As the title says, I know there are probably a lot of topics like mine but laws and regulations are changing everyday. I'm looking into purchasing a used snowmobile from MI. Where to start?!? Any help at all would be appreciated!

Go to this site. There's a whole section on instructing Canadians on how to import to Canada
It's near the bottom of this page.
http://www.snowmobileauction.com/buyer.htm

Dont forget the $500 BRP recall letter scam and NO WARRANTY...it's BS!!!!!!

Very simple process to do. Just go buy the sled and make sure you get a written bill of sale from the seller. When you cross show them all the paper work and they will give you an riv form You shouldnt need a recall letter either, just a print out of manufacturers specifications. Go to the website www.riv.ca and that should help

YOU NEED RECALL LETTER OR YOU ARE SCREWED AND WILL NOT BE ABLE TO register it!@! Sure you can bring it into Canada but thats it, you wont be able to get it registered without it!! BRP gives you the bone by charging you the 5 blills even though you will most likely be servcing it here in CANADA and buying PARTS and ACCESSORIES from your LOCAL dealer!! Thanks BRP for putting it to the Canucks!

Just had Crappy Tire do the two minute inspection this morning from one of the sled I brought from Michigan to Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. You will be have to do the following;
1. Notify U.S. customs 72 hours in advance with the vin, before trying to bring the sled over the boarder.Dealer will due if you are dealing with one.
2. Had the letter of origin and or bill of sale to present at U.S. customs for them to stamp.
3. When you hit our side, you will have to pay the GST and the RIV fee of 204.00. If you are getting from a dealer, ask them to help with the recall letter, but you MUST have it if you are putting a MTO sticker on it. If the sled is new, it will come with it.
4. Canada Customs will fill out the form 1 for RIV. After that they will submit a copy to RIV and make sure you give them a email address.
5. Once RIV has the form 1 and the recall letter, they will send you a email with a inspection form attached, to take to a authorized verifier which is usually Canadian Tire. Make a appointment and a mechanic will check the vin and mileage, make sure the lights work and you are done. They fax the inspection form to RIV and they then give you a certificate of importation.
6. Take this to the MTO and pay the PST and you got stickers.
The recall letter is mandatory , but remember if it is a race sled for close track racing you do not require a RIV to be done. No RIV means you will not be able to borrow money to buy it or take it off your property,no registration,but it depends on what you are doing.

Excellent Post!!

So its $500 for a recall letter?? Wouldnt the dealerships give you one for free if you asked them for one?

Hey look who it is! Eyeing up a new sled over the border?

There is a number to call bombardier and then they will email you a letter (and probably mail) free of charge. Can't remember the details on what they want to know but this is what I did.
I believe you may also be able to request it at your dealer, not sure though.

thanks for all of the feedback guys! beer3552, great explanation!

i'm confused about the recall letter, so i have to pay 5 bills or will they mail me one or what? does this also apply if i buy from a dealer? if i buy privately shouldn't the seller be able to get the letter for free from where they bought the sled?

Call BRP and see what they say!! It's 5 bills!! Good luck!! They are charging you this to disuade you from buying south of the border!! Any chance at getting a letter will need to come from the US dealer you are working with or the private seller would need to try and get you on. Even the US dealers now are having a hard time getting them...LOVE DOO but hate all these US-CAN BS politics!

Great post by beer3352. Kaelin11 have you actually brought a snowmobile across yourself ? I think you are getting the recall letter confused with a vehicle, which I have brought many of those across and you must have a recall leter. Last sled I brought over the RIV inspection station only asked me to bring a specifications print out off the internet for the sled and they passed it no problem.

Too solid the best thing to do is call your local inspection place and ask them what they will need to pass a snowmobile. If you are friends with a local dealer you can get one for free too.

Ya got my eye on a few of them from the US, I would like to get one up here if I can find a decent deal but who knows, For some reason I think the old F chassis with the SC-10 just isint up for Abitiby and the polaris in the stable is a lost cause for sure......

Hey Marc have you registered a sled that you have picked up from the US?? Sure you can brng it across and take it to crappy tire and all but to register it you need the recall letter!! CBSA website!
The original certificate of title for your vehicle must be submitted to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at least 72 hours before the vehicle is exported from the United States, and the vehicle must be presented to U.S. CBP at the time of exportation.

A recall clearance letter for your vehicle must be submitted directly to the RIV at the time of importation or immediately afterwards, otherwisethe RIV will be unable to release the inspection form that you need to complete the necessary modification(s) to your vehicle. For more details, please consult the RIV's Web site at www.riv.ca.

I know your facts are valid for a vehicle but the last sled I brought across I did not have to have a recall letter for it. Given that was about 2 years ago somthing could have changed since then. But like I said before if you are buddies with a dealership that form is very easy to get without paying the $ 500

My DEALER told me to stick it where the sun dont shine when i asked him for a recall letter for a sled that i was going to purchase FROM SOMEONE ELSE IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY!! Yes things have changed alot in 2 yrs!

In the last 2 years I have imported a good number of sleds and trailers. Enough that the Canadian Border told me that I cannot show up again without a vehicle business import licence! My bad !!
You do not "have to" do anything with the U.S. side if you do not want to. It is recommended, but not manditory. Call the Canadian Border Services and they will tell you the same thing. The reason you "should" contact the U.S. side is for them to have time to run the VIN to verify there are no liens against the vehicle and that it has not been involved in a theft or crime.
The Canadian side really doesn't care whether you do this check or not. I did it for the first few sleds I brought accross, but certainly not all of them. I personally asked the Canadian side and that is what they told me. It is for your own good to do it though, unless you know the seller well and can take his word.
You do need the recall letter if you wish to licence the sled for trail use in Canada. Do not bother with Canadian dealers. It is a huge money grab in my opinion. I would go to any Doo dealer near where you buy the sled and ask politely for the recall letter. I would offer $20 for their time and trouble. Most would not accept it, but appreciated the kind gesture.
DON'T TRY TO ALTER OR FUDGE THE PURCHASE PRICE!!! Been there, been caught, don't bother!!. My bad again !! If they get a bee in their bonnet and want to take a closer look at your stuff, they will dig until they get what they are after. You can be asked for your bank statements, the ad from where you found the vehicle, the contact information of the seller and the list goes on...... It is not worth the few bucks you save in tax. I blame no one but myself for my encounter with the border folks, but if I can save you the hastle, it can have some good come out of it.
On the way down, I would bring a copy of the ad you found the sled in, if you want, the bank reciept for your withdrawl or money conversion, and the contact info for the seller. If you want to do the 72 hours notice for the U.S. side, you need to get the seller to either fax you a copy of the title or get him/her to fax a copy directly to the U.S. Border Patrol 3 days before you plan on taking the sled accross to Canada. You can call them and they will give you the fax number and maybe a "send it to" person or dept. They require the title to be sent 3 days in advance. All they do is run the VIN and if it is all good, they will emboss your paperwork to validate the check has been done. If the buyer feels uneasy about this step, remind them that it does not mean they HAVE to sell you the sled. You can fax that stuff in and not show up with the sled and the U.S. side will not care.
Again, if you are going to do the U.S. stuff, keep in mind that the U.S. side for processing this kind of paperwork is not always open 24/7. Last year, the Detroit location was, but the Port Huron/Sarnia was regular business hours only and NO WEEKENDS!!. I would call the border you plan on crossing at and verify their hours. They get very unhappy if you show up for a check after hours. Yup, I know that too
Outside of that, it is a simple process as stated by the other DooTalkers. You tell the fella at the Canadian booth what you are doing, he wil tell you to go to the main Border office and you will be greeted by one or more Border Police. Tell them what you are doing and they will likely look at your machine and your paperwork briefly and then send you inside. There you go to the counter and present your paperwork. They will fill out the RIV form and get you to sign it. You will be charged the just over $200 RIV fee and one of the sales taxes. Can't remember which one. You will pay the other sales tax when you finally register the sled at the MTO. Once you pay your fees inside the Main Border office, you go outside and present your paperwork to a border police officer and he/she will take a closer look at your sled and maybe your vehicle too. Make sure you do not have stuff in your vehicle that should not be there or that you did not claim, it can get ugly.
When they are all happy, you go home. At the border desk, you can register to be notified by email that you RIV paperwork has been completed and is clear. Make sure you do that. IMPORTANT: RIV Canada will NOT call you if there is a problem with your paperwork!!! It will sit dormant until you finally get so frustrated that you call them. Then they will tell you the issue/s that you need to correct. I can't remember how long it normally takes for the paperwork to clear, but once you find out, call them the day it should be done, or before, and ask if there has been any issues. It will save you a pile of time.
when it is done, you will get an email to print out. Call your local Canadian Tire and book an appointment for an RIV inspection. Bring ALL of your paperwork with your sled. As mentioned, your VIN must match and your lights must work in order to pass the inspection. They will stamp your paperwork and you are good to go to the MTO and get the machine in your name. You will pay the other tax at this point, as well as your licence fees.
Some time later(weeks) you will get a letter in the mail that will contain a new i.d. plate sticker that goes on your tunnel. It is basically the new i.d. plate for that sled in this country from that day forward.
All the above applies to trailers too. Anything you licence for the road or trail needs to go through this process. Once the vehicle is 15 years old, there is no RIV fee or process for it. The border will stamp you paperwork for you and off you go.
Feel free to contact me via a pm if you have any questions. I will be happy to chat in person too, let me know and I will shoot you my number.

All very good info from 2 wheel trucker! The only thing I will add is it's the GST you pay at the border and make sure your kill switch works at Canadian Tire too. Aside from that his info was bang on!

This is especially true with Bomardier products..............!! Total money grab. I'm not sure I've ever been told to **** off so many times on the phone! LOL!

A basic service bulletin is all that is needed for the recall letter. Any dealer can get this info in a matter of minutes with the vin number. Dealers are getting the shaft from brp ripping them off for the sleds they buy compared to the U.S. I'd set up a service and charge $25 bucks for the letter and have a happy customer that may buy oil ,parts etc, insted of a dealer going to tell a potential cusomter to go F himself. What a joke.

Amen brother!!

Amen x2!!!

I brought my sled across 2 years ago from this coming up January.

Did not need to stop at the American border office.
Did not need to have a recall letter.

Showed up at the Canadian border with the Sled and Trailer. Showed them the bill of sale. Customs officer came out and looked at the VIN on the sled and trailer. Paid the GST and the RIV fees for both the sled and the trailer. Drove back to Canada.

Wait for RIV to send me a letter asking for a Recall Letter from BRP. Took a little over 2 weeks to get the letter from RIV. I called up BRP's main office in Quebec. They asked for the VIN number and told me over the phone there was no recalls. They then told me they would need me to fax them the bill of sale with my and the person I bought it from signature. They also said they could fax it or mail it to me. I asked if they could email it, they said no. I told them I don't have a fax machine, but the RIV form has a fax number on it to fax the recall form to. They said it was no problem to fax it to the RIV fax number. They then said it would take 20 days before they could fax the recall letter to RIV. I think it took less then 20 days tho.





Does BRP really charge $500 now for a recall letter? Can any one confirm that BRP main office is charging $500 for recall letters?

Dude with all DUE respect you are talking 2 YEARS AGO and YES THINGS HAVE CHANGED AND YES YOU NEED A RECALL LETTER AND YES BRP CHARGES $500!!!!!!

Yes, BRP used to do the recall letter at no charge but if you call that number today they will tell you to go to your dealer because they no longer do it. I had a friend that printed the service bullentin in 5 minutes, what a rip off charging $500. I could see $20-$30 for there time and would be OK with that.
One thing to add, make sure you stop and park before the US side and walk in to get you paper work stamped. Do not drive up to the gate our you will have to sit in line only to turn around and go back. Stupid me did it twice, wasted an hour each time.

Woah Dude!!!!!!! haha

2 years is not a long time when talking about government policy's and law. (The BRP recall letter price is a different story tho)

I DID say you needed a recall letter, but you don't need it at the border only when registering it in Canada (RIV process). Hell you don't even have to buy the RIV forms at the border you can bring it back and do it latter. I did it at the border because they told me the process would go quicker if I did it at the border.







I have searched about the BRP recall letter price. Seems like most posts out there on the internet are saying that the dealer they phoned are telling them it will cost $500. Some people say that they have called BRP directly and BRP has told them they don't do recall letters anymore and the dealer has to do them.

My question was more "does anyone have first hand experience with BRP directly telling them it will cost $500?". I think BRP could be sued and even held liable if someone didn't get a recall done because the recall letter cost so much money. (I read there is a BMW class action lawsuit in Canada about the exact same thing.). If the dealers are all telling you it will cost $500 I would call BRP directly and complain and threaten to contact government officials (Local MP), better business bureau, and newspapers. I sure if you make a big enough fuse you will get you letter.

I wrote up my last post before i read your post, so some of the stuff I wrote you answered.




In respect to the stopping at the American side I read the same thing 2 years ago. I read that it all depended on what customs officer you got and what border you cross at. The official rule was no you do not need a stamp for off road vehicles, but that may have changed. I called the border I was going to cross before hand to confirm they didn't want me to stop for a stamp on the American side. I was told by the customs officer that no you don't need the stamp for off road vehicles.

Best thing to do is call up the border station you are going to be crossing at and ask what the process is.

they seem to change the rules constantly for their benefit, meaning its too much work for them so don't worry about it..

you dont need to stop on the US side for rec vehicles, not because they're exempt but because the gaurds don't want to deal with them.

the only things you need are a bill of sale & ownership paper of some kind. oh & money to pay GST...

they fill out the form 1, give you a copy, send 1 to RIV and you can pay the RIV fee at home, online if you want.

that's all you need, pretty simple.

who in their right mind would charge $500 for a piece of paper? someone who wants to loose their business! somebody will provide you that paper for next to nothing if not nothing just like its been provided to me in the past. just go in and buy something from them, they'll do it up no problems.

you can coax most of the US dealers into doing it for free if you say you want them to check out the sled before purchase. just ask the seller which dealership they use.

...looks like I found a sled, 2003 Yamaha Venture 700 with 5,000kms - C$3500

Prolly heading down tonight and picking it up - crossing at the Lewiston Bridge.
The import office is open 24hr, right???

I was wondering what the prices where like now in Canada compared to the US. I did a quick search. They don't seem that far off now.

When I bought my sled (2 years ago) I was looking for a sled and trailer combo.
Guy in Ottawa had a 2002 Polarise 700 and double trailer. Talked to him back and forth said the lowest he would go was $5100. I said $4100 was as high as I would go and gave a bunch of resources of why I would not go higher then $4100.

I ended buying a 2000 MXZ 700 and trailer from a guy in Syracuse New York with cover, helmet, jacket, gloves, equipment bag for $3000.

Guy with the polarise emailed me the day I was leaving for Syracuse saying he would take $4800. I said no thanks and that I was on my way to buy another sled. I just caulked it up to the guy thinking his sled was worth way more then it was. Figured I saved about $2000ish by buying in the US.




That yamaha doesn't look like a good deal to me. I just did a quick search on autotrader and i see:
2007 Yamaha RS Venture , 1610 kms, $4200 Located in Scarborough
2005 Yamaha Venture XL 600 , Fuel Injected, triple, 1027 kms, $5000 Location: Georgetown, ON

But then I also see:
2000 YAMAHA VENTURE 700 $4,990.00 Mileage: 2,418 Located in London (Hully Gully The Ultimate Toy Store)
^That seems to be very over priced.

Could you email/PM me the link for the 2007 RS venture for $4200 - sounds like a good deal, however I suspect it's a fake ad. Sounds too good to be true.

....the Venture I'm looking at in NY state is going for US$3000, but after you apply both taxes + $200 RIV fee, it's C$3700 all in (or ~C$3500 without GST, for comparison with sleds in Ontario).

This is what comes up when I search for Yamaha Venture:
Autotrader Search Results

I imported an ATV about 2 years ago. I intended to hit US customs on the way out but missed the turn and got to the Canadian side before I knew it. Canadian border guard told me not to bother going back. I got my recall letter from the vendor's dealer in Michigan before I left. Took him 5 minutes to print out from BRP's website - no charge, but I bought a few things in the store while I was there.

Well folks, I need to eat a bit of crow. I appoligize to anyone I have mislead in my ramblings of importing rules and regs.
I have a good buddy who took today off so he could go to the Buffalo area to buy a sled and bring it home. Guess what??!!
NOT UNTIL THE TITLE(REGISTRATION) HAS BEEN FAXED 72 HOURS IN ADVANCE AND CLEARED THROUGH THE U.S. CUSTOMS
It is now manditory and you will not be allowed to import the vehicle without this U.S. clearance. I am not sure that if you just show up and do not have this stuff if they will send you through anyway. Here is the verbage cut right from the Canadian Border Services website:

"Notes
If you are importing a vehicle for resale or for other commercial purposes, Transport Canada requires you to report to a CBSA office designated for that purpose when you arrive in Canada. For more details, call the RIV.

The original certificate of title for your vehicle must be submitted to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at least 72 hours before the vehicle is exported from the United States, and the vehicle must be presented to U.S. CBP at the time of exportation.

A recall clearance letter for your vehicle must be submitted directly to the RIV at the time of importation or immediately afterwards, otherwisethe RIV will be unable to release the inspection form that you need to complete the necessary modification(s) to your vehicle. For more details, please consult the RIV's Web site at www.riv.ca."

And note the bit about the recall letter being needed at the time of border crossing.

I guess we will need three days advance notice from now on.........

this has ALWAYS been part of the process, the question was whether the Canada Border Services carred or looked for this stamp or not.

did CBS turn your friend away? was he buying a sled?

I've bought 2 sleds and 1 boat/trailer in the US in the last 2 years and NEVER notified US customs or got the stamp - frankly I've never seen anywhere for you to stop on the US side to receive such a stamp, unless you did it when you entered.

I crossed at the Rainbow and Blue water in Sarnia/Port Huron.

as far as the recall letter, it clearly states you can produce it afterwards. you have 45 days to complete the process, this also has not changed.

Best thing to do for everyone is to go through the RIV process themselves. I just brought a 2008 600 RS across. Did not fax anything 72 hours in advance and recieved the recall letter from a dealer for free.

Best advice for everyone is just go and do it. Aslong as the government gets money from you they dont really care. All they want is there fee's.

He called the Canadian side this morning and they said they will not let him import the vehicle without the U.S. Customs stamp PERIOD!
I agreed with most of the folks here, just go and do it and don't stop on the U.S. side, until now. I have also imported about 10 vehicles in the last 1.5years and all went well without the U.S. stamp. The difference here is that the Canadian side made it clear to him this morning that they will turn him away if he shows up without the U.S. approval stamp.
When I called the Canadian side last summer, they told me it was not manditory, but recommended. Now they are insisting it is manditory.
Take it for what ever you like, but the verbage has changed to MUST now, from recommended.
Maybe they are saying one thing and still letting you through if you show up without the stamp, I can't say first hand. All I can say is that they told him not to bother trying, it will not work out for him.

Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to ruffle anyones feathers on this, just trying to get folks some info so they do not lose time and money by getting rejected at the Canadian side(if they in fact have decided to enforce these policies). Just as a side note, there is access to the U.S. Customs offices at Port Huron, Detroit and Buffalo. I suspect it is the same at most crossings. It is not overly obvious where you access them, but it is there. I have driven big truck for some years now and have been to these offices when crossing into Canada.

I was told it did not apply to off road vehicles by the customs officers 2 years ago. I have also read that certain states do not have registration for off road vehicles, so it would not be possible to get it cleared on the US side in those cases.


2 years ago this topic was discusessed alot and I was told by people who did just show up to just go and show up and you will be fine. That is what I did and I had no issues. I was also told at the time if you phone up a boarder crossing they will give you different answers depending on who you talk to.



What I'm seeing here is a group of people who have just done it with no problems and people who have not done it and are saying you have to stop on the american side.

I say get your budy to fax the stuff to the American side. THEN on the way back don't stop at the american side just come to the Canadian side and see what happens. If i'm/we wrong he will have to make a U Turn and his stuff is all faxed there anyways, but I'm betting nothing has changed. The reason I say this is because this all happened to me 2 years ago. Back then there where still the 2 groups of people who acually did it and people who have not done it saying you have to stop.

Why do you keep regurgitating 2 YRS AGO AGHHHHHHH this guy is saying this is the way it is NOWWWWWW not "well 2 yrs ago when i did this",,,geesh,,,a good reason to have this USA stamp as they check it for liens and such and it allows you to bring it back into the USA if you are going to drive it there!

Because I'm saying they said all the EXACT same things 2 years ago when I did it.It was not true then and I'm betting it not true now. So far there has been NO ONE that has said they have been turned around.

2 years ago people where saying yeah but this is the way it is now and it wasn't true. I think the issue is if you call and say yeah I want to import a snowmobile the customs officer looks in there list of rules and says yep vehicle that means you have to do this and this, but when you actually show up and the process needs to be done they follow the off road vehicle rules.

Also stopping at the American side does not allow/stop you from bringing it back to the States. Once the process is all done its a Canadian Registered Sled just like any other Canadian Registered sled.

Did your buddy end up getting the sled in the states?
Any issues crossing? Just curious.

Question,

Why do you have to register it here in Ontario? Can you not keep it registered in the US? Insurance doesn't care how you register it with? If you get pulled over on the trail yes they might hassel you but they can't check to see if its stolen so they can't do anything about it and if you have a trail pass and the owner ship in someones name then you are done.

Not saying this is the correct way of doing this but if you don't plan on selling the sled, say if its something old and cheap... then why not? The resale of the sled seems to be the only problem..

I kind of did this when I bought my sled. I bought it in January and it was taking awhile to go through the process, so I just said screw it I have the ownership and signed the back where it said transferred too when I bought it. I got stopped (by this time the paper work had gone through I just needed to go to the MTO and pay them) by an conservation officer. Gave him the registration: he said this isn't your registration. I said sure it is turn it around it says right on the back transferred to me. He said but this is an New York registration. I said there is no rule saying it has to be registered in Ontario just that it is registered. Then he went on a bit of a lecture telling me that if some one phones up complaining about my sled and reports my sled's numbers it would end up falling on the guy in New York and that its like a car and etc... He then said do you think you saved by buying in the states. I was like oh no he is going to give me a fine. I said I think I saved a bit and told him what I paid and what people where asking for in the area and etc.. He then said to have a nice day and that I should go home and get the proper paper work done because a different officer might fine me.

Also I know in New York there are no trail passes you just register and you are able to drive on the trail, but you have to be registered in New York, so If I go to ride in New York with my Ontario registered sled I need to register it in New York. Which I think is a simple as here is my owner ship and $100 or so dollars. Other states require you to be registered in that state to ride on that states trails, so you would end up with a sled registered in multiple states and counties.




To sum up I think I got a nice Conservation Officer I'm sure he could have just fined me and let the judge decide if I have a valid point.

Bang on reply, saved me from typing it all out

Prosser: Are you saying you just bought a sled and this is the process you had to do?

FWIW I just purchased in NY State a 2008 Doo XP 800R All 08 and 09 updates and recalls are done. Clutch tower mod, Boyesens, jetting, 09 rear arm, re-valved suspension with a little stiffer spring rates. Sled has 5600 miles, mosty Quebec, some Ontario and the balance in good snow conditions in WNY.
Well taken care of. But big mileage none the less for a 2008.

Anyway, in reference to the "Recall Letter". Yes there is a charge now with BRP. The Dealer I talked to told me BRP charges the CDN Dealers Parts account $250 to produce one. So if a Dealer marks it up there's your $500.

You may also produce( according to the RIV website) a US Dealers Service Printout from the Original Dealer in the US. Most US Dealers will not charge for this pc of paper that states the same recalls as are done in Canada.
The Canadian Dealer I spoke with, told me to send in the Service Printout I already had from the US Dealer and if RIV did not accept it, to come back and see him and he would see what he could do.

RIV has accepted that Service Printout as of this morning.

That Canadian Dealer that was NOT out to screw me and was helpful WILL get some oil, clothing and other high margin business from me this winter and for that I thank him.

As far as BRP charging CDN Dealers for the same thing that a US Dealer prints off for free I think its a $ grab and not really fair to the Dealer base in Canada or Canadians in general.

So to notify the US side I need to fax them the title, what if the sled doesn't have title or regestration, but just a bill of sale? Do I just fax them the sled info and VIN hand written on a peice of paper??

I would call them and ask what they need. They may be a little grumpy at times, but they have always given me the information I have asked for.

Yes, sorry it took so long to get back. I've bought 2 sleds in the states and a close friend has bought half a dozen. You

I bought one 2 years ago from this upcoming January. I think I already said that in this thread. When I did I did not contact the us border. 2 other buddies of mine bought a few months before me and told me you don't need to stop, so I didn't. When asking different people online I was getting mixed answers like you are seeing now in the threads. lucky for me I knew 2 guys who just did it and followed there advice. I even asked the customs officer about it and she told me no it does not apply to off road vehicles.

Seems like maybe they where suppose to look for the US stamp all along and recently just started enforcing it for off-road vehicles (I can't see the rules changing for vehicles in this short period of time and no one being able to find the rule change.) or maybe people are getting confused and just going and getting the stamp on the US side before coming to the Canadian border. The Canadian boarder wont say no you don't need the stamp if you already have it. So far I have not heard of any one saying they where turned around for not having it just that they needed to get it so they got it before getting to the US customs.


I know I'm probably coming off as argumentative with all these people saying "yep I stopped to get the US stamp because I had to." and I'm still kinda saying "I doubt you HAVE to have the stamp". Either way if I'm right or wrong if it was me buying a sled right now I would fax the info ahead of time to the US boarder too much mixxed info, better safe then sorry.