Insurance company won’t insure a Canadian vehicle?

[skindata]

I’m looking for input on this matter, maybe someone had a similar circumstance happen to them.

My mother in law was in need of a serious upgrade coming from a late 00’s Escape and had two used Jeep Cherokees picked out. The first was a 2019 that was listed at a good price, but had some bubbling paint on one of the doors. The dealer didn’t seem to want to work with her on either having it fixed or lowering the price, and after inquiring about any previous accidents he stated it didn’t have any and it’s only low in price because it’s on a Chevy dealership and they want rid of it. (Yeah okay)

The second one was a 2018 Cherokee with slightly more miles from a different dealership. After putting 3k down, they put a sold tag on the window and told her to come pick it up tomorrow. In the mean time, she called her insurance company to tell them she’s no longer going to have the Escape and that she’s got a new car. After providing the VIN they stated that they can not provide insurance coverage due to the fact that it’s from Canada and has different safety features. This is coming from Allstate mind you. Going back to the dealership the same day, she asked them about it, they provided no useful information, and then after saying she wants her down payment returned to her they got snide and claimed it would be a couple days before they could do that, even though just hours ago she wrote them a check. My father in law got in a heated argument with multiple people and they threatened to kick him out of the office. All for looking for their payment back.

Now it seems she has to start the search all over again. Curious if anyone has ever heard of something like this happening or any useful information that could help me out.

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[Rahkmalla]

Don't buy gray market vehicles. Your insurer is doing you a solid by being stupid on this one. TSBs, or even safety recalls can be a nightmare to get performed on Canadian cars. Any factory warranty remaining is now void unless you're willing to bring it to Canada for service. There's a ton more hassle that goes into it.

 

[skindata]

Don't buy gray market vehicles. Your insurer is doing you a solid by being stupid on this one. TSBs, or even safety recalls can be a nightmare to get performed on Canadian cars. Any factory warranty remaining is now void unless you're willing to bring it to Canada for service. There's a ton more hassle that goes into it.

I’ve never even heard of gray market vehicles until yesterday, I thought that was so strange.

 

[The Bean]

I’ve never even heard of gray market vehicles until yesterday, I thought that was so strange.

This has actually become a really big issue in Canada.

Due to the lack of new car inventory, and people not trading in cars as much, a good portion of dealers have been scalping Canadian cars, importing them to the US, and then selling them on lots here in the States.

This has actually caused an issue for Canadians looking to buy late model used vehicles as in r fort has been greatly depleted by these dealers.

The Canadian cars and US cars are similar enough that it’s hard to know until you run the VIN, which will tell you what country it is designed to be sold in.

 

[sharpsicle]

Be glad you found out about this before you finalized the sale rather than after. Most people don't know until they've already signed the paperwork.

 

[jac04]

Don't buy gray market vehicles. Your insurer is doing you a solid by being stupid on this one. TSBs, or even safety recalls can be a nightmare to get performed on Canadian cars. Any factory warranty remaining is now void unless you're willing to bring it to Canada for service. There's a ton more hassle that goes into it.

It is possible that the vehicle has a CanAm warranty that would cover it in the US. It may be listed on the build sheet, but you can also contact CanAm to find out. https://canamwarranty.com/
I only know this because I was looking at Cherokee Trackhawks, and found several from Canada and started asking questions about warranty. Some had CanAm, some didn't.

 

[BajaTJ]

I would have issued a stop payment on that check immediately upon resistance. Probably from the dealership office.

 

[WoolyKris]

DO NOT BUY, walk away. You will not be able to register the car in US road use unless it has been thru a very costly import vehicle legalization process, or it is older than 25 years. Most states have laws in place against selling cars that can not be legally registered, the dealer should refund the deposit money, otherwise contact your states consumer advocate.

 

[skindata]

Thank you guys for the useful info. How does the dealership not know about this when acquiring vehicles? Is it possible they already knew and just didn’t say anything?

 

[NachoRuby]

Thank you guys for the useful info. How does the dealership not know about this when acquiring vehicles? Is it possible they already knew and just didn’t say anything?

They know. There's no way they don't. It comes up when they put the vin in. And there's a sticker on the door jamb that tells where the car is meant to be sold. And under the hood that tells the US EPA emissions setup and sales markets.

I thought the US and Canada had some kind of reciprocity, though. Might just be that insurance company.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

DO NOT BUY, walk away. You will not be able to register the car in US road use unless it has been thru a very costly import vehicle legalization process, or it is older than 25 years. Most states have laws in place against selling cars that can not be legally registered, the dealer should refund the deposit money, otherwise contact your states consumer advocate.

This isn’t true. The OP said the car is from Canada, not India. Gray market cars from Canada can be ok to purchase. The Carfax will state who imported it, annotate the KMs to miles, and show what dealer bought it at auction. I only have experience with Mopar products and with those you can’t get a factory warranty but you can get a 3rd party warranty no problem. Also, insuring them isn’t an issue either. The ironic thing is that Cherokee was manufactured in the US and imported to Canada but you can go and buy a Charger off the lot that was manufactured in Canada but is a US vehicle. There’s essentially no difference between the markets like there was decades ago.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Thank you guys for the useful info. How does the dealership not know about this when acquiring vehicles? Is it possible they already knew and just didn’t say anything?

They knew and they have to disclose it before selling. At least that’s how it works in my state. I have never had an issue with Canadian vehicles. Sometimes the packages available up there are better/different than what we can spec.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

They know. There's no way they don't. It comes up when they put the vin in. And there's a sticker on the door jamb that tells where the car is meant to be sold. And under the hood that tells the US EPA emissions setup and sales markets.

I thought the US and Canada had some kind of reciprocity, though. Might just be that insurance company.

Yes sir, always look for the maple leaf

 

[WoolyKris]

Not to get into a pissing contest here, speaking from first hand experience. Close friend of family just went thru this in February of this year while moving back from Canada. He had two vehicles registered in Quebec, after moving back to the States he tried legalizing them first in MA than in CT, both cars were made in US for the Canadian market. After countless hours at the dmv ended up driving back and selling over the boarder. I’m sure there is a way to register gray market vehicles in the states, but unless the dealer does it for you I would not take the risk of getting stuck with a Cherokee sized paper weight…

 

[MntWild**]

Quebec is a different place, its in Canada but. My bet is it is more to do with the vehicle being registered in Quebec.

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