I think the law changed here April 15, 2015 so this isn't news but I am wondering if other states do this. A Rude Awakening Awaits California Hybrid Owners | Best Ride Midnight Oil Auto Blog
"In Mississippi, your vehicle is not required to pass an emissions test or smog check" And I see them emitting so much smoke you can't see cars behind them.
I don't think it's a bad thing personally... Every car, truck and motorcycle that isn't strictly an EV should be evaluated for emissions.
In Washington State, the Prius and Insight are exempt, but not all hybrids are exempt. Here, emissions testing is required only in five counties (out of 39 statewide), and not even in all zip codes within these counties. Also, in most cases, cars of model year 2009 or later must meet California emissions standards in order to be registered here, and are currently exempt from testing. I am unclear if this newer car exemption is fixed at MY2009, or just a rolling figure pegged at six years of age.
In Virginia, only certain parts of the state (Northern VA) have to get emissions inpections. Prius Liftback is exempt from the emissions test, but I am not sure about other hybrids. Originally. the rule was 50 MPG and over was exempt but then in 2007 the EPA re-evaluated Prius Liftback MPG (downrated it to like 48 MPG from 54 MPG) so for a while I was lucky with the 2006 as 2007+ Prius needed the emissions test. Since then they changed it to all Liftback Prii are exempt, Can't recall if we lose it after vehicle 10-yrs old. Basically the areas that require EPA reformulated gasoline also require emissions inspections. I estimate this is about 50% of Prius owners.
Thanks for your responses. Sorry I put this in the wrong forum. Yes I do know we will be exempt for the first six years, like most vehicles. I really wondered what was up elsewhere and why.
In Pennsylvania, emission testing is required every year, but only in certain counties around the major cities. Diesels are exempt, as are gasoline cars driven under 3000 miles a year. It was once a year in New Jersey when I lived there, but it is now every other year, and new cars might be exempt for the first 4 years. NJ has public testing stations that are zero cost out of pocket, so this may simply to reduce the lines.
in mass, emissions and safety check once a year. they just hook up their machine to the obd, it reads the stored info and prints out a sticker for the windshield. $35. when i was a kid, if your vehicle wasn't going to pass (just safety back then) you could give the gas station attendant 2 bucks, and he'd slap a sticker on for you.
Ignorant and poorly reasoned blog. It has always been possible to run the engine in a Prius long enough for the smog check. Until Prius hybrids fail in numbers at the smog check, it is idiotic to presume it will happen If any one car passes the smog check now and has not had emission related repairs in the past, it would have passed all the other smog checks it skipped through the years. So the reasoning to buy a Corolla is flawed.
I think it might be that way in California too. It is probably simply due to practical politics in Pennsylvania. The inspections are done by private garages. When the test was tail pipe sniffing only, a garage would have had to buy a separate instrument for the very few diesels. Until recently, the only cars were a few VWs and MBs. Even with counting the heavy duty diesel pick ups, there are fewer diesels sold per year than hybrids. It does let diesel owners modify their emissions with less worry, but a Civic owner in the middle of the state on another forum also doesn't need smog testing, and has bypassed the EGR valve. On a Sonic forum some put in straight pipes that bypass the catalytic converter. It is easy to spot the diesels running out of spec emissions, but there are far more out of spec gassers on American roads.
