[BeerBurner]

Hola!

I wanted to give everyone a heads up about a bad situation we just encountered with Virginia's RapidPass roadside emissions monitoring people.

Earlier this year, they dinged my wife's '98 BMW when she drove by one of their setups. I ran the OBDII diagnostics and there weren't any codes so I didn't think much of it at the time. This was also shortly before the COVID shutdown so that whole thing quickly got pushed to the back burner.

Also, right before the shutdown, we bought my wife the E90 BMW from PA but weren't able to actually get it registered until yesterday (DMV appointment delays). Since she really liked her old license plate, we transferred that registration to the new car and then tried to register the old car but the DMV said "Not only no, but Hell no!" It turns out the earlier ding was on their files and they would not even offer us a temporary, 30 day registration to solve the problem. The best they could do is give us a 3-day, one-way transit pass.

I took the car in today to get the emissions done. It passed. Since it had the RapidPass ding, they had to do the old school, "dyno/sensor up the tail pipe" test which is also easily passed.

Lessons learned:

1) Their equipment is inaccurate enough to register a false "fail".
2) If you get dinged by them (legitimately or not), you have to go through a more thorough testing than just the OBDII scan.
3) Because of their false fail, we can't drive the car until September 22 because that is the earliest time I can get an appointment with the DMV to register the car. I might get lucky and finagle something before then, but it's really annoying to have to jump through these hoops when I shouldn't have to be doing it in the first place.

So, anyway, just a heads up. If you get that failure letter, it could very well become a much bigger headache.

BB.

[good hands]

Not that it helps your emission situation but if you go to the the DMV webstite and check it every couple hours they release new and cancelled spots all day long. We had an appointment 20 miles away then got one at our local DMV 4 weeks prior to the one we scheduled originally. Just timing and being lucky.

[BeerBurner]

I have had a couple people tell me that and it's nice to know that is a good "Plan B" (even moreso because I hear it from a lot of people!). So, thanks for helping to confirm all of that.

It gets a bit rougher because we never got around to putting my name on the E36 so we have to work around my wife's schedule (I'm on summer vacation... she has a real job! ). Hopefully, I can finagle something but, if not, we will manage.

Either way, I wanted to let people know about this problem.

BB.

[HoodPin]

Since this is car stuff versus driver's license stuff, if you have access to a lawyer, I believe you can get a limited power of attorney to conduct DMV business on her behalf. It looks like there's even a form online (maybe don't need a lawyer): https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/webdoc/pdf/vsa70.pdf

[BeerBurner]

Fortunately, it looks like I was able to sort things out by hitting up the DMV's social media. We have an appointment on Thursday to register the E36. I didn't expect it to work but I'll take it.

RapidPass has still been silent.

Still, I think it's worth noting that we shouldn't ignore those notices if they come in because, it seems, they will be a problem.

BB.

[BlackTalon]

What the heck is RapidPass?

[BeerBurner]

This.

https://wtop.com/dc-transit/2016/01/...esting-option/

BB.

[HoodPin]

Geez....that system looks like total BS. Using infrared light to analyze exhaust emissions along the side of the road as you drive by???

In MD, they now have 24-hour self-service stations where you connect an OBDC cable directly to your car; no appointment required (unless there's a line of cars waiting). However, due to pandemic, MD has suspended ALL emissions testing for the time being.

[Vicegrip]

OTOH The dear wife drove past one when her car was close to needing an emissions test. It passed and we got a letter from them informing us that we could skip the test.

Come on out to the sticks. No emissions and next day appointments at DMV.

I have to say I LIKE the DMV by appointment thing. Roll up, sign in and right up to the counter. No muss no fuss no, 45 min sitting next to the lady with 3 sniffling kids.

[Vicegrip]

Originally Posted by HoodPin

Geez....that system looks like total BS. Using infrared light to analyze exhaust emissions along the side of the road as you drive by???

In MD, they now have 24-hour self-service stations where you connect an OBDC cable directly to your car; no appointment required (unless there's a line of cars waiting). However, due to pandemic, MD has suspended ALL emissions testing for the time being.

I looked into the system after I started seeing them around. It is actually more accurate than I would have thought. They are smart where they place them. Somewhere that you will be on medium throttle or so. Like up an exit ramp. Unlike station testing it catches day to day cheaters that re-tune for test day.

I remember when the smog around DC and NOVA was so bad you could see and taste it and your eyes would burn when around even a little car exhaust.