Ca Auto Repair

[23ford]

Any truth to the story below:
https://www.odometer.com/car-care/25...Q0ipX_GxN4ruBc

[Joe Voller]

All I get is Cant be found

[23ford]

https://www.odometer.com/car-care/25623 ... X_GxN4ruBc


Try this link to Califunny outlawing diy auto repair. Also was told this includes car restoration done at your house.

[OilyBill]

Think this is something from the Trumpies, probably Sean Hannity.
Either that, or the date is wrong, and it should be dated 4-1-2021

[kmatt2]

This law goes back to 2019 and has been talked about on the forum before, something from politicans like Gavin Newsom. Sacramento County was frist but now other Calirornia counties have done it. You can only due certain minor repairs on your own car in your own garage using common tools. All other repairs are illegal and prohibited and will result in fines, starting at $400 for one offense in Sacramento. The allowed minor repairs :

Changing the oil & filter. What filter it's a Model T.

Changing a flat tire. I have to pry the tire off the rim to patch the tube. No they don't make tubeless cinchers.

Changing brake pads. I am changing my brake pads, there are three of them in the transmission which is part of the engine on a Model T.

Working on the electric system. I had to take the engine out and take it apart to get to the magneto to fix the broken magnet screws.

Yes California politicians are crazy and that is why so many US Constituion loving people are considering moving out of State, including myself.

[modeltspaz]

My solution. If you have an operable garage door, put your car in and close the door.

If someone knocks on the garage door when you're in there, tell them to go away. You need to get back to cleaning your shotgun.

[TRDxB2]

As Kevin said this was discussed before. What propagated the law was that some home owners started to run repair shops out of their garage. Now the news often takes things out of context and spins then to generate interest. So... here is a link to the SACRAMENTO COUNTY LAW for RESIDENTIAL AUTO REPAIRS https://code-enforcement.saccounty.net/ ... epair.aspx
And here are some highlights of the LAW
Can I work on my own car or somebody else’s car in my own home?
​Minor repair and maintenance of farm equipment or vehicles and similar equipment, for personal use or as a hobby use, may be permitted in all zoning districts for the benefit of the owner or resident(s), subject to meeting the following criteria:
Minor repair and maintenance of vehicles and similar equipment shall include brake part replacement, minor tune-up, change of oil and filter, repair of flat tire, lubrication and other similar operations.
Minor vehicle repair or maintenance does not include body or painting work of vehicle or vehicle parts.
It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in, or permit others to engage in, minor vehicle repair or maintenance under any of the following circumstances:
Using tools not normally found in a residence; <-so vague it would never hold up in a court of law
Conducted on vehicles registered to persons not currently residing on the lot or parcel; and,
Conducted outside a fully enclosed garage or accessory structure and resulting in the vehicle being inoperable for a period in excess of 24 hours. (See Section 3.2.5, Table 3.2 (I) of the Zoning Code)​
WHY? is Code Enforcement Concerned About Residential Automobile Repair?
-The chemicals involved in automobile repair can pollute our neighborhoods and endanger the health and well being of our residents.
-Furthermore, this kind of activity increases vehicle traffic and the visual impact can negatively impact property values.
What they meant to say My brother-in-law runs a repair shop downtown and has lost business to guys running fix-it shops out of their homes

[Susanne]

It's Sacramento, and it has no basis in reality. It started with a couple people running "shade tree" shops out of their garages (and up and down their street, around the block, etc. etc.), and making a shambles of the neighborhood (and yeah, I remember them, and they really were that bad), but the problem was once they passed the law, some people in the county code enforcement and revenue sections said "Oooh, what an EASY way to generate fine income and fill our coffers"... so they started hitting people working on their own cars, or their kids cars, and heh heh heh, see all the money we made for our city???

Fortunately, I haven't lived there for a couple decades and change, and because of the idiocy of the city council there I'm not likely to move back. I've also lived in Berkeley, and there's a direct coorelation of the 2 branches of local governance mentality... the rule is "I'm a city councilman, I think everyone (except me) should have to do XYZ, so we'll pass a law so everyone can live to my standards"...

And that's why I live in a very rural forest in a place far from the likes of the Sacramento City Council.

[danungar]

I can understand wanting to better regulate certain work like automotive paint and the disposal of certain hazardous chemicals. Many of those can be really nasty to the environment and a fairly high percentage of home mechanics do NOT handle hazardous waste disposal properly. That said, I can envision that law being struck down in court rather quickly. As others have pointed out, there’s so much harmless work adjacent to tasks excluded from the law, not to mention the endless DIY home projects that also may involve the same environmental and safety risks as automotive work, where does one reasonably draw the line?

[Steve Jelf]

This is one of the many reasons I prefer living in a rural county.

[Kevin Pharis]

Sacramento already had a mechanism in place to handle these residential repair shops... they call it the “BAR” (Beareu of Automotive Repair). The BAR operates based on customer complaints, and are not shy about letting you know that you have violated one of their rules. And then there’s the several city, county, and state regulations say it was already illegal to operate a commercial business in a residential neighborhood that impacts traffic. The BAR already says it was illegal to work on other peoples cars, or sub assemblies without a license, and you have to have a commercial address to maintain a license.

I don’t understand why califunny elitists insist on answering incompetence with incompetence. If you can’t enforce the current mechanism... why create an additional even more unenforceable mechanism...?! I have a feeling they simply need to justify their own existence by creating rules with their names attached... rather than supporting their predecessors insufficiently reinforced efforts.

It’s funny how the county doesn’t seem to mind the drug dealers down the street that operate a pharmacy by day, and renting every room and even a few garden sheds by nite... if only they would pass a few more laws...?

[Susanne]

BAR is great for regulating businesses, and shutting down businesses that are doing cruddy work... but if you have your cousin's brother's friend off Del Paso or north on Watt, (you're in Sacto, you know of where I speak) who knows a neighbor named Vlad and his brother in law Iggy who can do that for $50 and a six pack of beer...

BAR won't do anything about them. And they're the ones causing the problem. And we're not talking about the crack houses or Dope dealers (which SCSO or SPD can handle quite well), we're talking about shadetree mechanics doing FBN oil changes and dumping waste oilin the sewers out at McClellan at 2AM.

And remember - it's a mechanism to keep Vlad and Iggy from dumping that oil and stacking the street with these shadetree jobs, that someone decided to apply to people to do a money grab... not criminal activities of a semi-legitimate shop turning bad.

[Steve Jelf]

My question about silly laws is always how they are to be enforced. If you work on your car in a closed garage, how does anybody know what you're doing or how long you're taking to do it? If your state says YOM plates must be restored, or must not be restored (yes, some require it and some forbid it), how does anybody know whether a plate is well restored or NOS? If you have a "bathroom law" requiring everyone to use the restroom of their sex at birth, how do you know what that is? Do you hire guards to inspect everybody's plumbing to be sure they're in the right place? Never underestimate the ability of legislative bodies to produce foolishness. An old saying is on the money: No man's life, liberty and property are safe while the legislature is in session.~ Gideon J. Tucker

[Kevin Pharis]

Let me rephrase;

Dumping oil in the sewers... illegal
Operating a business out of a residence... illegal
Performing unlicensed repairs on autos... illegal


On a somewhat unrelated topic;

Dealing drugs...illegal
Doing drugs... illegal
Operating a hotel without a license... illegal


The folks that ignore the current laws will continue to ignore the new laws. If the old laws aren’t working, it’s because they either are not enforced... or are unenforceable. And the BAR is more than willing to knock on any of our doors... all it takes is one phone call. They follow up on every complaint that involves an unlicensed auto repair, no matter where it is happening or how old the car is (don’t ask how I know). If these fly by night shops are operating to the point that they are impacting neighborhood lifestyles, they must have happy customers and quiet neighbors.

This new law only created more restrictions on the honest people that follow the laws. In an attempt to restrict a few bad guys, they vilified everyone with more than just “average mechanics tools”...?! I might be taking this law personal... but if they were to make an enforcement visit to my house, they would probably haul me off in cuffs for a gross violation of beyond average tool possession

[Herb Iffrig]

I wonder how that will affect Jay Leno?
I wonder if he is a licensed shop for his own collection?

[Steve Jelf]

Jay is in a different county. Does Los Angeles County have similar legislation? If it does, I think he can afford to make his shop compliant.

[FreighTer Jim]

Depends on zoning enforcement.
That varies from town to town.

FJ

[John Codman]

Jay is in a different county. Does Los Angeles County have similar legislation? If it does, I think he can afford to make his shop compliant.

Jay's shop is not in a residential area (It's an airplane hangar) and mechanical work is allowed on the airport. Jay also most likely has hazardous waste disposal that is compliant with California laws. I'm guessing that Safety-Kleen has a regular stop at Jay's shop.
I do agree with Steve Jelf that passing laws that are for practical purposes unenforceable is stupid. Badly written laws are even stupider. Arlington MA passed an ordinance banning leaf blowers due to the noise. The issue is the noise, not the leaf blower. A good law would have specified how much noise the blower can make when measured at a set distance. As the law is written, there is no incentive for a manufacturer to try to build a quiet leaf blower because as a leaf blower it would still be banned.