In article <crd4d2$ros$1@bent.twistedbits.net>, jon@dakota-truck.net writes:
>
> Something rattling around in the back of my brain is saying
> something about a loophole here... I don't recall the details,
> but I seem to recall reading/hearing somewhere that if there is
> an emissions problem with your vehicle that prevents it from
> passing inspection, if you try X number of times (3?) (or spend
> $X?) to fix the problem and it still is not resolved, they will
> pass you. Sorry for the vagueness - who knows, this might have
> been something that came to me in a dream after too much Taco Bell,
> but I am pretty sure I heard/read something along those lines
> possibly while browsing through the NY V&TL... Anybody with more
> of a clue than myself have any info in that regard?
Don't know about NY but in CT, $600 in an "approved" repair facility qualifies
you for a waiver. "Approved" meaning any of the same shops that are performing
the tests, backyard repairs don’t count towards it.
The Connecticut Emissions program is a total joke. A few years ago, we switched
to a privatized emissions testing program from the state run program of before.
We used to have like a dozen State run testing facilities throughout the
state. Then in “Cost Cutting” measures, the state sold the testing facilities
to a private company contracted by the state to run them. About a year later,
motor vehicle safety inspections were also subbed out to the same company.
That lasted for about six months and then the state fired that company because
of allegations of bribe taking and other numerous problems. Because the state
was no longer able to perform testing themselves we had a period with no
testing at all. Safety inspections were restarted by the DMV after a few
months in the DMV facilities. Emissions took a bit longer; they tried to keep
it privatized by hiring a company out of Chicago called Agbar Technologies to
run a decentralized testing program. At first they had a real hard time
getting repair shops to sign on to become testing stations because it required
the shops to pay out a major upfront investment. They had to purchase all of
the testing equipment from Agbar, install it into a bay dedicated to emissions
testing only and train someone to operate it. That employee is dedicated to
emissions testing/repairs only. Agbar installed network connections and ip
addressable cameras to monitor the stations yet it sounds like the actual
testing computers are still dialing into Agbar when running a test. Eventually,
they got enough shops to sign on to start the program, about a month or two
after the contracted startup deadline they had with the state. That lasted
only a few months, then the state shut down the program because of allegations
of bribe taking and other numerous problems. Hey doesn’t that sound vaguely
familiar. They found because of an error in Agbar’s software, they were
failing vehicles that were actually within passing limits. There were also
allegations that a couple of the testing stations had “Pass” cars. If you had
a vehicle that couldn’t pass for a few bucks on the side, they would test the
“Pass” car and punch in your VIN and Plate when testing. After six months of
sitting idle, some of the stations had laid off the people they hired to
operate the testing equipment. Other dropped out of the program all together
because the $12 they get for each test doesn’t offset what they already paid
out or lost by sitting idle. Agbar fixed their software and retrained the
station owner’s of the rules and restarted the program last month. My ’96 is
due before the end of the month so I’m going to have to take it down, I think
it will pass but we’ll wait and see. Don’t know when the ’88 will be due but
there’s no chance in hell that truck will pass. And I’m not going to spend
$600 on that motor.
Walt Felix
http://WWW.Walt-n-Ingrid.Com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Feb 01 2005 - 00:18:30 EST