Friday, June 5, 2009

Import A Salvage Vehicle Into Alberta

Process To License a Salvage/Rebuilt Vehicle in Alberta

If you are importing a vehicle from the US and the title indicates that the vehicle a salvage or reconstructed vehicle, please note the following for licensing in Alberta.

1. Prior to commencing your importation, please verify that the vehicle is admissible to Canada by checking at RIV or using this list;

2. Contact a salvage inspection shop using this Alberta Transportation map - http://www2.infratrans.gov.ab.ca/vis/production/vishome.asp ***PLEASE SELECT "SALVAGE" FOR INSPECTION TYPE PRIOR TO COMMENCING YOUR SEARCH.

3. Get 2 to 3 quotes for a salvage inspection; As these shops are privates businesses, prices may vary.

4. Take the vehicle for the customary Federal Inspection following the guidelines in the UCanImport guide, and then go for a salvage inspection. When you pass, you will receive a Salvage Inspection Certificate.

5. The Salvage Inspection Certificate is VALID FOR 14 DAYS only, so you must take the vehicle to a registry agent to have it registered and licensed within those 14 days.

6. You will then get your plates and your vehicle will be registered as "Salvage" in Alberta.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

I have been looking for this info everywhere ... thanks. One clarification, I assume that it is registered as "rebuilt" not "salvage" once it has been repaired.

UCANIMPORT PUBLICATIONS said...

Thanks for your comments Greg.

From our conversation with Transportation AB, we understood that the branding would remain the same as that on the US title certificate. We could have misunderstood and invite to use this website to get clarification.

http://www.transportation.alberta.ca/2822.htm

Contact information is:

In Alberta toll free 310-0000,
(from a cell phone
#310 on Telus, or
*310 on AT&T), then
780-427-2731

Outside of Alberta 780-427-2731
Monday-Friday 8:15 am - 4:30 pm.

If you find out anything that would help other importers, please post here.

Unknown said...

Thanks, on the AB Transportation website it says:

A salvage vehicle that has passed an inspection is given a "rebuilt" rating on the vehicle registration form, which indicates it has been repaired, can be re-registered and driven on Alberta’s roads.

However, it also says a Workplan with photos of the vehicle before the repair are needed and while I can get the photos I doubt they have the VIN numbers for the new parts they used.

Have you imported any of these "repaired" salvage vehicles?

UCANIMPORT PUBLICATIONS said...

Thanks for your comments Greg.

Unfortunately, we do not have a lot of experience with Salvage or Rebuilt branding, but have spoken with a phenomenally knowledgeable person at Alberta Transportation.

Carole Dewhirst at (780) 427-7360 oversees the branding of vehicles and can help you answer the questions you may have.

If you learn something that our readers could benefit from, please share. It will help others figure out how the process is meant to work.

Anonymous said...

hey guys, thanks a lot for this valuable information....i have been looking for this info for over a month now:)
keep it up....i will also try to post my updates once i get my salvaged vehicle enter canada

Greg said...

I talked to Carole at AB Transportation and she was able to provide some very useful information.

Process:
Assuming the vehicle is admissable under the RIV list, make sure that the vehicle does not have a junk or flood title in the US as it will NOT be acceptable in Canada.

If it the vehicle has a "salvage" or "rebuilt" branded title in the US it will require the additional salvage inspection in Canada (as described in the earlier post).

With these conditions, she outlined the process as follows:

1. Get the RIV inspection work done (at Cdn Tire)
2. Go to the Registry and get them to create the record with a "salvage" status (not active) and obtain a request for salvage inspection form.
3. Get the salvage inspection completed and then return to the Registry with the completed inspection form and change the registration to "rebuilt".

Hope this helps.

UCANIMPORT PUBLICATIONS said...

Greg, your research and thoughtfulness in providing this clarification to our readers is greatly appreciated.

Thank you. I know many will benefit from your post.

Thomas said...

Thanks Greg and web admin for all the information provided above. I really appreciate all your help and especially the effort in the research.
Do you guys know if one would still require a "recall clearance letter" from the original manufacturer if the title is Salvage?

Thank you all so much,

Best regards,

UCANIMPORT PUBLICATIONS said...

If the vehicle is under 15 years old, then yes, you will require recall clearance documentation as this documentation is required by RIV/Transport Canada. As long as you are importing a vehicle that is shown as admissible on the RIV website, then proof of no recalls is required.

Thank you for your feedback. We hope that this blog will assist many importers.

Anonymous said...

I have purchased a vehicle in the U.S> that HAD a salvage title but was repaired, safety inspected by the State and issued a normal title.

That will be the Title that will be presented to RIV.

Several of these same cars have been imported into Canada without any further inspections other than the normal Provincial Safety inspections.

Unknown said...

How did you get the Registry to enter the "rebuilt" title?

In talking to AB Transportation, they informed me that even if it has a "rebuilt" title from the State, it will still require a "rebuilt" inspection in Alberta. They said if the registry puts it in as a "rebuilt" first and you need an out of province inspection, that you end up paying for the out-of-prov and then still have to get the "rebuilt" inspection before they will issue plates.

Any help on how you did this would be appreciated.

johnny said...

2009 toyota prius was made in japan, but it went through a salvage and was fully reconstructed in US, would there be duty on it while importing to Canada?

UCANIMPORT PUBLICATIONS said...

As far as we know, duty is payable based on the VIN of the vehicle. If the 17-digit VIN begins with a letter, such as a J, then duty will be charged.

You'll want to be sure that the title states "Rebuilt" on it and you'll want to make sure that this vehicle is admissible to Canada with its revised branding.