Importing a Vehicle (Subaru) Without TPMS - Success!

[O.C 160]

I would like to share my experience importing my vehicle, which has no TPMS  - I am sure this topic has driven many people a little nutzo, as it did me because I really did not want to leave my car behind in Canada. My vehicle is a 2010 Subaru Impreza, purchased in Canada and paid off before time of import.My vehicle had no TPMS installed by the manufacturer and there was no way to "turn the TPMS" on as an option some vehicles may have. 

 

The first thing I did was contact Subaru (customercare@subaru.ca) for the compliance letter; I had to provide them with a picture of my vehicles registration, and they took about 2 weeks to respond by email with a compliance letter, no charge. 

 

My compliance letter stated "Our data indicates this vehicle at the time of manufacture conformed to all applicable US FMVSS, EXCEPT FOR:

- FMVSS 101 Controls and display differences (1) MPH vs KPH (2) Brake telltale (3) ABS telltale

- FMVSS 138 Tire Pressure Monitoring System

 

i didn't think it was a big deal, the TPMS, and I contacted an import company (5 of them actually) just to get a quote to see what it would cost for someone else to do the work and everyone had the same response "In order for your vehicle to become compliant with U.S. safety standards, you must have OEM TPMS installed by an authorized dealer or repair facility.  No one has been successful in completing this because OEM parts usually don't exist for vehicles that weren't originally manufactured with TPMS as an option on the vehicle." & "NHTSA approves modifications in regards to FMVSS No. 138, only performed by a certified Subaru dealer. If you can find a Subaru dealer to install the TPMS in your car, we can import it for you."

 

After receiving these kinds of responses from all 5 importers, I called four different Subaru dealers in Ontario near where I lived and called the two larger Subaru dealers in the Buffalo area and heard the same thing from all of them; basically the vehicle wasn't designed to have OEM TPMS so quite simply; it cannot be done. I even called Subaru Canada and Subaru America to speak to customer service reps..they all suggested that I do an aftermarket one, but the NHTSA says OEM only ---This is where I was super bummed out. I was going in circles. Can't install it OEM, but OEM is the only way I can import it ?? This made no sense to me. so I called the border.

 

I live in Buffalo, so I have Peace, Rainbow and the Queenston Lewiston bridges all a short driving distance from me. I mostly got automated machines and it took forever to get through, but I did manage to get through to a border agent at the QL Bridge, and I basically told him exactly what was going on regarding my TPMS troubles,  and he said that It does not have to be OEM, but it must be installed, and he referenced people in the past doing it at Canadian Tire, so I said, cool! I'll go there. 

 

Long story short for Canadian Tire - they couldn't do it for me. My vehicle doesn't have the option to turn TPMS "on" as I mentioned before. They could put the sensors on the tires but they would have no where to send the signals to...so now even more bummed and stressed out.

 

I decided to call the border back again and luckily got the same border agent who remembered me. I told him exactly what Canadian Tire told me and the issues I was having and he basically told me, the TPMS does not need to be part of the vehicle. They have imported vehicles that have external monitors (so basically aftermarket) and that as long as they can see the system installed, and I have a receipt from anywhere (either side of the border) then it will be fine. 

 

I found ONE mechanic in the Buffalo area willing to install an aftermarket TPMS system for me. I found a Schrader TPMS retrofit kit with internal sensors on Amazon for $180 and he installed it for me. I went to the QL bridge, they looked at the compliance letter, looked at the TPMS receipt, took my green card as ID, made me fill out 3 forms. After I filled them out, they stamped them, copied my registration and said go to the DMV with the paperwork, you're done here.

 

I was literally in and out in 15 minutes. I was seriously stressed out since March till now, freaking out about importing because of the TPMS. But I am so happy it all worked out! 

 

Next steps : US Insurance, DMV and Inspection.

 

 

 

[skyzee 182]

Thanks for the share, haven't heard this one before. Very useful post.

[NikLR 13,227]

Thanks for the share. I understand why you'd wanna keep your car and glad you found a work around.  Let us know how us registration and insurance goes please!

[Ontarkie 14,216]

Very informative, I added a link to this thread in our Pinned thread. It will help keep this information easily found. 

 

[Peot 161]

Very interesting and also very strange! I imported my car just fine without that - only things needed for import were both emissions and safety standards - all was detailed on compliance letter from the manufacturer. Nothing I saw about a TPMS required. Mine's a Dodge though, so I wonder if this is import (vs domestic) specific?

 

For your next steps, insurance and the DMV - I have experience in that as well! 

• Keep your Canadian driver's license valid for as long as you can. This saved my butt many times! 
• At the DMV you can get a driver's license in some cases with just a K1 (I did), but it was only valid for the 90 days end date! Once it expired, it was no use to me, but hilariously I needed it in order to register a state license plate for the car. The car's license plate is connected to this driver's license, so when it expired, I actually got pulled over! The Canadian driver's license was my saving grace.
• Some states do NOT require a police inspection if you're not registering for resale, but it's a very simple form if you need it done, and it can be completed by literally any officer.
• Once you get your work permit (or even green card), you can renew the driver's license up to the expiry date - and you can finally stop paying for the Canadian license. 
   

• Insurance was a piece of cake - No problems, but definitely more expensive than what I was used to!
• You (usually) need an SSN for car insurance. Some companies I approached wouldn't talk to me until I had that, so I also kept my Canadian provincial insurance on the car until I had US insurance and then cancelled in writing via fax. This let me drive around legally while I waited for documents like the SSN, and before I hit up the DMV.

 

 

[O.C 160]

On 11/06/2018 at 7:48 PM, Peot said:

Very interesting and also very strange! I imported my car just fine without that - only things needed for import were both emissions and safety standards - all was detailed on compliance letter from the manufacturer. Nothing I saw about a TPMS required. Mine's a Dodge though, so I wonder if this is import (vs domestic) specific?

 

For your next steps, insurance and the DMV - I have experience in that as well! 

• Keep your Canadian driver's license valid for as long as you can. This saved my butt many times! 
• At the DMV you can get a driver's license in some cases with just a K1 (I did), but it was only valid for the 90 days end date! Once it expired, it was no use to me, but hilariously I needed it in order to register a state license plate for the car. The car's license plate is connected to this driver's license, so when it expired, I actually got pulled over! The Canadian driver's license was my saving grace.
• Some states do NOT require a police inspection if you're not registering for resale, but it's a very simple form if you need it done, and it can be completed by literally any officer.
• Once you get your work permit (or even green card), you can renew the driver's license up to the expiry date - and you can finally stop paying for the Canadian license. 
   

• Insurance was a piece of cake - No problems, but definitely more expensive than what I was used to!
• You (usually) need an SSN for car insurance. Some companies I approached wouldn't talk to me until I had that, so I also kept my Canadian provincial insurance on the car until I had US insurance and then cancelled in writing via fax. This let me drive around legally while I waited for documents like the SSN, and before I hit up the DMV.

 

 

 

If your compliance letter does not state your vehicle is not TPMS equipped (or any other deal breaker for importing) then your vehicle should be fine for importing as long as it meets the EPA/Safety. My compliance letter stated it was EPA/Safety compliant, but no TPMS installed. The border would have seen that, and not let me import it without the receipt saying a TPMS has been installed.

 

Perhaps your Dodge has the TPMS already? Both of my parents cars a  2011 Ford and 2013 Mercedes have it, but apparently there are no Subarus in Canada that have TPMS or the ability to 'activate' the TPMS. 

One importer said to me :" Sorry you can’t import that unless you can find a Subaru dealer to install an OEM TPMS. If you find one, I doubt you will,  let me know."

 

So, maybe its just Subaru that doesn't do the TPMS, I have seen many forums posts regarding this issue. :/

 

I had to relinquish my Ontario license within 30 days of moving to Buffalo. I got it in my married name after we had got married. I just brought my Ontario license and and the marriage license to the DMV. My license does not expire for 2 years. I also got my SSN within the first week of moving to the US, and then went back to change it to my married name.

 

I have lived here since October, and have only just brought my vehicle over in June for importing. My insurance covers me in the US for up to 6 months, but I have imported it within 2 weeks of bringing it across. I have insurance with Progressive as I got the best price from them, but it took a couple days for them to review my documents. Apparently insurance fraud is very common in the US, so the time between bringing my car across and getting it insured was almost a week. They asked for photos of: Green card, pay stub with address, SSN Card, old insurance policy,  ON vehicle registration slip, marriage license and drivers license. I also completed a defensive driving course online for a discount on insurance, and needed to provide proof of that.

 

After I received my ID cards from Progressive, I went to the DMV to register my vehicle. I brought the border stamped papers, my license, the bill of sale, my ON registration, 2 forms the DMV requires (registration form and tax exempt form) and the US insurance slip. I brought my marriage license as my registration and bill of sale were in my maiden name and I also brought proof that there is no lien on my vehicle from TD Bank, as I paid off my financed vehicle. I got the new NY plates on the spot. 

 

The total cost was $130 for 2 years of registration, and I received a 10 day temporary inspection sticker. Inspections cost around $20 I believe, and after that I am done for now! 

 

Edited June 14, 2018 by Orit.d

[Bidi 0]

Thanks for sharing this. This is very helpful. I am in the same boat. My KIA is not equipped with TPMS. I contacted a couple of KIA dealers in Canada and US and none of them could install an OEM TPMS on my car. So, my only option is an after market version.

Please let me know what documents you took to the border to show TPMS is installed on your car. I assume receipts from Amazon and Mechanic shop?

and were you able to register your car in U.S. successfully?

[Bubblelee 6]

Hi Orit.D

 

Please give me the mechanic in Buffalo helped installed TPMS.

 

I live in near border and am in the same situation!

 

 

[O.C 160]

On 7/16/2018 at 6:25 PM, Bidi said:

Thanks for sharing this. This is very helpful. I am in the same boat. My KIA is not equipped with TPMS. I contacted a couple of KIA dealers in Canada and US and none of them could install an OEM TPMS on my car. So, my only option is an after market version.

Please let me know what documents you took to the border to show TPMS is installed on your car. I assume receipts from Amazon and Mechanic shop?

and were you able to register your car in U.S. successfully?

I didn't bring the amazon receipt, just the receipt from the mechanic which states i brought my own TPMS and that he installed it! 

 

And yes i registered and got plates at the DMV the next day after the border.

Edited August 11, 2018 by Orit.d

[stevedave 0]

Did your car happen to also not comply with 49 CFR Part 541? It's the theft prevention standard section.  Glad to hear about the TPMS solution. That is the other thing I too have to fix on my car.

[Bizy 5]

Hey there, I created an account just to reply to this post because I was also able to successfully import my car without an OEM TPMS, using the steps provided by the OP.  Here are the details:

 

I have a Canadian 2016 Mercedes-Benz C300 4-Matic Sedan that has the "passive" TPLS system and my compliance letter indicated that my car was not compliant with the following:

 

#101, namely:    Instrument Cluster

#138, namely:    Tire Pressure Monitoring System

 

I also called a bunch of registered importers as well as Mercedes-Benz in both Canada and the USA and was told that there was nothing that they could do, it would cost too much, just sell it, etc.  I bought an after-market TPMS system from Amazon for like 89 dollars CDN (Vesafe TPMS CL-201) with 4 Bluetooth sensors that screw on to the stems tips and a small, flat unit that goes into the cigarette lighter and shows the PSI for each of the tires. 

 

I took the Vesafe TPMS system to a tire place (I went to "OK Tire" in Etobicoke) and they "installed it" for me, basically just screwing the sensors into the stems, and gave me an invoice indicating that they "Installed customer-provided after-market TPMS system", which I signed.

 

I took the OK Tire  invoice, along with my ownership, the compliance letter from Mercedes, my bill of sale, my proof that I paid off my financing, and semi-completed forms HS799-Short and EPA 3520-1 to the rainbow bridge at like 8am on a Wednesday.  I was the only one there and I'm not sure if that made a difference or not.  The officer asked me to turn on my car and show him my speedometer in MPH, which I can configure for the center LCD display in my car but my physical speedometer and other dials still showed KMs.  I also showed him the working TPMS receiver in the cigarette lighter and showed him the sensors plugged into the tire stems and then we went back inside to fill out forms.  I had already downloaded the forms and filled out the easy stuff like my name, manufacturer, model and VIN number wherever I could, to show initiative and make his life easier I guess...

 

On the EPA form, I did not have to fill out fields 3, 8, 9, 10, 12 or 15 and I put my name and address in field 11.  They told me to select code EE in the box below.  This will likely be specific to your car.

 

On the HS799 form, I just put in the make/model, year and VIN.  The officer put my name in the "registered importer" field and put in the port of entry (0901), customs port code (0901) and entry date (today's date).  The customs entry and vehicle eligibility numbers were left blank, so was the "description of merchandise" box.  The officer then selected "2A" for my car, saying that it conformed to FMVSS.  He stamped each with a seal from homeland security and I signed in a few places and he photocopied the above forms and some of my stuff, including my TPMS invoice from OK Tire, for their records and gave me back all of the originals.  He said that I would need these forms to register the car at the DMV, so make sure to keep them safe.

 

I was also given a form called Resident Personal Vehicle Importation - Informal CBP 7501 "Entry Summary" which has some of my information on it, which I also signed and kept the original.  I think this form helps the officers to make sure they get all the required information that they need but I am going to bring this to the DMV too, just in case.  

 

I was at the CBP for about 20 minutes total and I head back to Canada as soon as I was done.  I have been researching this importing process for more than 3 months and this is the only post on the entire internet that I was able to find that had anyone saying they were successful.  I am so glad that I found it, as I would not have been able to import the car successfully otherwise.  The key to this is having a professional tire place install the TPMS and getting an invoice, then showing the officer the TPMS working on your vehicle and having all the documentation that you need.

 

Thanks again to the original poster - I will follow up once I go to register the car in Seattle.

 

 

[Pass7502 7]

I just bought the Vesafe kit from amazon and will be trying to get it imported early next week. I'll update as well!!!🤞

[Pass7502 7]

On 11/29/2018 at 8:07 PM, Pass7502 said:

I just bought the Vesafe kit from amazon and will be trying to get it imported early next week. I'll update as well!!!🤞

Sooooooooo...thanks to the person starting this thread, it worked for me as well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

My car is officialy imported and registered!

 

To give more details, it did'nt look like it  would work for me at first because when I called the custom office near where I live on thursday, the officer told me it it was not something they were doing and that it had to be done when I moved here on my k1 visa and that I would have to drive back to canada and deal with it on my way back. I explained to him that I dont have my advance parole yet, so it wasnt an option for me and the one year was coming to an end and I didnt know what to do....At first the officer told me I had to do some 'homeworkd' and was going through the list of everything I needed in order to import a car and he saw that I in fact had done my homeworks and had everything he was asking...so the officer must have heard the desperation in my voice and told me he was gonna try to help me if he could and told me to call  back the next morning at 9h30 so he can have time to discuss the issue with his supervisor. 

 

As promised I called back and when I mentionned why I was calling and requesting the same officer I had talked to, the officer on the line said he was the supervisor, and it was him who was gonna 'deal with me' 😳. I basically repverything, he was super short, asking me if i had filled the HS799-Short and EPA 3520 forms, wich i told him I did as much as I could..he asked if I had the manufacturer letter ( I did) and thats when I mentionned it was compliant other the tpms and that I had that corrected this week and I have the invoice to prove it..he sighted and seemed annoyed and told me to go down there and he would take a look at what I have. 

 

When I arrived, the first officer I talked to came to me and he was suprisignly very nice and welcoming, ready to help me out so I was very relieved. He requested my Passeport, driving license, the 2 forms (he helped me complete them), the title wich was in french since im from quebec but he didnt mind, the manufacturer letter and the tpms installation invoic...he left with my paperwork for about 10 minutes and cameback with a stamped piece of paper, made me filled a couple more forms, didnt even asked to see my car or anything and sent me on my way to the dmv! 

 

The DMV needed to have the rmv1 form form my car insurance compagny so I had to leave and come back so make sure you have that. But other than that, they took the piece of paper from the customs, my title, made me fill a few forms and that was it!!!!!!! 

 

I dont know if I was lucky cause they were definitly not sweating the tpms issue, it was more about the fact that my car didnt get imported when I first move to america. So basically, make sure you show them you have done your research and have everything in hand and request your RMV1 from your insurance before going to register your car!

 

Hoping you guys get a nice officer willing to help out as well!

Edited December 9, 2018 by Pass7502
errors

[Invisigoth 16]

On 6/6/2018 at 7:17 PM, Orit.d said:

I would like to share my experience importing my vehicle, which has no TPMS...

 

I decided to call the border back again and luckily got the same border agent who remembered me. I told him exactly what Canadian Tire told me and the issues I was having and he basically told me, the TPMS does not need to be part of the vehicle. They have imported vehicles that have external monitors (so basically aftermarket) and that as long as they can see the system installed, and I have a receipt from anywhere (either side of the border) then it will be fine. 

 

I found ONE mechanic in the Buffalo area willing to install an aftermarket TPMS system for me. I found a Schrader TPMS retrofit kit with internal sensors on Amazon for $180 and he installed it for me. I went to the QL bridge, they looked at the compliance letter, looked at the TPMS receipt, took my green card as ID, made me fill out 3 forms. After I filled them out, they stamped them, copied my registration and said go to the DMV with the paperwork, you're done here.

 

Ha!  So, my husband and I aren't the only ones dealing with this issue!  We are going to try and import his Elantra. Trying to get the certificate of compliance in the first place was extremely difficult because nobody from Hyundai corporate knew what we were talking about.  So, after getting passed around for a couple weeks, we finally got a letter that his vehicle meets all the EPA/DOT requirements... but it doesn't meat the TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) requirements.   Only solution for us is to install an after market system.   So, guess where he is this morning?  He is in Whitby, at the dealer, getting his mechanic to install an aftermarket system.

 

I'm glad to hear this was successful for you, Orit.  I'll keep you posted on how we do when we try and import his car (interview is Jan 14).  We'll be coming over the 1000 island bridge.  Stay tuned!

Edited January 7, 2019 by Invisigoth

[fcabrales 1]

On 1/7/2019 at 9:57 AM, Invisigoth said:

Ha!  So, my husband and I aren't the only ones dealing with this issue!  We are going to try and import his Elantra. Trying to get the certificate of compliance in the first place was extremely difficult because nobody from Hyundai corporate knew what we were talking about.  So, after getting passed around for a couple weeks, we finally got a letter that his vehicle meets all the EPA/DOT requirements... but it doesn't meat the TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) requirements.   Only solution for us is to install an after market system.   So, guess where he is this morning?  He is in Whitby, at the dealer, getting his mechanic to install an aftermarket system.

 

I'm glad to hear this was successful for you, Orit.  I'll keep you posted on how we do when we try and import his car (interview is Jan 14).  We'll be coming over the 1000 island bridge.  Stay tuned!

Hi Invisigoth,

 

I am in the same situation as you are. I want to import an Elantra without TPMS and want to know if an after-market TPMS would work.

I'd appreciate if you can provide an update on this.