We imported two vehicles from Canada to the US. My husband and I decided to drive my vehicle down from Vancouver to California to make a nice road trip out of it, while the movers took care of shipping my husband’s vehicle along with our belongings.
A few things to prepare 1-2 days before handing your car over to the moving/shipping company:
- Remove all non-essential/non-emergency items from your vehicle
- Schedule to have your exterior, undercarriage and interior cleaned. This is necessary to avoid bringing in foreign pests/contaminants from Canada into the US, and for the shipping company to detail any existing vehicle damages/scratches prior to shipping for insurance purposes.
- Gas tank should be roughly a quarter full.
As always, please double-check with your moving company as vehicle shipping standards may be different between companies.
For our move, our vehicle and belongings were originally planned to arrive in a month’s time, but we decided to postpone receiving my husband’s car and belongings for another month instead – i.e. everything sat in storage with the moving company for a total of 2 months. We figured 2 months would give us sufficient time to adequately allocate a new home while juggling with new work environments and with getting acquainted to new surroundings.
The 2 months did give us a chance to fully explore our new housing options, but my husband’s 7 year old vehicle wasn’t pleased about the lengthy idle period. Despite the car being in good working condition, the car battery no longer held a charge (failing to start right in the middle of an automated car wash :P), and the front tires no longer kept their tire pressure. Both the battery and tires needed to be replaced a bit earlier than scheduled, but all is well now. My husband’s vehicle is now happy to explore Northern California. All the best with your vehicle shipment!
We’re a gaggle of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your website offered us with valuable info to work on. You have performed an impressive activity and our whole group shall be grateful to you.
Glad that you’re finding the info useful, Green Gang Movers.