California is in the enviable position of having a climate that allows cars to last a lot longer than they might otherwise. In the densely-populated coastal regions, cars are crashed or stolen long before there's any issue with corrosion. Result is that there are a lot more older cars being kept alive and driven. The annual inspection program is a Good Thing, especially for folks who have lived there long enough to remember air quality in the 1960's. Our last home above Los Angeles enjoyed a view of the basin on most days. On the not-most days, you'd never know that there were millions of people, cars and buildings hiding in the vapors down there. Prior to Cali stepping in with their own emission standards starting in the early 1970's you could depend on summer days having a brown blanket, and warnings for ozone and PMs. Even in winter the air quality was deplorable. It has slowly improved thanks to better cars and better enforcement. It seemed to me that the standards for a particular car I owned were getting tighter with each inspection, but research eventually told me that I was wrong; test standards stayed the same.

Fast-forward to where we are now. Plenty of older Cali reject cars live here, and they stink. Seriously. Eye-watering stink. Population is in the 150k range for the region, and we have old and newer cars, plus wood-fired winter home heating still popular. For all the crowing about the clean air and fabulous recreational opportunities, there are still days when we get "stagnation alerts", with human and natural sources make more junk than the wind can blow towards Idaho and other points east. Pollution we generate, wherever we happen to live, persists until absorbed or reacted into something else. Just because I don't see choking concentrations where I live doesn't mean that someone downwind isn't enjoying the fruits of my car exhaust.

[/soapbox mode]

 

I remember seeing the pictures of the smog in the '70's in the LA basin and couldn't imagine living in it. The 3 weeks I was there in the '80's everything looked good but you couldn't tell from the news stories always put out. Looked like modern day Hong Kong. We get air quality warnings here in my area and they are a joke. When it hits red levels the locals start harping on about fracking or anything else they deem the topic of the day. Look outside, take a deep breath and smile at the clear skies.

 

I think you guys are missing what I am saying.

When I bring the 928 to smog, more often than not, they won't be interested. Because the way the system works, its part of thier livelyhood gone if they get fined, etc. They don't know that I am not a threat. I can't just tell them that I am not a threat.

I don't want them to know too much about the car. I have said this before and been called out, and I stand by it. I want them completely ignorant. Pass the fing car with the tailpipe. Don't go in there with a flashlight and rummage around.

Guy just called from the 6th place (where I left it monday) - "I thought it was a 924 - we don't know about these cars so I can't test it. Come and pick up your car"

Do you know many 20 year old mechanics? The world is changing, and the dark side is that the CA government doesn't want old cars on the road - and so they are indeed making the system harder to navigate. Even if its not published that way.

I cared more when I drove the cars daily. Now its just an irritation. In 15 years when some activist government says you can't even drive it on the road, lets talk again. On the other side, my 2014 vette doesn't need to be tested apparently until 8 years after its manufacture - after jan1 2019.

 

The shops here don't make any money on inspections ($0.00), so they want them in and out as fast as they can.

I'd say it's past time to leave Ca.

 

Then you can pay to move him.


There's a threat for whinging about politics, and which state's bag is fuller.


Lets help BC find a resource...because the rest of us here dont run into these issues, and wanna help...where ever he is.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that obdii can be used to determine if a car is running properly. Newer cars have multiple o2 sensors that determine if the cats are functioning properly. This has effectively removed the need for roller based tailpipe testing. Check the obdii for codes, and be done with it. of course if you've reset it with your own reader, they'll catch that too. And pre- obdii (97ish) will still need to be looked at. The manufacturers have become their own testers, and the states can save money relying on those data.

 

My smog guy says he seeing evidence that OBD2+Rollers may be coming to select models soon, going to be harder for the Manuf to cheat a wider range test, than an idle one I guess.

ANyone know where BC lives?

 

I'm sure that comes in part from the vw diesel cheating . What bc said above is interesting, they don't test new cars until they are 8 years old. I know the manufacturers need to warranty all emissions equipment for 10 years. i guess if they fail at 8, the manufacturer will still need to fix under warranty.
last i heard bc was down in the San Diego area. Not exactly sure which town.

 

The weather where I am is wonderful. The people on average are very nice. The politics (usually) don't interfere with our lives. It irritates at this level because I see trucks and cars from mexico who clear are here for a while and stink. The 928 is clean.

 

I am in San Diego. The issue is that my time is limited during the week and the car is street-parked. It draws attention from the ( insert stereotypical group here) people in my neighborhood think its abandoned as its not a silver or white lexus/honda/nissan. So I get "visited" by the police or parking people about it.

 

Im sure we have people there that know people/places be glad to help.

 

We should definitely dump on Idaho. It's really the only attention the state gets besides its reputation for potatoes. They need all the public castigation they can get. It puts them in the news; potatoes just aren't that exciting.

Back at the turn of the century we had a local group of "environmental activists gone wild" (someone should make a video). Anyway, a group of activists in Teton County Wyoming started a campaign against the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) over the hill between Blackfoot/Idaho Falls and Arco, they called it "Plutonium Free Powder". Obviously they were children of trust funds living in Mom & Dads Tax Haven and "Doing Good" while skiing their butts off and having wild sex as often as possible. A whole lot of alcohol was accidentally consumed in the process. Teton County Wyoming is the only hard blue county in the entire State. 97% of the county is owned by either the Federal or State governments. Teton County, for some obscure reason, absolutely hates Idaho and would, I think, gladly blow it off the face of the Earth if it weren't for the fact IF has the only Mall in a 150 mile radius; God help IF when some developer builds a decent Mall in Jackson. One with a Nordstroms (OK, maybe a Macy's. Saks would be EPIC!). The entire state of Idaho could turn into a smoldering pool of radioactive glass in minutes. It's no secret Wyoming (not to mention Montana and the Dakota twins) have nuclear arsenals. It could get ugly.

All that aside, nowadays, the only people who can afford to live in California are unemployed and have a propensity for "Doing Good" on Mom & Dad's account also. Those who don't have that luxury seem to be willing to do whatever the trust fund babies want, thinking for some reason that, since it happened to them, it might happen to us? These are the same folks who's retirement plan involves winning the state lottery and, in the immortal words of Hacker (as memorialized by SeanR), are the reason there are instructions on boxes of Pop Tarts.

Meanwhile, the rest of the country is trying to decide if they should follow California's lead (bad idea) or consider an armed takeover of the entire State (good idea). History only will tell this tale...

PS: Mark my words though; Teton County will be the first in Wyoming to outlaw rodeos.

 

Or..just procure a MT LLC. T

 

Yeah, that works too. I thought my story was more entertaining...?

Besides, WY is better than MT; no income tax. It's why Jackson Hole exists. Want to buy a truck? Run up to Bozeman, no sales tax.

 

OK, here's a few cents worth from a guy who's been there and done that(more than once).

CA smog, circa 1978. It was baaaaaaaad. If you think driving around in it or standing on a ridge was a problem, you should have tried to FLY in it. In late summer back then I was over the Vincent Thomas bridge and I could NOT see the Torrance airport! I mean it was Right There, but nope, couldn't see a lick of it. I reported 'field in sight, making downwind' anyway. Once coming in the other way, I came over the hwy 14 pass down into Van Nuys, and literally had to follow the nav aid all the way to the airport. 'Uh, Van Nuys tower, I think I'm overhead at 2200.' Anyway, I also contributed lots, and lots of carbon to the cause with my big block V8 boat and no emission equip. Or the dune buggy with supercharger and running 13:1 mixture. Oye vey...

Of course, I had some dirty old cars too. Surprised no one has mentioned or used the BAR referee program; https://www.bar.ca.gov/Consumer/Refe...e_Centers.html I took an Avanti there three years in a row. It was a Paxton supercharged monster that would never pass smog, no matter what the limits were. Go to the referee, they drool at the car a bit, we take a look under the hood, and - yup, all the right stuff is there. Go take a drive, do a little 'warm up driving', back to the station and they sniff it. A little tweaking of the dist, a little tightening of some hose clamps and viola'! they have Made An Improvement! Job done, no matter if it makes the book number or not. All they have to do is show they have reduced the reading from where we started. I caught on to the program and would keep a dirty air cleaner and put it on just before visiting the referee. Allow them to open up the canister and say 'aha! there's your problem, this air cleaner is all gobbed up!' Well, guess what? I just happen to have a new-in-box air cleaner in the trunk. Lickem-stickem, have a nice day.

Don't get me started on the Peoples Democratic Republic of CA govt. I know way more than most and none of it is good. However, they can not(yet) force your car off the road. I think it's the hippy left in Moonbeam or something. But - they can make you do some hoop jumping, and that's not a bad thing if it does catch the once in a while flivver that is running real bad. One referee was telling me about a lady came in with an old Rambler Classic from mid 60s. It had a V8 in it, but was only running on maybe 5 cylinders at idle, and maybe 6 other times. He spent an hour with it, and she brought in all the tune up parts and when she left, it was like a new car! plugs, points(remember those?), wires, cleaned the carb a bit, air cleaner, PCV valve, and the choke was sticking too. She hadn't changed the oil for 3 years, oye vey, so he told her to go to a Pep Boys for a $14 oil and filter with coupon. She was driving that thing every day, getting maybe 12MPG, and pumping tons of CO NOx out. But - that is the outlier, to be sure.

Anyway, if it fails, get in touch with the referee. Back in the day, they were mostly cool because they got to see all the weird cars. When I was there once, there was a guy with a 40 Ford with a 1970 427 Vette engine in it. I asked him what they did then, and he said they base it on the engine make and year. If it would pass smog for a 1970 Vette he was good to go. It passed, and the guy was on his way.

Hacker is right, many states are devolving their insp programs on newer cars. The mfg have to have 10 years on emission parts, so they tend to overbuild that stuff(except the modern Ford diesels). No sense testing all those cars when it only generates a 0.002% failure rate, and when they do fail, they only fail by a few PPM. Waste of time and money for everyone. Texas is a big state. In major cities, all cars are tested under 25 years. Outside of major metro areas, there is no testing because there is no way to test them for 150 miles maybe. But - for DFW it is a good plan. I want them to keep up the work just so we don't have more smog issues. I've had the full Monty back in the 70s in SoCal, don't want to repeat it.