Well after exactly two weeks to the day since picking up the car in Halifax, today, on January 25th, I finally got this car fully registered in Quebec, Canada. These intervening two weeks had been very long and frustrating. Essentially the first frustration was getting my car "pre-registered" so that at least I could get temporary transit tags and the foreign VIN would be recognised by the department of motor vehicles. Because it was not something that was frequently done, there was a lot of figuring out on the fly on the part of the employees at the DMV, waiting and running around; this is understandable, and the ladies at each visit were generally nice and as helpful as they could be under the uncharted circumstances (I had to make three visits on separate days for the “pre-registrations” and two more that followed, to be explained in greater detail later).
After the third visit, I had to take the car for a mechanical inspection, IMO a BS money grab and a bureaucratic nightmare. What is enraging is that this inspection is only required for vehicles brought in from outside of Quebec and for other special circumstances (modified vehicles; those re-registered after coming out of long-term storage; vehicles with salvage titles, etc.). The true pieces of junk that are completely exempt from such inspection (not required of other cars, whether every n years or during change of ownership) and that are commonly seen driving on shared roads are indicative of a failed system IMO. [/rant]
I thought that the inspection would be totally straightforward. Despite being a very anal person about my cars, I really believed in good faith that there were no issues that would warrant failure of this inspection, that it would be simply a formality and that I could have had everything completed a week earlier...
So, my last visit with the MoT/DMV for the first half of my adventures was on a Friday morning; I wanted to have my car inspected the same day. None of the local stations (there are 2) could accommodate me that day. So I called one some 100+ km (62+ miles) away that was able to fit me in for 3 p.m. that same day. It would be tight, but the inspection itself should only take 30 minutes to an hour and the local DMV there was only about 4 km away and closed at 4:30 p.m. I made the trek. At 4:15 p.m. or so - furious at having no chance of going to the DMV that day and anxious but still hopeful of at least getting a pass, the inspector read out to me a litany of non-conformities [$*%#^!!!].
- No DRLs (I was absolutely certain this was working earlier that day, albeit a very temporary solution with a test wire and alligator clips) - I argued vigorously in my non-existent French but when we went outside to try it in the car, sure enough it didn't work. When I had proceeded to fix it later, I found that the wire had melted at the joint at one end. Fair enough. It's much more permanent now with heavier gauge wire and a fuse.
- 3 out of 4 tires worn - an explosion went off in my head. These were snow tires; they were not great but several opinions before and even after the inspection said that they should be fine. I was forced to replace all four nonetheless; under the duress of the moment I paid too much for C.R.A.P. Had I collected my thoughts a bit, done some research and shopped around, I could have gotten Michelins or at least some name brand on sale for not much more. But now I have brand new snow tires all around and they seem OK. Oy.
- Belly pan not properly secured - found of be one damn screw that was not fastened in place. Could have been fixed by the inspector in 10 seconds, but instead got cited as a non-conformity. :facepalm:
- Unable to access and inspect spare tire, rear seat bench and rear seat belts - the rear bench was folded down and both it and the spare tire compartment were under a pallet holding an engine I was schlepping around.
I finally got all the above non-conformities addressed. I brought it for re-inspection on Wednesday, January 23rd (this required going back to the DMV a 4th time to get another temporary trip permit, as the previous one had expired - I couldn't get a 10-day because my car was not yet inspected
); passed the re-inspection and finally today I returned for the fifth and last time to the DMV (this time a different, private outlet) for the final registration, after paying $165...
The proof:
Remarks
Would I do this again? The answer has become very clear in the past 2 weeks: “Yes, but not as long as I am still in my current jurisdiction.” There have been apparent systematic efforts to discourage private car imports to Canada in general and Quebec in particular. The original premise was understandable: Most of the cars being imported were right-hand drive JDM Nissan Skylines and the like, owned by a very predictable demographic (young, dumb and reckless early 20-somethings and responsible for a disproportionate number of accidents and street racing incidents). I was very careful to distinguish my car from this group to everyone from the insurance companies to the DMV. The way things are between the policies at the insurance companies and the provincial DMV sets up in my view a circular problem: I can't get a car insured unless it's registered in the province; I can't register the car, much less obtain a temporary transit permit unless it is physically in Quebec and passes a vehicle inspection; I can't transit the car from Halifax without both insurance and a permit. There's no way I can see to do this without bending and creatively interpreting rules, short of transporting the vehicle from Halifax on a train or truck at a cost that would certainly be in the order of $1000 more.
Mine was a unique set of circumstances (did not own a car or had insurance for the prior 6 months; have a poor command of the French language where you really need it; unfamiliar of the local bureaucratic processes; and under a tight budget) that made the whole process not amenable to such an ambitious undertaking without a great deal of difficulty.
That said, with it all done now, I have accumulated invaluable knowledge and experience, maybe for another future import, or to help someone else who wants to do this himself; at least I could share what I’ve learned that someone else can avoid some of the frustrations I had to endure. I'll do that in a blog, perhaps in collaboration with a fellow TDIClub member who has also imported cars from Europe into Canada.
In time, I will return to a level of really appreciating having such a unique car on my driveway. For now, I’m exhausted from it all and just want to drive the car. Therefore, I don’t plan any major work on it. The engine hardware will remain stock for now – there is no scope in the budget for a big project. I’ll have to buy a set of wheels and tires come spring; that and a full maintenance program and detailing will be my immediate next moves.
I will re-edit this post once I've tallied up all the costs thus far, but it's certainly over $4000 over and above the purchase price, not including the new tires installed and
new battery that I'll also need.
