
Additionally, vehicles with emissions well in excess of allowable standards or cutpoints must be tested at a STAR station. Each and every month vehicles that meet this criterion will be directed to STAR certified stations for testing through the DMV renewal notice process. Beginning January 1, 2013, stations that meet the STAR performance standards will be eligible for the legislatively created privilege of inspecting vehicles that are likely high smog emitters. In 2010, AB 2289 was enacted and creates the STAR program, an incentive-based system designed to improve the Smog Check Program while preserving the ability of small businesses to continue providing inspection services for Californians. Unfortunately though, California failed to comply with the federal Clean Air Act.

This is because the site would not have a stake in the repairs performed to get the vehicles to pass. What the program failed to identify was that the Smog Check Program effectiveness could be maintained without elimination of the directed vehicle program.

In fact, quite the opposite.Ĭalifornia thought if they separated test only sites from repair sites that this would increase incentive to perform proper inspections. The study also found showed that sites were rewarded when they had a substantial test volume each month. However, substantial volume did not guarantee that the vehicles sent their way were being properly tested.

BAR is mandated by law to administer the Smog Check program. In 1982, California became the 20th state in the nation to adopt a vehicle inspection and maintenance (Smog Check) program. BAR’s complaint resolution efforts result in approximately $6.3 million being returned to consumers in the form of direct refunds, rework of the vehicle at no charge, or adjustments to the final bill.

BAR also administers a statewide licensing program of repair facilities and service technicians in lamp and brake inspection and repair.Įach year, BAR handles over 14,800 consumer complaints involving auto repair. BAR registers and regulates automotive repair dealers, accepts and resolves auto repair complaints from the public, investigates violations of the Automotive Repair Act and, when appropriate, refers cases to law enforcement authorities. The Bureau of Automotive Repair’s (“BAR”) mission is to protect and serve California consumers by ensuring a fair and competitive automotive repair marketplace and administering a model motor vehicle emissions reduction program.įrom its headquarters in Sacramento and through 12 field offices around California, BAR conducts consumer protection services related to automotive repair.
