CA bans free OBD-II checks

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

Sandy - 05 Jun 2009 21:15 GMT

Just some FYI for those of you keeping track of such things. Today I went
into a CA AutoZone to borrow their OBD-II reader, as I've done before, just
to see if my car was ready to pass a Smog Test. They told me that CA,
apparently under pressure from all the folks who charge $40 and up for doing
a check, has banned the free loan of this test equipment to customers. Plus,
they can no longer accept the return of OBD-II testers after they have been
purchased - so 'renting' a tester just long enough to run your tests won't
work either. Too bad, I thought it was a great service for those of us who
only rarely need to run a quick check.

Reply to this Message

Tegger - 06 Jun 2009 00:33 GMT

> Just some FYI for those of you keeping track of such things. Today I
> went into a CA AutoZone to borrow their OBD-II reader, as I've done
> before, just to see if my car was ready to pass a Smog Test. They told
> me that CA, apparently under pressure from all the folks who charge
> $40 and up for doing a check, has banned the free loan of this test
> equipment to customers.

Old news; at least six years old. This actually predates Ahnold, so I'm not
sure who's to blame here.

CA appears to be the one and only North American jurisdiction (out of 63
places) that effectively bans this sort of freebie, so I'm not sure the
"folks who charge" for it had anything to do with the ban. Personally, I'm
leaning towards the environuts, who are stronger in CA than anywhere else.

Signature

Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

Reply to this Message