I have a question about Emissions. I've seen on other boards people talking about taking out their cat and having a straight pipe. What I want to know is that since the car won't pass emissions after they do that, what course of action do they take. I've never taken a car to get tested for emissions. Can you just fail and pay a fine and be done with it?

 

Typically, they make you correct the problem and retest the car. You'll eventually need to pass or (in MD) prove that you've spent more than $450 in an attempt to correct the failure.

Just get the car to pass, then put on the straight pipe. As long as it's a bolt on pipe, you can swap your cat back in before the next inspection.