Importing a Vehicle (Subaru) Without TPMS - Success!

[O.C 160]

3 minutes ago, cansue2019 said:

Hi Clyde,

 

No it was for the original poster on this thread.

 

Thanks

 

My impreza is 2010 and FMVSS 226 Ejection Mitigation did not show on my compliance letter. 

 

Imported June 2018.

 

Edited November 11, 2019 by O.C

[anthony2102 0]

I tried this twice so far but it was unsuccessful. Just want to share my experience. I feel a bit discouraged right now but I will keep trying. Not sure if I am doing something wrong or should just try a different border. 

 

I have a 2013 Mazdaspeed3 and have a letter from Mazda which says the car 

i) conforms to all EPA federal emissions requirements but not California (CARB) emissions requirements. (I am moving to Seattle, WA for the info).

ii) conforms to all CMVSS except for FMVSS 138 - TPMS.

(see attachment below)

 

Both times I tried I was at the Eastport, IDAHO land border as it is closest to me.

 

The first time, I was really there to talk to a border officer in person and to ask what the process would be like (thinking that it is easier to handle this in person).

I had the letter from Mazda with me and the forms (one EPA one and safetly one) with me. One officer read the letter and went to talk to another (I got a feeling that it is not something they deal with often). They came back saying that the car was not importable because of what the letter said and told me to sell it in Canada and buy a new one in US. He said unless I can do something and get Mazda to approve it and give me a new letter saying the car is compliant, they will not do anything for me. They also said it applies to both the CARD emission requirements and TPMS. I asked him why CARB matters since I am going to Seattle WA and he didn't really give me an answer. 

 

After that, I emailed EPA office twice to ask them about my situation with the letter from Mazda attached. Both reply I got said that for importing into US, EPA only care about the federal emission requirement, not the California one. They said I can use the EE checkbox on the EPA form for importing purpose. I printed the emails out and brought that with me in the next visit.

 

Also, I ordered this TPMS system (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HNPQ4X3/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and have an auto shop installed for me. But it is a simple system and they really only have to put the sensor caps on the tire valve stems and to plug in the small monitor into the power adapter in the car. But the point is I have a receipt from an auto shop with licensed mechanic.

 

I went to visit the same border again. This time I got different officers. I show that the letter from Mazda, the 2 forms, the purchase receipt of the TPMS system and the installation receipt. After looking all these (mainly the letter from Mazda and glance at the other documents for a quick second), the officer told me that the TPMS must be made by Mazda and no aftermarket is allowed. Note that he didn't take a close look at the product receipt nor to look at my car in person. I explained that I called a Mazda dealership and they will not install for me nor I don't think they will give me a certification letter for something they didn't make nor installation.  The officer suggested that he dealt with many people trying to install car without TPMS like me and just asked me to turn around... I asked one more time to confirm if there is anything I can do and he said no but a letter from Mazda saying that it is compliant. 

 

So, here I am, feeling a bit stuck and thinking to call up a different land border office now.
 

[IBM 1]

Hello OC, is there any ay I can contact you/you contact me directly about this (Subaru - TPMS)?

[O.C 160]

23 minutes ago, IBM said:

Hello OC, is there any ay I can contact you/you contact me directly about this (Subaru - TPMS)?

Honestly, I do not think I have any more to offer than what has been said already (and i did this over a year ago & my memory is not that great haha)

 

If there is a specific question that hasn't been answered from others in this topic, you can just post it here maybe others can assist. 

 

[jackanddeona 310]

Just putting an update in here. The OP seems to have gotten lucky with the border agent he did talk with. I talked with multiple agents along the alberta-montana border which will be my POE and oem installation is definitely a requirement.

 

I also learned that hyundai is not capable of installing the system on a canadian vehicle so my car is not applicable for an import. 

 

That being said if you have the money or are looking for a newer vehicle anyways there are quite a few options that have tpms. Nissan seems to be one of the better options which is what I'm planning on doing. And the used car prices in canada are similar to the states so at the moment you get quite a discount buying here than down there. 

[IBM 1]

Thanks for the info, much appreciated!

[NikLR 13,227]

18 hours ago, jackanddeona said:

Just putting an update in here. The OP seems to have gotten lucky with the border agent he did talk with. I talked with multiple agents along the alberta-montana border which will be my POE and oem installation is definitely a requirement.

 

I also learned that hyundai is not capable of installing the system on a canadian vehicle so my car is not applicable for an import. 

 

That being said if you have the money or are looking for a newer vehicle anyways there are quite a few options that have tpms. Nissan seems to be one of the better options which is what I'm planning on doing. And the used car prices in canada are similar to the states so at the moment you get quite a discount buying here than down there. 

I was going in my head but the US dollar is worth more so no sense... wait.  Yes makes sense. But this is only worth going this route if the car you buy has TPMS sensors.  I know plenty of cars do back to 2012 because I worked at Canadian Tire.  Lots of people were pissy about having to pay $200 extra to get new winter tires because you need new sensors. 

[IBM 1]

Wow, never thought about the winter tire thing ...

 

[jackanddeona 310]

6 hours ago, NikLR said:

I was going in my head but the US dollar is worth more so no sense... wait.  Yes makes sense. But this is only worth going this route if the car you buy has TPMS sensors.  I know plenty of cars do back to 2012 because I worked at Canadian Tire.  Lots of people were pissy about having to pay $200 extra to get new winter tires because you need new 

5 hours ago, IBM said:

Wow, never thought about the winter tire thing ...

 

 

Luckily I'm going to be in texas so I get to say goodbye to winter tires lol

Edited March 15, 2020 by jackanddeona

[NikLR 13,227]

6 hours ago, IBM said:

Wow, never thought about the winter tire thing ...

 

Once you're down here many people dont ever update the sensors or put them in new tires.  It's law in Alberta to do so.  I put them in my winters (which are actually all seasons) but i have a sporty car.  In summer i run low profile performance tires. I zig zag all over avoiding tire eating potholes. Lol

1 hour ago, jackanddeona said:

Luckily I'm going to be in texas so I get to say goodbye to winter tires lol

Ah but you have to be in texas...lol 

[BunyanP 89]

Was planning on doing just that with my Subaru. Also was thinking of changing my car. I guess I should look at buying now and save the exchange rate. As long as it fits the guidelines to import. My only concern is having a newer vehicle less than 1 year before importing, I’ll have to pay duty. Info On the customs page isn’t very clear. Anyone have input on the import taxes? Thanks!

[NikLR 13,227]

On 4/8/2020 at 12:32 PM, BunyanP said:

Was planning on doing just that with my Subaru. Also was thinking of changing my car. I guess I should look at buying now and save the exchange rate. As long as it fits the guidelines to import. My only concern is having a newer vehicle less than 1 year before importing, I’ll have to pay duty. Info On the customs page isn’t very clear. Anyone have input on the import taxes? Thanks!

If it was foreign made you may have a little. 

The biggest issue is if you have a lien. 

[jackanddeona 310]

On 4/8/2020 at 12:32 PM, BunyanP said:

Was planning on doing just that with my Subaru. Also was thinking of changing my car. I guess I should look at buying now and save the exchange rate. As long as it fits the guidelines to import. My only concern is having a newer vehicle less than 1 year before importing, I’ll have to pay duty. Info On the customs page isn’t very clear. Anyone have input on the import taxes? Thanks!

From what I read if it's made in north America and is your vehicle not another one you are buying there is no duty. There are a few brands to look at that qualify but nissan was my choice. Almost all their models for the last 6 to 8 years have tpms and they are actually produced in the usa. 

[ChiOtt 0]

On 11/28/2018 at 10:51 AM, Bizy said:

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.

 

 

 

[J.M.C. 1]

This is such a useful thread. I am on the same boat as everyone where. I have already moved to USA (Colorado) from Canada. I have a 2013 Honda Odyssey. I'll try with the after market TPMS installation, although OEM is required. Was anyone asked about the Anti Theft Device system? My letter says the Anti Theft Device is not compliant. Here is my letter from Honda: