Importing S-type from France? Smog problems?
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Importing S-type from France? Smog problems?
Hello, all--
A friend is looking to import a 2001 S-type from France to California, where she lives...part of an inheritance she has received.
Question: are Euro S-types different than US models in any way, specifically when it comes to smog? Will a Euro-spec S-type present any special challenges being smogged for California driving?
Thanks very much for all your expertise! Forums like this are invaluable for such questions...
Chris
A friend is looking to import a 2001 S-type from France to California, where she lives...part of an inheritance she has received.
Question: are Euro S-types different than US models in any way, specifically when it comes to smog? Will a Euro-spec S-type present any special challenges being smogged for California driving?
Thanks very much for all your expertise! Forums like this are invaluable for such questions...
Chris
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That's kind of what is being researched, clubairth1. Personally, I know how-to and how much it costs to get a car shipped to California (not much...about $1500)...but I am researching import taxes and trying to figure out if there would be any nasty surprises if the car was to be smogged here.
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Also, you may have asked a question that is very difficult for us mere mortals to answer. Assuming there are some differences under the skin, a forum member in Europe isn't going to know much about the US spec version, and visa versa.
And you still haven't answered if these particular cars have sentimental value. I'd have to think even if the cars meet US standards, just the shipping expense alone is going to be spendy. That's in addition to the joy factor of dealing with a Customs or DMV bureaucrat with a big red DENIED stamp. I wouldn't be surprised if Customs makes you go through an import brokerage service.
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The cars don't have sentimental value. Though I haven't shipped cars myself, I have good leads from classic car owners about their experiences, and have sat down and talked with a shipping agent before about all the details. That aspect of the conundrum doesn't worry me...
...the aspect you speak of--possible different settings in software? That is scary, and exactly the kind of nasty surprise I was trying to sniff out...
...but honestly, it seems the two cars are simply not worth enough to warrant any hassle beyond selling them locally in France, or handing them over to an estate broker.
...the aspect you speak of--possible different settings in software? That is scary, and exactly the kind of nasty surprise I was trying to sniff out...
...but honestly, it seems the two cars are simply not worth enough to warrant any hassle beyond selling them locally in France, or handing them over to an estate broker.
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Curiously, the car passed state emissions testing in Washington, where I used to live. The test center plugged their machine into the OBD II port and all appeared good. Later I moved to Oregon, which I'd imagine has very similar testing. Only this time the test machine rejected the car because it said the PCM software was unsupported, or something like that.
I took it to a local independent Jag specialist. As near as they could figure, the software present was for a car sold in places without emissions testing, not Europe or North America. Their hunch was the previous owner deliberately purchased a PCM from Africa or who knows where, instead of replacing the cats. Since some countries don't test emissions, the software logic never turned on the CEL after the cats failed.
The fix was to replace the cats and then load US spec software. It's been a while, but I think just the software load was around $400. Other than replacing the failed cats, no hardware was changed. The car then passed Oregon testing without any trouble.
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Around 10 years ago we Imported several xj40's and 2 xjs's from HongKong to New Zealand ,
Jaguar heritage suplyed all of the origenal dereg and chassis papers , admittedly it took some time, but we were dealing with 9or so differant cars at the time . The cost was surprisingly low !
And the paper work was nesersery for NZ vining . All those cars made it on to our roads legally !
However in one cars case the wipers were left hand drive in a right hand drive car ( sweeped the wrong way )and could not pass the requirements . With no parts available to rectifythe issue . this car was dismantled for parts ,
Jaguar heritage suplyed all of the origenal dereg and chassis papers , admittedly it took some time, but we were dealing with 9or so differant cars at the time . The cost was surprisingly low !
And the paper work was nesersery for NZ vining . All those cars made it on to our roads legally !
However in one cars case the wipers were left hand drive in a right hand drive car ( sweeped the wrong way )and could not pass the requirements . With no parts available to rectifythe issue . this car was dismantled for parts ,
Last edited by Datsports; 03-24-2017 at 03:24 PM.
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