gmcbean@gmail.com wrote:
> I live in Canada and a couple of weekends ago my partner and I bought
> a 1998 Civic in the US for my partner's 19 year old daughter who has
> finished school and is now working. We are having great difficulties
> trying to get the car imported into Canada.
>
> The Canadian government requires documentation to show that there are
> no outstanding/open recalls on a car brought into the country. I
> called Honda USA and they won't provide such documentation to
> Canadians because they frown upon Canadians buying their cars in the
> US.
>
> So I was told by someone how I could retrieve such information from a
> web site. Low and behold the car has 2 open recalls. One is an
> ignition switch recall and the other is a floor mat issue on the
> driver's side. I checked with 3 Canadian Honda dealerships and they
> all told me Honda does not permit Canadin dealerships to perform
> recall service on US cars and therefore they couldn't do it. So my
> wife and I drove for 6 hours (each way) last weekend to get the
> recalls done at a US Honda dealership.
>
> They could only do the ignition switch. They said the parts are no
> longer available to do the floor mat recall and in any event they say
> the recall has expired. The floor mat recall is interesting-sort of.
> On some models the original Honda floor mat would/could possibly slide
> forward and be a safety issue with the pedals. The fix is to install a
> couple of grommets on the floor mat and a retainer or 2 on the carpet.
> The interesting thing is my car isn't one of the cars with that issue
> but the recall is a "blanket" recall. One dealership told me about
> 30-40% of the cars weren't affected by the recall and mine is
> obviously one of them.
>
> The Canadian government has given me several options:
> -get the recall done (I can't because the recall has expired)
>
> -get Honda or a dealership to put in writing/fax/email that my model
> is not affected by the recall(so far I haven't found a dealer willing
> to do this-they will say my car isn't in the recall but they won't put
> it in writing)
>
> -buy the parts from Honda and pay to have the work done and then
> submit the work invoice as proof that the work has been carried out.
> (That seems simple enough. Yesterday I ordered the few retainer and
> grommet parts-probably cost about $5.00 total. Today I went to several
> junk yards to pick up a floor mat but didn't have any luck. So I
> called a delaership to buy one. Not only did they not have one but
> they are no longer made and a search of all dealership's inventories
> came up empty)
>
> Here is where I need some help. Does anybody know how I could get a
> Honda dealership to simply state in writing/fax/email that my car is
> not part of that expired recall program. (Keep in mind that my Civic
> doesn't even have the floor mat in question.)
> or
> Does anybody know where I can find an original (as in Carpet style)
> driver's side floor mat for a 1998 Civic DX 4 door model. I believe a
> floor mat from 1996-1998 would do the trick. Then I could pay to have
> a dealership do the required work.
>
> We have a car that we are not able to use because we can't get it
> registered and licensed for the road.
> All 3 of us would greatly appreciate any help or suggestions you could
> offer.
> Thanks
> Greg

I'd contact Honda USA or the factory rep directly.

Jeff