Technical British Columbia Out of Province Vintage Vehicle Registration

Hopefully someone can provide some info. I recently sold a vintage project car (cut off one year too new for the HAMB), that was last registered in Alberta but sold to a BC resident. The car had been off the road since the 90's so I did not have any registration papers. It was sold on a bill of sale. The new owner tried to go register it and was told he needed the Alberta registration (that doesn't exist). In Alberta, in this situation you insure it, have an out of province inspection done, and register it. Is the process different in BC? How do you register a project that has been out of the system for years??

Thanks in advance.

Allan

 

That (Alberta) sounds like a prime place to slip stolen cars into if the regs are that lax.
All I know about BC is that it used to be that cars under 25 years old had to have import taxes paid on them (from the states) and 25 an older were exempt. A buddy of mine who used to sell Mercury and Lincoln parts out of Zillah Wa sold his 70's Impala ragtop to a gent from up there and the guy basically let it sit and deteriorate here in the states rather than pay the fees.

 

Try asking the same question on Canadian Rodder Hot Rod Community Forum - Powered by vBulletin
I'm sure you will get an answer there

 

You have to prove ownership in Alberta to get the form from the registry that allows you to get an out of province done. You cannot get an out of province inspection done that the registry will accept without that form.

ttps://www.icbc.com/brochures/Pages/vehicles-no-registration-record.aspx

It amazes me that people don't bother to research this stuff before they buy and sell vehicles.

 

This reeks of one of those rigs that was never in your (the seller) name at any time and in turn you don't have any proof that you ever legally owned it to be able to sell it to someone else. Plus who knows how many times the car got passed around before or after the title got lost.

 

Wow…. cynicism is rampant. The car was registered in the 90’s in Alberta, not stolen. It sat in a guys collection of hundreds of cars and was bought from the estate sale after he passed. It still has the Alberta plate on it but no registration slip. I have a bill of sale from a friend who bought it at the estate sale.

 

Before you respond you should be sure that you have some understanding of the way things work in Canada and specifically Alberta.

Otherwise your response screams that you don’t have a clue.
In this case you don’t.

1) Canada doesn’t use a title system.
2) Proof of ownership involves buying something and getting a bill of sale which proves ownership of a project car and or the parts to build one.
3) That applies regardless of whether multiple owners have had it in their possession and never completed it or taken it through the registration process which would provide a license plate for street use.
Lesson over.

 

Hey there Al
Good response.
I really get a kick out of the American responses that don’t know how our system in Canada works.

 

Larry, as has been said, like assholes, everyone has an opinion as well…..

 

The first thing the guy should probably try is going to a different Autoplan broker and see if he gets a different answer. Often if the request hasn't been dealt with much or at all at a specific location they just don't know what needs to be done.

 

Sems to me the place to ask would be the appropriate federal/provincial authority, rather than on a message board with people from all over the world

Not picking specifically on you, but this seems to happen a lot from everywhere

 

I was hoping for an answer from a HAMB member in BC. I’m pretty sure Larry, K13 and I are not the only Canadian members……

 

I can say I never brought a vehicle from Alberta to BC without the registration so unfortunately I’m no help but at least I do understand the system.

Some folks have to comment on everything whether they know the answer or not.

 

If the vehicle is registered in Alberta, then imported to BC then it should be pretty simple. If the vehicle isn’t registered and sold with a bill of sale then you may have to apply for a new VIN.

 

I don't think that's a trustworthy statement.

 

Ok I'll own up to being the cynic and it isn't the first time I have been called an asshole so that rolls off.
My full comment is that I have seen too many cases of where the guy selling the car didn't put it in his name but held on to the car for a number of years. It just seems that there would have been a whole lot less hassle if it had been transferred into the OP's name before he sold it or at least had an up to date registration in the gent who he got it from with a good bill of sale from him. Meaning old papers cause issues when you go to sell something expecially across province or state lines.

I've got two rigs out here that are TPO = title purpose only no registration but have clear titles in my name. One will probably get sold as is and the third one is going to cost me all the taxes and registration fees when I go to license it. I've also got a mini van that was probably handed around the Burlington WA area a half dozen times before I got it with the title still in the original owner's name. That one will probably end up in the wrecking yard after it finishes being my 35 dollar storage shed.

 

Forget the plate...use ICBC's lost regi process...with that process all one needs is a VI number and a signed and dated bill of sale...an apv9T form also helps as all governments really want is whatever taxes and levies are due...go to an insurance agent they will have a pamphlet describing the whole process... it's actually very easy
edit: what @K13 said post #4

 

Also an as**h**e here, (reminded daily, so no big) In Alberta the license plates remain in the "system" not necessarily the car. I reactivated 2 plate numbers (registered to me) that had been inactive for at least 20 years. Did you check the AB plates? They may still be in their system with the dead guy's name on it.

 

Wow, there's a lot of thin skinned members on the HAMB. The HAMB of old would have eaten them alive.....but thanks for all the great advice.

 

The only way you can get a registration in Alberta for a vehicle is if you can show that the vehicle is insured. If the vehicle was not currently registered when it was sold then it also requires an out of province mechanical inspection to get it registered. If it doesn't pass the inspection no registration.

 

Everyone has one, they all stink, and most of them shouldn't be shared.

The two of you seem to be speaking speaking with regards to how the system works in the US for vehicle ownership. We don't have titles, lost titles, etc. The title system in the US would make me crazy.

In Alberta, to get registration for the vehicle you have to prove ownership. That happens with a bill of sale or a declaration if you have owned the vehicle for a long period. If the vehicle isn't in the computer records as having been registered in Alberta, you have to get an out-of-province inspection done on it before you can get registration. There are some small exceptions to this (you can prove previous registration in Alberta), but for the most part this is how it works. An out of province inspection in Alberta is thorough and as an example measures brake drums and/or rotor thickness and goes through a large number of items including mechanical systems, whether you have sun visors, etc. It's not just "get a registration". Each province has some form of this system. Problems arise when the registry you go to doesn't know the system for putting an old car back on the road. The guy sold the car, registering it in a different province is out of his responsibility. It's very much not like it is in the US.

Yes, waltzing into the registries with a bill of sale in your province is exactly how you get the registration process started in Canada.

 

There are plenty of people in BC that legally register something that was previously just a rusted shell that was definitely not registered anytime recently. There must be some way to do it.

 

https://www.alberta.ca/register-an-alberta-vehicle-in-other-jurisdictions

 

If they're not in the system, it could come from the bottom of the ocean and it's exactly the same.

 

In post 4 I put the link to the ICBC page that explains exactly what needs to be done.

Like people who don't research what needs to be done to register a vehicle before buying lots here don't seem to actually read threads before bloviating about a subject based on procedures in different jurisdictions.

 

You US guys and the Ontario dude too are speaking an entirely different language when it comes to the registration and ownership rules in Alberta and BC.

Sounds like it would be a nightmare in Ontario pretty much like everything else there.

Lots of correct information has been provided here, you guys seem to be intent to keep on showing what you think you know about the situation.

 

sorry if I wasn't clear...the information in the link provided in post #4 is the correct way to deal with this in BC...but if I may offer my asshole opinion it would be pretty cool of you to do it for the purchaser @Al T

 

To close this out, I was able to get the Alberta registration for the car today which has been forwarded to the new owner in BC. Lesson learned for me. I had no idea BC needed registration to register an out of province vintage car.
Thanks for all the advice, and my apologies for any hurt feelings…… :/

 

Well Al that’s great that you were able to do that for him.
His life will be easier because of it and it confirms what I already knew.
You’re one of the good guys.

 

Awww shucks.....