Hi there. I'm nearly ready to buy a 1996 XJS 4.0 convertible "sight unseen" from a dealer in Texas. I live in California. Question: Were 1996 Jags originally sold in Texas California Emissions Compliant? (People call this 50-state compliant.) I know that there should be a "Catalyst" sticker under the hood saying they're good for sale in California.

 

Let me ask this another way. Were all jags sold in US 50-state emissions compliant (including California)? Thanks, again.

 

I can't imagine Jaguar, with their relatively low volume of sales, creating multiple equipment packages for varying emissions standards across different states. Export costs being as high as they were, this seems like it would've been a logistics nightmare. Taking a look in my '75-'91 parts catalogue, there are only separate emissions equipment packages for England, "Germany & Europe", and USA. This suggests that yes, all North American XJ-S up to '91 seem to have been 50 state compliant. I don't have the facelift catalogues unfortunately.

As a fellow Californian who has titled many out of state vehicles over the years, I think you should be fine. CARB (California Air Resources Board) restrictions seem to only apply to new vehicles at first sale. For instance, I bought a brand new Honda motorcycle in Texas at the beginning of this year that was 49 state compliant, excluding California. The bike couldn't be transferred to my local dealer so I went to Texas and bought it there. I took the Texas title with me back to California and the DMV had no issue transferring the now technically "used" vehicle into the state system. Anecdotal evidence is only evidence of an anecdote, but I bought a 1993 4.0 XJ-S originally sold in Montana and had no trouble smogging it in California. Sorry I couldn't come up with anything more definite.

 

No, I can't imagine a 96 Jag not being California compliant from Texas either, but I'd be buying this car remotely and wouldn't want to get it shipped out here and have DMV tell me to get lost.

I think that you are basically right about being able to register a used 49-state vehicle in California. The CA DMV website says this about registering non-compliant out-of-state vehicles:
CA DMV rules for registering out of state vehicles

Anyway, it's a simple matter for the dealer to take a peek at the emission sticker under the hood (or elsewhere) which will say if it's California compliant or not. I'll be talking to the dealer next week and ask him to look at the sticker. Thanks, for your reply!

 

Not exactly. I think your overall point is correct, and since the '96 shared the same engine as the X300 sedans it would most likely be CARB compliant. However, there is an odd quirk for model year 1991 and the XJS. There were no 1991 XJS's sold in California, because the standards changed and they were no longer CARB compliant. All XJS's sold in California in 1991 were titled as 1990 models. IIRC, Jaguar shifted almost all 1990 inventory to California, and sold the 1991 models in the other 49 states.

For the original poster, you should be able find the answer by going here:

https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/new-vehicle-a...uty-trucks-and

Scroll down to Jaguar Cars Limited and you can find which vehicles are CARB compliant.