Living less than 4 minutes from the border (US side) most of my life, and having bought a volvo from canada previously. (and having a good friend buy a mustang last year-from fort erie) the best way , and easiest, is to give the buyer the title, have them register it insure it etc in their home state and drive it over with their plates.

Done this once personally, and once i followed aa friend over and back.


No hassles at all. NYS DMV didnt even ask about the canadian title when i registered mine. they did however ask me if the vehicle was in the us already, and i told them it was. (it was'nt) i got a bill of sale for 500 bucks and then actually argued with them over the sales tax they charged me due to the exchange rate "it's 500 bucks CANADIAN lady!" (at that time the exchange rate was 33% or thereabouts)

Generally the DMV wont even care, since they still get their cut for taxes etc. If i recall correctly they could care less about the speedometer since it has kmh and mph on it.

This may be different than other states, and if you really feel the urge, at least around here-instrument panels can be had really cheap (50 bucks or so) at the local volvo/bmw/mb etc boneyard.

We moved to Calif. a few yrs ago.

US Customs only needed to see our ownership papers and the manufacturer's letter confirming that our Canadian market vehicle complied with US Federal safety and emissions regulations for its year. Daimler-Chrysler wanted to see my US employer's job offer letter as proof I was moving across the border before they would send the compliance letter! I guess this is to cut down their paperwork by screening out people who make a business "Curbing" cars into the US. I've heard that others have gotten said letter just by asking.

Chrysler's letter merely stated that the vehicle was in compliance with all US reg's except for stickers and labels. Our "Canadian" Dodge Caravan was, ironically enough, built in St. Louis, MO.

Instrument cluster?...headlights?...US officials didn't even look at the speedo (metric, but with tiny MPH numerals), and of course the headlights are the exact same as US models. This is probably true of anything built in the last 20 yrs. The daytime running lights got us a lot of funny looks down there.

We moved back to Canada after four years and there were more hassles reimporting the Caravan back here than going South! Canadian civil service make-work project.
--
Bob (son's 81-244GL B21F, dtr's 83-244DL B23F, 'my' 94-944 B230FD; plus grocery-getter Dodge minivan, hobbycar 77 MGB, and a few old motorcycles)

I would contact the Volvo dealer in Sarnia, Ontario. Apparently they have experience modifying Canadian Volvos for export to the US. For a 740 I vaugely recall it will need a US instrument cluster and US headlights, not much else.

Zack
1980 245DL M46 275k
1985 744TD M46 251k for sale
1988 745T+ M46 203k

Hello Mike:

I have vague recollections of this being a nuisance when I tried doing it when I was a resident of New York for work purposes starting in the late '90s. At the time I had a Ford, and I recall that there were two main things that needed to be addressed, the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) and the Environmental Protection Agency requirements (EPA). The FMVSS stuff was pretty hard and fast (lighting, seat belts, bumpers), the EPA stuff was weird-- involving having the car undercarriage pressure washed so that it wouldn't harbor pathogens.

I ended up baling on the whole idea, leaving the Ford for my fiancee who was still a resident of Ontario. I just bought a US car (that's when I got into Volvos!).

In the US system there are registered motor vehicle importers-- there used to be a list online that you could download. Good luck!
--
Herb Goltz, London, Ontario, Canada '92 245 w/109K mi