Importing a Festy from Canada into USA

[TominMO]

Has anyone tried to do this, and is it a hassle? I've seen a number of Canadian Festys for sale, but was reluctant to consider buying one because of legal issues. There could be safety and emissions hurdles to overcome. Is there a cutoff year, so that for cars older than that year the US no longer cares?

[Gforcefd]

I looked into this and it seems like it is alot harder to get one into NY then to get one from NY into Canada. You have to pay some sort of import fee at the border, and you have to have a form sent to the border patrol and certified I believe a couple weeks in advance. Since the festiva is already over here it should be a lot easier to get in compared to a right hand drive Kia Pride. I wish I still had the links, sorry.

[25Horseplay]

I just bought a car that was brought in from Canada (by someone else). But I was told it wasn't a big deal.

[mattswabb]

The only problem I'd see is that in 1990 the US regulations require a passive restrain/airbags for cars. The Festiva had the automatic seat belts to cover that requirement. The Canadian Festiva's had manual belts in those years.

Brian's 89 has manual belts in his and the US models had the same in that year.

Don't know if this is a problem or not.

[Damkid]

i've brought a festiva from new york to canada (got it from Logan) they want the title (or just a photo copy) at least 72 hours in advance before you get to the border, i'm assuming the rest is simple, cause i didn't give them the title before hand and i told them it was for parts anyway, once they heard that they put a salvage title on it, and the paper work for that was $75 and it was all pretty simple, so i would assume the paper work for importing it to drive would be just as easy

what i would suggest though is to call ahead and find out exactly what you would need so you can have it all ready for when you get there

[TominMO]

i've brought a festiva from new york to canada (got it from Logan) they want the title (or just a photo copy) at least 72 hours in advance before you get to the border, i'm assuming the rest is simple, cause i didn't give them the title before hand and i told them it was for parts anyway, once they heard that they put a salvage title on it, and the paper work for that was $75 and it was all pretty simple, so i would assume the paper work for importing it to drive would be just as easy

what i would suggest though is to call ahead and find out exactly what you would need so you can have it all ready for when you get there

Good advice about calling. Since you were going into Canada, I think you are referring to Canadian Customs import rules; i.e. the Canadians put a salvage title on it, etc. We can't assume it would be as easy going the other way, dealing with US Customs. The US seems to be more picky about safety and emissions when importing. Maybe Canadian Customs is less of a problem because they know our standards here are more strict.

[Damkid]

thats possible, when i was bringing the festy home, it has auto seat belts and i found out that canada does not allow auto belts in any car, so i just kept my mouth shut and thankfully the guy searching didn't notice (or care)

[monkeyracing]

i found out that canada does not allow auto belts in any car

Not so, Canada followed suit with the US in the early to mid 90's, for the most part. Manufacturers were required to install extra safety devices in cars, and they were given a choice of either installing airbags, or some other supplemental active/passive restraint system. Most manufacturers of economy cars chose to go with automatic seatbelts, as they were the lower cost alternative.

EG: From 1992 to 1995 all Saturns had automatic seatbelts in Canada and the US. The odd thing is that in 1994 when driver's side airbags became mandatory, Saturn didn't have the time to re-engineer their seatbelt systems, so you got a car with active belts and an airbag.

The general rule of thumb is that is safety legislation is passed in the US, we'll follow a couple of years later, or vice versa as with DRLs.

[Damkid]

^^cool, i'm only going by what the guy at the border was tellin me, so that's why i thought it was true