palric

iTrader: (1)

I saw a news clip last night says the price of getting your car emission tested is going up by 12%.

Is anyone surprised ? After it has been in place for less than what ? Two years ?

I've been through this already having come from B.C. where the gov't has defined the art of screwing the general motoring public out of a dollar here and a dollar there -- to a pure science.

In B.C. the AirCare test started at $14.50 and everyone said "... well for $14.50 it can't be that bad ? RIGHT ?". Several years later the cost is as much as $50 for some vehicles and $40 the average. It is MANDATORY and you have to do it EVERY year or no license plate or insurance renewal no if-ands-or-buts.

Oh yeah, they have the right to pull your plates at the test site if they think (in their highly subjective judgement and these are not mechanics by-the-way) that the car emissions are bad enough -- you might find yourself walking home.

Sounds like we are well on our way to the $50 emissions test mandatory every year for every car.

OH NO ? You don't think so ? Hah ! Just give those parliamentary nabobs on Queen street some time to work out the details. Lets see, in B.C. you pay to drive...

- yearly plate license fee.
- yearly emissions fee.
- transit (buses & Skytrain) subsidies
- GVRD useage fee $100 per vehicle -- this is to pay for the fact that you have a licensed vehicle in the Greater Vancouver Regional District... kinda like paying another $100 cause you have a car licensed to you with a GTA address.

I think I wouldn't get so pissed if we actually got something for our money. But I don't think we do. If they want to clear up the air why don't they do something about the Nanticoke coal fired plant ?

Well that is my rant of the day. What's yours ?

adious,
RP.

Cruz'N Bruz'R

at least you've had that price for two years, we only started the testing in July and it's going up? Chhhhrrist!

johnyIROC

I'm sure glad my car is 20 years old so I NEVER have to E-test again

trigger GTA

rick its only $5 more and in 2 year evey thing else has gone up in price. you know its called inflation

if it takes so much as one black smoke puking, rusted out POS off the road its worth it

nblanchard

5 bux is a huge inflation amount if you ask me. The goverment is raping us all again, thats all it is.

Oh.. and about the Nanticoke plant... that provides a good chunk of electricity, doesn't it? And the government probably gets a good chunk of cash from them.. so why shut them down?

Money money money... thats all life is about these days. Even women.. thats all they look for in a guy now (generalizing of course) is money... you can't buy them a Lexus? Well hit the road... LOL

I don't see why we have to suffer all these cuts and e-tests... what about those damn transports... they have to pollute a lot more than any rusted old POS car.

And the cars that are 20 years or older are usually the ones that are the worst polluters... so why are they exempt? Nothing against you johnny...

Slade1

Prices go up.. live with it... just 3 years ago gas was 1/3 cheaper than it is now... and I bitched then when I saw 55.5 prices after I was just getting accustomed to the 45-49 cent prices...

$5 increase on a mandatory test for all the cars is a big cash revenue for them... if I don't see better roads to drive my emissions friendly car soon I'm gonna bitch...

If it does get even 1 nasty smoker of a car, its working.. even if flawed.. every little bit counts... as for the power plants, there are fewer running now than 10 years ago.. so just be patient.. if the pickering site goes operational, they might be able to shut the last of the old ones down...

Today's forecast... a slight breeze with a slight chance of today's high being 10000 C...

Everything has a tradeoff, no such thing as a utopia where everything works.. just gotta live with it and take it for what its worth... no use letting the odd ball things get to you.. everything done has a good and a bad side to it, just take it all in stride.. man I'm such an optomist that it scares me sometimes lol

palric

iTrader: (1)

Hey don't get me wrong I am FOR emissions testing just AGAINST incompetent management of a set of useful guidelines.

Also I am AGAINST governments that start a process at amount $X knowing that the operational costs will drive up these fees by 30-50% within 5 years but fail to make this known to the public.

Trust me when it is mandatory and $50 per vehicle per year it will seem like just another tax. That is a tax we are paying because the gov't is incompetent at enforcing previously existing laws designed to accomplish the very thing the emissions program is intended for. So we paid for it once and now we are paying for it again... and again... and again... and again...

I don't like bad air anymore than the next person I am the guy who bought a Jacobs kit to install on his emissions dirty 305 and wait till you see what an extra $800 in ignition will do to my emissions levels ! I've been there and done that before it cuts them by about 75%.

Question -- why do they drive UP the subscription price (the cost of testing your car) and not the penalties ? The penalties in terms of dollars remain static. If your goal is to reduce emissions why wouldn't you keep the testing cost low to increase subscription levels (which is to say the motoring public's buy in to the program) and the make the penalties for polluters on an increasing scale ? The penalties coulds (as in so many other gov't programs, subsidize the testing fees). The test is after all mandatory and the market is captive.

Maybe you see my point ? The implementation method contradicts the supposed goals of the program.

The occasional heavy polluting car will get pulled off the road but the true offendors will not. Oh yeah in B.C. the air quality has gotten worse since the introduction of AirCare that is if your measurement is in terms of the increase of bronchial disease and asthma during the last 10 years.

my .02 cents worth,
RP.

Slade1

The more I listen to you.. the more I am inclined to upgrade my ignition system...

Jeffbird

guys


starting oct 1 2002 the price will be 35 bucks for a test and 17.50 for a re-test.

palric

iTrader: (1)

Inflation is an economic reaction to demand. Increased demand = increased cost of acquisition of goods and services ergo inflation (the prices go up with demand).

Emissions testing is gov't legislated and not based on free-market demand therefore inflation cannot be used to describe direct increase in costs (although I will grant indirect and supportive functions may drive inflationary costs into the mix). In other words there is NO demand. It drives me nuts to hear the gov't nabobs sluff off their price increases to inflation. What a crock of ****.

The prime cause of increase in costs would be incompetent management of resources within the legislated processes. And that was my beef -- the gov't is proving themselves (once again) to be either utterly incompetent or outright liars because they either cannot proactively manage the legislated processes or else knew the eventual or actual cost of the legislated processes would ultimately be much higher than the original buy-in (what they told the public).

BTW: the rusted, smoking POS's you talked about get to stay on the road you just have to agree to pay a minor stipend to the gov't this is the so called maximum repairable limit what is it about $250 ??? Come on that is just another TAX on the working people.


adious,
RP.

Daz

iTrader: (1)

not to worry in a few years we'll all be excemtped just make sure you vote


Daz

trigger GTA

rick

people get paid more prices go up
gas cost more prices go up(dont give me any BS about the tax. it does not change on a dayly basis)

do you want to make more money? i do! and the cost goes up(pass the savings)

you dont know that was their plan. all you are doing is comparing one provinces goverment to another. what actual facts do you have that this was their pan from the start?

and last
the $200 conditional pass. the money is paid to the people that do the repair or buy the parts from to make the repair. i dont think that making someone repair a car that obviously needed it in the first place is hardly a tax. its a cost of owning a car. it is mosly likly the same people that are driving around on tires with only steel belts showing, never had a tune up and have needed a break job for the last year. BUT are to cheap to have it done or just dont give a F.

If you ask me i think people should have to have a safty check every two years too. it would help keep crap off the roads

palric

iTrader: (1)

Sure gas prices go up and if we had stability in the Middle East do for one minute think the gov't would not be the ones to increase the price of gas ? They do not dare in this economy but the producers sure do and will. When the economy heats up and free market demand drives the cost of gas down again the gov't will step in and increase the taxes on gas to return it to the high it was at previously (due to free market demand increases). This is how the feds have worked historically and we have every reason to believe they will continue to do so.

Do I want to make more money ? Of course I do but not at the cost of my fellow tax payer. I'd rather make more money through increased demand of my goods or services -- that is the basis of free-market economics which is known for it's inflationary effect. Gov't legislated 'demand' creates negative influences on the free market. This is a well established principle of economics.

No I don't know what was their plan ? I sure hope they do -- these things are approved through parliamentary actions and there should be a project plan somewhere in Queen's Park ??? It would be interesting to see what they have in mind. For instance 'Successful Implementation' has to be defined it is typically metered out through phases of a project plan. So what is the project plan ? How do they define success ? Failure ? Well I guess that is for me to find out if I feel so inclined.

In the end I agree with you Scott the prices will go up and we probably should see safety testing periodically. Furthermore there is not a thing in the world I can do about. I am in fact FOR emissions testing and not against it. I am just leary it may get worse before it gets better.

Should we safety test transport trucks ?

adious,
RP.

trigger GTA

"Should we safety test transport trucks ?" YES!!!!

every dam thing on the road should be. cars, trucks, transports,and bikes.

i think that even a kid on a bike that rides on the road should have to prove that they know and under stands basic rules of the road.

some times you have to pic your fights. i just dont think that a $5 increase that you have to pay only once every two year is the fight that i would pic.

but i see where your are coming from.

88305tbi

ok, how many of y'all check out, on your daily driver, every day , your brakes, your lugnuts, your oil, your rad levell, your tires, your mirror, door and window operation, your wipers, your heater, your horn, all your lights, all your paperwork, and so on? happens to a transport every time it goes out.

every six months is regular service, at which time many certification items are checked an repaired if necessary, and there is an annual inspection required by the MTO.

any transport may, at any time, be inspected by MTO officers, and if deemed to be unsafe can be pulled off the road and hefty fines levied.

so i think the answer to the question is "transports already are saftied."

George

You're right about major trucking companies that are solvent but there's also a lot of trashed out tractors running around too and it's obvious that their owners can't afford to maintaine them and probably do'nt know what a circle check is or give a rats a$$ anyway.