NEWS: Watch Your Tailpipe, California

All I know is I use my pickup for my job. If I don't have my truck I don't have a job.

Gas cost me 550$ last month, its not like I will be saving up to buy a new vehicle any time soon.
My truck failed smog the first time I had it inspected.
It failed again when I took it to another guy a month later, but he helped me out and, instead of entering it in the computer, had me drive around the block a few times to heat up the catalytic converter and it passed.

550$ would not have fixed the truck or bought me a new one, I have no credit.


There is nothing wrong with the truck. It is a clean 10 year old ranger with a single slightly warped #5 cylinder, so it burns oil -- something that supposedly the test should not be affected by but it was.

Passing smog or not passing smog was the difference between sitting here typing this or living on the street with no car. (Or driving with expired out of state registration, and no job or place to live)

Thanks for trying your hardest to make me a homeless vagrant, California.

Oh come on, you might as well make the argument that any amount in the reduction of tyranny in the world is worth the cost of invading Iraq. Its still a bullshit equation. If you can reduce the the amount of tailpipe emissions the same amount for a tenth the cost, or even reduce ten times the amount of tailpipe emissions for the same cost and you do otherwise for the sake of political expediency, it's a bullshit program.

I also note that the practice of surveilling, photographing and identifying for the public record, people who are violating laws you support has your approbation.

So in California private shops give smog certifications? Here in AZ you have to pay 30 dollars at the DMV and they have their own shop with smog detecting equipment.

Am I totally missing something here?

37 million more people in California?

Sure the logistics are tougher initially, but each inspection is paid for by the driver, and I daresay it's a bit more practical than smog detectors on freeway on ramps.

aww, this thread isn't about beverly hills cop 4.

California has had state-mandated smog inspections for years now, conducted by private stations and paid for by the owner of the vehicle. This is in additipon to that program.

I'm well aware of that, it was addressed in the article, along with it's problems. I was making a point that Arizona has public stations run by the MVD, this eliminates the possibility of fraud.

"eliminates the possibilities of fraud"?

Yeah, right.

Conneticut scrapped their state-run inspection program a few years ago (and still haven't replaced it) because people sent in undercover were able to bribe the inspectors virtually 100% of the time IIRC.

The current I/M 240 test can be beaten for MY 1995 and older cars by simply running another car on the dyno, in addition to all the ways you can cheat on the newer test as listed below. The system for 1996 and newer cars can be beaten by lying about the mileage and issuing an unwarranted exemption sticker, or by falsifying repair information to get a repair waiver, or by tampering with the hardware and/or software in either the machine, the car, or both.

This is nice PR, but if it dosen't generate enough results to justify the price tag they should put the money to better use.

I lived in California for 12 years. The whole smog inspection process pissed me off when renewing my tag. Mostly the cost.

But in reality, the skies became much clearer over the years I lived there.

I remember ging for a hike up a mountain in 1989. At one altitude we could easily see a BROWN layer of smog hanging over the valley. Yuck. Years later, went hiking all the time. No brown air. The air quility defintely improved.

I fully support the smog inspections.