dead cats

[Mike Arman]

On 1/30/2013 4:05 PM, Grant Lenahan wrote:
> there's a difference between "wont get caught" and "legal".
>
> Until they carry QQ plates all cars must meet the emissions for the year they were manufactured.


This may be a state thing . . . what's a QQ plate? We don't have them in Florida.


In fact, we don't have vehicle inspections here either! This has been gone for probably 20 years.
State did a study of the causes of accidents and found that equipment deficiencies (the things they 
looked for in the inspections) were #47 on a scale of 1 to 50, with 1 being the most risk and 50 
being the least. Vehicle inspections were just not cost effective!!!!!

(Of course the fact that the new governor made getting rid of vehicle inspections one of his 
campaign promises didn't hurt either . . . )



>
> I have no idea what the 5/50 refers to.


Five years, 50,000 miles was the original federal requirement. After 1995 model year it went to 
8/80. Note that this number is where the manufacturer has to fix it under warranty.


After the required manufacturer warranty runs out things get murky indeed.


For some years, owners were allowed to remove this stuff on their own cars, but businesses couldn't 
remove smog equipment from customer cars. That has changed, and now the official word is (or seems 
to be) that if it was EVER installed, it has to work forever.


In reality, very, very few people have ever been ticketed or fined for this. 99.99999% of inspection 
stations (if there even is inspection) and 99.999999999999% of law officers don't know what smog 
equipment is supposed to be there on a 22 year old low production exotic Audi - heck, even the 
DEALERS don't know what is supposed to be there . . .


It is a numbers game - if your state doesn't do sniff tests or emission tests or vehicle inspections 
AND you are not in the habit of playing boy racer and getting pulled over constantly, chances are 
you will not ever get caught, illegal or not (and it does seem to be illegal to remove them).

Personally, I'd cobble up some kind of converter system so if the question ever arose, I'd be legal 
- I prefer not to transgress simply because I like to sleep at night. The risk is slight (but it is 
there), so you have to make your own decision. If I lived in Montana or Idaho, I'd possibly take the 
chance - not a lot of law enforcement contact. If I lived in a major metro area, no way, there are 
too many opportunities for contact with LEOs who might be sticklers for compliance. If I lived in a 
smog-check state, I'd have two choices - comply or move.

Of course, after I eventually sell the car (as is!!), it becomes someone else's problem anyway.


Best Regards,

Mike Arman

90V8Q


And Ellen, $5,061 is RETAIL and RETAIL is for OTHER PEOPLE. Don't cry, laugh instead.

You should be able to get this done for a few hundred dollars if you can find a used system. Talk to 
Ron W in Massachussetts - he parts out V8s, or Chris at Force5 (?). Your mechanic isn't helping you 
here . . .







> Emissions equipment must be warranted by the manufacturer for 8/80 - but after that YOU must maintain it.
>