All,
Randell Jesup writes:
>Followed by more hysteria. Check out
> http://www.webcom.com/car/CONSUMER/toc.html
>It has the text of a bunch of newspaper articles on this, as well as
>an official response to various claims from the CA Dept. of Consumer
Affairs.
Clearly we have a war of words between the State and corporation(s)
that bases it profits on middle-class credulity. That said, it is then
for each of us to draw our own opinion on the "facts" so far
presented. Granted there may be some sensationalism in the media's
representations, but there are sufficient inconsistencies in the
statements of State-employees to warrant second thoughts. (Since when
have Government-workers ever been completely honest, anyway?).
The information sheet published by the California Dept. of Consumer
Affairs/Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) is in error in several places;
E.g., only ONE waiver is issued, and testing of "Gross Polluters" by
Referee centers is repeated annually, not "several waivers" and
every 2nd year as reported by BAR (c.f. M-1 strategy of the 1994
State Implementation Plan).
CARB (Cal. Air Resources Board) states that there is no evidence that
the new reformulated fuel in California as causing and unusually high
incidence of leaks or engine fires, yet Chevron have taken great pains
to announce, both in their web page and on-site pumps that they have
evidence supporting rapid rubber rot leading to fuel leaks.
Who to believe?
Well, there's nothing like hearing it from people in California who
have first-hand knowledge. Of the 18 people with whom I have spoken who
have cars older than 1987 and we recently smogged, ALL required a
minimum of $120 and/or 5 hours of labour to avoid failing or being labeled a
"Gross Polluter". This is hardly a statistical sample of
significance, but it hardly supports BAR's claims that "about 30
percent are expected to fail the test" (all people interviewed were
car-heads and were able to repair their own cars. I feel sorry for
the Granny in her Buick 88).
Finally, the waiting period for a test at the Referee station in San Diego is
currently 6 weeks (and growing).
Remember, Smog II introduces a set of allowable pollution levels that
are tighter than when our cars were manufactured. Further, the levels
are based on year of manufacture, NOT engine displacement. This
really hurts the big-block American-iron boys, but I guess Spridget
owners will laugh all the way to the Smog Station.
If the media are correct, then New Jersey gets Smog II soon. Perhaps
we will see then if Californians are truly over-amped. ;)
Shane Ingate
Knowledge and experience DOES make a difference.
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