index.xml (12591B)
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>Canada on Chris Bracken</title> 5 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/tags/canada/</link> 6 <description>Recent content in Canada 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/canada/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>Happy 139th Birthday!</title> 122 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2006/07/happy-139th-birthday/</link> 123 <pubDate>Sat, 01 Jul 2006 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 124 125 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2006/07/happy-139th-birthday/</guid> 126 <description><p>Canadians in Tokyo got a head start on the Canada Day celebrations, kicking 127 things off at 8:30 am with a pancake breakfast at the <a href="http://www.maplesportsbar.jp/">Maple Leaf Bar &amp; 128 Grill</a>, followed by a Canada Day barbeque at Yoyogi Park including 129 hot dogs, yakitori, a massive Canadian Flag cake, and imported Canadian beer. 130 By 6pm things, as started to wind down at the park, people started the long 131 trek back to Shibuya and into the Maple Leaf, where it was standing room 132 only.</p> 133 <p>Some <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cbracken/sets/72157594183420453/">pictures of the event</a>.</p> 134 </description> 135 </item> 136 137 <item> 138 <title>Canadian Medical Research</title> 139 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2006/06/canadian-medical-research/</link> 140 <pubDate>Mon, 26 Jun 2006 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 141 142 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2006/06/canadian-medical-research/</guid> 143 <description><p>Don&rsquo;t let anyone tell you that Canada never contributed groundbreaking research 144 to the medical field. First, the discovery and isolation of insulin by 145 researchers at the University of Toronto; now <a href="http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/325/7378/1445" title="Ice cream evoked headaches: randomised trial of accelerated versus cautious ice cream eating regimen">this paper</a> published in the 146 British Medical Journal, co-authored by a Grade 8 student from Hamilton, 147 Ontario.</p> 148 </description> 149 </item> 150 151 <item> 152 <title>End of Season</title> 153 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/04/end-of-season/</link> 154 <pubDate>Wed, 14 Apr 2004 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 155 156 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/04/end-of-season/</guid> 157 <description><p>Two last ski trips for the year. The first, at Mt. Washington, saw a beautiful 158 attempt at a forward flip by Kevin, and Pippa ripping it up. For the second, I 159 burned off on the 10 hour trek to Nelson, where Trav skiied until he dropped 160 and I tried out the new Rossignol B2s.</p> 161 </description> 162 </item> 163 164 <item> 165 <title>Mt. Washington</title> 166 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/03/mt-washington/</link> 167 <pubDate>Mon, 08 Mar 2004 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 168 169 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/03/mt-washington/</guid> 170 <description><p>Put a group of idiots together on skis and boards, and you’ve got a guaranteed 171 recipe for a good time. Tom managed a sweet 360 and Matt successfully pulled 172 off half a backflip.</p> 173 </description> 174 </item> 175 176 <item> 177 <title>I am Canadian</title> 178 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2003/02/i-am-canadian/</link> 179 <pubDate>Fri, 28 Feb 2003 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 180 181 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2003/02/i-am-canadian/</guid> 182 <description><p>Since the original <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMxGVfk09lU">I am Canadian</a> ad, Molson has released a slew of 183 others, but until recently, I haven’t been too impressed; however, the 184 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y7fHQiGkH0">I Am Canadian Anthem</a> is a hilarious 90-second snapshot of the 185 cultural history of this country.</p> 186 </description> 187 </item> 188 189 <item> 190 <title>Back in Canada</title> 191 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2002/05/back-in-canada/</link> 192 <pubDate>Sun, 26 May 2002 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 193 194 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2002/05/back-in-canada/</guid> 195 <description><p>Back in Victoria, B.C. after a two month return home to Canada by land beginning 196 in Mérida, Yucatán and continuing through Cuba, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, 197 then all the way back up through Guatemala, México, the U.S. and finally 198 across Western Canada.</p> 199 </description> 200 </item> 201 202 </channel> 203 </rss>