Recall Clearance Letter May Be Required
Mercedes-Benz importers are reporting that when they arrive at a Canadian dealership to complete their modification work that a number of dealerships are asking for a Recall Clearance Letter. Up until very recently the modifications, which range in price from $1,500 to $7,000, would result in a Letter of Compliance, which would also indicate the status of any recalls on the vehicle.
It seems that this extra step is now necessary. So, in addition to requesting a VIN specific Letter of Admissibility after reviewing this admissible vehicle listing provided by Mercedes-Benz Canada at http://www.mercedes-benz.ca/index.cfm?id=6872 you will need to contact MB USA to request this letter.
We are pleased to see that a number of 2008 models have been added to the list.
How To Request A Recall Clearance Letter
To receive a Recall Clearance Letter from MB USA, you will need to fax a letter to (201) 476-6213 along with proof of ownership in the form of a Title, Registration or Bill of Sale. You should also indicate that the recall information is required to complete an export out of the US and import into Canada.
Remember to provide your full contact information and your preferred method of delivery, i.e. fax or mail. Give yourself up to 10 days to receive this letter. To telephone MB USA use 1-800-367-6372. At this time there is no charge for this letter.
MB Regional Reps.
Further to our blog postings about the MB inspector, we have learned that the correct term for this position is "Regional Representative". There are in fact 5 reps in Canada and their areas are allocated as such: Western Canada (1 rep.), Central Canada (Alberta, Sask., Manitoba - 1 rep.), Ontario (2 reps.), Quebec and Maritimes (1 rep.).
The regional representatives are charged with 2 tasks: 1. to verify the modifications to confirm that they were completed to MB specs; 2. to audit the dealership charges for the modifications to confirm that they are consistent with the work performed.
The MB dealership in Canada who will be performing your modifications can contact their Regional Reps to confirm their schedules and give you a time line for their arrival in your city. We have heard accounts of waits up to one month, but this sounds unreasonable and manipulative. We urge you to have your local MB dealership and have them schedule the inspector's visit based on their time line quoted for your modifications to be completed.
We look forward to receiving your comments and hope that our research saves you both time, and money.
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5 comments:
Can you please tell that once you have received a "Clearance Recall Letter" from MB-USA; how long does RIV Canada will accept this letter from the date that the Manufacturer send it to you? Do you know RIV Canada's rules of how long is the manufacturer's letter valid for? Thank you in advance for your answer back. My email is benzman7@aol.com
Thank you for your question Richard.
In our experience, MB USA has sent us recall clearance letters within 2 days of our request. But the request must be made with a copy of a title or bill of sale.
Since you will already have a title and/or bill of sale, you are probably only a week or two away from importing your MB.
To save you time when you come back into Canada with the car, submit your recall information following the pre-clearance process identified in the importing guide. Once RIV has received your recall info, they will accept it and open an inquiry file for you.
When you arrive back in Canada, you will complete the rest of the submissions and receive your Federal Inspection Form within 72 hours in most cases.
I will also send this message to your e-mail address. To maintain your privacy we ask all readers to send e-mails to info@ucanimport.com and to publish their e-mail addresses at their own risk within this blog.
Today I was informed by MB USA that the recall clearance letter would cost us $350 to obtain. I have exported lots of vehicles to Canada and have never been charged by anybody... I guess a new trend has started.
I wonder if they realize that there is a class action lawsuit against them for these practices?
It is an unfortunate route they have chosen to go, and an incredibly frustrating one for importers.
The only advise we can offer is to get a dealership in the US to print off an internal system report showing if any recall campaigns are underway for the vehicle. You should ask for this printout as part of your vehicle negotiations.
We wish all importers much success and invite you to access the lawsuit information at this site - http://autolawsuit.blogspot.com/
I'm a little confused after reading the blogs. I am hoping to bring a 2005 E320 across from the US. I will need the internal service report to clear any recall issues. Daytime lights can be actiavted from the instrument panel. What else do I need to do?
Thanks
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