I bought a 2020 c8 from the USA., Does anyone have any advice on adding daytime running lights to this car?
Question C8 Daytime running lights
- Thread starter Trevor Shane
- Start date
I would start by looking at the fuse box. Look for a label with DRL see if you have a fuse in this position. I am not sure how many dealers have converted a US model to Canadian standards yet. Since cross border trade in this commodity is not encouraged at this time and not due to Covid.
You can also check the below
Check the link on the DRL on page 126. It advises how it’s controlled from a US point of view.
Check the link on the DRL on page 126. It advises how it’s controlled from a US point of view.
You can bring it in all you want you just can’t insure it until it’s inspected and approved for Canadian standards. Usually done by the same dealership that does the conversion.
I‘ve imported imported several cars from the USA, often it’s a simple setting in the software to flip it from US to Canadian settings. I have always included this action as part of my purchase ( if from a dealer) along with the most important piece of paper you will need; the documentation that declares that there are no outstanding recalls on your particular car. This document is what dealers in Canada hold you hostage for, but is readily available from any US dealer. It is printout from the service department stating no outstanding recalls are present. I usually obtain this printout and provide it to R.I.V. ( the Canadian gov. body) and get the confirmation of admissibility documentation BEFORE buying the car. By doing this you avoid the Canadian dealers altogether. As our dealers try to protect the market they often charge 500$ to provide this confirmation , but some manufacturers insist on extensive “modifications “ to make the car “legal” but in reality it a cash grab, and often charge thousands for replacement equipment that is not required under the importation rules. The R.I.V is an excellent source of information, and you get an actual human when you call.
My apologies for going on and on, it just burns me that our dealers and manufacturers are allowed to run this scam, and hate it when good people get taken advantage of.
Not true. I have driven home (from USA to Canada) three of my four cars imported from the USA and they were fully covered by my insurance company until I got the required inspections completed. Inspection was at Canadian Tire and not a big deal. As noted by others, I had the DRL programming completed by the US dealer as part of the deal to buy the car.
Your 100% correct I should have used the words “ permanent insurance”
Yes, I agree. My insurance company gave me 30 days each time to get the required inspections and approvals completed. No problem for me because the cars had whatever modifications required before I picked them up in the USA, so one trip to Canadian Tire and I was done.
No road tests and the car never left my sight. In fact, for my C6 Corvette I suggested that he just do the inspection in the parking lot so that he did not have to put it in the service bay.OMG ... the thought of part-time and weekend school boyz at Canadian Tire getting their their hands on a C8
... as with any Corvette going to CT - road testing will be required with any Corvette service - I am almost sure ...
I’ve also brought several cars out of the USA and the issue is getting it registered, you will need a out of province inspection along with a riv inspection. No road test needed. Have the drl turned on in the USA and the certificate of no recall from there as well as stated above. Check the riv website and it will tell you if any other modifications are needed to be Canadian compliant. You will have to pay gst and provincial sales tax at the border, unless you live in Alberta , no sales tax . You’re broker will look after this . You used to be able to do this you’re self and save some money but not anymore. A copy of the title has to be sent in to USA customs 72 hours ahead of the car crossing the border to the point where it will cross. Importing cars used to be a lot easier but the government’s have made it more difficult the last few years.
I found that out when I brought a car from the US 7 years ago...Can Tire has the exclusive rights to certify that an imported vehicle meets Canadian standards. No road testing required.OMG ... the thought of part-time and weekend school boyz at Canadian Tire getting their their hands on a C8
... as with any Corvette going to CT - road testing will be required with any Corvette service - I am almost sure ...
And if you think a few mods to import a North American car are bad, try BMW or Ferrari. With Ferrari the RIV has succumbed to Ferrari's demand that all mods must be done at a Ferrari dealer (at a very unreasonable price). In recent years, BMW has started to charge much more for the programming required go make your US imported car legal (e.g. they require that you buy a new speedo even if the US speedo has kph in smaller numbers). I imported a BMW before the expensive rules, after that the savings were not worth it in many cases.
On the c8 you should just be able to change the screen from mph to kph. But yes the last Harley I bought back the rules said you had to change the speedometer unless you could bring up a digital speedometer that has a speed readout with kph behind it. I got lucky with mine as when I took it to get the riv done all’s I did was turn the gps on and it has the option to turn the readout to metric. That was enough for me to pass without changing the 900$ speedometer.
It is easy to import a car to Canada since you can always have somebody with some knowledge in programmimg to convert the car to madatory DRL, but to import a newer (2015 and up) car from Canada is a pain in the *** since all newer cars in Canada have the DRL's programmed in the PCM and no longer in the fusebox like older models. I have imported/exported cars all over the world, and Canada is absolutely the worst pain to import cars from, since they have the stupid system of programming their DRL's into the PCM, and it can not be reprogrammed withouth changing the PCM, and all of you guys that are a little tech know that headace and all other headaces that follows. On all newer US model cars you have the option of turning off the DRL's on the information screen on dash, but not on Canadian models, and when you convert a Canadian model car to Europen specs, the turnsignal lights will light up like a christmastree all the time, and a headace to turn off since you will have to go through the PCM change to modify the car believing it is in the US, where you can turn of the DRL's.
Yes they are mandatory in most all countries in Europe, and in all countries within the EU Union, but then only in white color.
The problem with most Canadian vehicle, 2015 up and some earlier, is that you have no possibility to turn off the DRL's, and unfortunately many Canadian DRL's have orange color. When you convert a car from Canada to EU spec's, you circuit to the turnsignal lights, that go through your DRL's connectiv circuit are constant active, and your turnsignals are actively shining bright all the time, to great amusement for the DMV inspectors that fail your car for EU registration.
You can just fly down there and drive this car home, there are no duty on any car from US or Mexico as long as it is for personal use.
Why not buy it in the US, are your main concern the recall clearance letter?
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