Thread: Facinating Story:Mexico drivers pack emissions stations

Tucson repair shops also see surge as inspection rule takes effect for vehicles crossing southbound from US

Mexico drivers pack emissions stations

Tim Steller Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Sunday, December 4, 2011 12:00 am

Mexico's government quietly imposed a new regulation Nov. 20 that has forced piled-high pickups into the emissions-inspection station and auto-repair shops on Tucson's southwest side.

Now, anyone taking a vehicle into Mexico permanently - not just for a there-and-back trip - must first show that the vehicle has passed an emissions test in any of the four U.S. border states in the previous six months.

The rule went into effect with little notice, so many - probably hundreds - of drivers have arrived at the border in Nogales only to be told by Mexican inspectors to go back to Tucson for an emissions test. The rule took effect at the beginning of the annual holiday migration into Mexico, with many people taking a car to Mexico, either to give to family members or to sell.

The effects are being felt across the border region, especially in Arizona and South Texas, where no inspection stations are near the border.

"This has caught us a little off guard," said Eric Massey, air quality director for the Arizona Department of Environment Quality. "We found out about it maybe a week before the rule went into effect."

The result here has been longer lines at the inspection station near West Valencia Road and Interstate 19, a flood of business for area mechanics and a mountain of frustration for some travelers to Mexico.

In the five business days leading up to Nov. 30, the number of inspections at the southwest-side station has increased 16 percent over the same period last year, from 1,547 last year to 1,800 this year. Some of the increase may be due to other factors, though.

Purgatory in tucson

For some, like Jose Gonzalez of Pasco, Wash., the new rule has merely caused a three-hour inconvenience. Gonzalez's Chevrolet Avalanche, loaded with goods for his family in Colima state, passed the test. The van belonging to his traveling companions, also from Pasco, failed at first but only needed a new gas cap.

For the unlucky few, though, Tucson has become a kind of purgatory where they drive hour after hour, and in the worst cases, day after day, waiting for their vehicle's computer to produce readings that the emissions equipment can process.

Jesus Vasquez arrived in Nogales from the San Francisco area last Sunday, driving a white Chevrolet Silverado pickup belonging to his son-in-law that he planned to take to Guadalajara and leave with family there. It was a pain when Mexican border inspectors told him he needed to return to Tucson for an inspection - the vehicle had no documentation of a California "smog check" - but that was just the beginning of a nightmarish odyssey for Vasquez, who is 53 years old and disabled.

His pickup failed the emissions inspection, and he took it to nearby Dynamic Emission Repair, where mechanics repaired a wire, re-setting the computer that produces the emissions data. In most cars, a motorist may have to drive up to 40 miles before the computer is able to produce all the data downloaded by emissions inspectors.

But Vasquez's pickup wouldn't produce the data - two sensors kept holding back. So, day after day, Sunday through Thursday, Vasquez drove, racking up more than 1,000 miles, waiting for the sensors to kick in.

The problem isn't uncommon, mechanics said, but it usually doesn't take this long.

"It's not broken. It just doesn't want to activate," he said.

He didn't have money for a hotel, so during the nights he got snatches of sleep in the Silverado's extended cab in gas-station parking lots.

Black market forming

The new rule, intended to reduce air pollution, has caused the most trouble in Arizona, New Mexico and South Texas, where the nearest emissions-inspection stations are far from the ports of entry because they're only in metropolitan areas. The distance from Laredo, one of Texas' busiest border ports, to Austin, the nearest city with emissions-testing facilities, is 3 1/2 hours, said Guy Hoffman, who oversees the state's vehicle-testing program.

The problem isn't so bad around El Paso, which has emissions inspection sites, or in the border area of California. All California vehicles must pass emissions tests, not just those registered in metropolitan counties, as in Arizona. And thousands of private garages around California, including the border area, are certified to perform the test.

But even in California, vehicles need only be tested every two years, so most owners would still not have a certification that meets the six-month time frame of Mexico's new standard.

In South Texas and in Nogales, local people have appealed to the state to set up inspection stations near the border. Nora Badillo, who owns Alex's Tires in Nogales with her husband, asked the Arizona's Department of Environmental Quality to set up an inspection station in the border town.

Beside the convenience, Badillo said, "It would also be revenue for a bankrupt state. So it sounded logical."

But Massey, the air quality director for the department, said they looked into it and decided it couldn't be done for now. And the $12.25 per vehicle fee simply goes to support the emissions program.

Inevitably, Badillo said, a black market in blank emissions certificates already was forming in Nogales.

Deciding to fly instead

AT MPG Automotive Service, business has increased by 10 to 15 percent since the rule took effect, but manager Armando Lopez says he's felt bad as the trucks roll in.

"Sometimes they're here overnight," Lopez said. "Some of them don't have the money" for a hotel.

At the neighboring Dynamic Emission Repair, trucks with out-of-state plates rolled in one after the other last week. Vasquez shared notes with a group of men from Louisiana who were trying to get back to Sinaloa, also driving an extended-cab Silverado pickup that was taking a long time to register readings.

While Vasquez drove around Tucson last week, a brother-in-law was waiting across the line in Nogales, Sonora. He was there to help Vasquez drive the 1,000 miles to Guadalajara, but didn't have papers to cross the border.

Finally they both gave up. After spending most of last week in Tucson, Vasquez drove home in frustration. He decided to fly to Guadalajara instead.

"This has caught us a little off guard. We found out about it maybe a week before the rule went into effect."

Eric Massey, air quality director for the Arizona Department of Environment Quality

Contact reporter Tim Steller at 807-8427 or tsteller@azstarnet.com
http://azstarnet.com/business/mexico-dr ... ml?print=1

Emissions tests required in Mexico, but not catalytic converters

Tim Steller, Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Monday, December 5, 2011 3:05 pm

Here's an irony for you:

Mexico may be requiring emissions tests for vehicles exported from the United States, as I reported Sunday, but it does not uniformly require one of the most important anti-pollution devices: catalytic converters.

For years, border-area car sellers have taken advantage of the fact that only some parts of Mexico, such as Mexico City, require catalytic converters in automobiles. Nora Badillo, co-owner with her husband of Alex's Tires in Nogales, told me people in the United States often have sold cars in Mexico, removed the catalytic converter, then returned to the United States to sell the catalytic converter for maybe an extra $100.

"Thousands of those cars are in Mexico," Badillo said.

I'm trying to verify exactly where the converters are required in Mexico, and where they're not. The point is: A car could make it into Mexico legally, with a recent emissions test, but then have its catalytic converter removed, also legally, depending on the jurisdiction where the car is registered.

Mexico's new rule requiring emissions tests for cars imported from the United Stats
http://azstarnet.com/news/blogs/senor-r ... ml?print=1

Sounds like Mexico wants to slow down the return of their citizens.

This actually should have BIG implications. For years, stolen vehicles from the states ended up in Mexico. Recovering them was nearly impossible. Bringing a vehicle in should now also be checked that it is stolen and taking it to an emissions station in the states should also show it is stolen. This should mean they can only cross them in areas where there are no roads.