Kalifornia goose-steppers again

[Z-train]

From another BB i frequent:

 

Tonight after the Z-Club meeting a couple approached me and another club member asking about selling a specific Z-Car.

 

We talked at length about sales possibilites, etc.... but when the discussion got in detail it was brought out in passing the car had 'failed smog because he couldn't clean off and read some numbers underneath'.

 

Now, I had heard a lot of stuff, but this was a new one. I had to know more. Luckily the person had a printout of the Smog Test.

 

Now the killer (and a Nyah Nyah to those who told me 'they never heard of that before'): The car, out the tail pipe passed. It's CO was nil,HC was Nil, and the NOx was up there in PPM, but still well within the limits for the year vehicle.

 

So the car was clean.

 

But the SMOG test was a FAIL!

 

Why, you ask? In the section "Ignition Timing" it said "FAIL"... Hand written on the sheet was 'clean off timing marks and bring back for free retest'

 

Apparently, even though the vehicle passed clean out the tailpipe, BECAUSE THE "TECHNICIAN" WHO CHECKED THE TIMING COULD NOT SEE THE NUMBERS, OR FIND THE TIMING NOTCH IN THE PULLEY HE FAILED IT ON THE VISUAL CRITERIA!

 

And now the part that P.O.'d me: The owner was more interested in what they could get for the car, because if they could only get, say $850 for the car, then THEY WOULD GIVE IT TO THE STATE FOR THE CRUSHER PROGRAM BECAUSE THEY WILL PAY $1000 FOR THE CAR!

 

Basically, if they couldn't sell it to a private party, they were going to use the 'registered and failed smog test' to turn it in to the crusher program.

 

Purely financial, of course. I was a little more than irked, but kept composed and stayed polite. But the car was nice, most importantly IT WAS CLEAN OUT THE TAILPIPE!

 

This car is being considered for CRUSHING simply because of a 'fail' on a BUREAUCRATIC PORTION OF THE TEST!

 

As I have said ALL ALONG: THE SMOG TEST IS NOT ABOUT CLEAN AIR! IT'S ABOUT SOCIAL ENGINEERING AND CONTROLLING PEOIPLE'S FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT.

 

Any idiot with half a brain could clean this car's timing marks off, take it in for a retest, and have a car well worth the $850 they paid for it, and no more precious natural resources would have been expended to manufacture a 'new' vehicle for them... But as it sits, that scenario will not occur. This car will likely not sell for more than $1000, and because of that fact, they will likely turn it in to the crusher for their 30 pieces of silver.

 

The mentality that the state cultivates (see the previous post about the Mustang saved fro mteh crusher!) just is so wrong!

 

So f-ing wrong! Clean air, my a$$! This car IS CLEAN. But it fails because some monkey isn't diligent enough to find the timing marks during his 15 minute flat-rate smog check. Beat the rate, and no---they won't fudge the timing marks and pass it, with the STING operations they got going, most SMOG techs are so afraid for their licenses/livelyhoood they won't do it...even if COMMON SENSE says the car is CLEAN.

 

Bullsh*t Sacramento meddling.

 

 

And people ask me why i left that $hithole state

[Rusty]

[djmoreron]

its easy for politicians to pick on car guys cuz nobody really cares. its not like they can get into trouble for going after us, after all nobody can cry racism or anything like that... and making smog laws stricter makes them look good.... so hence theyve gone crazy with it. if everyone started installing electric motors, they would complain about that too.... just as you said its not about the emissions anymore

[djlotus]

Failing visual is stupid. If the car clears the emissions test, it should be ok. my car "failed" because I didn't have a CARB legal air intake on it. But it passed emissions. Stupid shit I tells ya

[djmoreron]

eventually it will be all stock or nothing.... even though parts bought at autozone or where ever are technically not stock :fu:

[tiltnose510]

Great post. This is purely social engineering.

[bonvo]

absolute bullshit

[zerow]

Not only bullshit, but we watch as these trucks running cargo up and down the interstates belch out noxious fumes as we fail a visual smog check because of timing marks? I think the system is screwed because the people writing the laws are getting their palms greased by big business, and can afford to have the gas guzzling SUVs that are polluting the environment worse than what a correctly tuned classic car could ever put out. Pound for pound, an SUV is a bigger burden on the environment that a classic 510, hands down. Less oil needed, less gas at fill up time, and more miles per gallon for the 510, and if your all by yourself (listen up soccer moms), do you really need the SUV to go cruising through the city because you feel safer in a friggin' tank?

[zenndog]

Well, tahts california!!!

 

They bend those emissions guys over a barrel so as to make shure they keep putting the screws to everyone. One screw up and bye bye licence, the california air resources board sends out secret "shoppers" to test the smog inspection providers, thry live by the creed "CYA". The government pollution regulation starts to seem more and more like legalized extortion. the bill of rights.... no wait .... the bill of ex-rights. soon they will teach the constitution in history not government. There should be pollution control but it should be based on science and not agendas

Sorry to rant but I run a paint stripping company in so-cal and I have dealt with and still deal with so much cr*p that I start to feel like a criminal instaed of a business owner sometimes!!!! And all i do is collect all the old lead paint and manifest it properly ...... blah blah blah

zenon

[fiveNdime]

Stupid yeah, but I will take 1000 over 850 most of the time unless its a good car.

[MikeRL411]

When I first moved to California I had a California built and certified 1970 Buick Electra Limited. It came with a factory installed California specific intake manifold that contained, internally, all required exhaust recycling plumbing. I was failed because the tech could not "verify" the EGR. I pointed out the "pink pages" in the owners manual explaining the special manifold. No good. I asked the supervisor to show me the exact paragraph I had failed. It said "visually verify the presence of a state approved device." I went to the auto parts store, bolted an aftermarket retarded on the fender and neatly coiled and tied off all wires. I brought it back, pointed out that their manual said to verify the presence, not the hookup and was immediately passed. In the face of stupidity, throw the literal words in their faces!