Hkdonvettes

Hey guys! I am wanting to purchase a modified C6 from California and I am having a difficult time getting any positive answers on whether I can actually bring it into Canada.
The Mod that seems to be creating the difficulties is Lambo style doors.
RIV says they will let the car in without mods. Transport Canada says they will turn it back at the border or "destroy" it if the seller won't take it back. I talked to Canadian Tire once on the phone and once in person to see if they will pass it. On the phone they said no and in person they said yes!?
Does anyone in the Edmonton area have some advice to offer? Is there anyone else other than Canadian Tire that I can go to for the RIV approval?

Overdrive

How does Transport Canada get involved at the border? You only deal with Customs. The RIV documents say modified vehicles "may" not be eligible, doesn't say no for sure. Phone the RIV office and ask. If they say yes then I would ask for something in writing you can use if need be. Only CTire does the RIV certification but I don't see why lambo doors would be part of it as long as they properly lock.

Hkdonvettes

Everyone I talked to kept forwarding me to Transport Canada. When I called RIV, the guy I talked to couldn't say whether the doors would be an issue and forwarded me on to TC.
Perhaps I will just try calling RIV again. Maybe I will get someone who knows more.

Racer

Your making this way harder than it has to be. As I said in your other thread, RIV has nothing to do with it, they want daytime running lights, immobilizer blah, blah, blah. It is your out of Province inspection that says your car is safe, not RIV, Get that out of your mind and also get the dept of transport out of your mind. You need a mechanic that a member here knows in Edmonton to pass your out of Province Inspection. If someone here will give you a name, you can go see him or phone him and just tell him what you got, tell him it was professionally installed blah, blah, blah.

kingdady

you dont even need that!! you can go to any mechanic.. as long as the hinges are secure and the door can open and close proper then you can pass a certification.. theres nothing that says you cant have lambo doors in the safety inspection.

JUST GET THE CAR and dont worry about what the canadian tire or anyone says.. at the end of the day canadian tire is only there to check the things that are on the RIV inspection list which DOORS is not part of.. they are given a CHECKLIST by you that they must check off and doors is not on it.

not to mention when i went to candian tire to get my inspection they DID NOT even look at anything at all.. they just opened my door and took the info off the side of the door and wrote my inspection.. not even checking if i had DRL or anything!

What a Joke!

Hkdonvettes

Perhaps it's my lack of trust of the gov't and the border that's fueling the fire!
One way or another this should all be wrapped up tomorrow. Will kepp you all posted.

Thanks again for all your help!

VETFEVER

Guys - Just my opinion, but lambo doors is a pretty significant mod in that it could give the perception that safety has been comprimised in some way. Remember that doors act as "safety beams" in a crash and are there do to a job. If the person inspecting them does not understand the modification or doubts it in some way, you have a problem.

If you know someone who will pass it, fine, but keep in mind you are dealing with the most unpredictable factor which is "people" and **** will happen.

As a side discussion, what do insurance companies think of lambo doors on a car that was not originally designed for them??

cdngolfer

The car has to pass a mechanical inspection which is signed by a mechanic. Then it can be registered and insured. I asked my Ontario insurance company (Security National through Meloche Monnex) and they will accept almost NO modifications such as:

carbon fiber hood
racing seats
supercharger
rollbar
exhaust mods
lowering
suspension mods
wheel size changes wide body fenders

What do they think about lambo doors ?????

The mechanic is the decision maker. He is the only one who sees the car and puts his name and licence on the line.

Racer

But real conversion kits are legal.

As poster above said, if you ask an insurance agency, there would be NO mods on cars at all, it is all up to the mechanic who does the inspection.

VETFEVER

Agree with all of the above - it's just that mods to a car draws attention and creates misunderstanding. The other day there was therad here in the Canadian section where the Canadian Tire inspector would not pass a US Vette because the DRL's are amber instead of white - just another example where lack of knowledge creates trouble for the owner.

I would bet that if you disclosed your car had lambo doors to your insurance company that they would cancel your policy - "legal" or not. They don't care if it's legal - their position is go get your insurance elsewhere...

spicytuna

FWIW, the Out of Province inspection in AB makes the standard safety inspection in Ontario look like a joke.

The inspection takes a few hours and adheres to a standard checklist provided by the Govt of AB.

But in the end, it still comes down to the discretion of the mechanic. For example, section 6.4 (Exterior, General) is titled, "Aftermarket equipment installation" where the inspector can either tick off the Pass or Fail column.

If you don't have any connections, send me a PM and I can give you some suggestions.

Hkdonvettes

Well, the hunt is on for another C6. Car sold the night before I was going to get the wheels in motion. Little bummed out but at least I learned alot. Next one will be completely stock!! LOL
Thanks for all your advice guys!

spicytuna

Got your PM.

It's too bad you didn't get the car but think of it as a blessing in disguise.

When I was looking for my C6, my main criteria was a car which was 100% stock. Reason being that I was buying a car which had an existing factory warranty. I'm sure that GM Canada isn't too happy when someone brings an imported car in for service. No sense in giving them the smallest excuse to turn us around.

After all, in the US, a tune is enough to void the warranty on a car.

PEERPSI

Of course you could have simply put OEM hinges back on the door for the inspection.

If you get an unsatisfactory result with a mechanic performing an inspection take it somewhere else. Preferably a hobby friendly shop.

Amber driving lights not legal? There are numberous vehicles that use the front turn signal as DRL's. That guy definitely had his head up his..

Hkdonvettes

The salesman and I eventually planned to do just that. Swap out the hinges to OEM and re-install the Lambo hinges when it arrived. I had everything worked out with getting the appropriate inspections and such. Everything was good to go. The thing we didn't count on was another salesman selling the car.
I did think about going back to OEM parts earlier, I just thought there was more to the modifications than there actually is. Pretty simple swap really.
That's the way it goes I guess. There's still tons of good deals in the U.S!

OutlawZ06

It's not really a Problem. Edmonton Mechanic's are pretty lack about the inspection itself anyways. I brought my car back lowered, new engine and harness bar without any issues at all. I've had friends bring back Really modified cars back with zero issues as well.