Possibility of no more annual vehicle inspections in Pa.

[fastfredracing]

I am all for this from a personal perspective, and a business perspective.
I've probably prevented a few disasters over the years, but honestly, 99% of the time I am failing items on specs.and general rules, not so much safety items .
I currently charge $45.00. The stickers cost 11. It takes me 45 minutes to do an honest inspection .
In my youth, when I was fast and sloppy, I could jam out 3 honest ones in an hour . You can see they are not exactly profit makers in themselves, but they do drive work in the door .
It was an easy way to put me on the map when I first opened. It guaranteed a steady flow of work . It, was mostly however wait customer kind of work, When I had employees, I had a waiting room , coffee maker, tv etc kind of place . I always hated that . People standing there tapping their feet , while Im tyring to pry off a rusty brake drum.
Then I get the honor and joy of representatives coming to audit my books and shop every year ( 30 years, never an infraction).
One of the few reasons Im holding onto my commercial property , is to retain a state inspection license so I can keep my own fleet legal, . You have to have a properly zoned, occupancy permit, size , office , sign insurances, and certain tools and equipment . In the 70's, people could do it from their homes .
The way I see it, is , ill lose the regular grind work that I would normally be failing for an inspection, and Ill get itback, + a tow, when their ball joint fails, or corded tire blows out .
I've never really felt that it was 100% about safety .
Does your state have vehicle inspections?

[Baz]

Thanks as always for putting YOUR personal touch on the subject, Fred. As a long time "sales guy" and former business owner, I love seeing things through your eyes in the same context.

Florida did away with their state inspection program decades ago.

However, as a 69 year old, I distinctly remember in my yoot....having to take my vehicles through.......and all the times they failed - which really sucked. Headlights not aimed right, insufficient exhaust system (usually due to rust lol), suspension issues (shocks/springs usually), etc etc.

Good riddance I say!

[stomachmonkey]

Abbot wants to do away with them in TX.

But we will still have to pay the fee.

Just call it a ****ing tax and be honest about it.

[oldE]

Salt and calcium chloride are used around here for ice control and of course rust can be a major factor in vehicle maintenance. Inspections used to be annual but about 10 years ago went to biannual. Given some of the crap I have seen on the highways, I rather appreciate them, knowing sooner or later some junker will be crushed. Come to think of it, I found out about the cracked frame rails on two F150s at their safety inspections.
Much better than on the side of the road.

Best
Les

[Rick Lee]

I hated it when I lived in states than had inspections. But living in a state without them is a problem too. No one gets their brake lights fixed ever. It drives me crazy and it's so dangerous.

[GH85Carrera]

Oklahoma did away with the safety inspections in the late 90s as I remember. My cars never failed of course, but it was a pain to spend the time to get the inspection just to be told yep, your car is in good shape, here is the sticker, pay up. The state legislature member that introduced the bill to eliminate the inspections actually said something like everyone has a new car so no need for inspections.

I see some real sketchy vehicles on the road. Cops can and on rare occasions actually do stop a vehicle for unsafe condition.

[flatbutt]

Jersey did away with MC inspections but cars must still go in.

[Rick Lee]

I would think the state wants to get rid of inspections because the cars that constantly drive with violations give the cops all the PC they need to pull them over whenever they want.

[fastfredracing]

Im guessing that is what they are counting on . They will write for bulbs out, window tint, loud exhaust , and anything they deem unsafe .

[greglepore]

Va's kicked it around, and I'm all for it as the state caps what the shops can charge (16 bucks!) so a fair number of shops, including my Euro indy, won't do them. Its an annoyance as the shop that I do have do the inspection would not be my choice to work on r129's and w140's.

[VINMAN]

Here in NJ, only cars built after 1994 have to get inspected.
The "inspection " consists of an emissions test only. You can go there with your wheels falling off, lights not working, you'll will pass as long as your check engine light isn't on...

Makes zero sense. But than again, this is NJ...

[rwest]

When I first got my 911, we had smog inspections, but not a thing to do with safety.

Always fun to be sitting in the 911 and watching the inspector running the mirrored device under the passenger compartment looking for a catalytic converter!

Mine always passed even though the thermal reactors and air pump had been removed by a PO.

I bet ours went away 20 years ago?

[fastfredracing]

So you guys that do not have them , are the police aggressive about equipment violations? We rarely get pulled for faulty lights here, unless its 2 am and they are looking .
I have gotten tickets in 2 other states , ( Maryland and Fla. ) for headlights out , which kind of surprised me.
My lights always work . Im like a trucker about checking them regularly . I try to give them no reasons to stop me

[Baz]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

So you guys that do not have them , are the police aggressive about equipment violations? We rarely get pulled for faulty lights here, unless its 2 am and they are looking .
I have gotten tickets in 2 other states , ( Maryland and Fla. ) for headlights out , which kind of surprised me.
My lights always work . Im like a trucker about checking them regularly . I try to give them no reasons to stop me

I was stopped a couple years ago because one of the Silverado's tailghts was broken and missing part of the lens.

Ran my credentials which were clean and just gave me a verbal warning.

I put some red tape over it until I finally replaced the whole thing earlier this year.....

[Shaun @ Tru6]

When I was 17 I forged one for my 240Z that failed for whatever reason. It's a felony. I just got community service.

Today, I'm in favor of them. There are ZERO ****boxes driving around in MA. And the kinds of cars that fail are the ones that don't have insurance. Driven by ****ty drivers who don't give a ****. So hell yeah I'm all for inspection stickers.

[Bugsinrugs]

In California it is emissions only. Bald tires, cracked windshield, broken lights… doesn’t matter.

[A930Rocket]

I’ve been in South Carolina since 2000… no inspections.

[look 171]

More then half the cars would fail safety inspection if we had it. I just don't know how some of those thing stop?

[VINMAN]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

So you guys that do not have them , are the police aggressive about equipment violations? We rarely get pulled for faulty lights here, unless its 2 am and they are looking .
I have gotten tickets in 2 other states , ( Maryland and Fla.

Police here tend to be fairly lenient as far as equipment violations.
Vehicles over 11,000 GVR such as my HD pickups, are self-inspected. The equipment violation fines are a lot steeper than regular vehicles.

.

.

[rfuerst911sc]

No state inspection in Georgia . There are emissions tests required in some counties . My rural mountain county does not require emissions tests .