Date:         Wed, 18 Dec 1996 11:11:14 -0800
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         natasha!mholser@Adobe.COM
Subject:      Re: 97 EV's

> ...he did some digging and discovered that in the
> >States only the automatic transmission will be available on them. It's
> >in Canada, where the '97's will have a 5-cyliner turbo diesel option, that
> >a manual transmission will be sold.
>
> Does anyone know if the vw's imported and sold in Canada are US (DOT)
> approved. Could someone go up to Canada and buy a vw and bring it back, legally?
> I'm curious.

I just brought a Canadian Vanagon into the US.  From 1986 through the end of Vanagon
production, all Vanagons met both US DOT and Canadian requirements with a couple of
exceptions.  Canadian vans had speedometers that read only in KPH and odometers
that read in KM.  The odometer is acceptable to USDOT, but the spedometer must be
altered to read in MPH.  The little red brake light on Canadian vans just shows a
symbol, while the US version shows "Brake" and the symbol.  Additionally, all Canadian
Vanagons met the California Air Resources Board emissions requirements, and some
of them even have the correct California sticker.  This is true even for the Transporter series, like my Kombi, single and doublecabs.

I was not hit by customs for duties, but mine was an old, junky looking thing.  A new
one will be hit quite hard.  I did not have to pay California tax, either, since I had
paid Ontario taxes.

Trucks (including the panel vans) are hit by a 20% of value duty.  Passenger vans are
only hit for regular import duties.

I presume that Canadian and DOT requirements continue to be quite similar.  VWoA was
quite nice in providing the documents that I needed.  I also needed individual approval
from the USDOT (they stamped the VW letter, once I provided evidence of the speedometer
changes) and USEPA (they wrote another letter).  All of this took from May though last
week, when I finally got my real registration.

Canada VW dealers are listing Panel EV's and passenger versions this year, both 5-speed
and automatic, with several engine options.  The Canadian version of the EPA lists the
TDI Panel as the most environmentally-correct commercial light vehicle this year,
according to their web site.  A Canadian dealer (Westminster VW ???) also has a web page,
listing what they have in stock.  Also check the VW page at www.vw.com, and go into
the Canadian section.

It's a real pain to bring in a Canadian car, but doable.  It would be simplest to buy
one slightly used from a visiting Canadian friend you met on the net.

malcolm