index.xml (9032B)
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 <managingEditor>chris@bracken.jp (Chris Bracken)</managingEditor> 10 <webMaster>chris@bracken.jp (Chris Bracken)</webMaster> 11 <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" /> 12 <item> 13 <title>Moving to the US: Importing a Canadian Vehicle</title> 14 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2011/05/moving-to-us-letter-of-compliance/</link> 15 <pubDate>Tue, 10 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 16 <author>chris@bracken.jp (Chris Bracken)</author> 17 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2011/05/moving-to-us-letter-of-compliance/</guid> 18 <description><p>A big difference between the last time I moved to the US and this time is that 19 this time, I&rsquo;ve got a lot more stuff. One of those things is a Nissan Rogue 20 that&rsquo;s been quietly living its life in Canada. Faced with the prospect of 21 selling the car and buying a new one, I chose instead to import the one I know 22 and love. Here is my story. But be forewarned, it is not for the faint of 23 heart.</p> 24 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2011-05-10-futile.jpg" 25 alt="Scrawny kid vs sumo wrestler"> 26 </figure> 27 28 <p>To import a vehicle to the US from Canada, you need to undertake a series of 29 quests. These are detailed on the <a href="http://stnw.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/">NHTSA website</a> under the heading 30 <em>Vehicle Importation Guidelines (Canadian)</em>. As of May 2011, you need the 31 following items in increasing order of difficulty:</p> 32 <p><strong>[easy]</strong> The following information about your car:</p> 33 <ol> 34 <li>VIN</li> 35 <li>Make/Model/Year</li> 36 <li>Month/Year of manufacture</li> 37 <li>Registration &amp; ownership information</li> 38 </ol> 39 <p><strong>[easy]</strong> <a href="http://www.epa.gov/oms/imports/">EPA Form 3520-1</a>. You will likely be importing your 40 vehicle under <em>code EE: identical in all material respects to a US certified 41 version</em>.</p> 42 <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 43 vehicle under box 2B, for vehicles that complied with Canadian CMVSA 44 regulations at their time of manufacture and where the manufacturer attests 45 that, with a few exceptions, it meets US regulations; see final item.</p> 46 <p><strong>[medium]</strong> A letter on the manufacturer&rsquo;s letterhead from the Canadian 47 distributor, stating that there are no open recalls or service campaigns on the 48 vehicle. I&rsquo;m not sure if this is required, but Nissan Canada thought it would 49 be.</p> 50 <p><strong>[hard]</strong> A letter from the vehicle’s original manufacturer, on 51 the manufacturer’s letterhead identifying the vehicle by vehicle identification 52 number (VIN) and stating that the vehicle conforms to all applicable FMVSS 53 &ldquo;except for the labeling requirements of Standards Nos. 101 <em>Controls and 54 Displays</em> and 110 <em>Tire Selection and Rims</em> or 120 <em>Tire Selection and Rims for 55 Motor Vehicles other than Passenger Cars</em>, and/or the specifications of 56 Standard No. 108 <em>Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment</em>, 57 relating to daytime running lamps.&rdquo;</p> 58 <p>Items 1-3 are left as an exercise to the reader. I will focus here on items 4 59 and 5 to save you the 14 hours of accumulated hold time and multiple phone 60 calls. Prepare yourself friend, for here begins a journey of hurt and 61 frustration, but you will prevail.</p> 62 <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 63 1-800-387-0122 and managed to make it through the phone navigation system to a 64 human operator. I told them I was importing a Canadian Nissan into the States 65 and needed a <em>Letter of Compliance</em>. After a bit of digging, they stated that 66 such letters are only provided by <em>Nissan North America,</em> but they would 67 instead mail out two other letters on Nissan letterhead:</p> 68 <ol> 69 <li>A letter stating the VIN and that the vehicle has no pending recalls or 70 service campaigns on it.</li> 71 <li>In place of a <em>Certificate of Origin</em> (which Nissan Canada does not 72 provide), a letter stating the VIN and that the vehicle was manufactured for 73 sale in the Canadian market and complied with all safety and emission 74 regulations at the time of manufacture.</li> 75 </ol> 76 <p>We&rsquo;re almost there, but your next and final mission is also the most 77 challenging: the <em>Letter of Compliance</em>. Call <a href="http://www.nissanusa.com/apps/contactus">Nissan North 78 America</a> Consumer Affairs Department at 1-800-647-7261. Navigate 79 through the phone system to an operator - get their name and extension. They 80 may ask for your VIN only to find it&rsquo;s not in their system. Canadian VINs are 81 not in their system. Some operators thought they were, others were sure they 82 weren&rsquo;t. They&rsquo;re not. Many operators tried and failed to find it. Ask them to 83 open a file, give them the vehicle information and your info and get the file 84 number. Use this number whenever you call.</p> 85 <p>Here are the five steps to success:</p> 86 <ol> 87 <li>Tell the operator that you&rsquo;re importing a Canadian Nissan vehicle to the US 88 and that you need a <em>Letter of Compliance</em> stating the VIN and that the 89 vehicle was built to conform to Canadian and United States EPA emissions 90 standards and all US Federal motor vehicle standards except for daytime 91 running light brightness. There is a very good chance they&rsquo;ve never heard of 92 this. Get them to talk to their supervisor, and their supervisor. Anyone. 93 Someone will know.</li> 94 <li>They will tell you that the vehicle needs to have its daytime running lights 95 disabled before they will issue the letter of compliance. All the government 96 rules seem to specifically exclude the daytime running lights, and the 97 letter they issue even states that the vehicle doesn&rsquo;t meet that standard, 98 but for whatever reason they want a copy of a work statement showing the 99 work was done. Remember to get the operator&rsquo;s name and extension and the 100 fax number for the work statement before you hang up.</li> 101 <li>Get the daytime running lights disabled. It&rsquo;s a setting change in the 102 on-board computer; your local dealer will do this in under 30 mins for $50 103 or so. </li> 104 <li>Fax your the work statement and put your name, return fax number and a 105 request for the <em>Letter of Compliance</em> on the cover sheet. Phone Nissan 106 North America Consumer Affairs back. The phone navigation system will give 107 you hope that you can input an extension directly, only to find it only 108 accepts 5-digit extensions but your rep has a 6-digit extension. You&rsquo;ll end 109 up back in the queue. Ask whoever you get to put you through to your 110 previous rep, by extension. When you get through, say that you sent the fax 111 and request the letter. Ask them to phone you back when they&rsquo;ve faxed it.</li> 112 <li>You&rsquo;ll get the fax eventually - <em>check the information!</em> On my letter, the 113 year, model and VIN were all incorrect, though they got my name right. If 114 it&rsquo;s incorrect, try again.</li> 115 </ol> 116 <p>You now have everything you need to import your Nissan to the States. Good 117 luck my friends, I don&rsquo;t envy you, but know that I am with you and that victory 118 will someday be yours too.</p> 119 </description> 120 </item> 121 122 <item> 123 <title>New York, NY, USA</title> 124 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/09/new-york-ny-usa/</link> 125 <pubDate>Thu, 09 Sep 2004 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 126 <author>chris@bracken.jp (Chris Bracken)</author> 127 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/09/new-york-ny-usa/</guid> 128 <description><p>Flew out to New York for interviews with Tokyo via videoconference on the 9th 129 and 10th. More details later, but I’ll post pictures now.</p> 130 </description> 131 </item> 132 133 </channel> 134 </rss>