S4s in Canada/importing

[William Murin <murinw@cs.uwp.edu>]

In the past there have been lots of questions about importing a car 
from Europe or Canada.

After the recent posts about S4s in Canada at prices much less then in 
the US, I decided to do a little investigating.  Now all of you may have 
known all this stuff, but a lot of it was news to me.  

In a nutshell NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), 
part of the US Department of Transportation has an internet homepage
with just about all the information you would ever want about what it 
takes to import a car into the US from Canada or somewhere else.  

The key eleement seems to be that you need a letter from the manufacturer 
(AoA I would guess) that says the vehicle, identified by VIN number, 
meets applicable US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).  

If the manufacturer says your vehicle meets all FMVSS standards except 
standard # 208(passive restraint requirements) the car cannot permanently 
be in the US UNLESS modified by a "registered importer" (NHTSA provides a 
list of such importers).

If the manufacturer will not issue the required letter, the only way to 
bring a car in is through a registered importer.

After DOT/NHTSA approval is received, EPA approval is also needed.  I do 
not have those requirements yet.

  
Obviosuyl I have no idea how difficult thiese tasks are.  In looking at 
the listed of registered importers ther ewere quite a few in Florida, 
California, and a huge number in the Pacific Northwest especially in the 
Bellingham area.

Anyway, FYI to anyone who might be interested.

Bill Murin