What's the Problem In Georgia?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(paprius4030 @ Apr 18 2007, 11:55 AM) [snapback]425340[/snapback]</div>

I wish somebody from GA would chime in here, because that's the only way you're going to get a definitive answer to this. All I know is what I read in the articles. Based on that, yeah, my best guess is that any dealer or garage certified to do emissions tests can pass a Prius.

A long as they know how to get it into inspection mode.

Far as I can tell, this whole thing traces back to a single TV spot. So, there's not a lot of depth there. All of the subsequent articles on this simply say that the Prius fails because it won't idle. If that's true, well, inspection mode forces idle. End of story.

There may be something deeper here, but:

1) Georgia does an OBD (on board diagnostics) type test with a tailpipe probe.
2) Looking those up, as I understanding it, the operator of the OBD test manually keeps the car engine at the correct RPM. So it's not like the test equipment needs to control the engine RPM, and there's some exotic failure-to-interface there.
3) So putting the car in inspection mode ought to do that.

Maybe there's something yet odder still, like maybe the GA equipment cant read the Prius OBD, but I believe that's a universal standard, so that seems unlikely. Maybe you can't hit the *right* RPM in Prius inspection mode, but nobody has said that. Everybody says no idle = flunked test.

If somebody out there has some more facts to bring to the table, that would be a plus. If I'm wrong I'll apologize. As of right now, based on what I've read, as far as I can tell, the right story is that many testing stations were unaware of inspection mode, that led to a lot of failures, a TV station picked that up, and it's gotten wide circulation from a combination of Prius haters/gov't haters/green haters and others due to the "man bites dog" nature of the story (clean car flunks test).

So, again, yes, I believe that a GA Toyota dealer that's also an inspection station ought to be able to test and pass a Prius. It would be a help if somebody had the data to prove that statement right or wrong.

 

I just called into the Mass. RMV with the info in my previous post.
They were very appreciative, and I'll be talking to someone from
"the central office" to clarify it soon. Owners from other states
that do OBD-II based testing should take the initiative and do the
same thing -- call your registries / inspection offices, tell them
how to get a Prius to base idle and/or two-speed, and save them a
lot of paperwork overhead not to mention *drivers* having to run
around to three different places for some dubious "waiver". The
downtown parking fees alone, where your agencies are likely located,
will more than make up the time you take to make that call.
.
_H*

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hill @ Apr 18 2007, 12:41 PM) [snapback]425373[/snapback]</div>

The test is required in areas where air pollution routinely violates public health standards. So I'd say the test is targeted, not random. If your area doesn't have an evident pollution problem, they don't make you take the test. That seems fairly reasonable.

The point of the test is inspection and repair -- to get drivers to keep their engines tuned up and/or pollution control devices working, so that each car produces no more pollution than necessary *for that car*. Subject to a cap on repair costs incurred by any individual, and so on. If a cheap(ish) repair will get a car into compliance with the standard, then this program forces owners to make those repairs. But it does not (e.g.) prevent a person from driving an irrepairably dirty car, or driving a monster car that puts out a lot of pollutants per mile. That's not the point. Standards fall as cars age, different standards apply to different vehicles, and so on. The object is to prevent cars from being driven significantly "dirtier" than they need to be (meaning, if a modest repair would clean them up), not to apply a uniform standard to all cars.

That said, VA simply exempts all cars getting 50 MPG EPA or better, so Prius and Insight get an exemption based on the old EPA mileage data. No idea whether VA will drop that based on the new EPA data or not. Website currently says 2007 and earlier Prii are exempt. Most states also exempt pure altenative fuel vehicles such as CNG.

States have significant flexibility, subject to meeting air quality standards. Few new cars flunk, so almost all states exempt cars for their first N years. In CA, N = 6, in VA, N = 2 (I think). Some states test diesels, others do not. No idea why or why not.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(chogan @ Apr 18 2007, 01:46 PM) [snapback]425431[/snapback]</div>

Some info about Georgia:

-Folks in the Metro Atlanta area need to have their cars tested annually for emissions.
-Rest of GA does not.
-The traffic in Atlanta sucks.
-Mostly we have a tailpipe emission test, at various speeds (idle and 2500 RPM, I believe). I've never seen them tap into on-board computer.
-Cars under 2 years old are excluded from testing.
-Georgia has a surprisingly large number of financial services firms headquartered throughout the state.
-Some cars, I'm not sure which ones, are placed on moving rollers and the emissions are checked.
-You can get a prius to pass the test if you follow the magic instructions in the manual and posted here on PriusChat to get it to a state where you can rev it up to 2500 RPM (chogan hit the nail on the head, this is why priuses are failing, they can't hit and hold the magic RPM level for the necessary 45 seconds or so).
-It appears most prius owners and emissions stations do not know about the magic sequence.
-Tainted peanut butter originated here.
-I would suspect most prius owners do not know how to turn off reverse beeping as well.
-The emission tests are conducted by independent, state-authorized emissions centers.
-They have equipment that communicates with state's computers via modem.
-I guess a toyota dealer could do the test, but they probably make more money selling you $100 oil changes.
-The tests costs $25. The state gets a small portion of that.
-You are given a certificate at the end of the test. You need to send in this certificate with your annual vehicle registration.
-Some, but not all, Georgians are morons or idiots. I suspect this is the same for other states, and chat room posters who make such claims.
-A car's registration is due on the birthday of the registered owner.
-We don't get window stickers of any kind for the emissions test like some states do.
-We do get little stickers for our real license plates that have the county, year, and birthday month of the owner.
-We do not have front license plates, only rear ones.
-During the .com and telecom meltdown, Atlanta was the 2nd largest economy to suffer in terms of job loss.
-We used to get new license plates annually, now we only get them when you get a new car or move into the state.
-When you register your car annually, there is both a registration fee (little), and a state ad velorum tax (big).
-You can deduct the ad velorum off your federal income tax.
-We drive on the right side of the road like the rest of the country.

Hope the info helps.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(CornBoy @ Apr 18 2007, 04:07 PM) [snapback]425546[/snapback]</div>

Thanks, CornBoy. I'd say that wrapped it up pretty well.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(chogan @ Apr 18 2007, 12:46 PM) [snapback]425431[/snapback]</div>

Sorry to bump the thread, but here's the inspection mode procedure thread if anyone wanted it.

11011011

 

Okay, I've got a page up about this now:
__ http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/idle.html
and the URL has been sent to the Mass. subcontractor who does the
inspection systems. Please try to get this same info into the hands
of your own state agencies and their subcontractors; the inspection
machines are often done on a Snap-On or OTC system with proprietary
software changes, so there's a department in charge of that and how
the records are handled.
.
_H*