I don't really care how it affects car modders or people with sports cars. I have a sports car, and yeah the California smog test has been super annoying cause of electrical problems with that are unrelated to its actual emissions, but I knew what I was getting into when I bought something known for unreliability. Fixed it myself. There's a dude across the street with a modded car who always complains he has to bribe the smog guy $500, as if he was forced into driving a track car on the street. I just want regular cars to be drivable without undue burdens, and the enthusiasts can deal with it.
California gasoline tax pisses me off more because it's higher than anywhere else and the money seemingly goes nowhere.
I had to sell by beloved modded sports car when I moved to California. It blew clean as a whistle, but since the aftermarket parts were all from out of state (installed over the course of years), the state failed it as “tampered.” What a pile of shit. These guys are somehow driving around rolling coal on cyclists without getting grief, but I have to get rid of my car because it doesn’t have the right CA stamp on the intake system. CA’s system is terrible for home mechanics.
Sucks, but it's the cost of having different standards. Same thing happens trying to import random cars to the US.
As someone who lives in a state that got rid of emissions testing before I could drive it sounds like a horrifying thing to have to deal with.
Why is it horrifying? I've taken cars in for testing for years. It's pretty quick and painless.
Was going to say, you only hear stories from the relatively few people who have issues, not the people who go in and out as usual.