Legit?: Automotive Testing and Development Services, Inc.

[Moooiiissst]

Alright, so I got something interesting in the mail not too long ago. It's from Automotive Testing and Development Services, Inc. Without going too far into details, they essentially want to borrow my car for about a month and are willing to pay me $3000 if my car qualifies for their testing purposes. They will be giving me a loan car that is fully insured and are even offering to wash/vacuum my car for me prior to its return. Ontop of that, they are willing to pick up/drop off my car and the loaner car wherever I am.

Right off the bat, this seems sketchy. I know there is a guy on here that works for that company, @Lin_Farmer (without the underscore), but he has only had 4 posts, all of which are in this thread. I've also tried to research more online, but there haven't been any mentions of this company since like 2012 on some BMW and TDI forums, and they are saying it is a scam, but no mention as to why. However, there are some other sites saying that the OEM (in my case, Subaru) says they are legit and hire companies like ATDS to perform smog tests on new cars or something like that.

It's Sunday today, so I can't call Subaru or ATDS directly, but I thought I'd post on here my findings and see if anyone else on here has heard of this procedure or possibly has had any experience with it.

I love my car very very very very very much and I would hate to leave it in the hands of someone I cannot trust and god forbid that something happen to it in the process. But as a college student, $3000 could reeeeeeaaaaally help me out right now, which is the only reason I am considering it. The way I see it, as long as they take care of my car and follow through with the $3k check at the end, then I don't mind rolling in a non-BRZ car for a month. I will check with my insurance company tomorrow to see what they think about it and see if it won't hinder my policy in any way if I go through with it.

The doubts I have are these:

-What will be done with my car in the month that they have it?
-Will they be driving it outdoors? Or will it always be indoors on a dyno?
-How many miles should I expect them to put on my car?
-Can I trust them to not put regular fuel in my car and put only premium?
-Can I check up on my car from time to time throughout the month?
-Can I guarantee a $3k check upon picking up my car?
-How soon will I know that my car qualifies? (I would not want to lend my car for a month to simply get $100)

So I don't know... if it were to be like $100 and for just like a week, then I wouldn't even bother since I could make that money in no time working a few extra hours. But $3000... that has my attention.

So please let me know what you guys think and if you think it is a scam of some sort, please explain as to why because if it turns out to be legit, I don't want to miss this opportunity.

Below are the letters I got in the mail for reference. I tried to block out as much personal information as I could, but if there is something I missed, I hope I can trust you guys to let me know and not sabotage me

I look forward to everyone's feedback! Thanks!

[ZOMFGAARON]

Since they're using a ca.gov address for registration I'm assuming they're legit.
gov domain name registration is limited to federal, state, local and tribal government organizations within the United States.

Why not drive to their address and check it out and ask the question you're asking above or call them?



Also how do I get one of these letters?


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[Moooiiissst]

Originally Posted by ZOMFGAARON

Since they're using a ca.gov address for registration I'm assuming they're legit.
gov domain name registration is limited to federal, state, local and tribal government organizations within the United States.

Why not drive to their address and check it out and ask the question you're asking above or call them?



Also how do I get one of these letters?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was planning on stopping by tomorrow afternoon, but I just wanted to know if anyone has had experience with this company before or know of anyone who has. I didn't want to go in there and have them get my hopes up only to find out its a scam from someone on here. But you're right about the .gov address... Didn't think about that

I honestly didn't do anything to request this letter, it just came in the mail randomly. I did something similar a while back about a year ago when my car was fairly new, but a guy came to my house, hooked up his computer to my OBD II port, took some readings, and that was it. They said they were going to send me $50 in movie tickets (either that or gift cards to places I never go), but I never got them from what I recall. I don't think it's the same company from before, but maybe they saw that I am willing to whore out my car for money and my name got out there lol.

[ZOMFGAARON]

Originally Posted by Moooiiissst

I was planning on stopping by tomorrow afternoon, but I just wanted to know if anyone has had experience with this company before or know of anyone who has. I didn't want to go in there and have them get my hopes up only to find out its a scam from someone on here. But you're right about the .gov address... Didn't think about that

I honestly didn't do anything to request this letter, it just came in the mail randomly. I did something similar a while back about a year ago when my car was fairly new, but a guy came to my house, hooked up his computer to my OBD II port, took some readings, and that was it. They said they were going to send me $50 in movie tickets (either that or gift cards to places I never go), but I never got them from what I recall. I don't think it's the same company from before, but maybe they saw that I am willing to whore out my car for money and my name got out there lol.

Hmm did you ever buy anything from Perrin directly. I've read they're working together. Also I only found one review on Facebook and it was one star maybe but the comment makes no sense.
I think this is only for 2015's too bad mined a 13

Good luck let everyone know how it goes!


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[why?]

are any of the names on the letter real? I have never ever heard anyone not call it CARB before. Google all the names and titles and departments in the letter and see if they all check out.

Since the governor of California is not Edmund Brown, I would go with scam.

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by why?

Since the governor of California is not Edmund Brown, I would go with scam.

https://www.gov.ca.gov/m_about.php

le sigh.

[mav1178]

As for the ARB letter and who wrote it:

http://www.calepa.ca.gov/StaffDirect...5&BDO=1&VW=DET

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by Moooiiissst

The doubts I have are these:

-What will be done with my car in the month that they have it?
-Will they be driving it outdoors? Or will it always be indoors on a dyno?
-How many miles should I expect them to put on my car?
-Can I trust them to not put regular fuel in my car and put only premium?
-Can I check up on my car from time to time throughout the month?
-Can I guarantee a $3k check upon picking up my car?
-How soon will I know that my car qualifies? (I would not want to lend my car for a month to simply get $100)

Why have doubts when the letter you got has all the info you need?

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/inusecom/inusefaq.htm

BTW, this is the type of driving/testing cycle that was used to find VW's cheating on diesel emissions.

-alex

[mav1178]

Oh hey look, a letter that looks similar:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/inusecom/iuc-2012-001.pdf

What this program is for:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/inusecom/inusecom.htm

Video:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/videos/vehicle_testing.htm

Pics:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/inusecom/inusepic.htm

[Moooiiissst]

Just visited the corporate office in Ontario today and they are, in fact, legit. They have their own testing facility, however, for my specific tests, they will be sending the car to El Monte, CA. The extent of the testing that will be done to the car is exactly as explained in the video that @mav1178 posted on his last post - emissions testing for about 100 miles + transportation miles inside a sealed room for an extended period of time. The speeds tested can range from idle to about 80mph max, they said. And, just as the letter states, they will be giving me a fully insured rental car and if something were to happen to my car, whether it be a scratch or a mechanical issue, they are fully insured and will cover the repair costs completely. The rental car will also be fully insured. The selection process is kind of random at this point since they have a pool of, in my case, Subaru BRZ's that are pre-selected. The facility than then choose at random a few of them and run the tests stated.

They were really cool people to speak with and I even spoke with @Lin_Farmer directly, so that was a major plus which made me feel more confident that this is the real deal.

As I spoke with them, they mentioned that I was the first '15 BRZ submission to date, so even if they pick at random, I still have a pretty good chance of getting selected and since I'm completely stock with 14k miles on the car, then I should meet the requirement - which are mainly that the car is stock, in good condition, fluids are in good shape, stock tires/wheels, and with more than a few thousand miles on it so it is considered broken-in by the time they use it.

But as mentioned by @ZOMFGAARON, it is only for 2015 models and on an invite-only basis from my understanding. If someone is interested that has a 2015 BRZ (not sure if they will accept FRS's), you can try calling to see if they will accept your car, but I don't know first hand if they will since I think it may be invite-only.

But the main thing to take away from this is that it is legit as I spoke with the VP directly. I already filed my paperwork, but they said that they won't be doing the testing until a few weeks from now, so it'll be a while before I get a response.

Originally Posted by ZOMFGAARON

Hmm did you ever buy anything from Perrin directly. I've read they're working together. Also I only found one review on Facebook and it was one star maybe but the comment makes no sense.
I think this is only for 2015's too bad mined a 13

Good luck let everyone know how it goes!


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I have never bought anything from Perrin, but they did tell me they are working with Perrin to create a CARB-legal intake (refer to linked thread in original post). I saw the intake in person and it is pretty cool, but obviously it is still in the fine-tuning process, which is why they also need BRZ's for that case. I told them I may also be interested in participating in that program since I would just be lending my car for about 10 days on average (with a rental car included) and I would get to keep the intake afterwards

All in all, my car is going to be a whore

Originally Posted by why?

are any of the names on the letter real? I have never ever heard anyone not call it CARB before. Google all the names and titles and departments in the letter and see if they all check out.

Since the governor of California is not Edmund Brown, I would go with scam.

They are all real

Originally Posted by mav1178

https://www.gov.ca.gov/m_about.php

le sigh.

lulz

Originally Posted by mav1178

As for the ARB letter and who wrote it:

http://www.calepa.ca.gov/StaffDirect...5&BDO=1&VW=DET

Originally Posted by mav1178

Why have doubts when the letter you got has all the info you need?

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/inusecom/inusefaq.htm

BTW, this is the type of driving/testing cycle that was used to find VW's cheating on diesel emissions.

-alex

The people at ATDS brought up that exact issue where they used to test VW's on a very old route which was very small (older VW's couldn't go as fast as the ones now, so they didn't need that long of a track) and didn't get the newer vehicles up to their normal driving speeds during testing, so incomplete readings were given. Also, Cadillacs would also be used to running the tests without the A/C on, so Cadillac took advantage of that and allowed the emissions to be way higher when the A/C was turned on, so now the new tests are redesigned to cover up all of those loop holes.

Originally Posted by mav1178

Oh hey look, a letter that looks similar:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/inusecom/iuc-2012-001.pdf

What this program is for:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/inusecom/inusecom.htm

Video:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/videos/vehicle_testing.htm

Pics:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/inusecom/inusepic.htm

Thank you for all of your info, @mav1178 Everything you posted was pretty much confirmed today, so it looks like its a good-to-go for me

Like I said, I submitted the paperwork, so we will see if I get chosen in a few weeks and I will surely update this thread then

Thank you everyone else as well!

[Moooiiissst]

Also, a question for some of you since I don't know if ATDS will be able to answer this, but as for the rental car, they said they can give me something of the same class as the BRZ through Enterprise Rent-A-Car. My question is... what class does the BRZ fall under? What kind of car choices should I expect that are "similar" to a BRZ?

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by Moooiiissst

Thank you for all of your info, @mav1178 Everything you posted was pretty much confirmed today, so it looks like its a good-to-go for me

you're welcome... but seriously? Just google that stuff. I found all the answers you wanted in 5 minutes sitting at my desk at work before the coffee machine started working.

The fact that they sent you a letter from ARB to validate what they want to do says it all.. and yet you trusted a bunch of 3rd party strangers for info.

-alex

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by Moooiiissst

What kind of car choices should I expect that are "similar" to a BRZ?

Mustang or Camaro.

[Speed2th]

I had same letter and offer, but I am not going to participate. my car is modded already and too lazy to reverse the mod. Also, just felt awkward to lend my car out for a month...it feels like someone ask to borrow your girlfriend for a month.