Toyota Prius Can't Pass Georgia Emissions Test

The Toyota Prius was launched in 2004, so now in 2007, early buyers' tags are expiring, so it's time for a trip to everyone's favorite place: DEQ. Ah, DEQ. The place that made me sell my Acura because it just wouldn't pass. No matter how many damn times I took it through, no luck. Too bad. Aside from the fact that I didn't really fit, I loved that thing. It was my first car, and I had lots of good memories with it: my front window being broken out at Lloyd Center, it getting stolen in front of my apartment, and of course, who can forget all those times I forgot to shut the lights off at Putnam and made Frank, the campus monitor, come out and give me a jump after school. Those were the days. But I digress.

So Prius owners in Georgia are having troubles of their own with DEQ. Troubles like, say, none of them pass. NONE. Every single Prius that has gone through DEQ in Georgia has failed. But wait, before you go calling Toyota all kinds of names, maybe you should hear who really deserves the scorn: Georgia. Those bastards! Here's the story:

The Prius is designed to idle with its engine off, to save gas. So, when the DEQ tries to test its emissions, it has none. So, because Georgia has equipment that isn't up-to-(hybrid)-date, it issues the Prius a failing grade due to an incomplete test. And rather than saying, "oh yeah, our equipment doesn't support hybrid cars, we should probably upgrade", Georgia still requires Prius owners to pay the $25 "aborted test" fee that gives them this sheet that says they didn't pass which they then have to take to 1 of 5 waiver centers to get approved for new tags. 1 of 5 in the entire state of Georgia. Hopefully located next door to the DEQ, but probably not.

Like the guys over at Autoblog said: "Don't ya love bureaucracy?"

[via Autoblog]