OK , Im getting run around about my car =/

[Cantwait2gethome 0]

So I have spent most of today trying to find out about what is needed to import my car. I have a 97 Pontiac Grand Prix, so I called GM. The lady on the phone did not even let me finish, she rudely asked, "what year is your car?". So I told her 1997. She said, "it doesnt meet complience, so best off to sell it. Have a good day" and she hung up. I was like, wth?????

So started searching some of the links provided and I couldnt find where my vehicle was not complient. Figured I would try again and try to get more info. The second time I had guy who seemed like he was eating his lunch while trying to help me(he actually belched in my ear ) I was actually able to fully ask my question before he started to ramble on. He said that since my car was "made in canada" I would have to take a "holiday" and go to the states and have it fixed. He said, your looking about $2000 to have it fixed . I told him there is a message board that I go to and that several people have imported vehicles from Canada, and could he explain to me why mine was not compatible. He said, "The USA absolutely refuses any vehicles from Canada. They are made in Canada therefor USA denies them all." He gave me a document id # and told me to drive my car to the states and have it fixed . I asked him, "so, if I land with my husband, can we get it fixed after he lands ( I remember seeing a post that someone had taken their vehicle across, then later had it updated and then applied for permit for the dmv, but I cant find link now.). He said no you cant, you have to fix it before. So very frustrated, I called a local GM dealership to see if they could decipher this document ID #. The service dept guy said, well I can print that up for you. I was like , hmmm OK?????? He said it is the same thing people need when they bring their car from the us to Canada. He said all he needed was my VIN #. I am very unsure about this.

My head is swimming atm and I feel like I am about to drown. Our vehicle was going to be our transportation into the states, but now..........

Can anyone help me out ? Have any idea's? Suggestions ??

Edited October 31, 2007 by Cantwait2gethome

[kimmbo 0]

maybe this websight can help

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/imports/canadian/canlis97.htm

sorry to hear your getting such a runaround! and totally gross about the belch in the ear!..LOL

[~Nini~ 2]

Ugh, it's still such a shock to me why people are so rude...

Hopefully something will get worked out. Sorry to hear about your bad day

[Otto 83]

Best to sell it and buy another one here... (plenty of Grand Prix's here)

Edited October 31, 2007 by Karin und Otto

[Krikit 1,164]

If you decide not to import your car you can still use it to move with. Sorry about the rude people and disgusting pig on the phone. Unbelievable.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

I can't believe this. The only thing I ever heard of was that the instrument cluster needed some chip change to show mph instead of kph. That was on a 2003 Tahoe, though. I don't understand what the problem with GM is. I know that all you need is a letter of compliance from GM and it depends on who you contact there. Unfortunately, it sounds like you got the wrong person at GM. Keep trying. As for the eructationally gifted mechanic, I wouldn't listen to that literal and figurative gas bag. What a boorish jerk.

[Delicia 1]

I was never able to import my U.S. car to Canada when we were moving that way. I will not let my husband bring a car with him, we are going to skip all the ####### and just buy one for him in the U.S. when he gets here. It is just completely crazy all those burning hoops of fire to import a car...

[Doug n Amanda 0]

I just went thru the same confusion yesterday and found a post from deerheart who was driving across the border yesterday with his vehicle and no letter from Chrysler......asked him to send me a note & let me know how he faired.

My fiancee' (Canadian) has a friend who is a broker; she told him since his Impala is a 2003, it meets EPA standards and he doesn't need a letter from GM. I've read otherwise here on our forum. As with anything it depends on who you get & where you go!

Our POE is 11/16....I'll post what happens as soon as we get home!

[Willswife 0]

So I have spent most of today trying to find out about what is needed to import my car. I have a 97 Pontiac Grand Prix, so I called GM. The lady on the phone did not even let me finish, she rudely asked, "what year is your car?". So I told her 1997. She said, "it doesnt meet complience, so best off to sell it. Have a good day" and she hung up. I was like, wth?????

So started searching some of the links provided and I couldnt find where my vehicle was not complient. Figured I would try again and try to get more info. The second time I had guy who seemed like he was eating his lunch while trying to help me(he actually belched in my ear ) I was actually able to fully ask my question before he started to ramble on. He said that since my car was "made in canada" I would have to take a "holiday" and go to the states and have it fixed. He said, your looking about $2000 to have it fixed . I told him there is a message board that I go to and that several people have imported vehicles from Canada, and could he explain to me why mine was not compatible. He said, "The USA absolutely refuses any vehicles from Canada. They are made in Canada therefor USA denies them all." He gave me a document id # and told me to drive my car to the states and have it fixed . I asked him, "so, if I land with my husband, can we get it fixed after he lands ( I remember seeing a post that someone had taken their vehicle across, then later had it updated and then applied for permit for the dmv, but I cant find link now.). He said no you cant, you have to fix it before. So very frustrated, I called a local GM dealership to see if they could decipher this document ID #. The service dept guy said, well I can print that up for you. I was like , hmmm OK?????? He said it is the same thing people need when they bring their car from the us to Canada. He said all he needed was my VIN #. I am very unsure about this.

My head is swimming atm and I feel like I am about to drown. Our vehicle was going to be our transportation into the states, but now..........

Can anyone help me out ? Have any idea's? Suggestions ??

Hi: I went through the same as you. My car was a 1996 Pontiac Grand Am. I was told it would not pass the USA emissions. To have it brought up to speed would cost around $2,000., more than the car was worth. I drove back to Ontario and gave the car to my son. The ID# you mentioned is a GM bulletin concerning the emissions, and the work can only be done in the US by a qualified GM mechanic. I was told by EPA in Ann Arbor, Michigan, before I left for US, that the work can be done, but, it would be costly. There's no way around it, either pay for the work on the car, sell the car before you come to the US, or give it away like I did.

Good luck----willswife---

[Emancipation 2]

Back in the late 90's we drove across the US border our CDN vehicle that was not complient. We were given a form (i'll have to go dig that up in my files for the number) and given 90 days to make the vehicle complient to the emissions testing OR salvage it in a junk yard. The stipulation of the junk yard deal was that it had to be given (no money exhanged) for the vehicle. The car just barely made it to our destination and getting it up to emission standards would have cost over 2K, so we did junk it. I drove it to the yard and got them to give me a letter stating the VIN number and that it was given (no cash) to the junkyard which I faxed back to the POE. The guy at the junkyard looked at me like i was insane, but thus is the plight of a CDN car that doesn't meet emissions standards in the US

Just our experience with junking, which at the time we did it was allowed.

[mr_s_p 1]

In don't know if your particular make and model of vehicle is on a watch list, but I had heard that there is no discrimination with US and Canadian made vehicles as they were made to specs of both countries.

Anyways, I dug up my Vehicle Conformance letter from GM. The department is "Vintage Vehicle Services" and the number is:

1-888-467-6853 or 905-440-7697. When I phoned last March or April about it, it seemed that this was a small department with the sole purpose of doing these letters, so hopefully, you will do better with this than your previous attempts.

Thanks, and Good Luck!

Scott.

P.S.: Sorry, it was actually May when I did this...

Edited November 2, 2007 by mr_s_p

[samaci 0]

In don't know if your particular make and model of vehicle is on a watch list, but I had heard that there is no discrimination with US and Canadian made vehicles as they were made to specs of both countries.

Anyways, I dug up my Vehicle Conformance letter from GM. The department is "Vintage Vehicle Services" and the number is:

1-888-467-6853 or 905-440-7697. When I phoned last March or April about it, it seemed that this was a small department with the sole purpose of doing these letters, so hopefully, you will do better with this than your previous attempts.

Thanks, and Good Luck!

Scott.

P.S.: Sorry, it was actually May when I did this...

Vintage Vehicle Services is who i called 2 weeks ago, and a compliance letter was sent to me within a week, and I had to pay $85.00. That was also through GM, I had no problems at all, and the guy was very nice on the phone.

[warlord 73]

I never realized it was that hard now days. When I came over in 1997 my car was a few years old itself and after being here for a few weeks and settled in I then took it to get it checked over. They were a bit confused about the metric stuff in the car, but then after gave it an emmisions test and it passed and they gave me a sticker and said there you are. After that the guy did mention that they are passing my car, but probably not a car I should sell in the US.

Not sure what passing was, but not selling it would be? Anyways got my new plates etc right away and was fine. Car ended up blowing up a few months later in the middle of the Painted Desert comming back from Vegas and now is probably one of those metal Dinasaurs you see on I-40 near Holbrook, AZ now...

[Caladan 19]

We were able to get a compliance letter for our 1999 Chevy Venture, with little hassle (just faxed in a form, cost around $80.) At the border they gave us the impression ('almost no one is well prepared ahead of time') that you can 'import' the car later. The standard procedure seems to be to give the new immigrant the forms at the border, and the CBP guys had to look up how to do it.

When we got to the DMV, they didn't even care to see the import paperwork. They just ran a check on the VIN and had us go for an emissions test, but that didn't prevent registration of the car.

[Cantwait2gethome 0]

Thanks for the tips and advice =) I am more frustrated due to the fact that when I bought this car ( 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix SE), I explained my circumstances to the dealership and I was assured that the car would be complient. At the time, the car's tag was a lil more than what we really intended to spend, but we figured it would save us from buying a non-complient car then have to sell it and after we landed, try to find another car. Probably wouldnt be so bad except my ex-husband messed up credit horribly (dont really want to get into to much detail there, but lets just say it will be a LONG time before my credit is any worthy to look at) and since my husband will have NO credit at all, we figured it would be more logical to spend the extra $$ for the car. It just makes me want to the guys who gave me all this misleading information. Plus I have sank quite a bit of extra money into the car to get into good shape (just in the past 6 months we put on new tires, new starter, new alternator, replaced all the electric window controls, new brakes and pads, new a/c-heat modulator(think that is what it was called---but car had no heat/a-c so replaced the whole unit), new alignment and few normal things that is normal maintenance. The only thing that is left to do is put shocks/struts on the front end and replace the muffler (my bro-in has everything, just need to get the car there for him to fix it) I really love this car, so far the best car I have ever owned. I can get from Niagara Falls area in Canada all the way to Illinios/Iowa border on 1.5 tanks of gas. I dont want to hand it over if I dont have too

So let me see if I understand this, I can drive the car to the poe, and just explain to them that we will be importing it within (lets just say for ex 6months)?

That would be wonderful if we could just tell them we are going to import it at a later date. I would be able to get everything fixed and hopefully get whatever needs to be fixed for the complience letter. I am hoping to find exactly what would need to be fixed and get some kind of quote. If it just a few hundred, that I can swallow, but not 2k .

I am going to give the Vintage Vehicle Services a call too and see what /and if they can help me.

Thanks a million everyone, there seems to be a lil bit more hope now