exactly, no aftermarket header on the tC will ever pass and for the trd exhaust all you have to do is e-mail scion and ask them to e-mail you something that you can print out at home saying that the trd exhaust is state legal and below 96.5 db's so you can show the judge at court and get away with it. as for an aftermarket exhaust i was able to get mine passed through the state ref but it was a headache and a really long time of wait to do so (doesn't work for everyone but it did for me) and now i can drive around with my exhaust knowing that if i get pulled over the cops can't do anything to me because i no longer have an intake or headers so my motor looks stock yet i have a full exhaust system...

 

thank god for Texas

 

Im not going to lie living in cali and driving the car I do kinda makes me feel like an outlaw LOL. The reason why cali is the leader in auto trend is because if we do something to our cars we might as well go way way way overboard lol.

 

if they find illegal parts (ex: turbo) under your hood during one of these inspections and you fail the smog test (first time), will you still just get a smog ticket? or will they give you a fix it ticket/state ref ticket or even tow your car on the spot?

 

When they said "get pulled over again", did they mean by a smog inspection or by any CHP/officer?

 

from what I remember once you get the ticket, its suppose to come out asap and cant drive it until you do. if you leave it on and get pulled over again and not being fixed, you will get towed. I think.

 

if they see that you have a turbo they will give you a ticket with it saying if it's "correctable" or "non-correctable" and you might have to do the smog test, but if you do get pulled over by the smog check stop and you fail to pass then you will have to fix the problem of why it's not passing and then resmog the car and hope you pass or they will give you a ticket to where your not allowed to drive that car until it is fixed. cops can tow your car if they want to because it's not passing smog and has a modified motor.

as for the whole "get pulled over again" for instance if your fix it ticket for the turbo is $500, then if you get pulled over again and you still have it. then it will cost double to $1000 and will keep doubling until you get fed up with paying alot and decide to remove it.

best thing to do is if you get pulled and the cop/chp askes you if your hood opens and if you have anything under the hood that you don't want them to see. then be straight up honest and hope they don't get you really bad for it and sometimes they let you go with a verbal warning. but if you lie and they make you open your hood then you are gonna be soooo screwed for lieing to them because they aren't dumb and know what is stock and what isn't and for that they can threaten you and say that they will tow your car for it when you could of gotten it easy by just telling them the truth.

 

Almost got hit with my turbo tc, on la sierra north of the 91, van buren again north of the 91
And I even saw them one time on colima rd between Rowland heights and whittier.

 

Sean, from Church's (turbo tuning) said that he got pulled over by a cop and they asked him to pop his hood. He has a 400+ Evo X. He asked the cop "what is your probable cause for having to see whats under my hood?" His car looks 100% stock from the outside, including full stock exhaust like me. He continued to say "i understand you have the right to tow my car. that's no problem. i'll call my friend to pick me up here in 5 minutes and i will get my car back tomorrow from the tow lot. if you decide to pop my hood without my permission or a warrant i will take this to court and anything you find under my hood will probably be thrown out by the judge because lack of probable cause to begin with."

the cop shut his mouth and let him go.

he told me this is a risky move, but if you know the law (sean wants to be a lawyer) then you can fight it.

oh and most cops have no idea what modified parts look like. their training for that is a joke (this said by a cop.) unfortunately some cops are into cars and those know whats up.

 

i agree 100 percent!!! i love cali, even if it has all this bs.