Our vehicals have to be smog checked every two years, SO they can charge us 2 years of registration fees and give themselves a shot in the arm with more money!! I would not want to pay a bill of $450.00 rather than $225.00.!!!! The registration does go down as the car gets older HOWEVER they raise the standards on the smog allocations FORCING folks to purchase new vehicals!! Vehicals in CA. last a very long time because we have no extreme weather conditions, no salt on the roads ect. if you dont commute to work your vehicals will last you a very long time!!!
Either buy new cars or put work into fixing aging emissions components and engine rebuilds. This is why dirty smogs are a big market in this state.