Oh no...guess we cant run straight open pipes on our cadillac 500 cube motors at the next demolition derby..don't want to cause an asthma attack in the grand stands...
Posted on 02/02/2004 10:22:54 AM PST by jtminton
When Elizabeth Reed drove to her neighborhood gas station in Arlington last year, she expected her car to pass inspection with no problem.
So Reed, 67, was startled when the mechanic said her 1990 Mazda Protege had failed the emissions test. There were leaks in the exhaust pipe, she was told, and the catalytic converter needed to be replaced.
Reed, who said she earns about $1,100 a month, used her credit card to pay for the repairs. She took the car back for inspection.
It failed again. This time, she was told that the car had a leaking distributor cap and needed a tuneup.
"I said, 'I can't keep doing this,' " she said. "I was crying. Here I am driving around not knowing what to do. I had no more money."
Finally, in desperation, she called the state Department of Public Safety for help. They told her about the AirCheck Texas Vehicle Repair and Replacement Program, which provides money to low-income motorists to repair or replace vehicles that fail the annual emissions tests.
The state provides those who qualify with up to $600 for repair costs or up to $1,000 toward the cost of a cleaner replacement vehicle.
Reed applied for the program, and she received a $600 voucher to help pay for the repairs. A few days later, her car passed inspection.
Reed is one of thousands of residents in the Metroplex to benefit from the Vehicle Repair and Replacement Program, which has become one of the region's most successful clean-air programs.
Since the program started in October 2002, a total of 3,678 cars that failed emissions tests have been repaired. Those repairs, officials estimate, have reduced nitrogen oxides emissions by an average of 70 percent per car.
Nitrogen oxides are the chief man-made component of ground-level ozone. If concentrations are high enough, they can trigger asthma attacks and aggravate emphysema, bronchitis and other respiratory ailments.
Tarrant, Dallas, Collin and Denton counties do not meet federal ozone standards. Areas that do not meet those standards can face sanctions that include regional emissions caps that limit economic development and the loss of tens of millions in federal highway dollars.
Cars, trucks and other road vehicles account for more than half of all smog-producing contaminants in Dallas-Fort Worth, according to federal statistics. Almost all that tailpipe pollution comes from the dirtiest 10 percent of vehicles on the road, officials say.
Getting those cars off the road is crucial if the region is to comply with ozone standards, said Chris Klaus, principal transportation planner for the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
The Council of Governments, a regional planning group, administers the Vehicle Repair and Replacement Program in the region.
"I think the dividends of this program are going to be seen on ozone monitors every year as this program continues to grow and expand," Klaus said.
Dallas-Fort Worth and the Houston area, which have the state's worst ozone problems, are the only regions participating in the program.
It aids motorists who earn less than 200 percent of the federally defined poverty level -- $30,520 a year for a family of three, according to the program's Web site.
When a vehicle fails the annual emissions test, it can be expensive. The average cost to bring a vehicle into compliance with state emissions standards is $480, officials said. For those who qualify for the program, the state pays, on average, $424.
"This program really assists folks on a lower-income level who might otherwise want to help with clean air but are trying to put meat and potatoes on the table for the kids and may not have the money," said Collin County Judge Ron Harris, one of the program's biggest advocates.
In addition, the program has helped replace 166 older vehicles deemed unrepairable. The program provides up to $1,000 toward the cost of a replacement car.
Harris and other officials said that amount could be raised to $2,000 in the next year.
Reed, the Arlington resident, is thankful that the program exists. She remembers how happy she was when her car finally passed inspection.
"I felt so good," she said. "I no longer had to worry about getting pulled over. I feel great when I get in the car now."
For more information about the AirCheck Texas Vehicle Repair and Replacement Program, call toll-free (800) 898-9103.
If the state is going to mandate cleaner air standards than were in effect at the time a car was manufactured, then the state can pony up the cost to keep the car in compliance.
If that sucks, then maybe so does your state government.
Complain to them. They're the people who are allowing these regulations to go into effect.
A bad distributor cap can cause the engine to misfire, raising hydrocarbon levels dramatically, and causing her cataclysmic converter to work overtime. That could burn it out - and also increase its temperature, upping the danger of a fire.
(I know it's catalytic.)
That's not the case. The car has to meet requirements based on the date of manufacture, make model, etc.
What this is is simply another fleece the "rich" to subsidize the "poor" scheme. Including, of course, illegal alien "poor".
Oh no...guess we cant run straight open pipes on our cadillac 500 cube motors at the next demolition derby..don't want to cause an asthma attack in the grand stands...
What this is is simply another fleece the "rich" to subsidize the "poor" scheme. Including, of course, illegal alien "poor".
It sounds like you're out of touch with what's been happening. What you describe is how the "old" system worked.
In the state in which I reside, they've been tightening up the standards in an effort to get the older cars off the roads. What was acceptable smog standards last year is not acceptable this year. (See: Smog Check II)
My truck never had a problem passing a smog test until the Smog Check II standards went into effect, then suddenly, it failed the tests. It cost a pretty penny to bring the vehicle into compliance with the new, stricter standards.
While I think this lady was being fleeced by a dishonest garage (A leaking distributor?! Puh-leeze) who was brought into line by the spectre of state action, the gist of the article is accurate.
But, look on the bright side. Smog Check II standards are coming to a state near you...
In California. I'm talking about Texas.
Ours are based on year/make/model. Yet we also have the wealth transfer fee added to our inspection costs.
I'm tired of subsidizing the "poor".
Like I said, coming soon to a state near you.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Texas didn't used to have smog laws, but now they do. Where did they come from if not California?
If you're tired of paying for the poor now, just wait til Bush's medi-fleece and non-amnesty amnesty programs kick in. You only thought you knew "tired of..."
You've certainly got that right.
After I finished laughing I asked them what they were smoking. At that point they showed me their maintenance book that said you had to disconnect the transmission from the rest of the drive train and take the engine off its mounts to change the plugs. You take the man-hours it takes to do all this and multiply it by their charge per hour and you get about 650.
So I studied my engine compartment one weekend and found I could get my body and limbs to contort enough to change all eight plugs without removing too many of the gizmos crammed in there. Mind you this wasn't in a garage but in my apartment's parking lot.
So I then ordered the 20 dollar plugs (only mucho-expensiveo AC-Delco plugs would work, I tried others, boy did I try) and changed them my self. I had to buy some weird socket extensions from Sears and I probably left a quarter pound of my skin and blood under the hood but I got it finished in about four hours.
One month later the electronic fuel injector went out on me. Followed by the water pump, AC, other assorted electronic problems, and a radio that ate CDs like they were popcorn. I can't describe how much I hated that car.
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