As some of you may know, I’ve recently moved to the U.S. from Canada and am in the process of importing my DA down here. U.S. Customs and Border Protection advised me I need a Letter of Conformity from the manufacturer that my car meets EPA/DOT requirements for the given year it was produced for ('92 in my case) in order for them to allow me to import my car into the U.S. and thus register it.
This EPA site says I should have no issues on their end - it’s the DOT requirements that have caused me concern. I’ve been on the phone back and forth for over a month with American Honda Motors in Torrance on trying to get this letter and in the end they said they won’t issue me the said letter because my car didn’t come with a minimum of a driver’s side airbag which they claim is necessary at the time. And it seems to be year and model specific - as they’ve told me as an example that as old as a 1988 Accord also requires the minimum driver’s air bag, and later for some other models.
The info I’ve found from a DOT web site is confusing, saying that if it conforms with Canadian standards (which it does), it can be imported with the manufacturer’s Letter of Conformity. But I am unable to obtain that because AHM said the former isn’t true.
My question is to those of you who have DAs registered and insured in the U.S. that have been manufactured for the CDM. I know there are some of you out there because I’ve seen them here on G2IC over the years, however I don’t know if they are still on the board or perhaps were imported by another person they bought their DA from. Anyone else also that my have some insight into this, I welcome your feedback also.
Regardless of your input, I thank you for your attention.
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hm…i read somewhere that the car needed to have a active restraint system or something like that. Something that would work without the occupant having to do anything (automatic seatbelts, airbag). That was required in the states back then. Having said that, i’ve seen canadian DA’s in the states…so i have no idea, just spreading some information.
Is the car in Canada still or in the states? U should be able to drive it across if its insured in the states. From there go to the DMV, A buddy did this in a Tahoe he got in Mexico make sure u have your title and all paper work. it will need to pass a lamp and brake inspection and a smog check for which ever state u are in.
thatblkguy: The car is insured in BC which covers its use in both Canada and the U.S. for the short term. I want to register it in the U.S. but cannot until the feds clear it. They won’t clear it until Honda of America clears it. They won’t clear it because they say it needs an air-bag - of which they said the feds required it, and so the circle goes. The cars from both countries are the same in that regard and I’ve seen Canadian market DAs imported and registered here so I don’t know how they did it - hence my query. At this point my only hope is to try and find a broker that will handle this nonsense for me as I’ve all but run out of patience.