tra9379,
Here in Michigan we used to have emissions testing, it could be done at most service stations if they had the certified equipment to do the test. Basically it was a sniffer test; they would put a probe into the exhaust pipe, punch your vin number into the machines keypad, run the engine for a specified amount of time and rpm ranges and the machine would spit out a document which you would take to the Secretary of State office to renew your plates, provided it passed the test.
A lot of people would use a car that was know will pass the test and then simply plug in the vin number of the failed car. The tester had to be willing to do it and most of them would, especially if it was a friend, or a friend of a friend. Of course you’d throw him a $20 to sweeten the deal!
This was highly illegal and very costly if you got caught but amazingly, people did it. I guess they figured, how could you get caught anyway?
If your state has a visual inspection, this method won’t work.
Phil
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