749009

Hope someone here can help.
I'm up in western Canada. A friend of a friend is visiting here from Sacramento and saw my '01 CL Type S in monterey blue pearl and black leather and would like to buy it from me and take it back to Sacramento.

1. Did Acura build the CL Type S's destined for new sale in California with different emission controls than the cars that were destined for sale elsewhere in the US?
Or asked a different way...has anyone bought a CL Type S from outside California and then had any problems registering it in California and passing the emissions certification (I'm just assuming that's a requirement)?
I'm also assuming that my Cdn. CL S has exactly the same engine emissions equipment as CL S's in the other 49 states. If anyone knows for certain, that would be helpful.

2. Does anyone know for sure whether US Customs requires any duty to be paid on an American built CL S being re-imported into the US?

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

I don't know the answers for sure on this, so you may have to do some research, but just from what I've read I'll try to help:

1) You should be able to bring a US spec CL into Cali with no problems. I know there are even board members who moved to Cali and didn't have problems, and the CL is a ULEV vehicle anyway, so you should be good.

2) You will probably have to pay duties and taxes since you're bringing the car from Canada to the US. The fact that is was built in the US is pretty much irrelivant since it's sold by a Japanese company.

Another thing to keep in mind is that even though #1 may be the case, I do not know if Canadian CL's are the same as US CL's since there are different government standards in each country... so while buying a CL from another state and bringing it into California may be OK, I don't know if a Canadian model would pass California's standards.

749009

I checked with US Customs this morning and in fact, because the vehicle was built in the US (Ohio, I think I recall) and is a post late '90's build date, it is treated as "US goods returned" and comes into the US duty free.

The only thing customs will want, other than normal paperwork (bill of purchase, proof of residency, etc.) is a compliance letter from Acura indicating the car meets all US safety and emissions requirements. I called Acura Client Services this morning and they indicated they will issue me the letter of compliance as they have been asked for this sort of thing before.