Car Smogging Clusterf*ck...
Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2018 11:38 am
After swapping out my sport cats for stock cats, resetting the ECU, and waiting for a couple of days for the emissions testing cycles to complete, I headed out to get the car smogged Monday. What an ABSOLUTE cluster.
Shop 1: Sorry, our equipment for old-ass cars like your 996 is not working.
Shop 2: Sorry, we don't have equipment for old-ass cars like your 996.
Shop 3: I can't yet talk about shop #3 without spiking my blood pressure.
Shop 4: Sorry, we don't have equipment for old-ass cars like your 996, but go see shop 5!
Shop 5 hooked me up finally. By "hooked me up," I mean he was the only one out of 5 establishments I tried that the necessary, functional equipment to get my car registered. This pisses me off immensely...if you want to pass legislation to require this shit, that's fine - but the entire system is a train wreck. I spent a good chunk of a day trying to find a WORKING test facility so I could pay them $50.
It's just getting worse, too - vehicles built before 2000 require a different set of emissions testing equipment than newer cars. State-designated STAR smog shops are supposed to have the equipment to test pre-2000 vehicles, but since the number of older cars continues to decline, shops are not bothering to repair the gear to smog older vehicles.
I'm all for cleaner air; if emissions testing is a necessary part of clean air, fine. However, if you're going to FORCE me to do something, at least make a half-assed effort to ensure it's reasonably available.
Dammit, I love California, but I just don't see living here forever.
Incidentally, the car passed with flying colors...that's the real pisser. All I needed was someone who knew what they were doing and some working equipment, and I was done in 10 minutes.
Shop 1: Sorry, our equipment for old-ass cars like your 996 is not working.
Shop 2: Sorry, we don't have equipment for old-ass cars like your 996.
Shop 3: I can't yet talk about shop #3 without spiking my blood pressure.
Shop 4: Sorry, we don't have equipment for old-ass cars like your 996, but go see shop 5!
Shop 5 hooked me up finally. By "hooked me up," I mean he was the only one out of 5 establishments I tried that the necessary, functional equipment to get my car registered. This pisses me off immensely...if you want to pass legislation to require this shit, that's fine - but the entire system is a train wreck. I spent a good chunk of a day trying to find a WORKING test facility so I could pay them $50.
It's just getting worse, too - vehicles built before 2000 require a different set of emissions testing equipment than newer cars. State-designated STAR smog shops are supposed to have the equipment to test pre-2000 vehicles, but since the number of older cars continues to decline, shops are not bothering to repair the gear to smog older vehicles.
I'm all for cleaner air; if emissions testing is a necessary part of clean air, fine. However, if you're going to FORCE me to do something, at least make a half-assed effort to ensure it's reasonably available.
Dammit, I love California, but I just don't see living here forever.
Incidentally, the car passed with flying colors...that's the real pisser. All I needed was someone who knew what they were doing and some working equipment, and I was done in 10 minutes.