Inspection Issue

[Ehleaf]

Hello guys! So I am an 18-year-old being a first-time owner of an imported Nissan Silvia S15 (In Vancouver)!! But the problem I have is the inspection process within North American Canada BC

This is my very first imported car from Japan with me being the second owner of the car! (1999 Nissan Silvia S15 Spec S).
If you guys could help a fellow S15 owner obtaining the following parts and they need to fit the North American Standards. Ex: Dot/SAE/ECE approved or other as per the attachment for use in North America. BC Canada.

Here's what I need:
2 headlight assemblies (Must say one of the following within the glass: CMVSS, DOT, SAE, ECE Code)
2 rear tail light assemblies (Must say one of the following within the glass: CMVSS, DOT, SAE, ECE Code)
2 side markers light assemblies (Must say one of the following within the glass: CMVSS, DOT, SAE, ECE Code)
And Left & right rear quarter windows (Must say one of the following within glass: AS-1, AS-10 or AS-14)

Also, this isn't an inspection concern but more for myself: The left mirror folding feature runs all the time, I have the option of turning the motor off for now but I personally would like the FULL experience of the S15 with the mirrors closing as I turn off my car. So! does anyone know If I need a whole new motor? or replace the mirror entirely? The colour of my car is white.

Thanks for the help please let me know if anyone is able to help me get the parts or find any websites that might have them!
(Been trying lots, going from eBay, partsfornissan.com, enjukuracing.com, Nearby Auto Body shops, etc...)

I will attach photos if you are confused about what I mean about meeting the "North American Safety Standards" for inspection.

And yes, I could possibly go get my car inspected elsewhere easily pass, completely ignore and forget about the safety codes needed to pass inspection but If I were to come across a crash of some sort and my insurance company found that I wasn't using approved tail/headlights... Now what? The same goes for a police officer who might know a little more about cars stopping me for not having the labels needed resulting in getting another inspection... Buying the approved lights... not being able to drive the car... Etc.. (And of course the chances for this are 1/1000000... but better safe than sorry!!)

I've already posted this on the introduction page but it seems more appropriate to post it in an actual form.

Thanks!

 

[Ehleaf]

DOT-20 & AS-1on side windowsSAE/DOT approved headlights Dot/SAE Approved Taillights These are photos of my family's car windows/Lights (I believe the car is an Infiniti QX56). NOT the Silvia S15 lights.

 

[octo]

To be honest if the original items do not have these codes stamped I think you will be hard pressed to find anything aftermarket that does. Since these cars where never sold outside japan/australia they did not have to comply with standards outside of those countries.

 

[Ehleaf]

To be honest if the original items do not have these codes stamped I think you will be hard pressed to find anything aftermarket that does. Since these cars where never sold outside japan/australia they did not have to comply with standards outside of those countries.

Yes, you are 100% right with that information but with my luck and "amazing" researching skills (This was maybe the 3rd website I skimmed through when searching for the lights and totally went past the description). I took a second look and found that the website that offers exactly what I'm looking for!! Finally! (https://www.driftshop.com/navan-crystal-tail-lights-nissan-silvia-s15.html)

So if anyone wants some "Code Approved" lights I highly recommend this website, they have lots more to offer for Silvia's and lots of other JDM cars (And BMW cars apparently?) but if you want the OEM (Or if you have a worn-out/broke anything like your center console, vent deflector, window switch etc..) the best place I found so far is PartsForNissan (https://www.partsfornissans.com/search?search_str=silvia+s15) but if anyone finds another good website please feel free to drop it down!!




Overall, finally found my lights and SUPER excited to learn and drive in my new Silvia s15!! Plus there are positive sides to waiting for my lights so my excitement of getting my first car wears down and ill be calm/focused while driving. (Or maybe not)
Considering this guy might have been me if I didn't have to wait for my inspection to be cleared ~~ ahahaha damn a member of the squad has fallen for now (Seriously though.. Any ideas on what happened? I'm guessing he panicked from being break checked and drove onto the barrier???)

 

[Joeh]

Well done! I thought it would be a nightmare but I'm glad you sorted it out in the end

Looks like he could have anticipated the merging section wrongly and got pushed over? Even so he should be able to get someone to push the front corner down and try to drive out... unlucky

I think the sump etc should be okay though

 

[octo]

I hate to burst your bubble dude, but i would not get my hopes up that those lights are actually approved. it looks like it is just the shops "own" brand for imported lights. they also offer "navan 78 works" lights. Which as far as my knowledge goes, that style is only made by 78works and is their signature light. I doubt those are approved and made by other brands (ie. Navan).

Neither do the photo's show any signs of approved markings on them, if they actually are then that would be a major selling point for them. Not including this would be a major oversight in their sales. This model of taillight is also one of the most common copied types on the market available from different brands (for example, JunYan, D-Max, 78Works(slightly different version).

And this would unfortunately only be one part of your puzzle, because the quarter windows have as far as I know never been made aftermarket (they are also attached to the window rubber and as such can only be replaced as one complete piece)

The headlights have a similar story as the taillights, as far as I am aware all aftermarket offerings have no official approval for EU/US.

 

[Ehleaf]

I hate to burst your bubble dude, but i would not get my hopes up that those lights are actually approved. it looks like it is just the shops "own" brand for imported lights. they also offer "navan 78 works" lights. Which as far as my knowledge goes, that style is only made by 78works and is their signature light. I doubt those are approved and made by other brands (ie. Navan).

Neither do the photo's show any signs of approved markings on them, if they actually are then that would be a major selling point for them. Not including this would be a major oversight in their sales. This model of taillight is also one of the most common copied types on the market available from different brands (for example, JunYan, D-Max, 78Works(slightly different version).

And this would unfortunately only be one part of your puzzle, because the quarter windows have as far as I know never been made aftermarket (they are also attached to the window rubber and as such can only be replaced as one complete piece)

The headlights have a similar story as the taillights, as far as I am aware all aftermarket offerings have no official approval for EU/US.

My exact thoughts too about the lights when I was trying to zoom into the pictures. I already emailed last night asking for proof of the label codes upon the lights so we will see.

As time passed by I also came across a website located in Australia (Mars Performance: https://marsperformance.com.au/) that provides lights for the Silvia S15 200SX, gladly it states that they are fit for the JAP Spec only and needed modifications for the AUS Spec version which works perfectly for me! And although the description also states that " All lighting positions are much brighter than standard lights, (brake, driving, parker, reverse etc...) making you safer on the road for other road users to see." that might only mean the roads in Australia, so I will also be emailing this company to see if they are approved or not for North American Standards (DOT/SAE). Wish me luck!

And yes I've talked to my father about my quarter windows and he suggested that we might be able to just put some sort of plexiglass or a piece of metal so there's no glass at all? If anyone knows if either of those ideas is legal or not then that would be much appreciated. I'll also be talking to my father's friend at the autobody shop in a few days asking for any suggestions on what would suit best for my case.

Thanks a lot though! I'll keep you guys updated if anything new occurs.
(I'll post pictures of the Mars Performance website just in case it goes out of business/something happens to the website in the future and it gets shut down or if it the link doesn't work.) (Link for the lights: https://marsperformance.com.au/Clear-Red-LED-Tail-Lights-Nissan-200SX-Silvia-S15)

 

[Joeh]

Thats a really good price for a set of tail lights

Hopefully they are what you're after if the other company is a fail

 

[octo]

All the aftermarket clear lens lights will be brighter then the OEM units, just because they are clear lenses. 99% of aftermarket light you will find will be suited for the JDM model not sure what the difference is on the ADM ones. I admire your effort to get all the legalities sorted on the car, but there's quite a few s15's on the road in Canada how do other owners deal with this? Does not seem to be too much of a problem? unless your car is sticking out like a sore thumb (lowered, big body kit, loud exhaust, poking wheels) in the big cities?

 

[Ehleaf]

All the aftermarket clear lens lights will be brighter then the OEM units, just because they are clear lenses. 99% of aftermarket light you will find will be suited for the JDM model not sure what the difference is on the ADM ones. I admire your effort to get all the legalities sorted on the car, but there's quite a few s15's on the road in Canada how do other owners deal with this? Does not seem to be too much of a problem? unless your car is sticking out like a sore thumb (lowered, big body kit, loud exhaust, poking wheels) in the big cities?

Ahahah yes sir! Keeping it as legal as possible (For now?), yeah I spoke to my dad and his friend at the autobody shop about this and the DOT/SAE Label codes I believe are quite new or just became more of an issue recently? (At least that's what I think he said...) I think It's only been seriously implemented for about a year or so? And with these cars being able to be imported to Canada for the past 6ish years (1999/2002*Birthdate for S15* -2020*Current Year* =21*The cars age* -15*Law* = 3-6 Years) because of the 15-year-old import laws for cars, I am guessing people who've already inspected it at the time didn't need it to be DOT/SAE approved for inspecting their cars.
Anyone can correct me if I am wrong because I'm not 100% on this information.

Plus I wouldn't be surprised if someone got it inspected by their buddy who'd just let the label codes be ignored considering as I said before it is pretty unlikely to be stopped and be checked for not having the labelled codes unless the cop has dealt with the issue before or is also a car inspector during his side job/past job etc... And insurance wouldn't be a problem if you're a careful driver but you never know! All I can say is expect the unexpected~~

And my car is pretty much stock, I think it might be completely stock actually so nothing sticking out with my car and It's really cool how I live between the big cities and the farmland so the area I'm in is sorta perfect for both long farmland drives with the squad or Tokyo vibes cruising in the city of Vancouver lol.

MARS PERFORMANCE LABEL CODES UPDATE: No they do not have any North American Standards approved labels but cool lights if you're getting them somewhere else like japan or using them for show/racing I guess? and customer service was pretty good and fast.

More Websites: I've found a couple more websites (https://xracingnz.com/ & https://www.ctautoparts.com.au/crys...for-99-02-nissan-silvia-s15-200sx-spec-r.html) that also provide lights for the S15 and I believe the xracingnz website states that the lights are "DOT/SAE APPROVED" in the description so I've emailed them asking for photos proving for the Label Codes just in case, I'll post an update when they reply if they do.

 

[Lucas180]

all the factory parts should be perfectly legal to pass.

 

[Ehleaf]

all the factory parts should be perfectly legal to pass.

After reading your comment I took off my lights and I found out on the backside all of the lights read "SAE Approved" but none that I have found online so far have the code labels written ON THE LENSES which sucks... still trying to figure out how I can get it passed inspection~~

I've only found 2 websites that state they are SAE/DOT Approved (https://www.driftshop.com/navan-crystal-tail-lights-nissan-silvia-s15.html & https://xracingnz.com/products/nissan-silvia-s15-jmd-smoked-black-led-tail-lights-with-led-indicator)

While the first website "driftshop" isn't sending me any photos of the tail lights due to COVID :/

The other website "XRacing" would be more than triple the price of the other website... (Exactly $449.00 for lights & $699.00 for shipping = $1,148 USD JUST FOR TAIL LIGHTS). While "driftshop" is just under $200 USD (For the total), so I am trying my best to possibly find another website to pop up and just being patient.

I'll keep everyone updated on what happens next!

 

[Lucas180]

If the mechanic doing your inspection is demanding you change the factory lighting to something aftermarket like this then my advice would be to go to a different inspection place. I have a bone stock s15 spec r in Vancouver bc as well and I had no issues at all with factory lighting or any other factory parts.

 

[Ehleaf]

If the mechanic doing your inspection is demanding you change the factory lighting to something aftermarket like this then my advice would be to go to a different inspection place. I have a bone stock s15 spec r in Vancouver bc as well and I had no issues at all with factory lighting or any other factory parts.

Oh yeah? Sounds good! I'll start looking for other inspectors who might be able to pass me instead of possibly wasting money on lights I don't even need.
Much appreciated! And ill let you know how it goes~

 

[Joeh]

I assume there is an appeal process if they don't pass? Can you leave notes to say that the DOT stamp is on the rear of the unit etc.