acrufox

Recently I discovered that in order to import my car into the United States that all 2008 Civics built in Canada do not meet TPMS compliance since it isn't a requirement up here. Upon looking up the information, it says I can have the vehicle retrofitted by the dealership or authorized repair facility and the system installed has to be OEM.

Does anyone know if this is even possible or knows anyone that has had it done and if it's possible, how much might such a retrofit cost and what would be involved? I've tried looking this information on google and on here and haven't found much information outside of the American version of the 2008 Civic has such a system enabled.

Thanks in advance~

ezone

Hear me now, believe me later:
Sell the car in Canada, buy another one when you get into the US. It's gonna be a whole lot simpler.

Canadian market cars don't exist in Hondas USA VIN database.
Seriously.
It's a huge hassle and a big problem with owner-imported Hondas...


.....and you're probably gonna have a Takata airbag recall coming up that's gonna throw everyone at a USA dealership into a tizzy once they figure out your car doesn't exist.

ezone

As far as the TPMS......

Is the connector present on the dash wiring harness for the control unit to plug in?
Are the warning lights already in place in the gauge module?


If TPMS systems aren't available in Canada, how are you going to obtain the parts to retrofit?


Do the officials up there realize half the cars in the USA with the TPMS systems are driving around with the failure warning lights on, and nobody else cares? LOL

acrufox

I've called Honda USA and provided my VIN number and they said the vehicle was compliant except for the TPMS system which is non existent on the Canadian version of the 2008 Civic. They even cover VIN numbers and USA honda on Honda's website.

https://www.honda.ca/owners/faqs/vehicle-movement

So if Canadian Market VIN numbers were not in Honda USA database, this would go against what I've found so far. There is also an official list of non compliant Honda Vehicles that are not allowed to be imported because of this TPMS issue. That list is located here: http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/impo...20No.%2053.pdf

If a car meets emission and safety standards for importation then one only has to obtain a letter of compliance from Honda USA and a recall clearance letter from Honda Canada. One can legally import the car for personal use without having to resort to a registered importer in that case.

But it's becoming clear that having a dealership in Canada perform an OEM modification of my car isn't something they are willing to do or feasible to even do, so I'm exploring the option of trading my vehicle for a 2006 or 2007 Civic which doesn't have to be TPMS compliant.

I know the simplest option would be to indeed sell off the car and buy another one down there, but with our exchange rate being what it is right now, I'd be many thousands of dollars short to pick up something used similar to what I currently have. I've always been happy with Honda so I would hate to just have enough money to buy a really old clunker from the 1990s that isn't even a Honda vehicle.

acrufox

I know the TPMS issue is just a bunch of hogwash when it comes to safety and this is probably why Honda Canada didn't even bother with them in 2008-2014 Civics in Canada.

It, unfortunately, is the officials down there that just drafted up these regulations about TPMS and importing cars from Canada that do not posses them. I'm more than capable of checking my own tires and keeping them at the proper pressure and replacing the tires when need be. I don't need a stupid orange TPMS warning light in the dash to tell me something isn't right.

The problem is that US customs will not let me import the vehicle unless I bring the vehicle into compliance via dealership or a registered importer that would do that for me and I've already called around about that and none of them can be bothered to make such a modification.

I think I'm just going to have to sell my 2008 and then look for a 2006-2007 Civic around here and call up Honda USA with the new VIN number before purchasing it and ask them if it meets safety requirements or not. I asked them for a list of their cars between 2005-2007 either Civic or Accord that are compliant and they said they could only tell me if it passes via it's VIN number.

ezone

I asked because I have no way of seeing if the car has these in place, which would make adding TPMS control unit and sensors plug and play easy (but not real cheap). If the connector isn't on the harness and the lights aren't in the gauge module, that would be more expense to make it work like factory.



You're talking to people at the corporate level.

I was talking about issues at the dealer level, that's where I'm at.

The recall situations are changing almost daily here right now, as more vehicles get added to the Takata airbag lists.
We might see a car and order a drivers airbag, install it the next day then find out it now needs a passengers bag because the list changed overnight, more VINs were added to the list. It's crazy.
06-11 Civics were added to the list the other day, but they aren't yet available.....

Used to be an individual could do this if they had a good reason to move across the border, such as moving for a job.....

Honda seemed to do what they do to discourage large scale importers.

IDK if it's still that way now.....but dealing with some problems on the imported cars has been a real PITA. Recalls were an issue at times, and anything that had to be ordered by VIN was a problem (like trying to get a factory reman transmission for an Odyssey was impossible, they thought we should get a trans through some Canadian dealer and have it shipped into the states...SMH)

On some other cars it's not been a problem getting replacement parts at the dealer ....other than the rust (I'm in the rust belt so that's saying a lot)

acrufox

I would have the confidence of doing these modifications myself if it was possible, unfortunately even if they were, Customs wouldn't let me import it as I didn't get the work done by a dealership or a registered importer.

I just want to obtain something Honda either Civic or Accord related that as of right now would clear EPA and Safety regulations for import. Once I have those letters stating compliance at that time they were obtained, I can legally import the car for my personal use. Since my model is actually spelled out in an official list of non compliant vehicles, keeping this car is not an option.

My car is not compliant only because the rules for compliance include TPMS on any car model years 2008 and newer. So technically I should be able to buy a 2006-2007 car up here which would meet those requirements and I can continue driving a civic.

The main reason I am looking to do it this roundabout way is because if I bring down a compliant vehicle, I can continue on my current insurance and Canadian license until I obtain my US license. I don't live in one of the handful of provinces I could simply apply for a new US license, they require me to go through the whole 9 yards of obtaining a license from scratch, so I need to have something I can use until I reach that point.

If I try buying a used car in the USA as soon as I get down there, right off the bat I would run into the inability to get plates for it or insurance coverage until I met the state requirements I am moving to for a license. I've accepted there is going to be some hassle regardless of what I do, but for my particular situation it just seems best to trade in up here for something that is compliant and go from there.