[StorminMatt]

I have to agree with others that I have heard NOTHING in terms of proposed or pending legislation that would make pre-OBDII vehicles smog exempt. What I HAVE heard is that, at some point, California may have little choice. The issue here is being able to do the actual tests. As it stands, vehicles that are of the model year 2000 and newer take a computer test only. But 1999 and older still goes on the dyno rollers. However, the dyno is expensive to purchase and maintain. Because of this, smog shops are naturally becoming more and more reluctant to keep this equipment available and operational just to test the occasional oddball older vehicle that comes their way. Let’s face it. Pre-1996 vehicles are a fairly endangered species these days. And they’re only going to become less common. I suspect that, in the coming years, fewer shops will want to keep equipment to test older vehicles. And for those shops that DO continue to test older vehicles, there is also the possibility that, as actual dyno roller tests become less common, this equipment may become unavailable should it need to be replaced.

Now California could step in and say that smog shops MUST be able to dyno test older vehicles. But doing so could threaten the entire smog check program should this sort of action trigger too many shops to throw in the towel altogether. There’s also the issue of potential future availability of the equipment required to do these tests. This could be a problem if, say, the state itself decides to run test centers for these vehicles (which would also be a hard sell politically due to cost vs benefits). For all these reasons, making pre-1996 vehicles (and possibly pre-2000 vehicles, should a computer only test not be doable) smog exempt may be a reality that California might have to face. Of course, if or when this may occur is anybody’s guess. But at the very least, it’s probably not happening in the next few years.