How To Request A Recall Clearance Letter
If you are importing a Mercedes-Benz vehicle from the US, you will need to show RIV that there are no recalls outstanding on the vehicle.
To receive a Recall Clearance Letter from MB USA, you will need to fax a cover letter to (201) 476-6213 (Attention: CAC) 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.
***IMPORTANT*** AS OF 2010 MERCEDES-BENZ WILL COLLECT $350 FOR THIS LETTER. PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING POST CAREFULLY TO UNDERSTAND HOW THIS FEE MAY IMPACT YOU *****
http://ucanimport.blogspot.com/2010/03/mercedes-benz-charging-for-recall.html
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Have you had any experience or heard of how or who might be able to do the daytime running light modifications on a newer (07) Mercedes? I am in Toronto and calling all over and most people are saying they can't do it! Any stories or possible leads would be amazing!
Thank you for your question Victor.
At this time all modifications to MB vehicles must be made at a MB dealership in Canada.
Unfortunately, the costs of modifications - set purposefully high to curtail importations from the US - run between $1,500 and $8,000 depending on the model. A further, $500 is then paid for the MB Canada to issue a letter of compliance for the vehicle.
Note, that the letter of compliance is an MB requirement only. It is not required by Transport Canada or RIV to successfully complete your importation and register your vehicle in Canada.
If you have paid fees for modifications and compliance to an MB dealership in Canada, you should check out the lawsuit blog at http://autolawsuit.blogspot.com/ and participate in the suit.
Note also that any MB dealership in the US is capable of activating the DRLs on your vehicle, but in many cases are instructed not to do so. If a dealership does activate the DRLs for you, you can go right to the federal inspection stage in Canada.
From our understanding, if the modifications are not performed and recorded by a Canadian MB dealership then you may not have warranty coverage on the vehicle. In that case you may choose to purchase a third-party warranty for your vehicle.
So, to summarize:
1. Ask a US dealer to activate the DRLS;
2. Obtain Recall Clearance Letter from MB USA by using the steps shown in this blog;
3. Import vehicle according the UCanImport guide;
4. Receive Form 2 from RIV and complete Federal Inspection;
5. Waive the letter of compliance fee by purchasing third-party warranty coverage.
Know that MB Canada or US does not endorse any of these statements and believes the above to be in violation of their requirements for importing a vehicle from the US.
So as long as we get a benz dealership to turn DRLs on from US before the car is brought into Canada, we can import the car and receive form 2 from RIV?
Thanks for your question:
Receipt of Form 2 is not dependent on whether the vehicle has the DRLs activated or not.
Receipt of Form 2 is dependent on providing RIV with a copy of recall clearance, Form 1 and payment of the RIV fee.
The only way to pass the federal inspection once you have received Form 2 is to get the DRLs activated at either the dealership in Canada or by following instructions in the driver's manual.
Alternatively, you can come prepared by having the DRLs activated in the US.
Hope this clears up the process for you.
Enjoy your importing experience and remember to sign up for the Class Action Lawsuit by visiting
http://autolawsuit.blogspot.com/
Hi There,
I'm looking at importing a 2005 E55 AMG, but have a quick clarification question.
Is the Mercedes 'requirement' to perform the work, similar to Porsche's 'requirement' (i.e. to maintain the warranty on your car only?).
I was (and am) under the impression that in order to pass the Canadian Tire inspection, you must provide documentation from MB Canada stating that they've looked at at the vehicle, and it complies with their (idiotic!) standards -- i.e. even if you have the DRLs programmed by a US dealer (or heaven-forbid, buy a car that has them already programmed because it's from a state where it's a state-requirement!!!), you're still going to get scammed...
What I struggle with, is the following statement from Transport Canada:
"Mercedes-Benz Canada informed Transport Canada that ALL modifications MUST be performed (and documented) by an authorized Canadian Mercedes-Benz Retailer."
If I get the mods done elsewhere, how will TC know that the car wasn't already to Canadian-spec?
As far as we can tell there is only one reason for the MB modifications to be performed by a dealership in Canada. We think it's so they can be compensated for the loss of a sale.
So, what they will tell you is that if they do not perform the inspection/modifications, then they are unable to honour the warranty on the vehicle.
With a recall letter from MB USA and the DRLs activated in the US, you meet the importation criteria established by Transport Canada.
After that point it becomes your personal decision on how you would like to deal with your local MB dealership.
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Here's a typical response from an MB dealership in Canada to activate the daytime running lights:
1. Letter from MB USA stating that the car has no outstnding recalls.
2. Letter of admisability from MB Canada (UCanImport states this is not required as the admissibility list is provided directly to Transport Canada)
3. Carfax report.
Then, bring the car in, and give them a non-refundable deposit of $500 to look at it; then they give the car a thorough inspection to see "what repairs are required"; then they present me with a report (and estimate to
"repair") ; then they have to have a MB official come in from somewhere at my expense to check it over and give me a letter of authorization.
Count on them having the car for a month.
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If this isn't restraint of trade and dealership protectionism we don't know what is.
For more information please see the details on the class action lawsuit at http://autolawsuit.blogspot.com/
Note that MB has been fined in Europe for these practices, yet they seem to continue unfazed here in Canada.
I just bought a 07 c230 sport and to my amazement it was passed w/o any mod's and came with all the documents and door jam decal from the province which means it went through the inspection .
I started to look at the car closer and what I discover was on the 07' C230 you can turn the daytime h/l's on by going into the menu and scroll through the text to the headlamp options and it gives you the choice of h/lamps manual or constant on ....just turn it to constant ...bingo daytime running lights .As for this speedo issue that Merecedes says we are required to change to a metric speedo .In the menu again there is a option to change the LCD display ( between the speedo & tach ) to read from MPH to KPH so now my display shows the LCD in Metric KPH and the analog gauges in MPH .Its basically the same looking as what new honda civic displays so I'm not sure how Mercedes can demand we change the speedo because it already has the capability to display KPH .My thinking is this is how my car was able to pass the inspection w/o going through Mercedes
The MVSA (Motor Vehicle Safety Act) says the speedometer must be calibrated in KPH. If you look at almost any car in the US, there is calibration in MPH (which is a bit larger) and KPH. When I imported my 89 Porsche Speedster, this was all that was required.
I do not see how they say Mercedes MUST do the modifications (well we all know why). In fact it si the law that if somebody damages your car YOU CHOOSE where to get the car fixed.
This is a total scam.
So, as the warranty has expired on the 2005 MB E320 CDI that I am thinking of buying. Can I just activate the DRL's and Km/h on the speedo and get the US MB no recalls letter and bring the car over and take it to Canadian Tire without any intervention from MB Canada? The car is listed as admissable on the MB Canada website.
Thanks for all your advice on this website. I am on the verge of buying.
Hi GD: If there is no warranty on the vehicle you have no need to set foot in an MB dealership in Canada. Remember that the recall letter now costs $350. You can activate the DRLs, get stickers for speedometer from Canadian Tire and you will have met Transport Canada requirements. The federal inspection centre will have to ensure that the SOC sticker is on the door jamb and that the infant restraint kit is in the vehicle.
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