HelpMeHelpU

Seeking insights on some particular aspects of importing a Porsche from Canada.

For cars newer than 25 years (I believe), US Customs requires certain labels and the speedo to be in MPH instead of KPH (for newer Porsches, with digital and analog speedos, it's simply a setting to switch digital to MPH). For cars without digital speedos, presumably one needs to change the speedo face and make some adjustment that converts KPH info into MPH.

My question really is about the odometer. Pre-import it would read KMs and once imported it will need to read miles.

Without compromising the integrity of the odometer, how is this done?

Really appreciate any insights from people with experience here.

Thanks so much.

champignon

I have imported a 2011 BMW (a 1M) into the USA from Canada, or more accurately, the ebay seller did that for me as a part of the sales price. I know another guy (and of some additional people) who have also imported the same car into the US.

It would help if you gave more specifics about the car you are considering importing, which might allow someone more knowledgeable about the specifics of the car's instrument cluster to give you a very specific response.

In my case, the Canadian dealer had the cluster changed to a US Cluster, with MPH on the outer rim and KPH on the inner rim; the Canadian cluster had only KPH on the analog dial. As it turns out, this conversion was really unnecessary, because with easy coding one can get a digital display in either MPH or KPH, and in fact the digital display can be made accurate, whereas the analog display intentionally overstates the MPH. The guy I know personally from California who imported his own 2011 1M did not change the cluster at all, so he has only KPH on his analog speed dial.

Getting to your odometer question, I had considerable hassles with the local DMV over the cluster change, and in fact they demanded proof that the cluster had been changed at a BMW dealership by a licensed BMW technician (it had). As it turned out, however, the odometer reading is easily switched on that car from KM to Miles and back again, with a simple setup shown in the owners manual! The car's electronics presumably store the information in the form of the number of wheel rotations, and then that can be displayed as either MPH or KPH depending on the owner's whim at any moment in time! So, all of the ruminating by the state DMV over conversion of the cluster was ill-placed, since that part of the equation was never changed from when the car was in Canada to when it was moved to the USA.

So, it would not surprise me in the least if you can change the Odo readout from KM to Miles with a simple setup that you can get either from a forum participant, a dealer, or the owners manual.

One other potentially relevant piece of information is that federal law, and the practices of at least some states, allows the absence of reporting of the odometer reading on cars that are either beyond a certain age (10 years, I think) or those that are "beyond mechanical limits." So it may be that if the car is old enough, or has enough accumulated KMs, that the odometer reading will be of no consequence, whatever the units it is in.

HelpMeHelpU

Very helpful, Champignon. Thank you.

Haven't settled on exact car but likely a 964 or 993.

champignon

The overall process of importing a car from Canada to the US is a real PITA. If the car is sufficiently rare (like a BMW 1M) or the price differential is enormous, importing a vehicle could make sense. If on the other hand the savings are not that much, or with some searching you could find what you want on this side of the border, I would not bother doing this.

Good luck.

bkrantz

My US model 964 went to a buyer in Canada, so one possibliity is to find a US spec car and de-export it.

pp000830

https://icsw.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/im...da10102012.pdf

https://icsw.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/

https://www.epa.gov/importing-vehicles-and-engines

https://rennlist.com/forums/993-foru...om-canada.html

Onami

post your questions on the 993 forum. Many have done this there.

bcameron59

Don't do it. We need our Porsches up here.

Opo

Hire a broker and save you all the headaches .. I bought a c2s from Canada and the seller hired the broker ..
just sign the papers and done !

il pirata

You can follow the links that Andy posted, which will lead you to additional links, and make your own determination, or do as Opo suggested, and use a broker. As Onami stated, many people on Rennlist have bought cars in Canada and brought back into the US, some with some hassles, many not.

In general:

If the car was previously a titled US car and you can prove it, then it's pretty easy.

If the car was sold originally in Canada, but has a emission label stating it is certified to United States EPA federal emission standards, then importing is fairly easy. I think the 993's had this, do not no about the 964. You will have to pay a duty tax.

If the car does NOT have the EPA sticker, and is NOT over 25 years old, then your into a different ball game. There is an exception to this for special vehicles, such as a 993 RS, but then the use of the car is very limited.

champignon

Some very good comments here. Let me add a couple of other things to consider.

In addition to any "importation hassles" you may have, there are, in addition, "registration hassles" that are going to vary by state, and may even vary by the county, in states where car registrations are done at the county level, as in Idaho. I know of several people and I know one guy personally, who in addition to myself, have registered previously Canadian passenger cars in the USA.

My state was all over the odometer regulations; it took more than 2 months, many emails and phone calls and documents, to finally get my car titled and registered. My friend in California had to endure several months during which his state tried to be absolutely certain that there were no liens against the vehicle in Canada.

Another hassle likely to be faced is if the car ever experiences a safety-related recall. Remember, these recalls can occur decades after a car is sold, and are for repairs or replacement parts paid for by the manufacturer. In the case of the BMW 1M, the subject car that I own and my friend and others own, there is a recall on the Takata driver side airbag. This is for a car from the 2011 model year, now out of warranty for 1 year, plus. The airbag recall was first announced in the USA 1.5 to 2 years ago; about 6 or 8 months later, Canada issued a similar recall. Canadian BMW made no effort to contact the Americans with Canadian cars, and BMW of the USA was unable to pull up the cars on their system. After many, many attempts to deal with this problem, through the dealer, through BMW of the USA, and through BMW of Canada, this still remained an unresolved problem for me (and my friend) for more than a year. Ultimately, only by virtue of calling and calling and calling and calling again and again and again, did I/we finally reach someone in the USA part of BMW who took responsibility for the issue and got our airbags replaced.

I personally doubt that Porsche has a better system for dealing with recalled Canadian cars living now in the USA, than does BMW. For one thing, you can go to any US BMW dealer and ask to have them review maintenance records on any BMW serviced at any BMW dealer in the USA. Porsche does not do this, dealers keep their own records which are not shared. So if anything, I would bet that if your formerly Canadian car is recalled when it is living in the USA, you are going to have a big, big, hassle on your hands.

Just something else to consider.

CanuckCanuck

Hi guys,

I'm looking to change the dials of my 2019 Porsche Macon from kph to mph. @Mechanicalrepair can you tell me what manufacturer I can order these new dials from (or if you have any then sell them to me?) I live in the United States.

Thanks!

knorrena

Be quick about it. Its going to be quite difficult getting that car over impending North Wall.

golfnutintib

i have imported canadian cars to usa 3x in the last 8 years

gauge in kph/mph can be ok'd if the digital part of gauge can be set to mph, like the newer porsches - if it is the actual analog gauge face it may need to be replaced

you may also need a certification letter from PCNA

it is not too onerous a process but you need to know what you are doing, and have the right paperwork and forms and be in contact with the officer at the border where you are crossing

of course you can pay the shipper/broker to do all this as well - they will happily take your $

CanuckCanuck

lol...first he gotta get funding for the south wall