You don’t need to replace minor car parts, you need to replace minor politicians

I propose we use Jay Leno's house as the standard of what tools are normally found in a residence.

Once I close the door to my garage, I’m pretty much going to do what I want in there.

As a retired mechanic and auto parts salesmen I know many people with automotive tools at their home. I still have all my tools and more since I quit working on car’s for a living 30 years ago. These stupid laws is why we left CA 2 years ago. Love living in a state and city where nobody bothers you.

Years ago we lived in a neighborhood where (we were unaware) NO vehicle maintenance was allowed where it could be observed from the street. Our neighbor called the police while I was in the process of replacing the brake pads on one of our cars on our driveway, but by the time the police arrived the job had been completed. I was issued a warning and they left. About a week or so later I called the police to report that the neighbor who had called them on me was performing maintenance on his car within view of the street. When they arrived they asked what the problem was, and I pointed out that he was washing his cars on his driveway. They seemed confused until I pointed out that he was performing vehicle maintenance. They issued him a warning and he never spoke to me again. Stupid laws.

My teenage niece built an airplane in her driveway. In Sacramento county. A neighbor complained and told the officer "there's laws against working on vehicles in your yard." The officer told the neighbor, "really? I work on my car all the time. And that's a classic Piper Cub, not really a vehicle under California vehicle code. There's nothing I can cite her for."

My residence has a TIG welder, gas axe, milling machine, metal lathe, air compressor, vacuum pump, cyclone separator, endoscope, IR camera, portable water pump, etc.

I spent 2 years doing a frame up rebuild on a Jeep in my carport. Neighbors would come by once in a while to check on the progress. Now I have a workshop in the back with a lift. I find it funny that the only polluting liquids that you might deal with on a major work are the same that you would get with doing minor work that they list.

“Common sense has become so rare that it could be classified as a super power.” - some tee shirt I saw years ago.

Almost every blue collar guy I know has filter wrenches, torque wrenches, tire plug kits, etc.

tools in my residence : every handheld tool made in the last 40 years, every handheld power tool made in the last 20, table saw, drill press, cabinet saw, welding kit, rebar equipment, car lift(s), drive up and on car platform, bobcat with accessories, tractor with accessories, tire remount unit, power pain sprayer, power planer, air compressors, generators, ...

A number of years ago a city inspector told me I had to get rid of an old classic car I had behind my garage. I told him it wasn't a car anymore, it was now a mobile storage container. He shook his head and walked away. I never heard another word about it.

So now I get to smuggle oil filter wrenches along with plastic straws into California.

trying to turn the entire county into an HOA!

Sounds like criminalizing poverty to me tbh. 90% of the repairs I've had to learn how to do myself were because I couldn't afford to take it to mechanic and couldn't afford to miss work.

That kind of law should be held in contempt. A homeowner should be able to do anything they like within the privacy of their own property. I do hope there is a legal challenge.

The local auto repair industry must be a powerful lobby.

Being a mechanic, I'm working on my cars and everything else I own and the government is not going to tell me I can't.

I live in a residence. Every tool I own is _normally_ found in my residence. Therefore, every tool I own is normally found in _a_ residence (specifically mine).

I live in Sacramento County and I had no idea this was a law. I’ve done all kinds of repairs here and my neighbor runs a business in his driveway repairing cars. They don’t enforce this law but they sure felt good writing it .

“If you don’t understand cars, don’t write laws about cars.” I’ve been saying the same thing about gun laws for years.

"It's not an oil filter wrench, officer...it's a jar-lid loosener."

Common Sense is a flower that does not grow in everyone's Garden

A strap wrench is commonly used for removing tight lids on jars and other things but can easily be used to remove an oil filter if it has been put on more than hand tight. This is definitely a tool that is found in many homes.

I lived in Sacramento for 5 years. I had a 69 Chevelle as my daily driver. I got out of there in the spring of 98. While I was there I changed the transmission in the driveway, and did my tuneups as well. I also got attempted car jacked, let a woman use my cordless phone to give her last dying words to her mother, had my car parts stolen, gas siphoned, two separate car theft attempts, and a drunk parolee blow a stop sign and t boned him in the Chevelle. I could go on. I’m back in my home state of Minnesota. I have to deal with long winters, but none of the insanity of Sacramento!

"tools not normally found in a home" is the most ivory tower mindset I ever heard in a law.

My property my rules, I have almost every tool available for construction mechanic foundations and farming and guerilla warfare.

I'm also extremely concerned how they included property zoned as agriculture in this because farmer need to work on their equipment to be able to keep up with the demands/breakdowns to be able to product the food we eat.

_"The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the government."_ - Publius Tacitus

I always assumed that the car Police had red and blue lights on them. There's far too many variables in that law to do anything but tie up the court system. " John, you were found flushing your radiator on a sunny Sunday afternoon. How do you plead ? " John: " Insanity, your Honor. I had to have been insane to have moved here. "

I would argue that any tool or device sold in a retail outlet (Autozone, Napa, Harbor Freight, etc) is a "tool normally found in a residence".

What about a Prius when the mechanical skills are rudimentary if you need to replace the battery where the 29 or 30 cells may have some juice in them. When you come right down to it, an after market battery will cost about $1500. Chris Fix did a great video where he bought a Prius with a dead, dead, and dead battery for about $2000 or $2500. No neighborhood-destroying juices and a car that he could sell for $6000 to $8000 or get 50,000 or more miles for a $4000 investment. He put the new battery and plastic parts back in for what appeared to be 4 or 5 hours and it hummed away. It hit the road with no more noise than you get from your LED flashlight on high beam. I love your analyses . Keep up the great work.

They can take my wrench out of my cold dead hand.

Gear pullers, pitman arm fork, ball joint tools, timing light, dwell meter, impact wrench, torque wrenches, brake tools, several wrench sets, several socket sets, feeler gauges, ignition wrenches, AC recharge tools, clutch pilot tools, jacks, stands, wheel chocks, on and on.... Lots of tools normally found in my garage and I'm an IT guy(and a gearhead).

I have all the tools you mentioned and an air compressor, welder, grinders, cherry picker, engine stand and thousands of other tools at my house.

I am sure the county had a gooood lawyer write this up before they passed this. I worked for a company that had cooling towers to cool water down. Took my grandson by the place one day when he was about 8 and he said look at all the polution that they are putting in the air, another day taking him to school we past by some timber land that had been planted in pine trees some 30 years before and he says look at them destroying the envireonmant by cutting down those trees.I had to have a talk with him both times to correct what he was taught in school each time. Steam off of a colling tower is water evaperating removing heat from the water, where do you think lumber comes from to build houses, somebudy has to plant the trees and take care of them for lumber.

I would wager to guess that whoever wrote that law has a vested interest in others not being allowed to work on their cars.

You're absolutely right. Greetings from Montreal! And yes, I do major repairs, e.g. timing belt, transmission swap, exhaust, I changed gears in a transmission. Controlled society, that's where we're going. It's sad seeing those coming from America, initially raised by people looking for freedom...

I suspect the automotive repair industry would have more to do with laws like this than HOA types. They want to protect their business from shade tree mechanic competition.

Surely you remember the exercise in law school where you were asked to draft a law that your class-mates would pick apart. This statute, while it seems clearly intended to prevent people turning private residences into repair shops, seems very inartfully drafted Perhaps they went to Pepperdine

If a government says you can no longer repair your own car, I would assume that the government would now be responsible to cover the cost of your repairs.

A person has a car with a leaking radiator, and it takes 1/2 gallon to top it off every 4 months. And, a leaking valve cover gasket which leaks 1 qt oil every 2 months. The owner cannot afford big bux a shop would charge, but a friend can resolve the issues for a reasonable cost, but cannot due to the law. Sooooo, the owner of the car is leaking chemicals all over town. (scratching my head) This makes sense HOW?

What is a major repair? Anything that is not a minor repair. Oh, thank God these people are here to explain these complicated issues to us! Somebody give that genius lawmaker an award!

Every time you showcase these stupid laws (and also HOAs), I thank God I live in a rural area and do not have to deal with this stupidity.

I live in the county next door. Every time I see a prop 65 warning I want to go the the statehouse and put up a banner that says "prop 65.5 warning - People inside this building are a cancer".

I am not sure what they mean by tools commonly found at a residence but look at it this way. Tools such as air tools, compressor, torque wrench, ratchet sets and accessories, oil filter wrenches, sandblaster, grinder, etc are commonly found at my residence and they always will.

Thank you for having the common sense and courage to discuss who should and should not be making laws. Florida gated community HOA's are notorious for this kind of stuff, all based on the questionable presumption that seeing somebody honorably stewarding their 2nd largest investment by properly maintaining their car somehow lowers the property value of everybody else's home.

Oil changes, Radiator flushes and air/fuel filter replacement are maintenance, not repairs.

Can the farmer in the "agricultural area" repair his tractor? His hay truck? Agriculture requires frequent mechanical repair of many types of vehicles.

Hmmm... but according to the Sacramento County building permit website, I can paint my whole house in Sacramento without a permit. I guess if you put the paint on a house rather than a car it magically removes all of those nasty "chemicals" that are hurting people. No, this just has to do with car regulation (or should I say over-regulation) in California. Great video Steve, thanks.

According to JOHN DEERE Tractors Inc you can't do any repairs on any of the Newer tractor that they build even if you PAID off the price for the tractor and are the out right owner of the tractor .

I guarantee that every house within 20 miles of my house has an oil filter wrench ,socket and wrench set. Pliers screwdrivers . Most will have torque wrench floor Jack and air tools. If you can't do your own car repairs around here then you don't belong around here.. my daughter was required to do her own oil changes and spark plugs, tires ECT. At age 16 when she got her first car. A Jeep Grand Cherokee. She is in her 30,s now and is doing her own house remodeling and additions. She is proud of the fact her Daddy taught her things. And I'm proud of her.

If torque wrenches are outlawed then only outlaws will have torque wrenches

Agricultural? So farmers can't work on their farm equipment?

What constitutes tools not normally found in a residence? I have welders, plasma cutters, an anvil a forge, a 10,000 lb press, air tools, grinders, a floor lift, oxy-acytelene rig all bought commercially as a private citizen. Also I don't believe the hatred of car repair as the impetus for the law. I would at a guess assume the reason has to do with local repair shops trying to force local residents to pay for repairs instead of doing the repairs themselves. When in doubt about the reason for bad law always follow the money

They sell all those tools at parts stores. Anyone can buy them. How could that not be normally found in residences?

Just another law to continue the transformation from a free market to a controlled market. Probably brought about due to lobbying by the motor trade.

It’s ok to rebuild your engine and transmission as long as you do it with a hammer, screwdriver and pliers. I was blown away when I heard about this law until I saw it was in California. Just today I was at autozone and saw a bin of universal extensions at the counter that had a sticker that read they are made of materials that may cause cancer. They were solid steel! WTF? Prop65.

My city covenants say that I cannot repair, rebuild, or repaint a vehicle in my garage. So I'm going to build a brand new airplane in my garage. It's never been broken so I can't be repairing it. It's never been built so I can't be rebuilding it. It's never been painted so I can't be repainting it. And until I'm near the very end of the project, it would have never had an engine in it so it wouldn't be a vehicle.

I purposely bought a home in an area with no HOA so i can work on my cars and my wifes car. Also so i can put up ham radio antennas.

A lot of what he says applies to guns too. Politicians write laws on guns, without knowing anything about them.

Xenia, Ohio has an ordinance like this. We also have 4 auto parts stores. They don't try to enforce it because it can't be enforced.

i just got citation for working on my truck i did a engine swap newer engine ford 4.6 sohc and 4r70w in my classic f250 4x4 just finish it now city of los anglese needs to inspect my truck see if it moves and my property needs to be inspected for up to 6 months. fine is $891. i was told i was doing major work and restoration on property. i recycles all fluids and clean messes when it happens am a master automotive and diesel medium and heavy duty technician. i think sacramento,los angeles and san diego has same law like copy paste so vague the inspector pretty much read it off the law was written and could not give me a decient break down whats allowed and what not.

When I was a kid, rebuilding an engine was a weekend fun hobby. As for the tools, I have all but one that you named plus a lot you didn’t.

Back in 1993,I was caught up with this in Illinois. My moms the greatest!! I grew up on a racetrack. Blew my engine 1 night. Pulled it, rebuilt it and went to school the next day. Law came to the house while I was in school and my mom said " do you see a broken car in the driveway, if not why are you here?" Lol

You would hope that the auto parts stores would fight this.

As a woman who can work on her own cars occasionally, I have all the tools mentioned and more. I guess I broke the law when I recharged the A/C on my Firebird? Wow. I live in an HOA in Sac County and yes, I get harassed, like leaving boxes on my porch for UPS pick up! Just another day...by the time I get a notice it's handled. They need to get over themselves. We are just trying to get by the best we can without bothering anyone.

I'd say asinine laws like this negatively affect property value vastly more than someone working on their car in their driveway..

Sacramento County would *HATE* my residence, and the tools in my garage... 35g air compressor, lathe, mill, drill press, band saw, table saw, router table, 107lb Mousehole Forge blacksmith anvil, propane 3-burner blacksmith forge, propane smelting/casting furnace, 2 welders on a welding cart, Kendon motorcycle lift (1000lb capacity), engine hoist, engine stand, triple-stack 44" toolbox... Man, that state and it's municipalities are freaking NUTS! I figure the anvil and forge would push those idiots off the deep end!!!

Excellent video. I'm a mechanic and it's great to see someone who not only knows about the law but also about car maintenance. I'm becoming addicted to this channel.

Over here in battle creek I've had the city actually tell me residents can only change their own oil(even in their enclosed garage) and that auto parts stores are just here for shops not regular people. Not only do I do all my own work, I do friends and families free (if they buy the parts, and help on major things(even though my step dad ALWAYS makes me take money) I've had a code compliance loser actually illegally walk into my property and the hundred feet to my garage telling me I can't replace my motor in my 03 grand prix gtp(I've gotten really good at then. 45 minutes is my record) I ignored him and was done before he was done talking, at that point I threw him off the property(note in michigan code compliance needs permission or a warrant with an officer to enter your property) They think they own you and your property, hell they even tried giving me a fine for selling a car citing the code for inoperable vehicles(saying it needs to be plated and insured on my own private property) when actually an inoperable vehicle doesn't run and drive. Tomorrow I'm doing the intake and exhaust solenoids on a 2013 equinox, 10 minute job but I expect a visit, always get harassed by them. Anyway keep up all the good Informative videos. And if your ever this way bring me some beer, I'm thirsty.

SWAT team in Sacramento: "put down the snap ring pliers and come out with your hands up!" 😳

@9:25, when a can says "this product contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer in humans", my first thought is boy, I'm glad I dont live in California. No risk of cancer here!

There will be secret clubs where people gather to work on their cars under the cover of darkness.

I don't care if it's a blight issue or not. It's your property YOU have the right to use it as YOU see fit. Not some municipal corporation who's trying to impede on your rights!

I got every single tool you mentioned in my CAR right now. Just in case I have a breakdown during my commute or trips. I have a more extensive collection in my home as well.

I've got every tool just about made to work on cars and motorcycles. I've got 5 torque wrenches and 4 floor jacks. plus many specialty tools.

It's OK to poop in the streets though. Way to go CA.

What about changing the thermostat? On my Audi Quattro, you have to replace the entire housing (Which is plastic-ughh), which requires the removal of the fuel rail & injectors, upper coolant pipe, various vacuum hoses and the throttle body and intake manifold. So draining the coolant is necessary. However I have all the tools I need, being employed in maintenance and tool and die, and back in the day, I took 4 years of automotive repair, where my last class, you had to tear apart and rebuild an engine, and get it running to pass the course. So I have the gear to catch and handle any of the chemicals.

I guarantee this law was written due to guys like my buddy who maintains a JUNKYARD in his front yard, takes up every parking spot on the street, and thoroughly frustrates his neighbors. Too bad the lawmakers are so stupid that they make a net that kills every fish in the ocean, vs crafting a net that singles out the prey fish.

That sounds like something an idiot home owners association would write.

The purpose of the law is simple. Money. They want you to go to a shop and pay for the work to be done for increase in tax revenue.

Take a deep dive into the origin of this law, and you'll find the automotive repair businesses pushing/pushed it.

Another reason huge numbers of people are fleeing California.

They’re worried about home values. As a realtor I would use the sight of home mechanics as added value of the neighborhood. “Your neighbors can help you and save you thousands of dollars”

This is an incredibly ludicrous law. I have $40,000 worth of tools at my residence and I can and will do everything from any automotive system and I have the tools for it, INCLUDING lathe and other machine work. I have never been a professional mechanic, I am retired but have 57 years of experience working on vehicles of many types and I WILL do what I have to do to keep my families vehicles in running condition! As for having a vehicle that is not in running condition for more than 24 hours is so insane I have no words.

That group with 5 hillbillies drinking beer is exactly how we do it here (oswego IL)

MANY municipalities have laws like this. First I've heard of a county having one. The underlying idea is the city (usually it's a city) doesn't want people running businesses out of their homes and increasing residential traffic to commercial zone levels. They don't want the eyesore of one car partially disassembled on the driveway for weeks or months -- or a series of them one after another as someone either buys old cars, fixes them up, and sells them, or as someone fixes his own car, then his relatives' cars and his friends' cars, then friends of friends... They have the mistaken idea that the reason commercial garages have significant amounts of hazardous waste to dispose of is because they do "big jobs", when in fact it's because they do lots of (often smaller) jobs that require replacing fluids or rubber parts (including tires). I see from other posts here that auto body painting and a solvent tank for cleaning parts are two other common sources for toxic chemicals in commercial auto repair facilities. Leaving aside the question of whether or not you should be able to run a business out of your home in a residential neighborhood, the big problem with these laws, like so many other laws about residential neighborhoods, is that they are written so vaguely and so all-inclusively that nearly anything you do with your car in your driveway can be taken as an excuse for a neighbor with an unrelated grievance to report you to the authorities, and then you risk a fine. It would be nice if such nonsense were limited to HOA neighborhoods. Unfortunately, it's not. Where I used to live, there was a neighbor who used to make trouble for our landlord in the years before we lived there, and proceeded to look for excuses to make trouble for us while we were living there. Fortunately, where I live now (we are owning again), I have no such neighbors. Oh, and law or no law, I do repairs on my cars in my driveway. I've had my stepson (a mechanic) help me with a few jobs, and he's done a few on his own. Any repair I am actually capable of doing in my driveway is de facto a minor repair, and any tool I've purchased is a tool that is commonly found in a residence - MY residence. Expensive, specialty tools that would not see more than one-time use would not be commonly found in my residence. No engine hoist, no lift, no paint booth.

The ban in agricultural areas is ludicrous. Almost all farm equipment can be repaired on site, by definition any vehicles owned by a farm is farm equipment.

I am 65 years old and have through the years I have gathered and inherited a large number of tools. I feel like a normal person in rural America and am an apt DIY person. I read study and learn. Very considerate of others and my surroundings. What is normal? A young person probably won’t have the tools I have, my grandson asked me how I got all the tools I have. My answer, “Time, money and a Father who instilled within me a strong work ethic and also left me some wonderful tools, in which I have added to through my own years.” That is the normal way among those I know. I will leave my tools to my grandsons if they want them-that is normal. I live in rural America because I enjoy the freedom to live on my own property. You got it🎯-such laws are stupid.😎

The people writing these laws are the Board presidents of their local HOA'S! Who else would write these laws?!

My oil-filter wrench spends most of it's time in my kitchen drawer so I can get those pesky tight jar lids off.

As a Californian, I am ashamed. I spent my youth working on and restoring cars with my friends and find the idea of outlawing such an enjoyable and productive activity detestable.

Isn't there something inherently unconstitutional about legislating what people may or may not do on their own property or in their own home? I would have to think so

I think you really hit on something that we as citizens have failed to do. That is, our DUTY as citizens to participate, communicate, petition, whatever, so our voice is heard loud and clear by these legislators. If we don't insist on having some control, we won't have any say about these stupid laws.

Circa 1985 in Arlington, Va, I had pulled over in a nice neighborhood after dropping someone off to investigate a noise my 72 Dart was making (a plug wire had come off of the cap). An officer stopped and asked if I needed help and told me I was not allowed to work on my own car and would call for a service vehicle/mechanic. I explained to him I had fixed the issue and was ready to go. He then told me the residents of that area were not allowed to work on their own vehicles and a hood being up could result in a citation (mobile service excluded). Big stately homes and most of them I saw did not appear to have garages. As for the ag thing, every farm I grew up around had a repair shop/area. Hard to comprehend for this small town upstate NY kid working as a mechanic.

Can I bill the people who passed this law for the extra costs forced on me by this law?

There are even oil filter sockets for a specially designed filter housing. What if you broke a bolt, now you need a drill, and tap and die set. Are those typical homeowner tools? How about allen keys? Multimeter? What about zip ties?

This was created from the local shops petitioning your City to shut people down doing their own repairs. They did the same thing to auto parts stores that would scan your car for free and tell you what's wrong with it.

I remember as a young fella I changed the transmission filter and set the new points on my 327 chevy on a Sunday morning before church. But I reckon that matchbook cover was a normal tool and all.