California smog tech says you need a k&n air filter

So my mother in law goes to smog this morning in her 2009 Tacoma, smog tech says stock air filter(that's brand new) isn't going to let it smog. He then tells her to install a K&N air filter.
What is the reasoning for this?
Is there something modified that requires more air flow?
The truck looks totally stock in the engine bay and underneath.

 

Go to another smog shop , dudes trippin

 

Benefits are minimal at best

 

This.

 

Do you have the stock airbox? According to some rando on the interwebs: "to be legal in California, air filter assemblies that don't use the stock airbox are required to have EO numbers." Is the air box modified? If it is stock then I would ask the technician to cite the regulation or portion of the smog check the vehicle is (or will) fail.

CA DMV Smog Check website

 

All stock. The in laws are old and leave everything stock. That drives me nuts!

 

Nope, totally false information from the smog guy, get a refund and go to another smog shop.

Also which smog shop is this so others dont go there.

 

Thats some scam imo. Try to take advantage of older people

 

Agreed, on a totally stock truck too.

OP which smog shop is this?

 

K&N is garbage and ruins MAFs with oiled filters.
Stock filter is fine. They're not required to look at your air filter during smog.

This is a scam to rip you off and sell a marked up price air filter + half hour labor at a high price to install it.
Probably illegal. They can probably be fined thousands and shut down for that.

OBD2 was mandated by the EPA in 1996. It is a self-reporting feature of vehicles since then to self-check that their emissions related components are working properly.
A smog shop's job is to:
-do a visual, looking at your cats, hood, underneath, to make sure nothing is fucked with in a way that causes more pollution
-performing a diagnostic scan of the OBD2 port/system making sure all readiness monitors are set/passed.

Cars can have up to around 8 monitors depending on what they came with.
The car will check itself, and "tattle tale" on itself if something is wrong, either causing a check engine light, or a monitor not to pass.
Some things it can check:
-secondary air pump system working properly (yours doesn't have it)
-post-cat oxygen sensor getting good readings, and not tripping a P0420 catalyst inefficiency code, etc.
-misfire
-running rich/excess fuel/excess hydrocarbons
-EVAP leak (leaky gas cap seal, etc.)

For example. If you have a bad cat. It will have a check engine light. And a code. Smog tech will see that. Won't be able to pass it.
"Sorry bud you gotta get that fixed first then come back" before you can register your car.
They probably have to upload that "clean slate" sheet of passed monitors to a database or print it with 8 green check marks as evidence the car they passed, actually passed

As you can see, your clean air filter has jack shit to do with any of that.
It's sad to hear of a "mechanic" preying on a woman like that. Or literally anyone. Whether it be an old person, or common person who isn't well-versed in cars.
Given his job is to plug into an OBD2 port all day for a couple bucks an hour, that's not much of a "mechanic"
Real mechanics work on unreliable cars that break all the time and are impossible to fix - when that happens, there is no need for bullshit upsells

It's best to just move on and find another shop. Unfortunately with smog, you're kind of forced to go to only smog shops, whether they're good or bad. Find one with good reviews.

No amount of complaining about it will do anything, if you plan to make some Fox news story.
Look how much coverage places like Jiffy Lube got for 10 years for being garbage. They're still in business. People still take their cars to them to get damaged.

 

Order the filter for $10 on WorldPac and charge them $30.
Charge 0.4hr labor = $100+ shop rate = $40
spend $10 charge $70 make $60 doing a task anyone can do with their hands in 2 minutes by flipping open the airbox clips
rinse and repeat
$$$profit$$$

What's interesting about "won't let it smog" implies he took the truck hostage, when in reality, it only wasted a few minutes of their time, and they're free to leave at any time.
Smog typically works on the guarantee that you pay if it passes smog, and don't if it doesn't.
So in reality, it's to his benefit to work on the truck. And he loses $50+ by sending it away.

At this point I wouldn't trust the guy to not pour sand in the oil cap if you fight it "No I'm not buying the filter just pass the smog" - unless you state it nicely "sorry can't afford the filter right now" and they say "Oh ok fine I'll just do the smog"

I'd just make some shit up "gonna go home and get the cash for that K&N!"
Which I'm sure he'd be excited about because he can skirt paying through the shop (owner gets a cut) and do it on the side to keep all the cash
then just not come back and go somewhere else

 

TECHNICALLY they can. A full smog check requires a visual inspection of all emissions equipment, the O N L Y part that a smog tech can disassemble is the the air filter box to check if there is still a charcoal filter installed post air filter as its emissions equipment (thats ONLY IF the system states that there should be one there from the factory).

Needless to say this scum is trying to sell someone on a KnN filter over the superior stock paper filter.

 

This is clearly someone with K&N air filters in stock, and that is the exact problem he is trying to solve. Your MIL needs to put her hand over her wallet and slowly back out of the room.

 

Guy is trying to scam your MIL into buying something from them or their recommended shop (they get a kickback) that she does not need. Get them to put the recommendation and reason in writing then take it and file a complaint. The state would love to get the extra money from giving them a fine.

 

I believe shops that do a California smog test are no longer allowed to fix what's causing it to not pass. To cut down on the scandalous crap. So maybe he added my buddy's shop next door sells them?

 

Your MIL should report this smog shop.

 

This has some truth to it but it's not entirely correct. There are a few type of smog shops. First, just regular old shops like always - these ones can be integrated into an otherwise automotive business and they're allowed to do both smogs and repair work. Second, there are "Star" Certified smog shops. Some of these Star shops do test only and some do test and repair.

I believe originally the Star locations were smog only but it seems now there are some that do both.

https://www.bar.ca.gov/Industry/STAR_Program/FAQ

 

@MonkeyProof

 

I would have her go to a different shop. No way a K&N is 'needed' to pass smog.

What part of CA are they in? If in the Pasadena area I know a great family owned shop I can recommend that I've always taken my truck to for smog.

 

Definitely report them to the California Air Resources Board. They'll swoop right down on that place pronto. Anyone that did fall for this is going to have to spend money again the next time they have to go for a smog check when they are told it has to be put back to factory stock or it will be failed.