It’s coming up that time. Time to get the state inspection sticker. In my driving year, this is pretty much the time when my car is most in jeopardy of suddenly having to become “not my car”. Naturally this brings some degree of stress, and therefore I have accumulated over the years a number of stories about the various causes for this stress. Perhaps you have the same. Or maybe you just like to read about things that cause other people stress. Lucky you. Read on.
I have 4 cars registered here in the great state of Massachusetts, so all 4 need annual inspection stickers. Somehow – more through coincidence than planning – all of my vehicles are due for inspection during the summer from June through August. That’s lucky by my way of looking at the world, since I have always assumed that it’s easier to work on cars during good weather as opposed to in the middle of winter. Needing to “work on” my cars is something that I have nearly always associated with the state motor vehicle inspection process.
I’ll get to my more recent and current issues shortly, but let’s for a moment go back to 1984.
Yes, that’s me in the trunk.
As noted in my COAL about my first real car, I had that car until 1984. Why I no longer have that car – because let’s face it, I tend to keep pretty much everything pretty much forever – is a matter directly related to my state’s annual vehicle inspection program. It was in 1984, that my LeSabre failed the MA inspection process for at least the third time (as a 1971 vehicle in 1984, it was indeed several years past the expected lifetime for cars of its time). In those dark ages before the advent of modern networked computing technology failures could generally be solved by simply taking your car to another inspection facility where the inspector was a bit more “reasonable” and perhaps a bit amenable to considering that a car just needed an extra $5 to cover installing a “bulb or something” in order to pass. Know what I mean?
Well, in all honesty, the LeSabre had many more problems than could be ascribed to flaky turn signal or brake light bulbs. It also had acquired by that time floors that were right up there with something that Fred and Barney might have piloted in 3M B.C.E.
“Through the courtesy of Fred’s two feet!”
These are from a 1970 Electra that I found on-line.
My LeSabre’s floors were much worse.
At first, I solved the problem through pop-riveting aluminum sheets to the floors.
Used plates in the press room at the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
Those aluminum sheets came from the exact press room pictured above. The Daily Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, MA) apparently didn’t shut down its in-house printing operation until 2020. That was some 30 years after I was getting cast-off used plates from their press room. Of course, thin-aluminum wasn’t ideal for replacing corroded steel on a Buick, but it worked for 20-something year old me at the time. Until it didn’t.
The real reason that the LeSabre didn’t make it through its 1984 state inspection actually was much more due to the advent in 1983 of an emissions testing component for Massachusetts vehicle inspections. If I recall correctly (and 40 years later, recalling correctly is a bit of a risky proposition), the introductory year of emissions inspection involved some process for inspecting cars using the new-fangled (at least in MA) tailpipe sniffing equipment every-other-year (it’s every year now).
With a 1971 model year car, I should have been subject to the dreaded test in 1983, but through some combination of luck and testing station high jinks I managed to wrangle a 1983 sticker. This being Massachusetts, municipal high jinks pretty much arrived with the Pilgrims in 1620, although I suspect that Massasoit/Ousamequin had that racket well nailed down even before the Pilgrims came on the scene with their urgent and therefore quite exploitable need for directions, heat, and food and stuff.
Nevertheless, my prospects for a 1984 sticker were dim. With my improvised aluminum floors, flaky brake lights, and an engine emissions system that looked more like slightly chopped spaghetti al nero di seppia than anything that had ever emerged from a factory in Flint, the likelihood of continuing to run the LeSabre in Massachusetts was slim. So off to the crusher it went like so many cars in Massachusetts in those early years of state-mandated emissions testing.
Nowadays, the black R is for emissions rejection while a red R is for safety-related rejections. Back in the 1980s, there was only one R. A red one that really stood out.
Most of those cars would have shown up in the salvage yard with the dreaded “R” sticker. Technically, after receiving one of these, a driver has 60 days to get their car “repaired”, re-inspected, and then receive a standard (passing) sticker. Originally, there was no incentive or requirement to go back to the station that originally failed you to get your car re-inspected. This of course led some drivers to shop a variety of inspection stations (which were then as now just service stations or independent mechanics that have chosen to pay the fee to be a state inspection station) for one that would give them the best deal on acquiring a passing sticker. More high jinks, as you can imagine, would ensue. Nowadays, a failure is logged into the inspection system immediately so all stations know the reason why you have an R sticker. Presumably it’s therefore impossible to beat the rejection without actually fixing the problem that is identified in the state’s online system. Maybe.
Anyhow, I wasn’t going to deal with any of that with the LeSabre and gave it up for a new car that I figured (correctly) would not face significant annual inspection challenges other than the occasional grifting that might necessitate buying a new turn signal bulb or something minor. That turned out to work fine until about 6 years later when I launched myself back into annual inspection terror with the purchase of an early 1970s BMW. But that’s a whole different story. Other than that foray into inspection uncertainty, I’ve mostly steered myself to modern cars where the chances of getting your car yanked off the road by the state are slim.
Flash forward 34 years or so.
Of course, that couldn’t be the end of the story or the end of my persistent need to inject uncertainty into pretty much any vehicular situation. No, of course not…enter the 1976 Volvo. Until recently, the Volvo was my only car that exceeded 15 years old, and as such is exempt from the tailpipe sniffer test in Massachusetts. (As of this year – 2023 – three of my 4 cars including the Volvo are older than 15. Whoo-hoo!) But all that means is that the inspection process can find additional opportunities to grant you the scarlet R sticker for various non-emissions infractions. Despite having rock solid floors (good, because my source for aluminum printing plates has expired), the Volvo opens the door to flaky tail light, brake light, reversing light, and turn signal sockets which necessitate the purchase of a bulb from the inspection station (the price for them to open the thing up, determine that it’s in fact a loose bulb…but you’ve now bought the bulb…). Even more vexing and potentially problematic is the gray-area of what is or is not required equipment-wise for a car to pass. At least in my experience, acquiring an annual sticker is anything but an objective process.
Notice any particular differences between this photo of the Volvo’s rear and the photo above? Anything missing? If you think that rear window wiper just “fell off”, you’d be wrong. No, it in fact has gone on permanent vacation so that the attached car can get its sticker. This was in response to the inspection station determining that while a rear window wiper was not required for a vehicle to pass inspection “in general”, it was required in my car’s case because “vehicles need to have in operational state all of the equipment they were originally built with” in order to pass. How did the inspector (who likely hadn’t seen a 1976 Volvo in many a day if ever) know that my car was originally built with a rear wiper? Well, there was one attached to the rear hatch, right? There you have it. Owners don’t just screw those things on for laughs, you know? Clearly this inspection station dude was not at all familiar with the likes of the J.C. Whitney catalog.
“I’m sorry, one of Winky’s eyes isn’t lighting up. This could be expensive. No sticker for YOU!”
The logic was that if the wiper wasn’t there, it could be passed…but it couldn’t be passed if the wiper was attached (as this one clearly was) and simply didn’t work. Making the wiper work is a whole lot of effort in my car’s case. Any CC readers who want to help me figure out if the issue is in the switch, the wiring, and/or the motor and then help replace the switch, wiring, and/or motor are welcome to come on down and give me a hand.
So, no wiper, no problem. Bring on the sticker – that year at least. Subsequent years continued to leave stuff like the parking brake, front windshield washer pump, and a gazillion other little things to keep tabs on. Still, it went well for a couple or three years. That was until the point when my traditional inspection station informed me that “we might have a hard time continuing to pass you with that missing rear wiper”. Wait, the rear wiper that YOU told me to remove? I chalked this whole thing up to the inspection station owner needing to make an additional boat payment (with apologies to Click and Clack) or perhaps a yearning to own a 1976 Volvo that certain owners at their wit’s end might be “encouraged” to sell him on the cheap.
No, from what I can tell he has quite a collection of vehicles that have managed to fail inspection one way or another and that have subsequently taken up semi-permanent residence in his parking lot. It must have been the boat payment. At any rate, high jinks will ensue.
This time I went the route of changing inspection stations, and so far the Volvo and my other two 15+ year old cars have acquired proper stickers. That of course could change in an instant, like it almost did for my 2008 BMW that has a defective passenger seat airbag sensor mat (that has already been fixed to the tune of $500) which required me to reprogram the car so that it didn’t continue to display a giant red error warning on the dash right at its July inspection date.
Stay tuned.
Perhaps the last new-old-stock left front turn signal lens for an early-model 240, replacing one that had growing hair-line cracks and hence one more reason for possible sticker failure. Depending on who you ask.
What state inspection stories do you have? I realize that few states – other than of course California – can come close to the gauntlet that we in my state have created for motorists, but maybe I’m wrong about that. And what about non-US readers? The stories of Japan’s JCI (a.k.a. “Shaken”…which I have to believe describes the process as well as what it leaves drivers feeling) and Germany’s Hauptuntersuchung (one ought to get the sticker just for being able to pronounce that word…better to just say TÜV) abound. Without getting anyone in trouble, do you have any stories of the high jinks present in your inspection process? A little gloating is ok from those of you who live and drive somewhere with no inspection. Let’s hear it.
If you’re sure your car won’t pass inspection and you can’t find a lick-it-and-stick it shop, try what this woman did:
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/woman-charged-felony-crudely-drawn-inspection-18192974.php
LOL! It would have been easier if she took a picture of a sticker with her phone and printed it out.
Reminds me of a kid that I worked with who took a black marker and colored his expired tag decal to match the current one…he ALMOST got away with it,
LOL!!! 🙂
That’s wacky! I’ve seen something similar in cases where people have for some reason “lost” a license plate and figure that it makes sense to just stick a piece of cardboard in the blank spot. Sometimes it says “lost plate” (duh….) and sometimes they try to make something that looks like the plate. Never seen anything like that for an inspection sticker though.
Driving without an inspection sticker is illegal where they are required but if you don’t have one, all that they can get you for is driving an uninspected vehicle. If you make an inspection sticker and get caught you are charged with driving an uninspected vehicle and fraud. By making an effort to deceive, you get into so much more trouble.
Isn’t that how life usually works? 🙂
What a tangled web we weave when at first we practice to deceive.
Yep that’s the same with Lic plates in general no plate is better then wrong plate (although this varies a bit by jurisdiction).
It’s both nice and terrifying living in a no-inspection state. Not having to take your ride in once a year is obviously pretty great – but it creates a bit of an “anything goes” atmosphere in regards to what is and isn’t road-worthy.
I’ve crossed paths with both an 80s Datsun and late 80s GM wagon that look very, very drafty. The GM (I want to say Cutlass Ciera) I’ve seen on the interstate and the Datsun I’ve witnessed on a lift at a former employers shop – no idea how it didn’t fold in half.
All four of the states I’ve lived in have required inspections of one type or another.
Here in Virginia, we have an annual safety inspection, plus an every-other-year emissions inspection for cars in major metro areas. Fortunately for me, the emissions requirement expires when a car hits 25 years of age. I say fortunately because our 28-year old Thunderbird now has a Check Engine Light that won’t shut off, and the car wouldn’t pass with the light on. Whew.
I’ve rarely had serious problems at inspection time, but few oddball instances stand out:
Biggest Rip-Off: When I moved to Maryland, I had to get my Ford Contour inspected. I stopped by a service station on my lunch break for the inspection, and they refused to pass my car unless I bought new windshield wipers. Of course, they charged about double what an auto parts store would, but the alternative was to receive a Fail Sticker, and then come back and wait in line again another day. I sucked it up and paid, as most people do when that happens. And that’s why people tend to loathe inspections.
Most Ridiculous Thing Wrong: My wife moved from Missouri to Virginia in 2000, and her former Missouri inspection sticker still adorned her car’s windshield a decade later. One year, I took that car in to be inspected, and the Inspector said he had to remove the Missouri inspection sticker because things blocking a driver’s visibility were illegal. Oh. At least he didn’t charge me for it.
Most Amusing: I used to get my cars inspected at a service station where the Inspector was an 86-year-old, very opinionated mechanic. It was always amusing to deal with him. One time my car failed the emissions inspection – just barely. So I decided to use some engine cleaner, take the car for a long drive, and get it re-inspected the next week. Since I’d never had a car fail before in Virginia, I didn’t know that I should have received a “Rejected” sticker – but the Inspector mistakenly put a regular new sticker on instead. The next week I went back to the shop and waited in line again. After bringing my car into the bay, the mechanic said “Why the hell are you here?” I told him the car failed emissions last week and showed him the paperwork. He glanced over at the car, saw he actually put a valid sticker on it accidentally, crumpled up the paperwork and said “Just throw this in the sh*t can, and get out of here.”
These days, I have a trustworthy mechanic who I’ve used for several years, so inspections are relatively low-stress affairs. I hope it stays that way.
Great stories!
I should have mentioned “need new wiper blades” along with “need a new bulb” in the article. I am reminded of an inspection station I used to use years ago (right after getting rid of the Buick) that pretty much imposed a wiper blade tax every year at inspection time.
And to the “most ridiculous” thing… For a couple of years the guy who got me to remove the Volvo’s rear wiper also declared war on those license plate frames that have slogans/dealer names/etc. on them. Said they all had to go as they “obscured the license plate”. Hummmmmmmm. Obviously not a state-wide rule as nearly every other car I see has one.
I used to live in Sweden, and my motorcycle was inspected every two years. Cars were the same, I think. (Maybe every year after the first two years. It was called ‘bilprovning.’) Very thorough inspections. Ditto in the UK. German inspections were even more rigorous. The idea, I recall, was that if you can afford a car then you can afford to take care of it. My (conservative) estimate is that at least half the cars in the USA would not pass a Swedish inspection, and would thus not be allowed on the road until brought up to spec.
Based on my experience of living in the USA and Scandanavia I would estimate that close to 100% of American cars over 6 years old would fail inspection in Sweden/Germany.
I grew up in Cook County Illinois, scam capital and gang capital of the US. There are two levels of enforcement of these laws, one for honest people and another for members of the Black Disciples, Latin Kings or Black P. Stone, at least on the South Side. If you are a gang member, driving a Nissan Altima, Lexus or BMW Whatever, racing down a shoulder of the Bishop Ford or the Dan Ryan, you have immunity from any vehicle taxes, driver’s licenses, or speed limits. They are driving their girl friend’s car, and whatever they want to do on the street is acceptable. I am no longer shocked.
Then there was me, trying to get to my job at the UC Hyde Park library. No one was afraid of me. I drove a white Festiva and one would think I had fenders and doors with messages saying, “harrass me”, “ask me for money”, “I won’t hurt you”, “I am unarmed”, “I am just a nice librarian”. For a year, I dutifully puttered that little Festiva into one of the Cook County designated air and safety designated locations and perform expensive tasteless acts in order to get my safety sticker. Unlike my old Toyota Hilux, I wasn’t exempt with the Festiva, but after holding my breath, I would pass and get the sticker.
Then I had to remember to put my municipality vehicle sticker on my windshield by January 1st of each year, because our local law enforcement would ticket every parked car in each of the neighborhoods of our Cook County municipality at Midnight. Classic Cook County clown show. My neighborhood village to our immediate south lost their governments to rampant corruption, and it is still operated as a ward of Cook County, so there are fleets of Cook County Sheriffs cruising through, which gave our neighborhood a touch of safety. There were as many CC Sheriffs as Municipal police in our neighborhood. We only had drive by shootings, and a couple of murders, one next door to our house when the new owner’s son was dealing and ended up dead. We moved my mom down to Springfield right before that happened. There were too many temporary drug houses on her block. We had to pay $500 to leave move her out, and the money was supposed to go to mowing the lawns of the vacant properties in our neighborhood.
The air quality sticker prices, the municipality sticker prices, the exorbidant Cook County gas pump taxes – means we drove to the border of Indiana for daily fuel needs. On the South Side, that means a 20 minute drive. We just bought enough gas in Cook County to get to Indiana to fill up every night after work. The border filling stations have lines forming at the pumps after 5 PM. If you wait until morning, you have to get there early in order to add the 30 minutes to your commuting time. UI Chicago was only 10 miles from my home, so it would mean adding 30 minutes to your 60 minute commute. Or take the Metra train and get there in 40 minutes.
Understandably, both my wife and I as well as most family members have left Chicago. Between the two of us, we both had four generations of families living in Chicago for over a century but as of last week, we’re down to three seniors holding on. Yeah – it’s really sad how far our city has collapsed. We’re 250 miles away, but still suffering under Chicago because the City runs Illinois. We’re looking at crossing the Mississippi into Missouri to escape Illinois after we retire.
You lived in the poor South Suburbs of Chicago – yeah, we got stories about vehicles.
That sounds pretty brutal. Those municipality stickers sound like a real racket. I’m surprised that they’re not common in my state. We have to pay an annual excise tax, but so far, there’s no sticker attached.
Although when I was a youth, living in NC, I really really loved the “city plates” that residents in most NC cities were required to get. So, you’d have the regular NC state rear plate, and a half-height front plate that said “Raleigh” or whatever. Very cool.
We had municipality tax stickers here in Virginia until recently too. Counties and cities issued them as a “receipt” for paying the (often brutal) annual personal property tax, and would ticket cars parked overnight that didn’t have up-to-date stickers.
Many jurisdictions got rid of the stickers over the last few years (but still charge the $35 sticker fee, now rebranded as a processing fee). Of course they didn’t give up on tax enforcement, now they use automated license plate readers now that are connected to tax databases. I think I prefer the stickers. Plus, like you mention about the NC city plates, it was fun to see where various cars were from.
Thank God you left, and why the Hell did you stay so long? (Of course I’m one to talk, I left over six years ago after living in Silly-nois from my birth)
I lived out in Will County and our suburb tried the “Municipal Sticker” racket. Which most citizens like myself conveniently “forgot” 😏 to purchase. Hard for the police to cruise around checking for expired stickers when most people park their cars in their house’s garage with the door shut. The city stopped the program and just raised property taxes 🙄.
Hawaii has a catch22 when importing a car from another state. You have to present an inspection certificate to the DMV to get Hawaii plates. OK, so far. Here is the catch, automatic fail at the inspection station for not having current HAWAII registration sticker.
PA is pretty similar I think in their inspection scheme. Every year you need to get a safety and an emissions sticker, placed in your windshield, except for antique/classic registered cars. The rules are similarly vague, I’ve read them to understand if my car will pass or fail. Will small cracks, not leaking grease, on a ball joint boot pass? The rules say the joint can’t be loose and it must be in “safe condition”, meaning up to the discretion of the mechanic… I was told a similar story to you about fog lights on my 2002 Passat wagon by one inspection station, if they’re there they need to work.
I found that inevitably, if my car was to have any issues like a CEL, it would happen in the time right before my inspection was due. It would also inevitably delay me for some time in fixing it, and then lead me to fret about driving on an expired inspection.
With that same Passat, I did have one year maybe 6 years ago, when I took it for inspection and it failed for leaking rear shocks. So I got my emissions sticker, but not safety. I refused to pay Pep Boys prices for parts and labor, so I bought parts from Rock Auto and had to wait a week for their arrival. Literally on the way home from that safety failure, I watched my temperature gauge suddenly drop from operating temp to stone cold. My thermostat had failed (open) and I was glad I already had that emissions sticker as it was one less thing to fix before being legal
I’ve lived in DC for nearly “30 years. We get “2 year stickers here. As there is “one” inspection station, I’m grateful.
A year of so before I moved to DC, took car for a VA inspection. (safety/emissions both)
Was getting a service too so did it all at dealer.
Picked car up after sundown; next morning (old sticker) still in windshield.
Learned a lesson about ‘looking”.
Had the paperwork for “passed inspections”. Had to get the car back to dealer for the sticker. Really?
Vehicle safety inspections aren’t required in Ohio, and as a result we regularly see some pretty frightening-looking cars and trucks on the road.
Ohio does require emissions testing, but only in selected counties in the Cleveland area. Amazingly, emissions testing isn’t required in Columbus, which by far is the largest city in Ohio. Of course, Columbus is the state capital, where the bureaucrats who make these types of arbitrary decisions live. Strange coincidence…
I kind of get the “emissions testing only in selected counties” thing, and I also kinda don’t. I mean, it’s obviously political, and yeah, more cars concentrated in an area will mean more emissions…so best to regulate that. But really, wouldn’t it make more sense to test everyone fairly and just throw the grossly polluting vehicles off the road regardless of where they’re garaged?
I kind of get the “emissions testing only in selected counties” thing, and I also kinda don’t. I mean, it’s obviously political
It’s not exactly political. Under the Clean Air Act, administered by the EPA, every metropolitan area in the US is required to have an air quality district that constantly measures air quality. If it fails to meet federal standards, that metropolitan area is required to take affirmative measure to improve the air quality. Automotive emission testing is one scheme that is commonly undertaken and accepted by the EPA. There might well be others too.
One reason certain metro areas have worse air quality is because of local climatic conditions, industry, population density and size, etc.
In Oregon, Portland and Medford, which tends to have inversion issues, require emission testing.
Ok, it’s political on a macro level; Richard Nixon signed the Clean Air Act on 12/31/1970, after it was sent to him by Congress. But its administration by the EPA is not really “political”.
It is possible that some states that have statewide emission testing are exceeding the minimum requirements to meet the Clean Air Act.
Yep i have lived most of my life in CT which has a large dense population plus is surrounded by other dense population centers which means the whole state does testing. You used to see a lot of VT lic plates in some lower income parts of the state because until recently VT had no emission testing and no residency requirement to register a car so if you failed in CT and couldn’t afford to fix VT was an easy option. Also used as a work around if you owed back property taxes which in CT they won’t renew a registration if you have a back bill.
Per an NBC 5 (Chicago) story from two years ago:
“Under provisions of the federal Clean Air Act, residents who live in “large urbanized areas that do not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards” must have their vehicle’s emissions tested every other year.
In the state of Illinois, two areas fall into that category: the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs, and the Illinois counties that border the city of St. Louis.”
Maryland has its own weirdness. You have to have an inspection certificate at the time you first tag a used car that you bought, but thankfully, we do not have to do this annually.
For most of us, it’s a good thing, but there are many beaters on the roads here because of this which is a bad thing.
Now we DO have mandatory Emissions Inspections… the program is called VEIP. And what a racket this is! While it is supposed to “help clear the air” (VEIP’s tagline from a few years ago), it’s mostly a money grab. Thankfully, I keep my cars well maintained and they always pass (he knocks the wood on his desk as he types this). However, have a look a the attached picture below which shows the vehicles EXEMPT from this biennial emissions testing.
That right, some of the biggest polluters of them all. I highlight “all vehicles powered by diesel” and “vehicles older than 1995” and vehicles exceeding “26,000 pounds”. Really?
Thankfully, they no longer do the dynamometer test. I wonder back then how many transmissions were destroyed by such testing. It’s super easy now, with convenient kiosks to allow you to do it yourself. The best part about the self service kiosk: It costs $10 instead of the usual $14 fee you pay at the testing station.
Since I always pass (again he knocks wood), I am not sure of the “if you fail” procedure, so maybe another Curbsider from the “Great State of Maryland” can chime in and enlighten us…
Not really, though.
Diesels in bad condition can emit a lot of particulate matter (smoke/soot), but in 2023 the overwhelming majority of them don’t do that, and diesels emit very little CO and HC. The only real issue with them is the “rolling coal” dillweeds, but they’d be the type to un-tamper the vehicle to get through the test anyhow. So no, this isn’t some big, thoughtless loophole.
…of which there are too few in regular use to make a difference to air quality. Yes, it sucks to be stuck behind an individual old gross polluter, but that’s mostly so annoying because it’s such an infrequent occurrence.
…the overwhelming majority of which are diesel-powered; see above.
Yes, really. These things are arguable, but the decisions that have been made aren’t random. They’re based on sound economics and data, not based on pet theories of what you or I or someone behind a desk somewhere guesses might be “the biggest polluters of them all”.
Here’s where I admit that one of the motivations behind my buying the car that I purchased to replace the LeSabre was that it – a 1984 VW Rabbit diesel – wasn’t subject to the emissions portion of the inspection process. Paranoid and foolish thinking (about avoiding testing, not necessarily about buying a diesel) on my part, but it just seemed that the whole emissions testing thing back then was something to be feared.
Basically, I could have purchased any number of cars that didn’t have Flintstone floors…but I got one that had floors AND didn’t need emissions testing. Score!
Here in CT they do test certain diesels. But over a certain GVWR they don’t so some guys with 3/4 ton register higher than they should because the state doesn’t tend to really check as long as the title says its 2500 or 3500 or 250/350 they will allow you to write in a higher GVWR.
California demands the exhaust pipe sniffer test, every two years. I make sure my older Dodge Ram trucks pass the test, by driving them on the freeway first, and getting the catalytic converter good and hot, so it functions at maximum efficiency. My older Dodge trucks, the model and year being notorious for failing the sniffer test, have passed every time (knock wood, rub rabbit’s foot).
North Carolina stopped putting on stickers sometime last decade. You must have an inspection in the 90 days before your old annual registration expires–and pay the 1% of value tax–to get a new one. Then they began graduated $ penalties for late renewals. The inspector files your pass/fail with the DMV via the internet. There’s an extra $10 annual charge if you have aftermarket tinting for them to test if it’s within legal limits. The emissions test is only off the car’s computer.
Virginia changed from 6 month to annual safety inspections sometime in the 70s. That was a bother.
The ultimate inspection dodge is to dispense with that pesky actual inspection and just get a sticker. Here in Philadelphia PA, it’s possible on any given day to go onto FB Marketplace and find several ads selling stickers that are either bootleg genuine stickers or very convincing counterfeits. I think if you do a decent job of filling in the information on the back side (which is just the VIN, inspection date, which wheels were pulled to inspect the brakes, and an inspection station number, which is usually posted on the outside of any shop that does inspections), you would survive a routine traffic stop, because I don’t think inspection data are linked to your registration record (if they were, why would you need a sticker?).
No, I’ve never bought a bootleg sticker. I’ve always wondered how many of the ads are police sting operations.
Also, anything with an antique tag (25 years old or more) is exempt from any safety or emissions inspection. You’re not supposed to put an antique tag on a daily driver, but PennDOT doesn’t do much to track that. When you go to tag an antique car (done it many times), no one asks what your non-antique daily driver is. You can put a car with antique tags on a conventional (non-collector) insurance policy. In fact, I don’t think most insurance companies ask for your tag number. If you cancel your insurance, PennDOT gets notified and will cancel your tags, but the cross-checking doesn’t work the other way.
Moved to Maryland in 2000. Car failed inspection in 2001 because the window tint on the rear window and rear side windows was too dark. This would be the tint that the inspecting shop installed the previous year.
Excellent.
Good grief.
When I sold my 82 Escort, it had to pass one last emissions inspection. Of course, it didn’t. So I took it home and retarded the ignition timing. Barely ran, but passed the second time. Pulled it out of the service bay, raised the hood, and readjusted the timing. The guy who did the inspection just stood there and laughed as I worked.
When I lived in Maryland, the common inspection repair was headlight alignment.
In Oregon back in the 70’s it was this was common for emissions testing. Tune the car to pass the tailpipe test, pass the inspection, retune the car to run.
I did just that, on all my families cars. Back when DEQ stations were mobile units in Chevy step vans
As a fellow Massachusetts resident, I believe what you are encountering with the seemingly more stringent inspections is due to the newer inspection equipment. The entire inspection is on camera now, and inspectors that gain a reputation for passing suspect vehicles are closely watched. Also, as a former licensed inspector, you are made well aware that the RMV will send ringers through on occasion to verify proper inspections. I was in a dealership when I was doing inspections, so the vast majority were on brand new vehicles or used cars that had already gone through a complete safety check prior to going on the lot for sale. Additionally, inspections are monitored on a statistical basis, if you’re numbers come up outside the norm, then your videos are going to be closely monitored.
Personally, I’d like to see the inspection process go to a two year system, where a vehicle actually goes on a lift for a true safety check. Make the price a little more, but I think it would be a better process.
I’ve definitely heard about the cameras, and think you’re absolutely right about the effect that’s had on passing rates. As I recall, when that new system went into place about a half-dozen years ago, quite a few places stopped being inspection stations.
Mass is interesting their junky used cars almost all end up sold to neighboring states that have little or no inspections. Here in CT I know of a number of people who have driven to Mass to buy something like a cheap pickup truck because it failed Mass inspection but would be fine here in CT.
I live in a no-annual-emissions-inspection county in California. I am required an emissions inspection only when first registering a car. For many cars the inspection consists of verifying proper operation of the Check Engine light.
So my dad stories are from another state, Pennsylvania. For many years, a relative greased the palm of his favored inspection station to get his vehicles passed despite the ongoing ravages of the tin worm, which is native to the state. This was apparently common and went on despite obvious rust-thru, until one afternoon on his drive home from work in New Jersey, the rear suspension on his Subaru Brat tore out its anchors as the car accelerated from a Pennsylvania Turnpike toll gate. No notice was taken by State Troopers investigating the resulting accident. Maybe it’s as common as palm-greasing.
Another one involved this same relative’s father-in-law and another Subaru. At the time, emissions testing in Pennsylvania required running the car “at speed” on a two-wheel treadmill. Subarus with AWD were exempt due to the full time nature of their all wheel drive. But the doofus at the inspection station ran the car, a 1996 Subaru Legacy, on the emissions test treadmill anyway, with two wheels at speed and two wheels stopped. The repairs to the transmission and transfer case came close to the value of the three-year old car. They were not covered by warranty and declined as an insurance claim, and the inspection station basically said, “sue me, I have a really good Philadelphia lawyer.” The cost of the repair came out of the (retired) owner’s pocket.
I live in a no-annual-emissions-inspection county in California. I am required an emissions inspection only when first registering a car. For many cars in some areas the inspection consists of verifying proper operation of the Check Engine light.
So my bad stories are from another state, Pennsylvania. For many years, a relative greased the palm of his favored inspection station to get his vehicles passed despite the ongoing ravages of the tin worm, which is native to the state. This was apparently common and went on despite obvious rust-thru, until one afternoon on his drive home from work in New Jersey, the rear suspension on his Subaru Brat tore out its anchors as the car accelerated from a Pennsylvania Turnpike toll gate. No notice was taken by State Troopers investigating the resulting accident. Maybe it’s as common as palm-greasing.
Another one involved this same relative’s father-in-law and another Subaru. At the time, emissions testing in Pennsylvania required running the car “at speed” on a two-wheel treadmill. Subarus with AWD were exempt due to the full time nature of their all wheel drive. But the doofus at the inspection station ran the car, a 1996 Subaru Legacy, on the emissions test treadmill anyway, with two wheels at speed and two wheels stopped. The repairs to the transmission and transfer case came close to the value of the three-year old car. They were not covered by warranty and declined as an insurance claim, and the inspection station basically said, “sue me, I have a really good Philadelphia lawyer.” The cost of the repair came out of the (retired) owner’s pocket.
No inspections in illinois, no emissions on pre-96, thank god. My car would pass both with flying colors in a perfect world, but the world is run by bureaucrats and I’m sure an engine and manual transmission swap would ensconce me in red tape anywhere else.
No doubt true. The whole issue of swaps and alternative tunes and removal of catalytic converters (quite popular in certain performance circles) raises all sorts of problems, and when I read on forums about people modifying their cars, I do wonder how they manage.
All of the engine swaps that Hemi Andersen writes about in his COAL…I wonder how many of those would have been more headache than they were worth under today’s inspection rules (in many states).
On the other hand, as a repair shop he could do what lots of garages do here in MA, and that’s drive around with “Repair” plates on their vehicles. No inspections required on Repair plated vehicles!
And that’s the thing, I have catalytic converters, 4 of them actually, the front half of the exhaust is totally stock Mustang Cobra equipment. Also have functioning EVAP, PCV, EGR, everything…. But it’s in a Mercury Cougar with a tuned computer to run it.
Up until a few years ago something like this would have actually been CA emissions legal, all criteria for engine swaps is met by the book, and If I lived there all I’d need to do is contact a state ref and have them certify it, done. But from what I’ve heard on the forums is recent changes in testing practices now won’t pass the car with a non factory checksum in the PCM(meaning a custom flash tune), you could meet all the criteria of necessary parts and pass the sniffer with flying colors, but if they plug in the computer and see it was altered to make it run that engine, *bzzzzzz* fail! I really don’t get that at all. I’m sure it was a sweeping law to discourage coal rollers but that is just horrible for the rest of hobbyists in the state, tuning fuel injected gasoline cars tends to make them run better across the board.
Ironically it seems to me that this just pushes the insignificant population of car hobbyists into dirtier pre-1975 cars instead of inherently cleaner late model cars a lot of people want (and these days can afford)as project cars.
From the CA Bureau of Automotive Repair site: STAR stations must meet specified performance standards established by BAR. Some STAR stations are licensed to perform only tests, while others are licensed to perform both tests and repairs. BAR directs a portion of the vehicle fleet to STAR-certified stations for inspection and certification. These are known as “directed vehicles.” Additionally, vehicles that fail inspection at very high emissions levels must also receive certification from a STAR-certified station. These vehicles are identified as “gross polluters.”
My 2010 Infiniti G37 has never failed an emissions test since new, and they are required every two years. But a few years ago I was notified it had to be tested at a STAR-certified station and that continues to be the case. I had to change test stations and asked the guy at the new station who did the test why that was happening given the car’s history. He said it was because the G37 was a car that was so frequently modified by owners that led to test failures that it was designated a “directed vehicle.” So it goes.
Geez, if cars were sentient your G37 would have its civil rights violated with that kind of generalized profiling! Unreal.
Almost certainly the wiring harness that passes through the tailgate hinge; years of flexing every time the hatch is opened or closed eventually breaks the wire. Replacement is a medium-nuisance by the factory procedure; an easier and more durable repair can be done by…if I’m not mistaken, it’s Evan Reisner’s technique; perhaps he’ll speak up.
I’ve actually replaced that harness and it’s a no-go. I’ve also replaced the switch on the dash. And I’m on my second tailgate and therefore second tailgate wiper motor. Of course, I could have two bad motors.
I’m thinking that the problem is in the wiring between the switch and where the tailgate harness branches off to go into the tailgate. I could probably test that theory by simply running a big long wire from the front to the rear. Then again, the electrical system of this car seems to be possessed by demons.
In Minnesota we used to have random pop up vehicle safety inspections. State Patrol would set up on a side street in town and randomly route the traffic thru. This was back in the 60’s and 70’s. It went away.
Later we got State run emission inspections stations. Had to annually go and get a passing sticker to get your new tabs for the year. The odd thing was that the inspections were only for gas vehicles and under a certain GVWR. A 3/4 pickup could be ordered with a heavier GVWR and no inspection required. Eventually the emissions inspection went away because of improvements in our air quality. However we have two large car shows every year at the State Fair grounds and we are always reminded not to drive down past a certain intersection as there are air quality monitoring equipment at that location and we don’t want to spike the equipment.
As someone else here mentioned I found it rather ironic that vehicles above a certain GVWR were exempt. I would see trucks at the dealership that obviously had dead cylinders polluting like crazy but that’s OK?
The safety inspections caught up with the trucks when the annual Commercial Vehicle Inspection program came into being. That caught lots of junk that was on the highways. Some of the owners of the vehicles were quite irate at having to fix the equipment. Some tried the old grease the palms trick but the State Patrol was all over that. The stickers were assigned to one person and the stickers had serial#s. If the mechanic was selling them he was suspended from the program and his employer was notified. Fake stickers would get you a ticket and your truck impounded.
My driving career in CA from 1976 to 1994 included annual or semi annual smog inspections and CA had a limit on how much they could require you to spend to repair a failing vehicle depending on the model year with older models having lower and lower budget until they became exempt. There was a fairly involved certification program and the techs were required to use the repair budget on what would provide the maximum improvement for emissions. My assumption or guess is that CA also had secret “shoppers” coming in with intentional defects to audit any mischief similar to the Bureau of Automotive repair stings that busted Sears and Ammco several times.
When I moved to WA state in 1994, I had to get a state inspection on my two vehicles and my guess is that it may have been VIN and major safety like frame and brakes, and there were semi annual State Administered smog inspections but by this time, I was driving newer vehicles and rarely had any issues. The state administered system gave you the first recheck after a failure for free. In 2020, the state announced that our air quality had improved to the point that the annual smog inspections were no longer necessary, so the clean air pendulum is likely to swing back to the dirty side.
My best story is one of success where after the initial failure for a Check Engine light code not being cleared out of the computer on my 15 year old Dodge Grand Caravan with only 60,000 miles due to the number of Prii I owned when gas prices soured. I was able to read the code, identify evap system leak, search YouTube on the interweb and wrap electrical tape around the offending hose thus avoiding a $200 – 500 trip to the Chrysler Dealer.
Reading all these anecdotes about the bureaucracy, silliness, corruption and hassle of government makes me very happy my cars are registered in and living in Wyoming. Zero safety inspection/sticker. Zero emissions testing. Just have to pay the annual license plate fee. Freedom works and we like it in Wyoming.
When I was many decades younger and lived in Illinois there was a municipal license/fee that was a sticker one purchased at city hall and displayed on the lower right corner of one’s windshield. Of course I avoided this for years and never got cited (there were ways) and I am glad that I did not comply with Illinois municipal nonsense.
I can just say to those who have to put up with this state government interference “go west, young man”. It is not just car status that is much less regulated; there is more freedom in many aspects of life and we want it that way.
Well, point taken…but it does help Wyoming’s case as it is the 10th largest state by land area and yet is 45th in the nation in terms of the number of registered vehicles. I’d imagine that there’s a lot fewer other drivers to hit should you wind up driving a car without functioning brakes or something 😉
You don’t have to go as far west as Wyoming! Michigan has no vehicle inspections in any way, which is nice for convenience, but perhaps not so nice when you think too hard about it. Unfortunately, we also have some of the worst roads in the union, along with some of the highest auto insurance rates.
Jeff – You are right. Wyoming is different. We also have the smallest population in the country. And no, we do not have many beater cars like I’ve seen on the east coast or in Michigan or Wisconsin or Illinois. It is dry here and the cars do not suffer like those east of here – though they do get old and decrepit. Of course you do have to maintain your car or risk being stranded between, let’s say, Lander and Rawlings or Torrington and Newcastle in the winter. Or, God forbid, out in the Red Desert.
I think we count on other drivers to take care of their own vehicles – sort of like we expect other people to take care of and also mind their own business. It part of the code of the west, I guess, applied to government bothering people about the condition or emissions of one’s car.
I visited Wyoming back in ’04…beautiful state! My father-in-law used to own some land in the mountains outside Douglas, so we camped up there for a few days. But it was a different lifestyle from what I’m accustomed to. You couldn’t be in a hurry – everyone moved at their own pace. I remember chuckling that breakfast might take all day! 🙂
The Red Desert is Indigenous peoples’ cultural and traditional land – a place that has supported generations for thousands of years. Since time immemorial the Red Desert has been an important home, hunting area, and spiritual epi-center of ancestral homelands
I’m all for safety inspections for those who live where rust can be a major issue. Emission inspections? Just another tax.
My odd inspection story happened a few years ago. Like Jeff, I live in Massachusetts, and like Jeff, I have a 3-series BMW wagon, albeit the prior (E46) generation. I took it in for its yearly inspection, and much to my surprise I got the dreaded Scarlett Letter R sticker. Why? Everything passed, except the rear center seat belt inertia reel was jammed and the belt could not be buckled. At this point, the car was 17 years old and I doubt at any point in its life a human had ever occupied the center seat of that car. The reel is embedded in the fold-down seat back which is not really made to be disassembled. It took about a week before my shop figured how to fix it. It has an inspection coming up next month and I should probably check that seat belt…
Yeah. Or let me know if you’d like a recommendation for a place to take it for a sticker… 😉
I cannot imagine anyone actually noticing the center rear seat belt not buckling. In fact, depending on what I’ve been doing in either of my wagons, those center position belts (the receiver part at least) may well be buried under the seat. Would the inspection station go looking for them? So far not.
On the other hand, I knew I wasn’t getting the sticker this year with the airbag light on. That was a last minute panic that I did not appreciate.
Back in the mid 1960’s in New Hampshire we had a rusty IHC Scout .
Every year we’d jack it up and tack weld the shocks back to whichever end they’d snapped off of and drive *very*slowly* about three miles to the gas station that did the inspections .
The floors never rusted out but before it was ten years old the doors fell off when opening so we closed them and removed the handles……..
Mostly it was a farm truck .
I remember one time pasting a square of S&H Green Stamps in the windshield of some battered junker, that didn’t work out as well as hoped .
Just before I left Massachusetts in……1977 (?) I had a rusty 1961 VW Bug I registered and insured but never even bothered to try getting inspected, one day on my way to work some cops pulled me over and said ‘next time we see you it’s a ticket’ so I changed my route to work, that seemed to do the trick .
-Nate
“Next time we see you it’s a ticket.”
Yep. I’ve had that one happen…sometimes for expired stickers (because, really who REMEMBERS how many days are left in the month where you need to get down to the inspection place??? 😉 ).
Unfortunately, back in the day here in MA (that would be I think when you were living here…up through the 90s at least) there used to be actual “Registry Cops” – i.e., law enforcement officers who only served the State Registry of Motor Vehicles – who loved to set up at intersections and near places where it was deemed desirable and profitable to harass motorists over observed inspection infractions. Not having a current sticker was one of those infractions (along with cracked tail lights, burned out bulbs, etc.). My wife once got her car impounded (’cause they could do that…or ticket…or just warn you) when in college and in our college town, such enforcement was strong and hard (foolish, young, mostly from out of state, college students being the revenue resource that keeps on giving). She’d forgotten to get the new sticker, and I truly cannot recall how we ended up driving her car from the impound lot to the inspection station.
They did away with Registry Cops some years ago. Now it’s just standard cops who ticket for things like no/expired stickers. And they’re actually quite lenient, generally not stopping people “only” for inspection violations.
I’m surprised that you even needed an inspection on that truck in NH. I think that anything in MA with Farm plates is exempt. OTOH, NH needs any fee revenue it can get (owing to its no-tax position).
be ware of the Motorcycle Cop working in Gresham, OR. My son was working just over the river in Portland (Gresham), and his WA tag was about one week overdue. He stopped at Plaid Pantry to get a snack and the Motor Cop pulled in and gave him the If I catch you driving again with that expired tag, I am having the car towed and impended. Having parked in a space with a sign clearly reading 10 minute parking, my son as I would assumed the Motor Cop meant dive straight home and park until he got the tag. As soon as he pulled out to the convenience store lot, the AHOLE poled him over again and had his car towed and impounded. Gresham must have has some municipal bond coming due or something. Don’t get me wrong, I fully support the boys in blue and would not want to venture out if they didn’t have my back, but it just goes to show there is one in every crowd.
The Judge (not a GTO) was fair, saying we had been punished enough at $300.
I grew up in NE Ohio (no vehicle inspection–this was pre-pollution), and the oft-told story was that our used car lots got the vehicles that for one reason or another (usually rust) couldn’t pass a Pennsylvania inspection. (Or which, in PA, were judged to require too much repair to be resold profitably.) This was all local lore, but who knows…….
I appreciate today’s story, Wink/Nudge and all…….
Indiana had a fairly new vehicle safety inspection requirement in the late 1960’s and people were not happy about it. I don’t think it lasted for very long but I left the state in 72 and don’t remember when it was abolished.
My Dad was a mild-mannered Democrat who would have supported your re-elect Carter-Mondale bumper sticker; he didn’t mind paying taxes but he did want something in return. When we went to pick up my new VW Beetle from Auto World Volkswagen in Fort Wayne in the summer of 1969, he noticed that one of the reverse lights was not working when the car was backed out of the service bay. But there was an approved state inspection sticker on the windshield. He blew up and demanded to know what we were paying for if they never even checked to see that all of the lights were working. I was surprised and gratified at his outburst. The salesman immediately returned the car to the service bay for a bulb replacement.
Great story.
I agree with your dad.
My former 1990 Mercury Sable had that light bar in place of a conventional grille. It contained 4 clear bulbs that lit up with the parking lamps. These lamps were ornamental as far as I was concerned (and Daniel Stern has since confirmed), but as in the case of the Volvo wagon’s rear wiper, they were required to be functional for the annual inspection. Unfortunately, the bulbs would frequently burn out and they were a real pain to replace.
I’m glad I don’t have to deal with that issue any longer.
Here’s a photo from CC’s own Jason Shafer from an entry back in 2015 (my Sable never looked this terrible, but I sold it after 10 years):
Yes, my Dad had an ’89 Sable, I remember the light bar…he traded cars often so didn’t have it long enough to have a problem with it.
My car (2000 Golf) has some unusual lighting that I think was intended for home market. Turn signals in the side view mirror has become common, but the Golf has them on the fenders…sometimes they stop working but I don’t think they are required.
Also, my headlamps have “city lights” built in in addition to high and low beams.
These lights don’t work in one of my lights, but I hesitate to try to work on them since the wiring has become “crispy” over the years, and I might end up with something worse…as it is the high and low beams work, but one light has working city lights but the other does not. Replacement lights are expensive as in any car that has unique headlamps.
My state (Tx) inspection seems to be going away in a couple years, but I do have a story about inspections here. Like most states things have gone electronic, but one kind of “unexpected” consequence has been that you also have an “assumed” inspection month that can’t be changed….for example, say your car has an October inspection sticker…the car needs to be inspected and registered before October 31st. You have 90 days before October 31 to get the car inspected, but you will still get an October “sticker” even if you get the car inspected and registered in August. You can’t change to another month (as far as I’m aware) unless maybe your car was off the road for awhile and then you get it fixed up and re-inspected and re-registered a different time of year. Also, make sure you don’t exceed 90 days before Oct 31 to get your car inspected…for instance DON’T get you car inspected before Aug 3rd otherwise you won’t be able to register the car (ask me how I know…having an older car I like to have time to work on it should it not pass inspection so I tend to be a really early bird getting it inspected…not once but twice now I’ve had my car inspected too early and had to get it re-inspected within the 90 day window….whoops).
Jeff, your woes with your Volvos reminded me that I had similar problems. I owned 2 1980 Volvo 240s, one a 2-door sedan that I had for almost 21 years and the other a wagon that I kept for less than 2 years.
The sedan had repeated problems with the brake lamp sockets having bad connections, with that “bulb out” warning light coming on. Also, the front turn signal/parking lamp lenses faded badly with age, to the point that I ended up replacing the clear turn signal bulbs with amber ones to compensate.
The wagon was 9 years old when I bought it and had a number of issues. I was able to fix many of them with junkyard parts, but I could not get the rear wiper to function.
Some of my most memorial state safety inspection headaches occurred when PA. still had 6-month intervals. Most shops had the idea that no one was getting out without some sort of fault found. One of my many favorites was being forced to replace a newer intermediary exhaust pipe on a ’65 Chrysler. The OEM piece had been a larger bore resonator section. How did they even know that? Any sort of aftermarket exhaust change or headers were certain fails. Not a pin hole of rust was OK. The 6-month inspections went away about the mid 1980’s. A PA. inspection sticker back then was said to be worth much in added used car pricing in other states. Still one of a small number of states with annual safety inspections for all vehicles.
PA. emissions inspections started out long ago in only 3 major metro areas at first, then expanded to many other counties. Unlike any other state that I am aware of, PA. requires emission inspections pass on all vehicles after the 1974 MY. For pre OBD vehicles, that is a visual inspection of presence and working condition on the 5 major emissions systems. Like many of the evap and air pumps still exist for 40 or 50 year old cars. The existence of non emission inspection counties is moot, because that visual emissions inspection requirement is also written into the regular statewide safety inspection as well.
I have also seen the stolen or counterfeit PA. inspection stickers for sale online. A popular local garage just closed for good after they recently had their third or fourth break in and robbery of stickers. Several other shops were hit as well.
PA has an emissions exemption for cars driven fewer than 5000 miles in the previous year. The last few years I’ve distributed the driving among several old cars to avoid paying for the test and risking failure.
My old 1982 Dodge truck is always well under 5000 miles. For some reason, I only get the emissions exemption every other year. The garage owners take something like a $30 hit on an emissions exemption, so they don’t advertise it. My old truck will pass the visual emissions inspection for a pre OBD vehicle.
I know that the under 5000 mi. Pa. exemption does not carry to a subsequent owner. They will have to pass a full emissions inspection for the first year of ownership.
I’m an American that lives in Ireland. I bought a Toyota because they have the highest level of passing in the country.
So, I’ve had this car now 6 years. It’s only passed on the first time twice. It’s always something regarding the front end suspension.
One yearly inspection (NCT) I failed and I took my car to the Toyota dealership for repair. I was called out to the service bay where the technician took me under the car and asked me “May I ask you what this looks like to you?” I didn’t know what he was getting at. But I said what came to mind …”What you are pointing at looks brand new to me” He responded “It does to us too, but that’s what we have to replace according to the NCT results” so they did and I passed.
The Irish one is a fraud.
Your story echoes others that I’ve heard from folks engaged in the European auto inspection process. It is fascinating to me how the technicians at the inspection station can have no clear idea as to why something failed, only that it failed and needed a repair that they seem largely unclear as to why it was necessary…only that it was.
When I hear these stories, it makes me glad in a way that during most of my time failing inspections, I had only to deal with “Old Joe” down at the service station who followed simple rules and/or occasionally went after a little low-hanging fruit for graft. What I didn’t have to deal with was a federal agency that was shrouded in mystery from nearly all engaged parties.
I do realize that will be changing everywhere. Already some of these comments (e.g., CA Guy’s story of his Infinity and the CA STAR system) indicate that decisions in the inspection process are being driven by AI…which is a bit scary, at least to me.
I have experienced something nearly identical with a Toyota Camry and Carina. The rubber bushings used in Toyota control arms is by design softer than certain European brands (i.e. VW). An inexperienced inspection technician will assume that these bushings are worn and have too much play (even if brand new) and fail the car.
Inspections in New Zealand are called a Warrant of Fitness (WOF), and are 6 or 12 monthly, depending on the age of the car. Both our Peugeots are 12 monthly, my Ford Sierra is 6 monthly which is annoying, because being an old British Ford most of the last decade of WOFs have been failures on small things – moisture in the headlamps being a recurring issue.
The WOF checklist is quite extensive, and it’s illegal to drive a car without a current WOF – not to mention insurance is void etc. The general rule is that if something is fitted to the car, it should work.
There has been a good bit of debate over the years about the WOF rules surrounding exterior lights. Tinted lights aren’t WOFable unless they’re factory-fitted. So a 1982 Ford LTD (Aussie model) with factory black taillights is WOFable, but tint them yourself (even using proper tint film through which the bulbs are sufficiently bright) and no WOF for you.
Back in the 1990s, a friend’s MG Montego failed its WOF due to white pinstripes across the taillights, put there by the dealer. They didn’t affect the lighting at all, but the factory didn’t put them there so off they came.
My favourite lighting rule was the maximum number of illuminated lights (not indicators) at the front of a car is 6 – eg main beam + high beam + aftermarket spot lights is fine. More than that isn’t WOFable unless the factory put them there, like our Peugeot 508 RXH which has 3 separate daytime running lights on each side, so when the main+high beams are on, there are technically 10 illuminated lights (see pic).
Having said that, build up a good relationship with a garage, including regularly servicing your car, will see common sense used. Our Peugeot 308 had a dent in the sill from a low post I grazed, which is deemed structural damage and an instant WOF failure. The WOF expired while insurance company and the repairer were working through big backlogs due to the effects of a cyclone earlier this year. The car was booked for repair 3 months after the WOF expired, but the garage issued a new WOF regardless of the dent saying they know the repair is booked, and that we look after the car, and only use it around town.
Wow. If cars failed in the states for dents, we’d all be walking. 🙂
Inspections every 6 months – even if for only a fraction of vehicles – seems a bit excessive. I’m guessing that this is reflective of NZ’s dedication to safety, a desire to indirectly compel drivers to get new cars, and the fact that in a relatively small nation there’s the time/effort/resources available to justify all of the work necessary to inspect every 6 months.
Your story also points out an issue that I hear about here all of the time and always wonder about…and that is drivers who make modifications to their vehicles (usually/often involving tinting something) that they pretty much KNOW will be questioned and likely failed by the inspectors…but they do it anyway because it “makes sense” to them. And then they complain like crazy on the forums when they’re failed. I mean, the rule may be dumb (according to “me”) but the rule is the rule and if you want the sticker, follow the rule. There of course is the issue where the rule isn’t necessarily the “rule” and can be subverted by flexibility or high jinks…but that doesn’t seem like a good plan for keeping your car on the road over the long haul. Maybe that’s just me. I’ve never tinted anything or desired to change my lighting lenses to something non-stock. So what do I know.
NZ used to have a super-protectionist economy, so much so that even Holdens were sent as CKD kits for assembly there (and NZ was debating being part of Australia at Federation, such is the closeness), and this meant it was once a CC heaven. Or, presumably, sometimes a bit of a hell if you lived there and your choice was limited thus, because the extremely tight supply and price issues meant that old cars reigned supreme. Also, NZ roads, in the South Island especially, can be genuinely hairy: curly, steep, ice, snow, etc.
So I’d imagine that if you were motoring along in say, 1980, and the young dood in hurtling towards you in the 1949 Morris Isis was a bit sideways, you really would want a 6-monthly confirmation that his single-master cylinder was doing its full job of putting mild pressure onto the already-undersized drum brakes, so that when he hit you, it hurt a bit less.
Perhaps Scott can enlighten us?
Ah yes indeed Lord Justy of Baum, pretty much everything was CKD from the 1950s to the late 1980s when the tsunami of used JDM imports sank the CKD industry.
The advantage of CKD meant model variations unknown elsewhere in the world (I mean, who wouldn’t want a Hillman Minx rebadged as a Humber 80, thus instantly luxifying itself and yourself!). CKD also meant the ongoing availability of a number of makes and models long after they’d expired elsewhere – 1984 Ford Cortina anyone? Maybe a 1979 Triumph 2500, or perhaps a 1974 Morris Minor…
So with the considerations of the age of the fleet way back then, and the old-cars-being-sold-as-new-cars, combined with the (thankfully now gone) popularity of retread car tyres, a 6-monthly vehicular inspection did indeed make sense. Hopefully that provides the enlightenment sought!
Verily, I feel my enlightenment on the subject to now approach that of the Buddha.
Not that he was need of regular inspection, I hasten to say, being more inclined to regular introspection by way of meditation, for which such practice I cannot see any justification in a lubritorium emporium, but I shall now impose a self-moratorium as I am rambling many miles from the path.
In 1979 my future wife and I were driving thru Springfield Massachusetts on Interstate 91 south in her 73 Gremlin when she ran over a hunk of metal pipe that shot thru the floor,missing her left leg by fractions of an inch.She pulled over in justified hysterics and I managed to dislodge the piece of evil metal by backing up.I later fixed the hole with epoxy,rivets and a sheet of used press plate from The Daily Hampshire Gazette.Sometimes it is a small world!
Wow. Small world. Coincidence…or not. 🙂
I recall pulling over on 91 with girlfriends and future wife in close-to-hysterics due to some driving situation more than once. (there’s the time that the Buick’s alternator died in Westport, CT around dusk and me and the friend’s drive home to Amherst was in the dark with candle-power headlights…).
Glad your wife turned out ok as well.
My now-22 year old son has reminded me that part of the legendary family story about the press plates on the Buick floor (a car that was gone 17 years before he came along) involves my attempting to disguise the whole thing with an extra piece of carpet thrown over the ugly mess. He’s right of course. And of course, it didn’t work in the end. The car repair part, that is.
Love the U of R sticker in the Volvo window- my college alma mater (Class of ‘89). After leaving for law school here in Dayton, Ohio, I used to just send a check for $25 to a guy I was friends with who did NYS inspections, and I’d get the sticker in the mail a week later. Ohio only has inspections at roadside if you get pulled over and they think the car looks unsafe. We used to have “e check” here but it got tabled a few years ago.
Tennessee used to have annual emissions tests in all of the major cities and surrounding suburban counties. Did away with it last year(maybe its been 2 years) obdII cars got a computer scan and gas cap check, 1974-1995 cars got a tailpipe sniffer and gas cap check. Thing was in the Nashville area there were like 4 stations. You sat in line with your car idling for an hour usually. I always joked we were creating more emissions by having a million or so cars idle for an hour every year than if we just didnt do the testing at all.
Anyways dad had figured out a way to play the system to get the 2000 Toyota Avalon with 280k miles on it to pass. They bought it new and it served as a reliable backup car after 2013 or so for friends/family to use. It threw a check engine light for “reduced catylist efficiency” Aka time for a new cat converter(there were 3 or 4 of them on that car) Dad told the shop thanks but no thanks, car ran great. So pull the battery terminals, which will clear the check engine light. But you have to drive it 200 hundred miles before the test because the pcm records miles driven since a reset. Well the light usually wouldnt turn on for 400 or 500 miles with the code, so go get it tested during that window. Did that routine 3 or 4 years and it passed every time.
When I worked for a limo company we had a stock 2012ish Yukon xl(not a stretch)with the dreaded displacement on demand v8. Well of course one of the lifters flew apart(they all do that if you read about the design flaw) This requires you to take the heads off the engine, pretty much rebuild the top half of the motor, to the tune of $5000. Luckily that pos was still under factory warranty at 2 years old. Still cost us $$$ with lost revenue though while it sat in the shop for a month.
Anyways during that time the registration expired and it failed the emissions test because of having only been driven 10 miles from the dealer(with the battery disconnected) to the testing station.
Of course having commerical plates/insurance you HAVE TO HAVE up to date tags on it. Insurance would deny your claim and drop the company. The airport police are total nazis, always looking to make sure you have their blue $700 annual sticker on the car that allows livery services to drop off/pick up at the airport. Ive heard horror stories of gypsy cabs/limos being stopped for not having the blue sticker. They detain you with the client so that they miss their flight and give you a ticket with a several thousand dollar fine. Having an expired plate Id bet theyd tow the car and have you arrested.
My boss must have wasted over half a day on the phone with the insurance company and the shitty contract company that does emissions testing trying to get it sorted out.
My story has a different twist. I wasn’t trying to evade a valid inspection for the usual reasons (beater car that won’t pass, etc.), I simply didn’t want to go through the hassle (making an appointment, leaving the car, having the wheels removed and then the lugs overtightened…).
This was in January 2005 when our 2004 Toyota Camry purchased new was due for its first inspection. I was with my wife and stopped at “Drunken Dave’s” shop. He had a reputation for cursory inspections and new stickers issued on the spot. Sure enough, he had us pull into the garage out of the cold, while he had me turn on the lights, sound the horn, and operate the wipers.
My wife was opposed to the idea, but I assured her that nothing would be wrong with the car (after all, it wasn’t the 1970s anymore, this was a Toyota, and I had access to a lift at work where I was already doing the oil changes and tire rotations, plus having a good look at the chassis every time I was underneath).
So, Dave’s inspection took only about 3 minutes, but then he left us in the car for a good 10 or 15 minutes longer. It turns out the delay was because it took Dave that long to fill out the paperwork — after all, the VIN is comprised of 17 seemingly random characters, our last name is a puzzler, and we happen to live in a town with one of the longest place names in the US — Charlottesville, VA.
Where I am – the land of Oz – there’s no annual job, but there is a need for a Certificate of Roadworthiness (or RWC) if you want to transfer ownership. (Rather grandiose title, that. I can think of a number of miserablist Japanese cars from the ’60’s and ’70’s, like the turdly Datsun B210, that weren’t worthy for the road even brand-spanking, but I digress).
I’ve certainly come across the Variable Verification Versions in past days, though less of the rip-off variety than the favourable are-you-selling-it-within-family type differentiation, but no doubt it happened. Now, it’s all pretty stringent, has to be photographed in detail, and is central data-bank monitored, so not much room for hanky or panky anymore, whatever you’re prepared to pay.
Btw, I don’t think this rather distasteful-sounding business of having sniffers up your rear outlet is done here for any age of car.
My best RWC story was failing on my ancient Peugeot 404: door locks not working, all round. Poor bloke didn’t know – and why should he – that the interior door-top locks on these Froggies locked by pulling UP. Ah, French cars – finding ways to make the simple difficult since 1894, but I’m again digressing.
One thing I’ve never much heard of in this country is copper misbehaviour on this front. Sure, they’ll pull you over if your rusted old XB Mad-Max-Replica-fail is leaning to one side, with missing tailights and causing sparks from the floors having an ongoing meeting with the road, which is fair enough, but I haven’t heard of it too much otherwise. Incidentally, if they did take action, they stuck a big, impossible-to-unglue yellow notice on the car, usually the windscreen, so if you’re ever in these parts and hear somebody in the pub whingeing that they’ve just been “slapped with a canary”, don’t assume they’re an anti-ornithologist or a possible pervert.
I’m in the Deep South, so rust is not an issue. However, my state’s inspection (Louisiana), is more focused on functioning lights (head, tail, turn, etc); windshields; and brakes. In a select few parishes, emissions are tested. Also, my state allows the option of obtaining a two year inspection instead of just annual.
While living in up state NY, rust was the big issue!!! Yet, I saw vehicles with significant rust (to the point of structural failure) that passed inspection. Go figure!!
I’m going to be a little pedantic – there’s no “tailpipe sniffer” test in MA anymore thanks to OBDII in 1996 and the fact that 1996 is a lot more than 15 years ago. Cars less than 15 years old get the safety inspection and OBDII emissions scan; cars 15 or more years old just get the safety part.
And that just adds to the mystery…or at least the inconsistencies.
I know about the 15 year old, no emissions test thing. But I also know for a fact that I’ve recently had garages attach a sniffer to my 2 vehicles that only recently got to the 15 year old mark – a 2008 BMW and a 2006 Toyota. They both had sniffer tests within the past 3 years. Maybe there’s some kind of grandfathering in of old testing station equipment (doubtful). Or maybe out here in the sticks beyond 495 we follow the old rules (somewhat less doubtful).
It’s a mystery.
I live in CT. No safety inspection anymore just Emissions. When I was younger they did have safety inspections but by the time I was buying cars, it was only when you first bought it. I had to do brake repairs and body rust repairs on My Jeep XJ and Toyota pickup to get them thru. Luckily after the work both went thru fine. The reason we no longer have these is funny. The state contracted a company to do all the testing for the state and they would have their own facilities and only do testing to avoid conflicts of interest. But they were found to be hugely corrupt everything from selling of stickers to used car dealers to trying to rip off the government by over billing. They were replaced with a new company that did the same. Then the state tried to do it itself briefly then they just gave up and had local shops do only the emission testing.
When I worked in insurance the question was posed to the underwriters why they didn’t lobby for more inspections in the state and they said there was no statistical difference in areas with inspection and without so it wasn;t worth the time and money.
Back in the day of the corporate test center my fathers 3 on the tree econoline always caused issues as the test staff had trouble shifting it. I do remember one time it failed and an old guy walked out from the office said you got a flat head screw driver, my dad said yes and he pointed to an adjustment screw on the carb, and the guy said turn that in half a turn and run it in again, then once your through turn it back. sure enough while it kept trying to die it passed .
When I lived in Maine they had safety inspections. but I noticed the more rural you got the more likley the guy in the inspection station just took your 20 bucks and handed you a sticker. Once while waiting for a flat to be fixed in a town of under a 100 people we watched an old overallwearing cigar chomping yankee hand out a dozen stickers without getting out of his chair. My friends told me later the state cracked down and this became impossible but I have a feeling maybe not everywhere.
I’m thankful that Michigan currently doesn’t have inspections. Half the vehicles would probably fail due to rust and broken up roads. And in this seasonal tourist economy, people couldn’t afford to replace them. We are already losing out on service workers because of no available affordable housing. Vehicle inspections would cripple what’s left of the economy. Besides, the accidents I read about are almost never about equipment failure. It’s good condition vehicles being driven by asshats.
Anyway, the most ridiculous story I know is when my buddy moved down south, Asheville NC I think. He had a 1990 or so Regal. He got failed because the E brake didn’t fully engage with a single push. But that’s not the car’s design. Right on the pedal it said “Pump To Set”.
Well, it looks good for the Volvo to motor on in to Year 48 🙂