Here’s What You Get If You Volunteer Your Car For A Month Of Government Testing

Did you know that automakers can come knocking on your door to ask if you’ll volunteer to turn your car in for a whole month to be tested? It’s called the “In-Use Verification Program,” and it exists to make sure that cars still operate the same — emissions wise — after a few years as they did when new. If you participate in this program, you get a few perks, it turns out. But are they worth it?

I spotted the post below on Reddit from user Virtual_Substance_36. It’s titled “Is this legit? Can I send my car?” and shows a letter from Honda asking if it could borrow Virtual_Substance_36’s 2024 Honda Accord 1.5T Ex.

“American Honda Motor Co., Inc. is conducting emissions and fuel economy testing of privately owned Honda and Acura vehicles as part of the government-mandated ‘In-Use Verification Program’ (IUVP),” the letter begins. “This is a long-standing US regulatory requirement that all auto manufacturers must test customer vehicles after approximately one year and five years in service.”

Is this legit? Can I send my car?
byu/Virtual_Substance_36 inHonda

As the letter states, Honda is gathering 2020 and 2024 model-year vehicles, testing them after one year and five years on the road. If Virtual_Substance_36 chooses to volunteer their vehicle, Honda will compensate them with the following:

• A $150 check

• Use of a fully insured, size-equivalent loaner vehicle with unlimited mileage, free of charge while your vehicle is being tested

• A full tank of fuel in both the loaner vehicle upon delivery and your vehicle upon return

• Your vehicle washed and vacuumed upon return

After mentioning that the company will pick the car up from an owner’s house or from work, Honda’s letter gives details on what the vehicle will be subjected to while tested by the company’s partner, Automotive Testing and Development Services, Inc.:

Your vehicle can be conveniently exchanged with a loaner at your home, place of business, or another agreed-upon location and will be fully insured while in our care. Testing will be performed by Honda at our lab in Ann Arbor, MI and normally takes 1-4 weeks, however occasionally extra time is required. Your vehicle will be driven indoors on a chassis dynamometer (treadmill-like device) to simulate city and highway driving. This will add approximately 100-150 miles to your vehicle, plus mileage accumulated in transit to and from the test facility. Emissions-related parts and fluid samples may be taken from the vehicle — if so, they will be replaced by a Honda dealership using only Genuine Honda parts and fluids.

The In-Use Verification Program is, of course, not specific to Honda, with pretty much all automakers having a website devoted to information on it. Toyota”s site, which includes the video below, breaks down the history of this program

Why do we test?

In the early 90’s we began to voluntarily monitor and test emissions of our vehicles. We also began to cooperate with the EPA’s in-use surveillance program to ensure emissions compliance. At the end of 1999, the EPA adopted the Compliance Assurance Program (CAP2000). This introduced the In-Use Verification Program (IUVP) as a requirement for all manufacturers.

The IUVP is a vehicle testing program that monitors emissions and fuel economy for low and high mileage owner vehicles. It allows the government and industry to identify potential concerns that may require further investigation. At Toyota and Lexus, the IUVP is managed by the Powertrain Certification & Compliance team at Toyota Motor North America Research and Development (TMNA R&D) in Ann Arbor, MI.

Toyota discusses the “low mileage” and “high mileage” groups that it tests, and how they’re chosen:

A small sample of vehicles are randomly selected and tested annually based on sales volume. The vehicles are grouped and tested by model, mileage, and age. Vehicles with at least 10,000 miles and 1 year of service are tested in the Low Mileage group. Vehicles with at least 50,000 miles and 3 years of service are tested in the High Mileage group. Using randomized customer lists generated by Toyota Motor North America Sales (TMNA Sales), an invitation package is sent out to Toyota and Lexus owners. This package includes a letter explaining the program, a questionnaire to help determine eligibility, and a return envelope with postage.

Toyota has five facilities around the country — some Toyota and some belonging to contractors — that will conduct two types of testing: “exhaust testing” and “evaporative testing.” Here’s a breakdown:

Exhaust Testing

All selected vehicles are placed on a chassis dynamometer, also known as a dyno. The dyno simulates various driving styles, and allows the vehicle to be driven while remaining stationary, like a person running on a treadmill.

During each drive cycle, analyzers are connected to the tailpipe to measure exhaust gases and fuel economy.

This is broken into three sections:

City

City driving is simulated by a cycle called the Federal Test Procedure (FTP). The cycle has an average speed of 21.2 mph, lasts approximately 30 minutes, and is conducted in three phases.

Highway

Highway driving is simulated by the Highway Fuel Economy Test (HFET or HWY). This test has an average speed of 48.3 mph and lasts just under 26 minutes.

Supplemental

The US06 cycle was created to test vehicles under high speeds and acceleration conditions that more closely resemble modern driving habits. The test lasts 20 minutes with an average speed of 48.4 mph and a brief high speed of 80.2 mph.

Here’s the description of the evaporative testing:

Evaporative Testing

Some vehicles are also tested for evaporative emissions, or vapors off-gassed by the vehicle. This testing simulates two scenarios: parked and refueling.

Parked Vehicle

Vapors from a parked vehicle’s fuel tank are collected in a canister, but can potentially escape in small amounts. In addition, the rubber in tires and wiper blades, the plastics in panels and trim, and other materials on the vehicle can give off small amounts of vapors. To confirm the impact from these components, a vehicle is placed in a sealed room called a Sealed Housing Evaporative Determination, or SHED, chamber. Inside the SHED chamber, the temperature is cycled between 77℉ and 95℉ over a period of two to three days while the air in the room is monitored for vapors.

Refueling

While filling up the gas tank, fuel vapors are collected in a canister system on the vehicle. These vapors can potentially escape in small amounts. This canister system is tested in an On-board Refueling Vapor Recovery, or ORVR, chamber. The vehicle is connected to a fuel pump nozzle like those at a gas station, and sealed in the ORVR chamber. The air in the room is then monitored for vapors while the fuel tank is filled.

Oddly, Toyota says its vehicles are returned in one or two weeks, on average — so, quicker than Honda’s letter indicates. Toyota also says that “a monetary incentive is provided based on make, model and sales volume.” Otherwise, the two companies offer the same incentives: volunteers get a loaner, plus their car is cleaned and filled with fuel.

Here’s Hyundai’s website describing the program:

Here are some screengrab’s from Porsche’s website:

Every automaker has an information site about the In-Use Verification Program, because every automaker is required to participate. Just google IUVP and you’ll find Audi, Ford,  Mazda, Subaru — the whole lot:

Interestingly, he EPA’s own website has an FAQ that promises $20 per day plus a loaner or $50 a day without a loaner. At an average of two to four weeks, that could yield someone $1,400 plus a car wash and a tank of gas!

That’s not bad!

What’s more, the EPA makes it clear that the car will be insured while in their care, and the testing — which will add 300 miles (oddly, that’s more than the 100-150 miles that Honda and Toyota say) — is meant to “duplicate everyday operation.” So it’s not going to be abused.

And that leads me to the question being discussed in that Reddit thread; is it worth it?

I think $150 and a clean is pretty cheap, especially given the value of currency these days. If the $20/$50 a day rate that the EPA mentions were still applicable, that might change my mind, but a buck 50? I don’t know; maybe it depends on the loaner. If BMW pays me $150 and cleans my BMW i3, and gives me an M5 for two weeks, that’d be a deal-and-a-half.

What do you think; would you ever participate in the In-Use Verification Program?