Exporting a truck from the U.S. to Canada

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Originally Posted by 71/454

Sidebar. Transporting the vehicle.
I drove my vehicle home, and some have asked how does this work. In the U.S. the plates stay with the vehicle, so if the plates/tags are good the vehicle is considered registered and can be driven, provided you have insurance. Normally if you were a U.S. resident you would just go down to the DMV and transfer the title to your name after you bought it, but since you are canadian, there is no way or need to.

The only tidbit of info I could add to this is that this section is not entirely correct. Not all state's specifically allow the plates to stay with a sold vehicle, especially when purchased by a non-resident (state or country). They are typically returned to the state as they are state property. I can find no solid information to back this up on the WA DMV's crappy website. But I do know in New Jersey the plates must be surrendered by the seller back to the state or transferred to a new vehicle.

That being said I've purchased plenty of vehicles that the plates should not have been on because sellers aren't exactly aware of the proper rules of sale. What may need to happen to ensure full legal compliance is a trip to the local US DMV with the title, proof of insurance, the pope as a personal reference and whatever else the dmv wants for identification and the new owner would purchase a Non-Resident Temporary Registration Tag. These are usually good for anywhere from 15-30 days from what I've seen. Tape it in the window and away you go.