index.xml (8804B)
1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?> 2 <rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"> 3 <channel> 4 <title>USA on Chris Bracken</title> 5 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/tags/usa/</link> 6 <description>Recent content in USA on Chris Bracken</description> 7 <generator>Hugo -- gohugo.io</generator> 8 <language>en</language> 9 <lastBuildDate>Tue, 10 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://chris.bracken.jp/tags/usa/index.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> 10 <item> 11 <title>Moving to the US: Importing a Canadian Vehicle</title> 12 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2011/05/moving-to-us-letter-of-compliance/</link> 13 <pubDate>Tue, 10 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 14 15 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2011/05/moving-to-us-letter-of-compliance/</guid> 16 <description><p>A big difference between the last time I moved to the US and this time is that 17 this time, I&rsquo;ve got a lot more stuff. One of those things is a Nissan Rogue 18 that&rsquo;s been quietly living its life in Canada. Faced with the prospect of 19 selling the car and buying a new one, I chose instead to import the one I know 20 and love. Here is my story. But be forewarned, it is not for the faint of 21 heart.</p> 22 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2011-05-10-futile.jpg" 23 alt="Scrawny kid vs sumo wrestler"> 24 </figure> 25 26 <p>To import a vehicle to the US from Canada, you need to undertake a series of 27 quests. These are detailed on the <a href="http://stnw.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/">NHTSA website</a> under the heading 28 <em>Vehicle Importation Guidelines (Canadian)</em>. As of May 2011, you need the 29 following items in increasing order of difficulty:</p> 30 <p><strong>[easy]</strong> The following information about your car:</p> 31 <ol> 32 <li>VIN</li> 33 <li>Make/Model/Year</li> 34 <li>Month/Year of manufacture</li> 35 <li>Registration &amp; ownership information</li> 36 </ol> 37 <p><strong>[easy]</strong> <a href="http://www.epa.gov/oms/imports/">EPA Form 3520-1</a>. You will likely be importing your 38 vehicle under <em>code EE: identical in all material respects to a US certified 39 version</em>.</p> 40 <p><strong>[easy]</strong> <a href="http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/">NHTSA Form HS-7</a>. You will most likely be importing your 41 vehicle under box 2B, for vehicles that complied with Canadian CMVSA 42 regulations at their time of manufacture and where the manufacturer attests 43 that, with a few exceptions, it meets US regulations; see final item.</p> 44 <p><strong>[medium]</strong> A letter on the manufacturer&rsquo;s letterhead from the Canadian 45 distributor, stating that there are no open recalls or service campaigns on the 46 vehicle. I&rsquo;m not sure if this is required, but Nissan Canada thought it would 47 be.</p> 48 <p><strong>[hard]</strong> A letter from the vehicle’s original manufacturer, on 49 the manufacturer’s letterhead identifying the vehicle by vehicle identification 50 number (VIN) and stating that the vehicle conforms to all applicable FMVSS 51 &ldquo;except for the labeling requirements of Standards Nos. 101 <em>Controls and 52 Displays</em> and 110 <em>Tire Selection and Rims</em> or 120 <em>Tire Selection and Rims for 53 Motor Vehicles other than Passenger Cars</em>, and/or the specifications of 54 Standard No. 108 <em>Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment</em>, 55 relating to daytime running lamps.&rdquo;</p> 56 <p>Items 1-3 are left as an exercise to the reader. I will focus here on items 4 57 and 5 to save you the 14 hours of accumulated hold time and multiple phone 58 calls. Prepare yourself friend, for here begins a journey of hurt and 59 frustration, but you will prevail.</p> 60 <p>Let&rsquo;s start with item 4. I gave <a href="http://www.nissan.ca/common/footer/en/contact.html">Nissan Canada</a> a ring at 61 1-800-387-0122 and managed to make it through the phone navigation system to a 62 human operator. I told them I was importing a Canadian Nissan into the States 63 and needed a <em>Letter of Compliance</em>. After a bit of digging, they stated that 64 such letters are only provided by <em>Nissan North America,</em> but they would 65 instead mail out two other letters on Nissan letterhead:</p> 66 <ol> 67 <li>A letter stating the VIN and that the vehicle has no pending recalls or 68 service campaigns on it.</li> 69 <li>In place of a <em>Certificate of Origin</em> (which Nissan Canada does not 70 provide), a letter stating the VIN and that the vehicle was manufactured for 71 sale in the Canadian market and complied with all safety and emission 72 regulations at the time of manufacture.</li> 73 </ol> 74 <p>We&rsquo;re almost there, but your next and final mission is also the most 75 challenging: the <em>Letter of Compliance</em>. Call <a href="http://www.nissanusa.com/apps/contactus">Nissan North 76 America</a> Consumer Affairs Department at 1-800-647-7261. Navigate 77 through the phone system to an operator - get their name and extension. They 78 may ask for your VIN only to find it&rsquo;s not in their system. Canadian VINs are 79 not in their system. Some operators thought they were, others were sure they 80 weren&rsquo;t. They&rsquo;re not. Many operators tried and failed to find it. Ask them to 81 open a file, give them the vehicle information and your info and get the file 82 number. Use this number whenever you call.</p> 83 <p>Here are the five steps to success:</p> 84 <ol> 85 <li>Tell the operator that you&rsquo;re importing a Canadian Nissan vehicle to the US 86 and that you need a <em>Letter of Compliance</em> stating the VIN and that the 87 vehicle was built to conform to Canadian and United States EPA emissions 88 standards and all US Federal motor vehicle standards except for daytime 89 running light brightness. There is a very good chance they&rsquo;ve never heard of 90 this. Get them to talk to their supervisor, and their supervisor. Anyone. 91 Someone will know.</li> 92 <li>They will tell you that the vehicle needs to have its daytime running lights 93 disabled before they will issue the letter of compliance. All the government 94 rules seem to specifically exclude the daytime running lights, and the 95 letter they issue even states that the vehicle doesn&rsquo;t meet that standard, 96 but for whatever reason they want a copy of a work statement showing the 97 work was done. Remember to get the operator&rsquo;s name and extension and the 98 fax number for the work statement before you hang up.</li> 99 <li>Get the daytime running lights disabled. It&rsquo;s a setting change in the 100 on-board computer; your local dealer will do this in under 30 mins for $50 101 or so. </li> 102 <li>Fax your the work statement and put your name, return fax number and a 103 request for the <em>Letter of Compliance</em> on the cover sheet. Phone Nissan 104 North America Consumer Affairs back. The phone navigation system will give 105 you hope that you can input an extension directly, only to find it only 106 accepts 5-digit extensions but your rep has a 6-digit extension. You&rsquo;ll end 107 up back in the queue. Ask whoever you get to put you through to your 108 previous rep, by extension. When you get through, say that you sent the fax 109 and request the letter. Ask them to phone you back when they&rsquo;ve faxed it.</li> 110 <li>You&rsquo;ll get the fax eventually - <em>check the information!</em> On my letter, the 111 year, model and VIN were all incorrect, though they got my name right. If 112 it&rsquo;s incorrect, try again.</li> 113 </ol> 114 <p>You now have everything you need to import your Nissan to the States. Good 115 luck my friends, I don&rsquo;t envy you, but know that I am with you and that victory 116 will someday be yours too.</p> 117 </description> 118 </item> 119 120 <item> 121 <title>New York, NY, USA</title> 122 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/09/new-york-ny-usa/</link> 123 <pubDate>Thu, 09 Sep 2004 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 124 125 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/09/new-york-ny-usa/</guid> 126 <description><p>Flew out to New York for interviews with Tokyo via videoconference on the 9th 127 and 10th. More details later, but I’ll post pictures now.</p> 128 </description> 129 </item> 130 131 </channel> 132 </rss>