why do i have to take my car to a test only center every time when my car has never failed emissions. and can i do anything about it. it sucks paying 70 bucks when everyone else is paying 25.

 

That sucks, I pay $55 when I do test only in Long Beach. Hope you find a solution to your problem.

 

Dont scream on here, call your State elected idiots and bitch at them.

There are only 2 solutions, sell the car or move out of CA.

I have only one car left, 97 t bird that isnt test only.
Check the pennysaver for coupons. I just paid $45 test only.

 

Whats the difference between a test only station and regular smog places. I thought test only just ment they don't repair the cars to get them to pass.

 

Find a place that has coupons. They do exist. I paid $25 for my last one on my 92 F brand.

Reason you're at test only is because your car is old. Anything older than 93 is gonna get nailed, newer than that is hit+miss through about a 10-15 year old window. Whats even better is they pushed this legislation through initially by 'randomly' testing 15%, now its more like manditorily testing 95+% through test only. Or even better than that is the fact test only doesnt work, the state published data recently through their roadside testing fanfare showing that little factoid. Test only stations dont do repairs, and they are supposed to be better mechanics. Hah.

Most of the reason I hate test only is because my friend doesnt do them. I have to take my car to some joker I dont know, and run the risk of getting my car damaged for free. I've had enough bad experiences with mechanics damaging my car and denying it to leave more than a sour taste in my mouth about having someone I dont know touch my car.

 

Madmax,
So this means if while they are testing your car and they damage it you cannot make them pay for the damage?

 

so i'm assuming they cahnged it? because i was under the impression that every other year was test only atleast thats what i've always delt with. this year regular smog check next year nothing then the following year test only

 

Probably not because I had been doing regular smog on my suburban, and this is the first year that they hit me up with "test only".

 

89 TA
What year is your Suburban.

 

My last 3 smog checks have been Test Only. As Madmax said, once your car hits a certain age, it falls into the potential gross polluter category — that means Test Only every time.

 

my car is an 85 z28 and it had always varied from test only and regular smog. my last smog was test only which followed with the normal pattern i had encountered before. Also my 95 nissan has followed this pattern aswell.

 

Thats right. The mechanic will deny doing any damage and the BAR will side with the mechanic. "How can you prove it wasnt damaged prior to entering our establishment"? You cant. Even pics 8 hrs old leave that 8 hr gap that you could have damaged it yourself or someone else did.

Chris' TA with the recaros were ripped by a mechanic. Even when we got him to agree that they hadnt protected the seats even with a paper cover he denied that his mechanic got in the car with a screwdriver, or something similar, in his back pocket and cut the seat when he sat down. Again the BAR was useless.

And with so much work here the mechanic doesnt care if you ever come back or not.

 

^^ damn a ripped seat

 

What about video taping the process???

 

Not unless you want to go to court and hope the judgement goes in your favor. Kinda goes like this:

"The car was brought in that way."

And thats pretty much as far as it will go.

 

Not really. When it comes down to who's word to take, the courts usually tend to side with the consumer. It's all a matter of how well you present the case, having photographic evidence, receipts, and that your story sounds solid. You should also have a quote of what it will cost to repair so that an award amount is clear. Taking the time to do this, while unspoken, will give the appearance of how sure the plaintiff is of what happened.

 

somebody's been watching the peoples court :lol :thumbsup nice man well said

 

First of all, you are not allowed in the testing area. Even though most places dont enforce it all customers are required to remain outside or in the waiting room per every repair facilities insurance co. So no video taping.

Second. Been there done that. In my business small claims for non payment I am 4 and 0. In dealings involving vehicles and repairs/damage we are 0 for 2. The BAR ALWAYS sides with the repair facility. With faulty repairs its your responsibility to try and find another mechanic that will go to court to testify against another mechanic. Like trying to get a doctor or lawyer to testify against another doctor or lawyer. GFL.
Actually 0 for 3, one the BAR guy and mechanic were discussing the vehicle prior to our arrival, and we got there 15min early. For our benefit the BAR guy spent 10 sec looking at the car then sided with the mechanic, so we dropped it there.

 

1987 Suburban.

 

Back to your original point about test only. I take all of my cars to test only, required or not. If you know somebody working at a regular smog station, your good to go. If you don't it is like the New York State annual inspection, in New York going in to the inspection you know you will need at least a headlight adjustment. A smog test at a regular station rather than test only is a license to steal. Lets see, how many repairs can I stick this guy with before we allow it to pass?

 

Thats true. When we registered Chris' first FB the guy at the gas station I went into every few days nailed me for 3 "repairs" @$15 ea. 2 consisted of switching 2 vacuum lines on the air cleaner that were 3/4" apart and $15 to set the timing.
This is the same guy who spent time trying to fix a miss on my GP (much later found it to be a bad dist bearing) put a new cap on the dist and total bill was $20.

Told him to ajdust the smog fix bill or I would never be back and he didnt and I never went back, Honked and filipped him off every time I went by though.

 

oh well i guess i have to deal with it. just smogged the car yesterday and it passed....... again

 

I have always had to go to a test only for every car I have owned. 1980 Camaro, 1992 Camaro, and 1991 Camaro. Its just the age of the cars and the state knows they are likely to be modified.

 

for as long as I have owned my 91, I have always had to take it test only. I got it in 2001

 

I've been going to a "Test Only" shop since 2003. It's not a big deal. The test, itself, isn't any different, so it's not a penalty or punishment. And like Russ said, it can save the owners of older vehicles from getting ripped by test and repair shops.

But since people are comfortable with "the familiar," I'd guess the biggest issue is having to get acquainted with a different Tech? But when you visit a shop only once every two years, how well have you really gotten to know a Tech, and do you really think he remembers you?

"Test Only" shops used to be hard to locate, but they're everywhere now, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Price? $39.95 is pretty common, isn't it? That's what I pay, and I'm ok with that. But some shops do offer coupons.

IMO, "Test Only" shops are a "refuge" for the owners of older cars... for now.

But all that said(and going off on a political tangent), that's likely to turn around and bite us soon enough. Eventually, all shops will prolly become "Test Only" because CARB won't want ANY shop to make repairs. It's likely to become, "pass, or your older car is finished."

CARB was a good thing at one time, but the Feds have caught-up, and "the world" has even surpassed it. CARB has outlived its usefulness, and it knows this. It's gotten too fat for its own good, and now all it cares about is "its own good." And its attempts to sue the Feds in an effort to make general testing procedures even more stringent, along with its attempts to eliminate older cars completely by continually making it harder for them to pass emissions tests make it obvious that it has nothing legitimate left to accomplish.

CARB has become all about inflating procedures and prices. "CARB Legal" now simply = more money, not a better product.

It's time to eliminate(or, at least, redefine) CARB.

 

Wow, very well said...

Unfortunaly it is so true...

But like you said, I have no problem going to test only... And I usually find coupons in the penny saver and get it for like 25 or 30 (plus all the add-on crap)

 

I don't think age is the primary factory. I had bought a new 97 4th gen and after it's first smogging it had to go to test only everytime after that. It's first test was done at a chevy dealership in like 03 then test only in 05 & 07. .... At least at a test only they don't nitpick every vacumn line and so on. Just check for mandatory things and smog it.

 

Age is the primary factor for an "automatic" test only requirement, but the other factor is if the powers that be decide that a particular car tends to fail, they will require test only earlier. I suspect that generally means that cars that are popular for hot rodding will be sent to test only. I guess we should be proud of being required to go to test only. It is just the boring cars that don't need test only.