Vehicle Compliance/Clearance

[KnJ 0]

I'm trying to sort all this out. Reading the threads, I thought all that was required was the Compliance Letter from Honda Canada and my purchase agreement or whatever.

I called Honda Canada and they're saying no, they can only give me a recall clearance letter (they also said they have to mail it because it has a seal on it or something).

It's Honda USA who has to give me a compliance letter.

Was I misunderstanding something?

Probably.

Do I need to wait to get my recall clearance letter to call Honda USA and get the compliance letter?

[Wis-Can 0]

I went throught GM in Ontario and got both my letters. They faxed me both, but sent me hard copies in the mail. They took copies of both at the border and gave me back the originals to take to the DMV when I go to license and register my car. You need your compliance letter and your recall letter. They asked me for both at the POE along with my ownership paper. It has to state that your car meets emission control standards for the year it was built.. I just went on the Honda Canada Website and it appears they do theirs a little differently. There is a number there to call for US Honda to get what you need. Hopefully they don't charge you twice. Mine was $85 bucks for the two letters. I didn't realize when I crossed that I didn't have to import my car at that time. He said I could have done it at a later date. Oh well... here's what the website said.

What documentation do I require if I am moving to the United States and I want to take my Honda vehicle with me? Will my warranty be valid in the United States?

Usually, Canadian Honda vehicles can be taken with you when you are moving to the United States. There are exceptions based on whether a vehicle complies with State and Federal Safety Regulations for the United States. If a vehicle is eligible to be brought into the United States, you will need to obtain specific documentation to produce either at the border crossing point, and/or at the state motor vehicle licensing office at your destination, as follows :

You will need a recall clearance letter from Honda Canada stating that there are no outstanding recalls on the vehicle. Contact the Honda Canada Customer Relations Department on our toll-free line, at 1-888-946-6329 and request a "Recall Clearance Letter". Have your 17-digit Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) available when you call, as we must quote it in the letter we prepare for you. Recall Clearance Letters will only be provided for individuals who are exporting a Honda for their own personal use. Letters are not supplied for commercial exporters of used vehicles.

You will also need a compliance letter from American Honda to stipulate that your Canadian vehicle complies with the applicable U.S. safety and emissions requirements. You must contact American Honda at their toll-free number, 1-800-999-1009, and request a "Compliance Letter". Have your VIN ready as American Honda will require it in order to provide the letter.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

[OBX 51]

I'm trying to sort all this out. Reading the threads, I thought all that was required was the Compliance Letter from Honda Canada and my purchase agreement or whatever.

I called Honda Canada and they're saying no, they can only give me a recall clearance letter (they also said they have to mail it because it has a seal on it or something).

It's Honda USA who has to give me a compliance letter.

Was I misunderstanding something?

Probably.

Do I need to wait to get my recall clearance letter to call Honda USA and get the compliance letter?

I imported my Honda Odyssey at my POE at the Peace Bridge last June. They did not ask for a recall clearance letter. All I was required to show them was the compliance letter from Honda US and my original purchase receipt. (I did call Honda Canada about the recall clearance letter. They told me there were no recalls on my van and I left it at that.) I was surprised I was not asked for anything more but it was a very simple process for me.

Good luck.

BTW- Honda US did not charge me for the compliance letter but it did take about 10 days to arrive.

Edited November 9, 2009 by OBX

[KnJ 0]

You will need a recall clearance letter from Honda Canada stating that there are no outstanding recalls on the vehicle. Contact the Honda Canada Customer Relations Department on our toll-free line, at 1-888-946-6329 and request a "Recall Clearance Letter". Have your 17-digit Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) available when you call, as we must quote it in the letter we prepare for you. Recall Clearance Letters will only be provided for individuals who are exporting a Honda for their own personal use. Letters are not supplied for commercial exporters of used vehicles.

You will also need a compliance letter from American Honda to stipulate that your Canadian vehicle complies with the applicable U.S. safety and emissions requirements. You must contact American Honda at their toll-free number, 1-800-999-1009, and request a "Compliance Letter". Have your VIN ready as American Honda will require it in order to provide the letter.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

This helps immensely, thank you I couldn't find cr&p on the Honda USA website.

I requested the recall clearance letter from Honda Canada, supposed to fax and send out tomorrow.

If the US compliance letter takes 10 days i'm gonna

I should've taken care of this though I wasn't "sure" I was taking my car.

[OBX 51]

You will need a recall clearance letter from Honda Canada stating that there are no outstanding recalls on the vehicle. Contact the Honda Canada Customer Relations Department on our toll-free line, at 1-888-946-6329 and request a "Recall Clearance Letter". Have your 17-digit Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) available when you call, as we must quote it in the letter we prepare for you. Recall Clearance Letters will only be provided for individuals who are exporting a Honda for their own personal use. Letters are not supplied for commercial exporters of used vehicles.

You will also need a compliance letter from American Honda to stipulate that your Canadian vehicle complies with the applicable U.S. safety and emissions requirements. You must contact American Honda at their toll-free number, 1-800-999-1009, and request a "Compliance Letter". Have your VIN ready as American Honda will require it in order to provide the letter.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

This helps immensely, thank you I couldn't find cr&p on the Honda USA website.

I requested the recall clearance letter from Honda Canada, supposed to fax and send out tomorrow.

If the US compliance letter takes 10 days i'm gonna

I should've taken care of this though I wasn't "sure" I was taking my car.

The 10 day wait was via snail mail. The details are a little foggy now but I'm thinking that they did offer to fax me a copy. At the time I wasn't even close to my POE date so I declined. Give them a call and see. Alternatively if you don't get the documents in time you can import your vehicle at a later time. I think you have up a year but I'm not certain on that. Good luck.

[KnJ 0]

ummm. CBP is telling me (by phone) that I need all the EPA and DOT forms, faxed 72 hrs ahead of time, and call the POE I'm using to make an appointment for an inspector to be there, and pay 2.5% duty (which I questioned, and will phone the POE specifically to clarify).

Honda USA needs all kinds of documentation and will take 3-5 business days to produce a compliance letter, and *may* fax it.

Only good news is this will not cost money (presuming I actually don't pay 2.5% on book value)...

Now. IS it possible to import my car later??

Now I'm considering selling it to avoid all the hassle (for real)

Import later as in, bring it down when I move, but only get clearance and import it later. Not leave it in Canada until I can get things together and then have someone drive it down/ship it.

Edited November 9, 2009 by KnJ

[Wis-Can 0]

Like I said previously, I was told by the POE that it didn't have to be when I crossed. I actually had to ask about my car when I was there. And he replied, "oh, you want to import your car now...you can do it at a later date" but I already had everything so I did it then. You have to have it done before you can register it so they know that now or later, either way that you will get it done. Good luck

[OBX 51]

ummm. CBP is telling me (by phone) that I need all the EPA and DOT forms, faxed 72 hrs ahead of time, and call the POE I'm using to make an appointment for an inspector to be there, and pay 2.5% duty (which I questioned, and will phone the POE specifically to clarify).

Honda USA needs all kinds of documentation and will take 3-5 business days to produce a compliance letter, and *may* fax it.

Only good news is this will not cost money (presuming I actually don't pay 2.5% on book value)...

Now. IS it possible to import my car later??

Now I'm considering selling it to avoid all the hassle (for real)

Import later as in, bring it down when I move, but only get clearance and import it later. Not leave it in Canada until I can get things together and then have someone drive it down/ship it.

[trailmix 77]

ummm. CBP is telling me (by phone) that I need all the EPA and DOT forms, faxed 72 hrs ahead of time, and call the POE I'm using to make an appointment for an inspector to be there, and pay 2.5% duty (which I questioned, and will phone the POE specifically to clarify).

I have never heard of this prior to your posting it.

[OBX 51]

ummm. CBP is telling me (by phone) that I need all the EPA and DOT forms, faxed 72 hrs ahead of time, and call the POE I'm using to make an appointment for an inspector to be there, and pay 2.5% duty (which I questioned, and will phone the POE specifically to clarify).

I have never heard of this prior to your posting it.

Me neither. This is what I was trying to post above before my computer froze

That is very interesting. It doesn't jive with my experience. At the Peace Bridge they didn't even look at my van and I was charged nothing. On one of my trips back to Canada (about a month after my POE) the only thing I was asked when crossing was whether or not I had imported my van yet. So I'm pretty sure you can do it at a later time. This is from the customs website. Don't know if makes things any clearer or more confusing for you but I'm reading it to mean you have a year to import.

Nonresidents may import a vehicle duty-free for personal use up to (1) one year if the vehicle is imported in conjunction with the owner’s arrival. Vehicles imported under this provision that do not conform to U.S. safety and emission standards must be exported within one year and may not be sold in the U.S. There is no exemption or extension of the export requirements.

Edited November 9, 2009 by OBX

[trailmix 77]

While I am all for people doing their homework, I think only you can decide if you want to take the word of the CBP guard you spoke to on the phone or what is on their website/first hand experience of VJ members who have imported their vehicles.

As you know from reading here, many many times people come here with incorrect information and then we let them know what the facts are - it happens all the time, over and over and over again in fact

[Wis-Can 0]

ummm. CBP is telling me (by phone) that I need all the EPA and DOT forms, faxed 72 hrs ahead of time, and call the POE I'm using to make an appointment for an inspector to be there, and pay 2.5% duty (which I questioned, and will phone the POE specifically to clarify).

I have never heard of this prior to your posting it.

I've never heard of it either.

[MapleLeafBaby 1]

I had two CBP officers argue in front of me, trying to get me to pay the 3% while the other said no. I didn't end up paying....cross somewhere else lol. Seriously, I say you may run into hassle's if u go where u called lol...

I got same run around when I called Canada Manufacturer for my car..it is US that u get it from. I said it was urgent and they faxed it. POE took my fax copy no prob.

[KnJ 0]

I had two CBP officers argue in front of me, trying to get me to pay the 3% while the other said no. I didn't end up paying....cross somewhere else lol. Seriously, I say you may run into hassle's if u go where u called lol...

I got same run around when I called Canada Manufacturer for my car..it is US that u get it from. I said it was urgent and they faxed it. POE took my fax copy no prob.

Ok that can make me breathe sigh of relief. That they took the fax copy.

As far as the duty, I called the CBP main hotline not a specific border, so that's something. I think maybe the guy didn't really listen to fact that I'm K-1. But then I also thought with NAFTA, there was some exemption there, for personal use older cars.

In any case, 2.5% on my car is like, $75

[frenzyheart 2]

Sorry to hijack your topic, but I have my own car question that is somewhat along the same lines:

What if he's driving down, but then his parents are taking his car(which is technically in his dad's name) back up with them when they come down for the wedding? I mean, we aren't terribly sure how he's entering yet, and he's not bringing a lot (his clothing and his computer, and that's about it, to be honest) so I suppose he could fly, but we're just not sure at this point because we don't know much of the details.

And if you do have to import it, how do you go about importing a used car? I would assume we'd still have to go through Ford to get the letter, right? (I'm almost hoping he'll just fly down here because we have my car, and it's better than his, lol)