In rebuttal to Guy, I think any government-spawned organization will sway with the current politicians, and even CARB has only the authority that the government has given them. I also think that the whole visual inspection is absurd, mostly for the reason that you can swap a motor completely legit, and pass the sniffer with flying colors, but not be given a pass because some bureaucrat decided that no engine is good except the original one. Oh, but muscles cars, that is a different story, lets just let the biggest gas guzzlers on the road go about with no restrictions. The laws just make no sense, and need to be revised in a manner which is less imposing on the consumers and more focused on the actual problem. Truth is, they are more worried about green house gases, but the petroleum will probably be gone before we pollute our air to death, so will suv's be the next big target of CARB? I don't think so, because they sell well, and use a LOT of gas, which is good for the economic world. They also generata a lot more in tax revenue than small cars, so it is good for the politicians who are filling CARB's pockets. it all just a vicious circle, centered on greed. >end rant<