Re-post: How to get you car off the DOCK.

[Henry]

Sorry it took so long to post but i had family stuff then work and Finally Car problems to deal with


Well this is in no ways a professional guide to get your car off the dock.
This is just my personal experiance and pretty much all the step that i have taken so far.

I didn't have a broker so i had to get the car off the dock myself when it arrived.

Also i can't spell so sorry in advanced about the spelling errors.

The most important thing is to get this stuff done soon cause the longer you take the more its gonna cost

Well Here GOES


First off you need to get confermation from your seller on what ship your car is on and when it will arrive in B.C. (In most cases the main port is "New Westminster Port" which is messed up cause i ended up calling like 3 ports before i was told it was in Fraser Wharves which is located in Richmond bul i'll get to that later)

Another big thing if your doing this alone is that you need to know is this shipping agent and the counter part shipping agent that is located in B.C.
So mine was K-Line in japan and they had there Counter part was also K-Line and there office was located in Burnaby.

So know the ship and date of arrival,
You need to get the following sent over, (you want to have this stuff before your car arrives)

You need:
Bill of Lading.
Invoice of Sale.
Deregistration papers ( Certificate of Cancellation of Motor Vehicales Registration)

I got 3 copies of Bill of Lading
1 for the shipping company
1 for your own
1 is a recipt.

I got 2 Deregistration papers
1 in English
1 in Japanese

Then a Bill of Sale.
Pretty much something that say how much you paid for your car and how much shipping was.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL OF THESE PAPERS OR ELSE YOU CAN'T GET YOUR CAR!!!! :shock:

Alright when you get this info you should call the counter part shipping agent right away to conferm all the info you have eg. when the car will arrive, that your car is in that ship and whatever else you want to ask them.

So the day your car arrives you want to give your shipping agent a call and you need to give them 1 copy of your Bill of Lading (You Might be able to do this before hand...)

So you do this and then the shipping company calls the docks and release the car from their name into yours.
My Agent didn't call me when the ship arrives so i guess that you need to do all this stuff yourself.

Ok now assuming that your car is at Fraser Wharves (ask your shipping agent) you then need to call their operations person which in my case was Debbie Mills (She might be on holidays cause when i went she was training someone)

Ok so Fraser Wharves Ltd.

is located at 13800 Steveston Hwy, Richmond B.C. V6W 1A8
for people who are bad with street names it's located right next to Famous Players SilverCity Richmond. It's a guarded post, and really hard to miss once your there

There phone number is (604) 277-1141 its automated so you can listen or just dial 309 for Debbie Mills

Ok so Debbie sounds like a Bitch over the phone but is a real nice in person. One thing you want to do is be on her nice side cause she can cost you a lot of money if you don't.

Alright to call Debbie after you drop off the Bill of Lading to your shipper and after they have released the shipment to your name.

You need to get a copy of ADVICE NOTICE from her, the best is to get it faxed over. But if you have to you can pick it up but i'll tell you now save the trip over there for when you can actually drive away in your car.

The Advice Notice consists of 4 pages including cover page.
1 cover page
2 in bond notices ( 1 for you 1 for customs)
1 manifest of cargo

Faxs will be a major part in getting your car ASAP.

Ok so you now have your ADVICE NOTICE you then need to get your
car CFIA or Canadian Food Inspection Agency cleared. In most cases they will automatically to it at Fraser Wharves but you need to pay for it and fill out a form...this is where that fax machine comes in handy again.

Ok if your Car is at Fraser Wharves you need to call (604) 666-2891 for CFIA
if it is some where else you need to call (604) 666 3837

* My car was already checkout cause it took me a couple of days to get my info inorder so i just had to pay but you might need to talk to them.

Anyways they fax over a Request for release approval
where you have to fill in various information about your car and ship...rather straight forward but if there is something you don't get just call them back ( i did this because i wasn't sure what to put in under COMMODITY/PRODUCT i though used car but Model and chassy code was what they wanted)

Alright now the first of many fees

You need to pay CFIA $46.01

There is a bunch of faxing going on with CFIA...
first they send you the sheet,
U fax it back with info and payment information
Then they fax back a stamped copy for customs and a recipt of payment.

OK so far you should have your:
Bill of Lading
Sales Invoice
Deregistation papers
Advice Notice
CFIA approved document if for some reason you don't have this you screwed up some where.

OK now for the fun part...your first time down to Customs.

Ok the B.C. customs office is located at 333 Dunsmuir Street Vancouver, B.C. V6B 5R4
* The reason i'm giving the postal code is if you want to mapquest this stuff.

It's located with in the B.C. Hydro building...it's like a corner office on the first floor.
There Number is (604) 666 0547
I would make an appointment just so you don't have to stand in line

Alright so from there you show them your papers in which they will get you to pay Duty and Taxes (they count shipping fees as apart of the total car cost)
They also charge $100 for air condtion...but put it this way if i was to pay again i would have told them i didn't have air condtion cause they didn't check for it when i got it done and they don't seem to really car...but i was an honest fool and said that is did...$100 that could have gone to repairs...

Ok well they custom agent at this point gives you a bill and you have to go to the 3 floor i think and pay for it and then bring it back to him.

He dones some more paper work and sends you off with a stamped Advice Notice and a recipt.

You have to come back later to get your form 1 and your car inspected( don't worry just a quick look over, they check the chassy number and if is it really 15 years old.

OK...NOW YOU CAN FINALLY PICK UP YOUR CAR...sort of

So when you get that stamped copy of the Advice Notice you need to Fax it to Debbie Mills at Fraser Wharves the Fax number is (604) 275 0029

it takes them a day to get stuff ready, like move you car to the pick-up area and conferm the paper work.

REALLY IMPORTANT...You only get 3 days of free dock services as if your car is there longer than 3 days your paying $10 for every extra day!!! this is why you want to get your stuff done quick.

Also the day you go to pick up your car your gonna want to stop over at a insurance place and get a couple of days of insurence cause you might want to get some repairs done and you might not have time right way to get everything done in order to get your full insurance.

Ok so more fees

At Fraser Wharves you have to pay the standard $100 no matter what
$50 for Yard Labout
$50 for Terminal Charges.

Again if you take longer than 3 days $10 added for each extra day.

Ok so when you go to Fraser Wharves you should bring all your paper work but make sure you have:

BILL OF LADING
CFIA STAMPED
ADVICE NOTICE STAMPED
TEMPORARY CAR INSUREANCE
And money to pay and to get gas if your car is out of it.

Alright now just pick up your car and go...

After this your gonna want to setup a appointment at Customs again so they can do there inspection and so you can get your form 1

After this you need to get your car inspected and i personally don't recommend going to CANADIAN TIRE...go to a certified Garage...i think you can get a list from ICBC or just call garages and ask if they do PROVINCAL VEHICAL INSPECTIONS

Well this is where i'm Stuck at right now...so hopefully this is understandable and help someone out...feel free to email or pm me if there is something that you want clarified.

**New Info**

Ok for people in B.C. You need to get a VIN number from ICBC.

You just need to go into any autoplan broker and ask for a form (VIN form)

You need to fill it out with your car info...Chassy number, make, model..etc.

You need to pay $25 i think in cheque form cause you don't actually pay the autobroker you need to pay ICBC so make a cheque out to them

You need to supply with with:

Form 1
Bill of Sale
De-registration papers (Both English and Japanese if you have then)
You can just ask them to photocopy them for you or get it done before hand

You also have to find a garage to get the VIN plates sent to for installation.
It's a requirement on the form. Any garage should do they just want to send it to someone in which they can hold responsible to bolt the plates on. (They don't want people to put VIN plates on the wrong car)

If everything goes will your garage should get the plates in a week or two and then you just have to bring your car down and get it bolted on.
If not someone from ICBC will give you a call.

That should be it.

[aerocabin]

Re: Re-post: How to get you car off the DOCK.

Ok so Debbie sounds like a biatch over the phone but is a real nice in person. One thing you want to do is be on her nice side cause she can cost you a lot of money if you don't.

Sorry, she IS what you said she sounds like on the phone (IMO). She makes mistakes, is very disorganised and is very unprofessional IMO. And it doesn't take much to get on her bad side, and stay there (see: unprofessional). I can't believe people like her can keep their jobs.

She acted nice the first time I met her, but once 15 year old cars started to cram the port, she quickly became difficult to deal with. It's almost as if she resented people who imported cars that weren't new, because we weren't importing a thousand cars at a time like Toyota does.

I dreaded the day that someone would make an indepth article on this topic, good work, you're making part of my job obsolete.

Anyone else have horror stories about Debbie?

[icydude]

i talked to Debbie, soon after this original post, i do say i made it onto her bad side in no time flat. I wont want to be callign her anytime soon. But everything is sorted out and its all good.

[Mavro]

Horror Stories about Debbie Mills? I can't say I have any, in fact it's quite the opposite. She is one of the most pleasant, professional, and organized people involved in this industry.

What most people do not understand is what Debbie Mills actually does at Fraser wharves. She's not the person holding your car back from you, she's the one making sure you have done what YOU need to do to get your car. Fraser wharves cannot release ANY car until all of the paperwork has been done.

If you have all of your paperwork orgainzed, and have done all of the necessary steps completed as outlined above, I guarantee you will have no problems picking up your car in a timely manner. I know this because I have done it many times over, and haven't paid unnecessary storage fees once.

The problem with this situation is that no one really knows the process when picking up their imported vehicle, because on average it is most people's first experience importing a car. So where are you supposed to go to find out what to do? Well, this thread is a great start, and believe me, I'm sure Debbie's life is made much easier because of it, save for the undeserserved slanderous remarks, which are completely uncalled for.



What most people do is show up at her office and demand their car on the spot. What they do not realize is there is a strict process that must be followed for the car to be leaglly imported into Canada. This usually ends up in the car owner getting upset, aggravated and sometimes even the police have to be involved to escort them out.


All this because they didn't know what THEY were supposed to do to get their cars out. If you're not willing to do the research, leave it to a professional. Since when has anything to do with Customs been a simple and easy process? There are specific steps to be taken, and if they are not done properly, Debbie has to be the bearer of bad news and tell you your car isn't going anywhere until they are completed. Don't shoot the messenger.



What would you do if somone showed up in your office making unreasonable demands that you could do nothing about? This is not part of her job, but she takes it in stride and continues to help people by instructing them with what they need to do to release their cars legally, and all with the patience of a Saint.

Every time a ship comes in with 100-200 used cars, she has to deal with this how many times over? It's the same BS for her over and over, and every time I guarantee if you give her the same respect she gives you, you will never have a problem dealing with her.



How can someone who is importing tens of thousands new cars every month, plus educating hundreds of people with no clue on importing their used cars be called un-orgainzed? Think of how much you had to go through with your one car, and multiply that a few hundred times over. She's one of the most organized people I know.

Debbie does a fabulous job at what she does, and I say this because I know her and deal with her often. She has never made a single mistake with us and has always been on top of things. I couldn't ask for a better operations manager to deal with, and I say this because I have dealt with some difficult people along the way.

You want to hear some Horror stories?...Next time you have to call Debbie, ask her about some of the horror stories SHE'S had to deal with. You'd be surprised. I know they far outweigh anything any of us have had to deal with while importing a car....That is, unless of course you're the guy that had to be hauled out of the office by the cops :wink:



Great thread BTW, I just wish more people would read it and follow your advice.



Gerry Martselos
Terra2 Imports

[JDMGoodness]

Good post.

First things Debbie Mills is totally misrepresented in the first few posts. She is extremely easy to deal with. I have nothing but praise for her and how she handles the new car shipments and the increase in used. It wasn't too long ago that she was dealing with much less used car traffic.

She is doing a remarkable job considering that each shipment can contain upwards of 300 used cars. She has to contact each one and make sure that the proper procedures are being followed.

Getting your car off the dock isn't that hard to do. It's the timing and order of the required documents that can be tricky.

Debbie can go out of her way to make sure you get your vehicle. Rules must be followed and proper documents must be provided to her. If something is not in it's place you will not get your car. It's not going to be her fault. She just makes sure all the required items have been properly taken care off. If you do not have them completed at the time you try to pick up your vehicle it will not be released. It won't be Debbie's fault. But she would be more than happy to let you know what needs to be completed.

I have been in contact with Debbie and I will be working on a checklist/information package that will be posted. This will hopefully smooth things out for everyone involved.

Once again a big thanks to Debbie for her help!!

Dan

[davidos]

This should be sticky!!

good to know the process and paperwork needed.