2014, European import Time

[Geobmx4life]

As of 2014, it will be legal to import AWD TDI's from Europe...here's a sample of whats available!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_A3

 

[No More Buffalo]

???

How is this possibly legal, given that most (all?) of the Euro TDI's do not meet US emissions requirements.

 

[Powder Hound]

As of [whatever year you choose], it will be legal to import AWD TDI's from Europe [as long as it complies with EPA and USDOT regulations for the year of manufacture and you pay the requisite import duties, taxes, imposts, etc. for said vehicle]...here's a sample of whats available!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_A3

There - fixed it for you.

 

[Geobmx4life]

Thanks for the "fixes"...I may have been incorrect for the USA...more so in Canada, we have had to wait for the 15 year mark...feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken.

 

[No More Buffalo]

I think Canada is actually more liberal - once the 15 years is up you can import anything right? I seem to recall people importing crazy things like RHD Skylines.

In the US if it doesn't pass DOT regulations for the year of manufacturer, it can't be imported ever, except for display purposes - you'll NEVER title it for on-road use.

 

[Geobmx4life]

Yeah, there are ALOT of rhd vehicle imports in the Calgary area, I can't wait to see some of the TDI's that should be coming in shortly!

 

[GoFaster]

Thanks for the "fixes"...I may have been incorrect for the USA...more so in Canada, we have had to wait for the 15 year mark...feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken.

I am virtually certain that you are wrong. Transport Canada is (and has always been) very insistent on vehicles being built to conform to Transport Canada standards ... not "whole vehicle type approval" to EU standards. Canadian emission standards are harmonized to US standards, not to EU standards. I do not see this changing any time soon.

If you have a link to a Government of Canada website which specifically cites changes to Transport Canada's operating regulations or to the standards to which they accept, please provide a link to it. Otherwise ... you will continue to not be able to import anything non-conforming to Transport Canada standards from outside US/Canada unless it is more than 15 years old to the date of manufacture, which is just as it has been for decades.

 

[TDIMeister]

CBSA rules have not changed to date as per the site:
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/pub/bsf5048-eng.html#s4

 

[bhtooefr]

GoFaster: I think the point is that the first AWD TDIs came out in 1999, and therefore are legal for import into Canada due to age? (I'm not certain that that's actually correct, though.)

 

[GoFaster]

That's a possibility, I don't know when TDI and AWD first were available together, 1999 sounds about right. At a minimum, the first post is misleading.

 

[TDIMeister]

Audi TDI quattros go back to at least late 1995 (that I can still find current listings for on mobile.de). My A4 TDI Avant quattro is a 98.

 

[Geobmx4life]

Yes importing, due to the age of the car 15yrs old, is the point I was trying to make...IDK how my first post was misleading...however it has created some chatter on the topic...for me personally this is exciting as I am looking into the process involved for importing one.

You cannot import a vehicle that was manufactured to meet the safety standards of a country other than the United States or Canada unless the vehicle is the following:

15 years old or older (excluding buses);
a bus manufactured before January 1, 1971; or
entering Canada temporarily.

 

[GoFaster]

Suggested wording that would not have been misleading

Since the first AWD TDI's in Europe are now more than 15 years old as of 2014, it will be legal to import those AWD TDI's from Europe...here's a sample of whats available!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_A3

The original wording made no mention of the 15-year-old requirement and was misleading because it made a general statement that you could import an AWD TDI without restriction as long as it had both features, which is not the case ...

 

[Lug_Nut]

You can import any, but you'll need to keep it in a museum or use it exclusively on non-public roads with the land owner's permission.
You'll have to trailer it to the track though...

 

[MrMopar]

You cannot import a vehicle that was manufactured to meet the safety standards of a country other than the United States or Canada unless the vehicle is the following:

. . . entering Canada temporarily.

Define "temporarily"?

In the scope of all of time, temporarily can be until you drive it into the ground and junk it. It will leave Canada for China to be turned into razor blades. That's "temporary".

 

[GoFaster]

"Temporarily" is defined in the regulations - it's essentially one year. Tourists/visitors to Canada (and the USA) are allowed to bring in and operate their own non-conforming vehicles (e.g. when on vacation or on a business trip or whatever) and still maintain the registration and ownership paperwork of their original country. A foreign national living in Canada can register a non-conforming vehicle in Canada (e.g. foreign dignitaries). There are a couple of other similar provisions for other circumstances. But the non-conforming vehicle cannot stay in Canada under any of these circumstances for more than one year. Non-conforming vehicles are not allowed to stay here and remain permanently (i.e. for more than one year) registered for on-road use here unless they are more than 15 years old.

 

[Geobmx4life]

Fair enough

Suggested wording that would not have been misleading
The original wording made no mention of the 15-year-old requirement and was misleading because it made a general statement that you could import an AWD TDI without restriction as long as it had both features, which is not the case ...

Ah...OK...point taken...my bad.