that US customers travelling in Canada would be suject to the same rules. As this would leave the legimate US customers without warranty coverage as spelled out by the North American warranty in effect at the time of original purchase, they back-tracked on their position. All bikes purchased in either Canada or the US should be in the computer system and the warranty should be honoured as per the original agreement - 3 years or 36000 miles for US bikes and 3 years unlimited miles for Canadian. What you will not get here is any "just outside" the warranty period goodwill adjustments for US bikes resident in Canada.

Steve Collier
'05 KLT

[ronk1200lt]

I checked with the guy who owns the LT in the U.S. He says that the lights automatically come on when he turns the bike on and that the speedo is in both metric and imperial, so I shouldn't have to do any expensive conversions, when I bring it north of the border. I am going to see if I can get the customer to get a maintenance printout from the dealer. I also talked to my insurance agent who said that they would insure the bike while I rode it in transit to the Canadian border. I guess the next step is to get the guy to take the bike to the dealer and have them do an inspection for me. On a private sale, how did you pay the customer. I know that a Canadian money order drawn on a U.S. bank still takes about two weeks to cash. Any ideas are much appreciated as I am quite new at this. Ron

[HammerStar]

The bikes do not need ANY modifications to be Canadian compliant - BMW is just being as miserable as possible to their customers. Remember "protectionism" does not necessarily result in a Canadian sale, but importation of a US bike will undoubtadely result in parts and service work for their Canadian dealers. The items I mentioned on daytime running lights and metric convertion seem to be more applicable to the cars but BMW may be forcing the issue with bikes as well. RIV doesn't care if the speedo stays in MPH it is only BMW flexing their muscle.

Check out the website for the Registrar of Imported Vehicles.

www.riv.ca

All of the info there is specific to bringing in a vehicle from outside the country. You will have to pay the fee, either at the border, or online. This covers the inspection to CMVSS at Canadian Tire - (don't worry about this it is no big deal) and the eventual Federal registration. Total is just over $200

For foreign exchange you can buy a USD money order at your bank, but you are correct the seller's bank will caution him that it can take up to two weeks to clear. For a better foreign exchange rate than your bank can offer check with GlobEX. They are actually in Edmonton and can be reached at 877-423-2217. You can "book" a USD transaction with them for the amount needed and will posted at the spot price at the time. The exchange rate will probably beat the banks by 2%. They will tell you the amount in Canadian dollars to buy the US amount. At no charge they will courier a cheque to you as long as you can do an on the spot exchange for a certified (an checked by GlobEX) cheque in Canadian funds. Obviously the GlobEX cheque could have the same time-lag clearance issues which may not be acceptable to the seller. You can also choose to pay GlobEX a small fee to have the USD amount wire transferred to the sellers bank account, but I'd make sure I had the title and bike keys in hand at the time of transfer. The purchase and sale does require some level of trust on both sides. I'm sure you are a "legitimate" buyer, do your deligence to satisfy yourself that the same is true of the seller.

Don't be scared away from a US transaction if you are totally informed prior to the purchase it really is no big deal. Just requires some organisation and time. Read and be aware of the info at the RIV website in regards to alternatives to the Recall Clearance letter as BMW Canada has gained some control in the process. The "vehicle history printout" as described by RIV has to be exact or they will reject. The information contained in the letter from a US dealer is sometimes referred as a "recs check" and actually comes from the service advisors BMW system computer - not from the GT1 or MoDiTec. If RIV chooses to reject the US dealers letter about the only remaing choice (once the bike is in Canada) is to pay the fees to BMW Canada to get a letter that will be acceptable to the RIV.All of this is to your benefit as well, you want to be sure that all outstanding recalls have been complied with. The recall on leaking seals on the quick disconnect fuel line fittings comes to mind etc etc etc.

[cykf]

I recently purchased (October 1) and imported a 07 GT from a dealer in Ohio that could not have gone smoother with no hassles or unexpected costs. My Canadian insurance company insured it with only the vin number. The deal was able to register it in my name with temporary plates in Ohio for the ride home. Prior to negotiating my deal, I received correspondence from BMW Canada confirming they will honor the warrantee here in Canada. I have not tested this yet however, I assume this will not be an issue. Importing it and registering in Canada was a piece of cake. No speedo switch-out was required as the GT in the US has both KM and Miles. Daytime running lights are also standard on the GT. I was also able to get the RIV importation completed without the $500 letter from BMW Canada as the dealer in Ohio provided me with a "Warranty vehicle Inquiry" stamped and signed. RIV accepted this without question.

[Nebish]

I happened to stop by a local Kawasaki/Yamaha dealership yesterday.

I admired the 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14 ABS rocket ship, which they would sell to me for $19 K, although since it was their demonstrator, I was assured that the price would be better.

I asked the salesman how his dealership would respond to the $6 K price spread between the same bike purchased in the US versus buying locally. In explaining the additional costs I would face on importing the bike from the USA, he informed me that the RIV mechanical inspection previously performed by Canadian Tire was no longer acceptable. Apparently, the inspection must now be performed by a mechanic at an OMVIC recognized dealer (Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council). He told me that the cost of this inspection is $600. That's a step jump from the Canadian Tire inspection fee.

Does anyone know if this is true?

I can see that whole issue of importing used vehicles by the end user is a moving target, since there is a considerable amount of interest in buying second hand vehicles Stateside. In last Saturday's Toronto Star classified section there was a fair sized colour display used car advert from a Williamsville (Buffalo), N.Y. Honda dealership. A recent article in the same paper detailed the significant savings experienced by buying a used car in the US, even with the additional costs incurred, in addition to the expenses related to bring the purchase back from say Kentucky, or wherever.

The potential loss of business by Canadian used car/bike dealers within 100 miles of the border (where 90% of the population lives anyways) means that there must be a hell of a lot of lobbying by the vehicle sales industry for any measures that will raise the costs bar as a means of discouraging cross border sales.

[astuber]

The potential loss of business by Canadian used car/bike dealers within 100 miles of the border (where 90% of the population lives anyways) means that there must be a hell of a lot of lobbying by the vehicle ales industry for any measures that will raise the costs bar as a means of discouraging cross border sales.


And to think all this time I thought that the US was the only country with the best government money can buy.

[HammerStar]

RE: OMVIC

Seems that some dealers will say and do almost anything in an attempt to protect their sales. Details of the actual intent of the OMVIC organization are in the link below - certainly nothing to do with the actual requirements of the federal safety compliance inspection, although they may be lobbying in some form to protect dwindling local sales due cross-border shopping.

http://www.omvic.on.ca/omvic/who_we_are/who_we_are.htm

From what I can read on the growing number of discussion forums on importing motor vehicles the rules are dynamic and ever-changing, but the RIV website is updated daily to try to keep the general public informed. There are no changes published to the requirements for a federal safety compliance inspection at Canadian Tire. The normal and decent salespeople are willing to admit that there is a measureable difference in pricing betweeen Canada and the US, with some drawbacks to shopping south of the border keeping after-sales considerations in mind. They also are willing to point out that they are continuing to pressure the distributers to re-align MSRP's to allow them to compete with the US dealers on a leveled playing field, but their requests are seemingly ignored by the decision makers at the major vehicle manufacturers.

[dano2]

I had an inspection completed by a Canadian Tire mechanic last week to meet the requirements set out by RIV. The inspection is a $200 dollar joke, at least on the new R1200RT I brought in. The mechanic looked at and noted on Form 2 the vin number, tire pressure sticker (p.s.i.),make, model and checked the existing KM/MPH speedo and running lights. He signed the form which I hope he has faxed to the Registrar of Vehicles. Thats was it, my bike can now be registered in BC.. By the way the bumbling fools at RIV took exactly 1 month to email me the Form 2. I had to re-send all info pertaining to the bike 3 times before they got it together.
dano2
r1200RT (Rambler)
Honda 900 Custom (Ole Blue)

[garry_kramer]

I had an inspection completed by a Canadian Tire mechanic last week to meet the requirements set out by RIV. The inspection is a $200 dollar joke, at least on the new R1200RT I brought in. The mechanic looked at and noted on Form 2 the vin number, tire pressure sticker (p.s.i.),make, model and checked the existing KM/MPH speedo and running lights. He signed the form which I hope he has faxed to the Registrar of Vehicles. Thats was it, my bike can now be registered in BC.. By the way the bumbling fools at RIV took exactly 1 month to email me the Form 2. I had to re-send all info pertaining to the bike 3 times before they got it together.
dano2
r1200RT (Rambler)
Honda 900 Custom (Ole Blue)

Did you get the recall letter from BMW Canada? or a dealer in the US?