# Exporting Cars from UAE to US?



## Global Citizen

Hi, after reading Canucks thread, I was curious if it is possible to export a fully paid for car from the UAE to the US? 

I think you may have to change the catalytic converter or something, but am not sure...does anyone know? if so, any idea how much that would cost?


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## Saint Ari

I'm curious about this as well ...

In my case .. I have an aftermarket racing exhaust with 100 CEL cat. converter from the US that passes California emissions ... I assume I don thave to do anything with cats ...


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## TallyHo

It's not impossible but it's extremely expensive. There was a period when I thought I would be moving to the US and looked into taking my car with me. 

The feedback from virtually every source was against it. 

The car would need to be thoroughly reviewed and vetted and converted to US specs from any other specs once it arrives at port in the US. This would happen before the car is released from the customs. The inspection review and conversion expenses were quite high, close to 10K USD. Even if the car didn't need to be converted, it still needs to be inspected by an approved garage and the inspection fees are still in the few thousands. 

I calculated that the cost of shipping + conversion + renting a rental in the US while the car was in customs was enough to cover buying a new car.

If your car was originally sold in the US and brought to Dubai, it's much easier to take it back. But a car bought overseas then taken to the US is a different story.


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## Global Citizen

the car i have in UAE was manufactured in the US... i wonder if that makes a difference?


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## Guest

Global Citizen said:


> the car i have in UAE was manufactured in the US... i wonder if that makes a difference?


Probably not. One of the reasons cars are cheaper in the UAE is because they don't have the catalytic converter that is required in the US to meet their emissions standards. They don't bother putting them on if the car is going to be exported and sold in another country because they don't have the same requirements


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## INFAMOUS

To Export to the USA

This is the key to making it possible.... IF you can get a letter from the ORIGINAL MANUFACTURE of the vehicle stating that the vehicle "Meets the US Standards" then you have nothing to worry about. Unfortunately, this is highly unlikely for most vehicles....

If this is not the case, then YES you will need to do things like change the Gauge Cluster to read in MPH (if you car reads both then you're fine, OR if your gauges are fully digital then chances are the car can be programmed to US spec).

Shipping is cheap but when it comes to swapping parts (if you don't know how to do it yourself and if you're not very resourceful at finding them) you will lose $$$ in the end.

On the CANADIAN side of things.. since they use the metric system not much would have to be changed in most cases (Perhaps daytime running lights and bumper ratings would have to meet Canadian Standards). Again if you can get the letter from the manufacturer stating that the vehicle meets CAD SPEC then you're fine. 

With the above said, even if you did not have to modify a thing... the INSANELY high taxes and duties would KILL any profits or benefits of importing it from the UAE there. 

Hope this helps.


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## INFAMOUS

nola said:


> Probably not. One of the reasons cars are cheaper in the UAE is because they don't have the catalytic converter that is required in the US to meet their emissions standards. They don't bother putting them on if the car is going to be exported and sold in another country because they don't have the same requirements


Cars here have catalytic converters.. the only ones that don't are the ones that people remove.... They may not be the same quality but they are there!

In terms of the US, only a select few states have very strict emission laws as it varies at a State level and not a National one. California being the most strict. Most other states in question would pass without an issue and some states don't even require emissions equipment (Florida). 

Canada is very strict as well (Ontario is similar to California laws), but again a $150 high flow catalytic converter will get you to pass emissions without an issue.


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## Guest

Yes, I realize that cars everywhere have catalytic converters  I can't seem to find the link, but I did speak to the gov. office about this last year, as I was thinking of importing my car. I was told that the catalytic converter that meets emission standards MUST have been installed at the time of manufacture, and that you cannot add it as aftermarket. The local dealer also told me the same thing. This is a federal initiative, not a provincial one.

I suppose it's possible that it has changed, since the govt. has changed their website 

I believe that cars in the US must meet federal safety standards, including emissions (or at least that's what I was told as well) and that is the reason people are able to import cars from the US to Canada, and the only way cars can be imported into the US. Again, I think it's a federal standard, not by individual state?

Here is the link for the requirements for the US federal standards. 

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and Regulations


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## Guest

nola said:


> Yes, I realize that cars everywhere have catalytic converters  I can't seem to find the link, but I did speak to the gov. office about this last year, as I was thinking of importing my car. I was told that the catalytic converter that meets emission standards MUST have been installed at the time of manufacture, and that you cannot add it as aftermarket. The local dealer also told me the same thing. This is a federal initiative, not a provincial one.
> 
> I suppose it's possible that it has changed, since the govt. has changed their website
> 
> I believe that cars in the US must meet federal safety standards, including emissions (or at least that's what I was told as well) and that is the reason people are able to import cars from the US to Canada, and the only way cars can be imported into the US. Again, I think it's a federal standard, not by individual state?
> 
> Here is the link for the requirements for the US federal standards.
> 
> Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and Regulations


I just looked up that Can. link again, and it appears that some new bills were recently passed, so I guess they haven't updated the site yet.

I do know that if a car is older than 15 years, there is an exception, for whatever reason. That seems kinda bizarre as you would think a car that old would have more of an impact on the environment.......


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## Guest

Saint Ari said:


> I'm curious about this as well ...
> 
> In my case .. I have an aftermarket racing exhaust with 100 CEL cat. converter from the US that passes California emissions ... I assume I don thave to do anything with cats ...


Did you put the converter on in California? I assume the car wasn't imported to there? If it passed emissions once, probably it won't be an issue, however, if you put it on in the UAE, it could be a different story, although maybe Cali makes an exception for cars more than 15 years old like Canada does


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## Guest

nola said:


> I just looked up that Can. link again, and it appears that some new bills were recently passed, so I guess they haven't updated the site yet.
> 
> I do know that if a car is older than 15 years, there is an exception, for whatever reason. That seems kinda bizarre as you would think a car that old would have more of an impact on the environment.......


OK, here it is. Looks like it was updated on March 30/2011

Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations.

If you can read this and understand all of it, you deserve to be able to import your car!


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