Far out.. is that on the spot or do you get a warning?
Yes and no, sort of, but not really sure...
1st, I’d expect you’d get pinged by the roadside constabulary and given an on the spot fine for driving an unroadworthy vehicle and they’d probably slap a yellow canary on your windscreen just to add to your troubles.. The gestapo may also take pics of the offending bits and send them off to the EPA for their consideration (which is where the real problem start to occur).
2nd, you’d get a letter to present your car to an authorised emissions testing centre to have your car tested at your cost which isn’t much but the test must be done before a specified date.
Obviously you’d not want to turn up to the emissions test with no cat and/or a very fuelly tune as you will certainly fail and just compound your wose. Returning the car to a factory compliant exhaust and tune may be the best approach but this can be rather costly...
The testing mob may or may not take pics and send them to EPA. So the EPA may have before and after pics which clearly show a removed cat, so just because you passed the emissions test doesn’t automatically mean you won’t get done...
Passing the emissions test is not the same as getting a roadworthy which you’d still have to do to be able to clear the yellow canary.
Personally, I don’t know the exact process and for me, it’s simply not a path I’d want to explore as I have lots of other things I’d rather be spending money on than undoing mods and worrying about a potential $22k fine...
Whether anyone has actually been fined $22k I have no idea but I don’t want to the the “example” that is used to “send a message” to all those that break the rules
AsI said, I’ve got other things I’d rather spend $22k on than lawyers and/or fines