Inspection collusion?

[MasterSolenoid]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Originally Posted By: Audios
Try a different shop, dont say anything about it and see what they come up with.


I know in NY, if a shop fails the vehicle on it's yearly state inspection, the next shop will see it on the report that's generated.

I hear you though. Busy shops in my area will put the vehicle up on the lift and pull a wheel, but wheel bearings and lots of other items would likely be overlooked.


I thought the first thing they do is scrap off the 'old' Inspection Sticker.
Then if it 'fails', you have (legally) till the end of the Month to get it fixed & reinspected.

The OP seems honest.
He should take it back to a different shop and say he fixed it.
At that point, it will either PASS or FAIL.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: pbm
Originally Posted By: clinebarger
Originally Posted By: turtlevette
The whole concept of auto inspections is dogooder feel good stuff.



The concept is to keep unsafe piles of "S" off the road.....


If that's the case, why do I have to have a brand new car inspected annually in NY?
I would think that inspections wouldn't be required until the vehicle hit a certain age or mileage if that was the case.


You would think so. But I think it might make sense. What if you got that rare out of the box failure? Bad when new. Not only that but what if you're the sort who drives 50k/year at high speed over typical New England roads?

Probably easier to write the law so that everyone suffers than to carve out exemptions.

Originally Posted By: MasterSolenoid


I thought the first thing they do is scrap off the 'old' Inspection Sticker.
Then if it 'fails', you have (legally) till the end of the Month to get it fixed & reinspected.


My local shop seems to scrape off last. I like it that way, but what if the failure was catastrophic? There's a big difference between some scale on a brake line and an actual leaking one.

I recall my dad telling me, way back when, in NY they would scrape first, and then if if failed, you were stuck using that shop for the repair. Maybe he was told wrong.

Several years ago my VW could pass safety but not emissions. I got a temporary sticker that indicated that. Gave me 30 or 60 days to fix, forget now. BUT it was annoying: instead of using the color for the year, it was clear! thus I was not surprised when I got pulled over. It was a pretty good incentive to getting fixed, and quickly.

 

[Vikas]

RE: Inspection Collusion

Is the Pope Catholic?

 

[LeakySeals]

They left the old sticker on. Told me there really wasn't any rejection grace period. I googled NH rules and its a one-time 60 day repair grace period per yearly inspection cycle. I'm hoping that clerk was just ignorant to the state law, not making me panic into a sale. So far I'm into this car for $2200 including wheel bearing repair. Car was free.






I'm going to another shop shortly to see what they say about it.

 

[brianl703]

Within 6 miles of my house there are two places that do safety inspections:

First one is located in a new building, not more than 10 years old, on a major state highway. You might say that this is "prime" real estate.

The second one is in a building that's probably 40-50 years old, on a side street. Their parking lot isn't even paved.

I go to the second one. They've inspected 3 of my cars so far, passed every single one.

The first one might be more inclined to find things wrong so as to cover their much higher rent.

 

[JTK]

No, they definitely don't scrape the sticker off first anymore in NY. Atleast I've never had it happen in 30+ years.

Also, if your vehicle doesn't pass the OBDII emissions testing (CEL on, etc), you can apply for a waiver if your costs associated with trying to get it to pass hits $450 and you have receipts to support it. Gas cap has to be good, all stock emissions equipment must be in place and the vehicle must have passed the safety inspection for the above to apply. You can do this year after year AFAIK.

 

[LeakySeals]

Just got a call from Sullivan. They replaced the wheel bearing and hub. Performed an alignment check, found a bad ball joint. Left it disassembled and called me. They told me now that they found that, they will reject me for that as well, even though they did not find it in the initial inspection. Now its waiting for a control arm. So now the total is $500 for hub, bearing, control arm w/ball joint, alignment. Ugh..

I didn't bother with a carfax, the car was free. Has a replacement bumper so it was likely in a collision. Must have taken a hit on the passenger side that included the wheel?

 

[SeaJay]

In NY I believe they leave the inspection sticker on if it hasn't expired yet. If it has expired, the first thing they can do is scrape it off.

 

[supton]

Doah! so much for a free car.

On the flip side, that isn't that much money. If you get a year out of it, will it pay for itself? I mean, $500 for 10kmiles? 15k?

 

[Vikas]

Surely needs the radiator support beam; Those Maximas are famous for rotted radiator support.

 

[LeakySeals]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Surely needs the radiator support beam; Those Maximas are famous for rotted radiator support.


Yup. Look at my pics. Thats where free started. Had to do that before it was driveable. That was the initial $500. Support, condenser, hoses, misc rotted parts. After that is was one thing after another. Long list of problems fixed. Somewhere around $2500 so far. This doesn't include the major mouse and squirrel infestation that came free as well.

I have a sticker and driving it around. Nice little car, I can see why people liked them in their day. but its still got a few issues. Seems like a lot of back pressure when you let off the gas. slows down kinda fast. Same front right has a rattle. Probably broken shock. And I cannot figure out how to turn the radio off lol.

 

[Vikas]

Just get a $100-$150 unit from Crutchfield. Heck, with little bit more you can even get a unit with Android Auto or Apply Play. If you want to stay under $100, pick up a marine capable unit. I have so far installed 3 different type of car radios in my vehicles and I still hate every single one as far as their display are concerned. They all can NOT be read in sunlight. Never had any such trouble with OEM. That is why I am recommending a marine unit which has white LCD display.

I think my 2000 Maxima has the same problem, and we just turn the volume down. My car is with my son, so I can't tell you for sure.

Is it 5-speed? It is one of the easiest manual to teach somebody as it has enough torque to move off the line without giving any gas.

 

[LeakySeals]

I might do that. This car will be driven by my GF's 17yo first time driver. Auto transmission. Kind of strange behavior. Like its holding the car back on the highway if you let it off the gas. Shists through the gears ok. Tach shows about 2200 @70. Im wondering if thats a symptom of backed up catalyst, or just low gears.