Three brands of hybrid-electric vehicles no longer require smog checks every two years or when ownership changes, the state's Department of Consumer Affairs said Wednesday.

Affected cars include all model years of the Honda Insight, Honda Civic Hybrid and Toyota Prius.

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Hi Jason:

___I have seen this posted up on Edmunds also. Personally, I am not in favor of allowing the Insight in particular, any non-PZEV rated HCH, or the Prius I in on the exemption. Here in the Chicago area and the collar counties, all cars get smog checked and it doesn’t cost anything so it really isn’t a big deal … The reason I mention this is that my Insight is just a LEV on high sulfur fuel which is all I have available to me other then BP/Amoco Ultimate. I most certainly am not going to pay an extra $0.20/gallon to purchase that to barely meet ULEV specs. Even at that, the Insight is no cleaner then the Corolla! The same can be said of the ULEV based HCH’s. Even the MDX is cleaner then those! And what about all the Ford Focus PZEV’s many have purchased? Same idea applies. Think of all the other available PZEV’s purchased over the last 3 years and yet they aren’t exempt either? They are as clean as any other PZEV yet still have to do a smog check IIRC.

___This whole exemption sounds like a political scheme to me …

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net