Honda Civic floor mat dilema

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 have a 98 civic.

The recall actually shortened the floor mat, the original went all the way
under the pedals, the new one is shorter and does not go under the pedals.

My car had the grommet from the factory.

Not sure how to get around that though... can't they just inspect it? Or
remove the floor mats?

t

 

-----------------------
The recall is here, if it's of any help:

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/tsb/civic/x99-034e.pdf

The CR-V of that vintage had the same trouble.

'Curly'

 

This may kind of off the wall, but if I was in your situation, I would
call around to the Honda service departments that are close to you in
the U.S. and state your problem. Let them know that you are believe
that your car does not require the recall and that you need a fax from
an authorized honda dealer to clear the issue up. I would tell them
that you are willing to pay to have someone inspect your car and write
and send the required document. I would think that you would find some
service manager who would do it for you. When you find one, get the
person's name and make an appointment for a time when they will be
there and take care of it that way. Good luck.

 

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

Jeff