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Importing a Roadster into Canada

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The number I heard was 57, now 58 including yours. How is the conversion work going?

Slow but it's moving and I'm not in a rush. I won't drive it this winter.

I got a first list of parts they'll be changing with associated price on Friday but no labour yet.
They're validating with the Vancouver service center that have done it once which is good,
there should be fewer bad surprises when I get to the RIV for inspection.
If I'm lucky, they may be done before Christmas.

The one part that the price surprised me, was the VMS.
I thought this was purely firmware...no real hardware, and they're asking over 1K$ for this!!!
I'll be investigating to see if there's any real part swapping to justify this price.
 
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Curious what all needs to be done to Canadianfy a Roadster? Also why?

Transport Canada regulations are slightly different than the US, which requires a few changes to the car when importing it into the country. I think the differences are:

- Daytime running lights
- Key fob immobilizer
- Metric speedometer panel
- Bilingual English/French labels throughout the car

I agree it seems crazy the entire VMS needs to be replaced - that should be software only.

We're getting off topic from flatbedding - Doug_G, could you carve out to separate thread?
 
Let us know what the total damage is for converting the US roadster to Canadian spec...

Slow but it's moving and I'm not in a rush. I won't drive it this winter.

I got a first list of parts they'll be changing with associated price on Friday but no labour yet.
They're validating with the Vancouver service center that have done it once which is good,
there should be fewer bad surprises when I get to the RIV for inspection.
If I'm lucky, they may be done before Christmas.

The one part that the price surprised me, was the VMS.
I thought this was purely firmware...no real hardware, and they're asking over 1K$ for this!!!
I'll be investigating to see if there's any real part swapping to justify this price.
 
Let us know what the total damage is for converting the US roadster to Canadian spec...

Will do.
They haven't started working on it yet, they're waiting for the mechanic with roadster experience to be available...
Certainly won't complain nor rush them otherwise!

I did get more detail about the VMS pricing and I'm hopeful to have most of this cost go away.
They've associated this cost with the SIM card swapping in case the hardware for the cell phone data network hardware would need to be changed.
My understanding is that the SIM card is on a Tegra 3 motherboard...
And this motherboard would be what they were thinking of changing IF the cell phone hardware for Canada would be incompatible with the US...which it should not be.
AT&T is the US telco provider for the data packages and their network is compatible with our Canadian providers.
So let's hope I'm right!
 
Let us know what the total damage is for converting the US roadster to Canadian spec...

The conversion was completed over the Holidays.
The damage was somewhat over 3K$ to get that done because they didn't succeed in reprogramming the VMS (1K$), they ended up changing it.

This is the list of parts (except for labels, screws, tie wraps) that were changed:
6002883 - INSTRUMENT PACK,ROADSTER (EUR) -- mi/h to km/h
6003892 - KIT, ALARM, EU, R2 -- keyfob with immobilization system per Transport Canada standards
6004588 - Module,Veh Mgmt Sys (VMS), EU GSM w/res. -- permanent daylight, mi to km odometer
2002011 - ALPHA - MODULE,HOMELINK -- yes, you're reading right, the garage door opener!!!... :cursing:
The <...self-censured...> thing is not standard in US and Canada and is integrated with Canadian/European VMS, so they had to change it too.

Part 1, the 'Import' is done, my roadster is now Canadian following the Canadian Tire Inspection yesterday, our Federal Government is now happy!
This took a huge 10 minutes so that the Canadian government can mail me a small sticker to put into the door next week...which was the ultimate goal of all these changes!
IMG_0971.JPG


This, I had 45 days to achieve and it pretty much just came into that period with all of the Christmas Holidays.

BUT it's not gone through part 2, the Quebec provincial's government inspection process which is yet something different!
This will wait until spring as the car is now in my garage for the winter period.
This will be a 'mechanical' inspection!!! ...so nothing to prepare for, except changing the rear tires...
Which as I understand, is our most expensive maintenance costs!
Looking forward to see the face of the ICE mechanics who lifts the hood and starts looking for the spark plugs! :cool:
 
The conversion was completed over the Holidays.
The damage was somewhat over 3K$ to get that done because they didn't succeed in reprogramming the VMS (1K$), they ended up changing it.

This is the list of parts (except for labels, screws, tie wraps) that were changed:
6002883 - INSTRUMENT PACK,ROADSTER (EUR) -- mi/h to km/h
6003892 - KIT, ALARM, EU, R2 -- keyfob with immobilization system per Transport Canada standards
6004588 - Module,Veh Mgmt Sys (VMS), EU GSM w/res. -- permanent daylight, mi to km odometer
2002011 - ALPHA - MODULE,HOMELINK -- yes, you're reading right, the garage door opener!!!... :cursing:
The <...self-censured...> thing is not standard in US and Canada and is integrated with Canadian/European VMS, so they had to change it too.

Part 1, the 'Import' is done, my roadster is now Canadian following the Canadian Tire Inspection yesterday, our Federal Government is now happy!
This took a huge 10 minutes so that the Canadian government can mail me a small sticker to put into the door next week...which was the ultimate goal of all these changes!

This, I had 45 days to achieve and it pretty much just came into that period with all of the Christmas Holidays.

BUT it's not gone through part 2, the Quebec provincial's government inspection process which is yet something different!
This will wait until spring as the car is now in my garage for the winter period.
This will be a 'mechanical' inspection!!! ...so nothing to prepare for, except changing the rear tires...
Which as I understand, is our most expensive maintenance costs!
Looking forward to see the face of the ICE mechanics who lifts the hood and starts looking for the spark plugs! :cool:

Very interesting story indeed. Just saw it now. If you need any tips or have questions about the car etc, I am in Montreal as well. Have had my roadster 2.5 for almost 3 years now. Time flies :)
 
I do like the contrast in your driveway between the Signature Red and Lightning Green!
Makes for a gorgeous EV driveway!!!

I do have one question, as I was mentioning tires and how rapidly we have to change them,
did you find a place in Montreal to get new tires for the roadster and that you would trust to put the car on a lift?
Or did you stick to Tesla Rangers/Service Center?

I've been reading a couple of the tire 'threads' on the forum and to use the roadster as a daily driver 3-seasons car here,
I would have like more 'threads' on my tires for rain and bad weather than what Yoko AD07 offer...
and for such tires like the Michelin Pilot or others, the Service Center is a nogo!

Thanks,
Patrice
 
I've changed my rear summer and winter tires a couple of times (they do wear out quickly). Each time it has been at my dealer and not the service center. The garage is owned by my friends dad and I trust them. The don't actually need to put the car on a lift. They use a manual jack on one side of the car at a time.

They order the original tires and have them usually within a day or two and sell them less than the service center. Plus when I asked the service center for a quote two months ago to get new winter tires not only was the cost of the tires more but tesla wanted over 150$ to install 2 new tires claiming that the hourly rate on the roadster for work was $150. Now I understand that mechanical work on expensive cars can be high but even with high end cars like Mercedes, they always have a set rate (much lower) to install and balance a tire. Closer to $20 a tire. Not over $75. So I told the service center I would take care of it myself.

I've had my tires changed (and purchased) at Ontario Tire near cote vertu. If you want to go there let me know and I'll put you in touch with my friend.
 
I've had my tires changed (and purchased) at Ontario Tire near cote vertu. If you want to go there let me know and I'll put you in touch with my friend.

Great thanks!
My challenge when I get the car out this spring, will be to get new tires and a mechanical inspection using the '12 hrs temporary plates' from the SAAQ...depending how many they will allow me to have.
So I'm not sure, I'll succeed in avoiding the SC and getting to Cote-Vertu for this spring's set of new tires, but if I find a way, I'll get in touch through PM on the board here!

Either way, I'll keep my eyes out for your green roadster on the road!
Are you aware of other roadsters in Montreal?

I saw the Orange Sun Country one at the SC in Laval and it's suppose to go for sale
and I've read the SC also has a silver one, but I've never seen any on the road so far.