O.K. It's been a while and things have changed a lot since there were cars equipped for California emmission requirements and the rest of the country. Not having read up on this, and the Dealer called saying they have '09 Taffeta White Sport. ( my choice) The vehicle arrived way ahead of schedule. Is it possible this car could be a California model or are there no longer any such beasts Thanks..... phasfit

 

if they sell it in california it has to be within specs of california DOT, otherwise they wont be able to legally sell the car. now if they do and later on you find out its not then you can go around and get their ass for it but it the car should be fine.

plus you "ordering" your car usually dealers do not put priority on you even if you put a down payment because theyll make more money if someone where to walk in the lot. since sales and the whole economy is down they prolly gave you priority for the car since no one will prolly buy it

 

you can "sell" anything in cali. getting it registered for highway use is another story.

 

O.K. Thanks for the replies. I guess I had better explain myself better. I no longer live in California, but when I did the emmission controls for the California cars was much stricter than the rest of the country. This resulted in lower horsepower etc. (you know, cams with broomstick profiles) You could not give away a California car outside of the state unless the buyer was not savy. I am not sure that there is any difference anymore. If there is, could a dealer here in Arkansas get a California car and sell it as a Federal emmission vehicle? I have paid nothing down etc., just told the sales rep to let me know if they got one in. He told me at the time that one was scheduled to be built and available to whichever dealer requested it. It was not supposed to be here until mid November or early December. The timing is a bit early, and just curious if this could be a car that was already here and possibly a California car. Or is there no longer any difference between California and Federal emission standards? I know this is clear as mud, but I hope someone might have the answer. Thanks....phasfit

 

The '09 Fit has an ULEV designation which is 50 state legal, their is no "California" version per-se, the one and only version in existence passes California standards.

 

I don't know whether there are still "California" and "49 State" vehicles, but this might help. The lower left corner of the window sticker will indicate the dealer name and address where the car was orginally shipped.

 

O.K. Thanks for all the input. I have not kept up with the emmissions standards etc. So I was a bit in the dark. I have experience with the older California versus Federal set ups and some of that stuff was pure Rube Goldberg. Mickey Mouse to the Max. Had a Datsun 510 (two actually) that were great little cars. The first one was O.K., but the second one, with the two sets of points and a throttle linkage switch to choose between the two for timing changes was pure crap. I finally removed all the crapola and the smog pump. Plugged the holes in the exhaust manifold with "factory looking" stainless plugs reset the timing , drilled out the fixed jets and tweaked that baby 'till it ran like a scalded dog. The throttle response was unreal compared to stock. And the plugs were a nice tan color all the way to the bottom of the core. Wish I had kept it. Passed all the Texas safety inspections everytime. Well, the exhaust note raised a few eyebrows but I told 'em it was a "Sport" model.

 

I'm not aware of any new cars that still have a distinct CA model. Even the 300+ HP Impreza STI I bought last year in CA was a 50-state car.

 

Hey! I just got a new '09 Fit Sport in Taffeta White. 3 miles on the odometer. Built 10 '08 so it's hot off the boat. Thanks for the info on the Fed vs. Calif emmission thing. Actually it's actually my wife's new Fit but I get to chauffeur her around. Just dove it home about 50 miles and what a fun car to drive!!. This little car is just perfect for us. Now to start prowling the forum for mod ideas! Thanks again! phasfit