Dec 20
Serge’s Reply on Edmonds
- We should note a thank-you to all who have written in and posted on the site today!! Our priority is to help you all get your plates before the Holidays, then we plan to rest and start up again after December 27th. Look forward to a post asking for your input on the future of CWB.
- This was posted on Edmonds this evening and following is a great reply from Serge.
- “Hey everybody! This was on the CBC as a lead news story. The people who worked on this posted on this thread. Can we stop the side-topic MB/BMW discussion long enough to offer our congratulations to those who did the work? How many times has a BB thread led to an act of Parliament?
“
Re: New Import Regulation Effective Dec 19th [subahonda] by sergelbergeron
I’ve never seen 5 smilie cars. Subahonda.
The power of the people with the internet. In mid-October I buy a car and closely following this site - I learned like everybody else. But then the RIV changes the lists, compliance letters are not available by the car companies and the whole experience becomes very messy. In all parts of the country, this is secretly happening. The border is being closed. We all get angry, I do several posts and so do many others - still many are thinking what mistake they did by buying in the US. But by the power of the internet, I connect with Bob Lamb, the guy from the Montreal Gazette. We receive jointly 10-15-20 private e-mails - there appears to be hundred of people in trouble. Our first meeting is Nov. 18 in Mtl - we ask for help on this site Edmunds. We are looking for volunteers. 2 days later, we have a new site www.carswithoutborders.com dedicated to fighting for consumers. The same day the G&M and then the CBC National on National TV. We ask Canadians to post their cases and then we start a massive campaign - write - write all across Canada. We have a super media team, an immobilizer team, a web team (all volunteers) Nov 30th, TC comes out with the new rules and on Dec. 19 the new rules take effect. This is 31 days after the first meeting.
The power of the people getting together is the new weapon. The internet; Edmunds, EBay, Internet shopping and CarsWithoutBorders…all new tools (or weapons) to benefit consumers in this modern age. The modern electronic age has just begun. We don’t know where it will end , but please Car Companies, Governments, no more lying, no more cheating, no more coverups - the world is a lot smaller and a lot more informed and ready for the battle.
It is quite a story and man - success sure feels good. Thanks to all who signed the petition on the site, who called their MP, Cannon, etc. Those who volunteered their personal time and a great thanks to Robert Lamb, a true friend and finally the Montreal reporter Jan from the Mtl Gazette who got us all started. It’s quite a ride.
December 21st, 2007 at 11:25 am
Serge
Haven’t got my truck yet, going to the States this week end to bring it up.In October when I enquired about the Recall letter GM wanted $25, now its $500…???Can/is this forum/group going to be dealing with RIV/Trans.Can about accepting letters/printouts from the Dealer without the Consumer once again getting ripped off/stymied by the manufacturer?
December 21st, 2007 at 12:16 pm
It’s definitely going to be on our list of things to fix. We are going to set priorities in the new year. $500 recall letters are not acceptable.
December 21st, 2007 at 2:12 pm
R DARR
Just get the recall letter from the GM Vintage Name on the RIV list, its $250.
December 21st, 2007 at 3:44 pm
If $500 recall letters are unacceptable then the $1500 one that a manufacturer now wants to charge me is obscene.
Win one battle and another gets started.
December 21st, 2007 at 4:26 pm
An updated list has been posted on the RIV”CA site
December 21st, 2007 at 4:45 pm
I just spoke to the RIV and they are now declaring vehicles like mine admissible, based on the December 21, 2007 version on the TC website. You still need to prove it has an electronic immobilizer when you have the inspection done at Canadian Tire.
In regards to the recall clearance letter, the RIV says a letter from the authorized US dealers is acceptable. I told her I had a document called “GM Vehicle Inquiry System - Summary” which shows the vehicle has no current outstanding recall campaigns. She said that would suffice. I got it from free from the US dealer. So it seems you may not have to pay the fee to the GM Vintage Services group. I hope the RIV person is correct and that document works when I fax it to them.
I am heading back to bring my 2008 Buick Enclave home tomorrow afternoon (after the 72 hours has expired).
December 21st, 2007 at 4:53 pm
I spoke with RIV yesterday and was told that they refused my letter from the authorized dealer and that it had to come from the manufacturer (this of course after they had told me a month ago that a letter from an authorized dealer was acceptable).
The buggers at RIV keep changing their policies and are not consistent in their messages.
If you rely on anything that RIV tells you over the phone then record the call and make a note.
December 21st, 2007 at 7:35 pm
I had a letter from my US authorized dealer and it was accepted by RIV. I also had a GM vehicle inquirty showing that there were no outstanding recalls. I received my form 2 and got my plates yesterday.
December 21st, 2007 at 7:38 pm
Shaun/Sarah Oko
What do you mean? Where is the link ?
December 21st, 2007 at 8:53 pm
2008 Toyota Tacoma and Tundra’s are now admissable on the RIV list. I’m on my way down to pick my 2008 Toyota Tacoma up on Jan 2/08. This has definitely made my Christmas!
December 21st, 2007 at 9:15 pm
We have laws and we have rules. The laws are currently designed to protect the foreign owned manufacturers. The rules are made up, as we go and are changed from moment to moment, in order to force Canadians to give up in utter frustration. This helps the manufacturers to charge whatever they want, manipulate us, however they want and get, whatever they want. Someone at Transport Canada benefits from all this. The manufacturers benefit from this and we will never benefit from any of this, until our Prime Minister agrees to hold a public inquiry, into the corruption that is at the heart of all this, the Competition Board of Canada lays charges against those who are responsible for causing all this, the RIV is disbanded and sent into oblivion and we the people, are given a whole new set of rules to go by, possibly even rules that we the people come up with ourselves.Rules that will work for us. I am ready for this. I have forty years experience in the auto industry including manufacturing, importing and exporting. I am ready to help if others will too. I can not overstate the importance of a major public inquiry, prosecution, harmonization, elimination of the RIV and a whole new set of rules to work with. Nothing less is enough, for honest, decent, hard working Canadians.
December 21st, 2007 at 11:37 pm
R Darr
http://www.riv.ca/english/Recall_Contacts_on_RIV.pdf
December 22nd, 2007 at 1:33 am
You have my support and that of others who I know support and have requested a judicial inquiry in their emails to the politicians. But it may be that this is a war that is to be won by winning one small battle at a time until the Fifth Estate or some other documnetary producer grabs this travesty and makes it known to those millions of Canadian car buyers who do not have any idea that they are paying more than Americans never mind the games that have been played by TC and the auto manufacturers for many decades. Notwithstanding my frustration with being exploited by TC and the auto manufacturers and for the matter the GST and PST people, it would seem that until enough press is generated the only pressure that we can exert is by making the facts known to the politicians who want to win the next election. If they understand that they may lose a large voting block because of their intransigence, they may do something to avoid a public inquiry before the press seizes the story and it replaces the focus on Mulroney and Shreiber.
Seasons Greeting to everyone.
December 22nd, 2007 at 9:29 am
One of the reasons that Transport Canada and the manufacturers have been able to create this situation, is that 99.99% of the public are completely ignorant of what has been evolving over the years and even those, such as my self and others who do have an understanding of it, have , until Robert created this website, felt absolutely powerless, to do anything about it. I have always had and many Canadians have probably also had, the feeling, “but who would listen to me” ??? Maybe now that we have, thanks to Robert, a forum and a venue, we can , together, now actually do something about it. At this time, the majority of letters, have been coming from persons , who are desperately trying to get their vehicles home and get them registered. Hopefully, once that has happened, the focus can shift to dealing with the long term even bigger problem; the corruption that allowed this situation to evolve, in the first place. Hopefully, we can then create, an entirely new set of rules, for Canadians to work with. This would include, complete harmonization of standards, in order to completely eliminate, standards related barriers to trade. It would force Transport Canada to provide information, instead of allowing Transport Canada, to force consumers to provide information, that it already has. It would harmonize standards, so that there is no longer any justification, for the existence of the RIV and would then abolish, this organization completely, as an unnecessary anachronism. It would create the real, true, free market place, that was promised to us, many years ago, when our government told us , that it was giving us free trade. During the past few years, international world leaders conferences, have become a way for the leaders of many countries, to discuss issues , that are of mutual concern to them. These conferences are sometimes referred to as summit meetings. Such meetings have been held in many countries, including Canada. At these meetings, security has been an issue, that is of increasing concern. There was an enormous R.C.M.P. presence, at Kananaskis, Alberta. The Apec conference, in Vancouver, resulted in considerable violence, which in turn resulted in a public inquiry. A top level conference to be held, in Victoria, B.C. was canceled, due to security concerns. The underlying connection, between these events, was the intense level of protest, the potential for violence and in some cases, actual violence, that erupted, from protesters, at these events. The very reason that protesters have been a common presence at such events, is that they do not trust, what their governments are doing. They do not trust, the agreements, that their governments are entering into and they are absolutely certain, that their governments are secretly involved in secret agreements, with multinational corporations, that will somehow take advantage of them. These people have seen, corruption in government, just as we are now seeing, corruption in government. Cars without borders, has helped Canadians, to reveal and share their experiences with this corruption, in a way that has never happened before and was not possible, before the internet was created. Possibly and very hopefully, from here onward, we can move forward to put a stop to this corruption and achieve, for all Canadians, a just and fair set of rules for free trade in vehicles, that all Canadians deserve. After all, the foreign owned manufacturers have it and they are not even Canadians. Merry Christmas and thank you, so very much, Robert, Serge and everyone who is working so hard on this and have already achieved so much.
December 22nd, 2007 at 11:14 am
Here is the issue with the recall letters.
The RIV documents state the letters must come directly from the OEM, but then later
indicates that in some cases the letter may come from an authorized dealer.
The admissibility list clearly states that for some manufacturers (ie MB, BMW) the
consumer must contact the OEM for the recall letter but in other cases there is no
mention.
This then leaves the recall letter for most manufacturers open to intrepretation.
One RIV agent tells you one thing and a different agent tells you another.
In my case I called and was told that a letter from an authorized dealer was fine.
I import the car and am told that the letter has to come from the OEM even though
neither the recall contact list or admissibility list mention this fact at all. Of
course the OEM now wants an arm and a leg and tells me that my after market daylight
running light kit has to be replaced with the OEM version and that my MPH/KM
speedometer has to be replaced with a KM/MPH version. Total cost $12,000 on a
$50,000 car.
As others have said, this is the next fight as more and more manufacturers see this
as an even more effective way of stopping imports to Canada.
December 22nd, 2007 at 3:55 pm
There is no law , or regulation, that requires a vehicle owner to convert the instrument cluster from miles per hour to kilometers per hour. This just another example of the dishonesty coming from the unsavory relation ship between the manufacturers and Transport Canada. As for being told one thing by one person and another thing by another, this is exactly what has been happening all along and is proven by the many conflicting answers given to people, outlined in the letters they are writing to this website. It is a disgrace and someone must be held accountable for it. As soon we can get an investigation going , the better. I will contribute time and money to help make it happen.