Sold 1970 SS396 L-78 Chevelle Survivor

[Zedder]

To sell the car in Canada (at least in Ontario) or the US, the car must be registered in the seller’s name to legally transfer ownership. The car cannot be exported to the US without the title and bill of sale in the same person’s name also - it won’t pass customs inspection. I know people do sell cars without registering them, but the Ministry can deny the new owner from registering the car if the ownership/title and bill of sale are not signed by the same person. I know this first hand because it happened to me years ago with a 72 Corvette. They would not allow me to register the car in Ontario and it was an Ontario registered car at the time. I had to go back to the seller and he refunded my money as he didn’t want spend the money to pay the tax to register the car in his name.

[ls6owner]

Thx Mark. I am going to have to do a bit more digging. I know I can register it in Saskatchewan with the BOS but no registration from the province it was imported into because I had to present the BOS to permit the car. However, in SK, permitting the car does not trigger paying the provincial tax bill.

Also, over the years, I have bought several cars that had been parked for a long time (the last one was a '65 Mustang that had been parked since 1980) without any record of previous registration and all I had to do was present the Bill of Sale.

That said, the previous car that I exported a few years ago was registered at the time so that is why I called Homeland Security about the L-78. I explained the reason for not having a registration and was told that the Bill of Sale and previous title was sufficient to export the car back to the US. I didn't ask Homeland Security anything about titling a car in various states as I figured that was not their jurisdiction.

I am going to double check before I end up in a situation like you describe where I sell the car, and then have the buyer unable to title it in their home state unless I register it here first. The other option is just register it and add the cost to the price but I'd rather not and save a buyer some money, if possible. If I end up keeping it, I do plan on registering it eventually so I can drive it a bit more.

I appreciate the information.
Oliver

[Zedder]

It seems like they are getting pickier about paperwork with every year that passes. Absolutely the right idea to check it out fully to prevent any headaches.

In 96 I bought an LS5 Corvette down at the Bloomington auction. I flew back the following week and drove the car home to Ontario. I had the title and bill of sale when I hit the border and presented them to customs. 10 minutes later I was on my way home with clearance. Got the car saftied and then went to register it and they wouldn’t let me. The seller had titled the car in his and his wife’s name, but only he signed the bill of sale. Both had signed the title over to me and they still wouldn’t let me register it. I had to get him to FedEx me a new bill of sale with both signatures. I’m sure another ministry clerk would have let it slide, but not the one I got that day!

[BJCHEV396]

Originally Posted by Zedder

It seems like they are getting pickier about paperwork with every year that passes. Absolutely the right idea to check it out fully to prevent any headaches.

In 96 I bought an LS5 Corvette down at the Bloomington auction. I flew back the following week and drove the car home to Ontario. I had the title and bill of sale when I hit the border and presented them to customs. 10 minutes later I was on my way home with clearance. Got the car saftied and then went to register it and they wouldn’t let me. The seller had titled the car in his and his wife’s name, but only he signed the bill of sale. Both had signed the title over to me and they still wouldn’t let me register it. I had to get him to FedEx me a new bill of sale with both signatures. I’m sure another ministry clerk would have let it slide, but not the one I got that day!

So true....depends who serves you at M.O.T.

[Zedder]

Oliver, I was just reading the Saskatchewan registration info and see that all you need is a BOS to register the car there as you mentioned. Is it possible to register it as “unfit”, meaning it is not roadworthy to put plates on because it hasn’t been inspected yet, but it proves your ownership? We can do that in Ontario, but it still triggers payment of sales tax. If you could do that without paying taxes, I believe you could export the car to the US and other Provinces.

[ls6owner]

Hi Mark, I did check on your suggestion. I spoke to an SGI agent as was told that there is an unfit classification in Saskatchewan but it stays with the vehicle forever, and is only used if the vehicle is truly unfit to license and it will be that way for the rest of it's life. At the end of the day, the best solution is probably to just license it and pay the taxes. It just irritates me to pay the government for no good reason as this car is not one that will actually use the infrastructure that our tax dollars are supposed to be used for, to any degree. Oh well, there is my rant. I appreciate the information. Thx Oliver

[Zedder]

Sorry to hear that Oliver. Our Unfit category lets us register a car in our name until we get a safety certificate on it to make it roadworthy. Once you get it certified, it gets registered as "fit" again. We do have to pay the required taxes though even if it is registered as "unfit".

[ls6owner]

Sold, pending full payment. Thx SYC

[chevelleheart]

Congrats Oliver

[ls6owner]

The car is sold.