Sell a Canadian car in the USA

What is my Canadian car worth in the USA?

It is worth the U.S. dollar amount a buyer will actually pay, not a converted Canadian asking price. U.S. buyers price the year, the miles, the condition, the options, and what it will cost them to import, title, and resell the car.

Why the Canadian retail number and the U.S. number differ

A Canadian retail ad is priced for a local buyer who can plate the car tomorrow. A U.S. wholesale or dealer buyer subtracts transport, any duty, speedometer work, open recalls, and the time to title the car in their state. Exchange rate matters, and so does whether the vehicle was built for the U.S. market. Two trucks with the same kilometres can land at very different USD numbers.

How to get a number for your VIN

Check the VIN for a free snapshot: import eligibility, open U.S. recalls, a speedometer conversion estimate, and a rough USD range. That range is a simple heuristic with low confidence. It is a starting point, not a formal appraisal. From the same page you can request a precision appraisal. Ryan reviews the vehicle and sends a number. That review is still one opinion. The price that counts is the bid a registered U.S. buyer submits after you list the vehicle.

How do I sell my car from Canada to a U.S. buyer?

You list it once, from Canada. Registered U.S. buyers see the vehicle and bid in USD. You do not have to find a buyer in a Facebook group or hand your phone number to everyone who asks.

1. 1. Check the VINRun the free snapshot before you commit. It covers import eligibility, open recalls, a speedometer conversion estimate, and a rough USD range. You can also ask for a precision appraisal from that page.
2. 2. List the vehicle if you own it and want to sellThe listing form takes the VIN, photos, kilometres, your asking price, and your contact details. Buyers see the vehicle. Your phone number is not posted on the public listing. The asking price is entered in Canadian dollars and shown against the U.S. dollar equivalent.
3. 3. Registered buyers bid in USDA registered buyer can buy it now at your asking price, which marks the listing sold, or submit a sealed offer. Offers are not a public comment thread. If an offer is the one that moves ahead, Frontline follows up to finish the deal.
4. 4. Paperwork, transport, and U.S. entryAn accepted deal still needs clear ownership, a bill of sale, a carrier, and a U.S. customs entry. You can stay in Canada. The import section below is the outline of that work. The sell page is where you choose a VIN check or a listing. U.S. buyers who want to bid register here and browse inventory.

How do I import a car from Canada to the USA?

At a high level: make sure the vehicle is allowed in, have clear title documents, move it with a carrier who has the paperwork, and file a U.S. customs entry that also satisfies safety and emissions rules. State title and registration happen after that, in the buyer’s state.

Rules depend on the vehicle, its age, who the importer of record is, and whether the car is for personal use or for resale. Official pages linked here were reviewed on October 25, 2026. Confirm them before a vehicle moves. Rates and exemptions change.

Eligibility

A car that is legal to drive in Canada is not automatically legal to import into the United States. NHTSA, inside the U.S. Department of Transportation, enforces the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Three situations cover most cars people ask about.

• Certified to U.S. standards. The straightforward safety case is a vehicle the original manufacturer built to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and labeled as such. The same model name on both sides of the border is not that label.
• 25 years old or older. NHTSA allows a motor vehicle that is at least 25 years old, counted from the date of manufacture, to be imported without regard to those safety standards. The importer declares it on the HS-7 form, Box 1. If a permanent label does not show the manufacture date, NHTSA expects other proof of age, such as a first-sale invoice or a registration showing the vehicle was registered at least 25 years ago.
• Canadian-certified and newer than 25 years. A Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards label is not a U.S. certification label. NHTSA has determined that many Canadian-certified passenger cars are eligible for importation, with conditions. One published condition is automatic restraints that meet the U.S. occupant-protection standard for passenger cars manufactured on or after September 1, 1989. A personal-use import and an import for resale follow different paths. Vehicles brought in to be sold often have to go through a Registered Importer and be modified to conform. Read the HS-7 instructions for the declaration that matches the vehicle. Some vehicles are not eligible at all.

RIV, DOT, and EPA

These are three different regimes. People mix them up because all three show up in search results for “import a car.”

• RIV is the Registrar of Imported Vehicles, the Canadian program for vehicles being imported into Canada. It is the wrong program for a car leaving Canada for the United States. The RIV site is linked below so you can see the direction it actually covers.
• DOT / NHTSA is the U.S. safety side. The filing at the border is the HS-7 declaration. “DOT” in this conversation means NHTSA’s motor-vehicle standards, not a separate permit you buy at the border.
• EPA is the U.S. emissions side. Highway vehicles generally need EPA Form 3520-1 at entry. A vehicle at least 21 years old — the calendar year of manufacture subtracted from the year of importation — and still in its original configuration can qualify for the EPA age exemption, code E on that form. The 21-year EPA test is not the 25-year NHTSA test. A vehicle can clear one and fail the other. Newer vehicles that do not meet U.S. emission standards may need an Independent Commercial Importer. EPA also describes limited personal cases, such as someone moving to the United States, that are separate from a dealer resale.

Title and registration

The seller needs the provincial ownership document in the seller’s name. Provinces do not all use the word “title.” Liens have to be paid out or otherwise handled at closing. The buyer needs a bill of sale with the VIN, the price, and the odometer. U.S. odometer disclosures are in miles. A Canadian cluster reads in kilometres, so the number has to be converted on the paperwork, and many U.S. buyers want the cluster to display miles. The VIN check includes a speedometer conversion estimate. It is an estimate of the work, not a promise that the cluster will be replaced.

After customs entry, the U.S. buyer titles and registers the vehicle with their state. VIN inspection, sales or use tax, and any state emissions test are state rules. Frontline Ready Imports does not replace your provincial licensing office or the buyer’s DMV.

Transport

Most sellers stay in Canada. A licensed carrier picks the vehicle up and delivers it to the U.S. buyer or to a staging yard. The car should not arrive at the border ahead of the customs paperwork. The importer of record — often the U.S. buyer, or a broker acting for that buyer — files the entry.

On the Canadian side, transfer the ownership when the sale is real and follow your province’s steps for taking the vehicle off the road. A commercial shipment can also require an export report to the Canada Border Services Agency. One person selling one car, and a carrier moving a dealer load, are not the same filing. Ask your provincial licensing office, and ask CBSA when a carrier is moving the vehicle as freight.

Duties and taxes

U.S. Customs and Border Protection calculates duty from the price paid or payable and from the tariff classification. CBP’s public guide lists general rates for foreign-made vehicles of 2.5% for autos and 25% for trucks. Those are base rates, not a quote for your car.

Duty-free entry is narrower than “it came from Canada.” CBP describes two paths that come up on this lane. U.S. goods returned can cover a vehicle that is a product of the United States and comes back without having been improved in value while it was abroad. USMCA preferential treatment is the other path. CBP says the automotive rules are strict, that vehicles produced before 2020 are unlikely to qualify, and that a vehicle which might qualify still needs producer certifications for labor value, steel, and aluminum. If those documents are not available when CBP asks, the duty is collected. Additional duties, including Section 232 automobile duties, can sit on top of the base rate and depend on the entry.

State sales or use tax is usually paid by the buyer when they register the car. Canadian GST or HST on a sale that leaves the country is a separate question for the Canada Revenue Agency or your accountant. This page is not a duty calculation and not a tax opinion.

Official sources

• NHTSA: Importing a vehicle (opens in a new tab)U.S. safety standards, the 25-year rule, and the HS-7 declaration.
• NHTSA: Importation and certification FAQs (opens in a new tab)Canadian-certified vehicles, and how the 25-year age is measured.
• EPA: Importing vehicles and engines (opens in a new tab)Emissions rules, Form 3520-1, and the 21-year exemption.
• CBP: Importing a motor vehicle (opens in a new tab)Customs entry, published duty rates, USMCA, and U.S. goods returned.
• CBP: Section 232 automobile duties (opens in a new tab)Extra duties that can apply on top of the base tariff.
• Registrar of Imported Vehicles (opens in a new tab)Canada’s program for vehicles imported into Canada. It does not clear a car into the United States.
• CBSA: Exporting goods from Canada (opens in a new tab)Commercial export reporting. One private sale is not the same filing as a dealer load.

Why use Frontline Ready Imports

Frontline Ready Imports (Frontline Ready LLC) is a marketplace for this lane: Canadian sellers, registered U.S. buyers, bids in U.S. dollars. It is a named company with a public address. It is not a promise that your car will sell, and it is not a search-ranking claim.

What happens at Manheim Flint

Some vehicles sell directly to a U.S. buyer. Others are positioned for wholesale auction, where licensed dealers bid against each other. Manheim Flint is one of those auctions.

The auction is at 7180 N. Dort Highway, Mt. Morris, MI 48458. Dealers buy in lanes. Frontline Ready Imports is not Manheim, and we do not own the auction.

Marshalling, in plain language

Before a car runs through a lane, it is marshalled. That means the yard receives it, checks it in, and parks it so it is ready for the sale. For this auction, staging can happen at a satellite marshalling lot at 10101 N. Saginaw Road, Clio, MI 48420, about three miles from Manheim Flint. Manheim leases those acres from Clio Spare Room Storage. Frontline Ready Imports does not own the Clio lot.

You do not have to open a U.S. auction account or stand in the lane. If wholesale auction is the path for your vehicle, the U.S. side can stage in the Flint area and then sell to dealer bidders. If your buyer is taking the car directly, it may never see the auction. Ask which path applies before you assume a sale date or a lane.

Contact Frontline Ready Imports

The next step is the sell flow: check a VIN, or list a vehicle you own. Call or email if you would rather start with a person.