State Inspection Requirements

[Salaryman]

Poked around and figured this would be the most appropriate place for this.

Alot of people with older (and especially modified) cars, may have trouble getting their vehicles to pass state inspection. What many people don't know, is that alot of the rules are left up to the interpretation of the individual inspector.

While (in my state at least) you CAN appeal to the Highway Patrol to get your car a second opinion. More often than not they are more strict than the contracted inspector mechanics.

Another option that may help some, is to go in prepared. Know the same rules that the inspector knows. That way you can see the same source material that the inspector may not be interpreting in your favor.

Knowledge is power. Hopefully this thread will help spread some knowledge.

Each state should have a copy of their respective rules and regulations for vehicle safety posted (probably in PDF format) on the internet. If we can get enough of the 50 compiled, maybe this will be worth a sticky. I'll check back and arrange a list in alphabetical order. Just post the link to the PDF file for your respective states manual.

Example and first state:

Missouri:http://sos.mo.gov/adrules/csr/...2.pdf

[basic_mod]

I too live in Missouri, and this is the suggestion I can give - generally the more rural the inspection station, the less strict they are. I have had inspections that take less than 5 mins and I sit in the car the entire time. It was generally like this -

Pull into the shopHonk hornturn lights on, flash brights.Left and right turn signalsWipersInspector goes around to back - lights on/off, brakes, and left and right signals again. Then puts hand over exhaust tip to block flow and listens for any major leaks.That's usually about it.

Another thing - never ever get an inspection at a dealership. They are probably THE most strict when it comes to looking over cars to make sure everything is working correctly. And to those people in smog states, I'm sorry.

Some other states (IL comes to mind) don't have any inspections at all. The exception to this in IL is cars that previously had a salvage title and are getting licensed for the first time since the rebuild. You have to have both a safety inspection and police inspection in IL for rebuilt cars.