Places that do inspections in my county are quitting the business rapidly even as the populations grows.

WTF is the state plan to keep this stupid unnecessary bS going?

No clue but it needs to go away.

35 states have done away with annual vehicles inspections. Hello, Austin...?

Every shop I've talked to say they lose money on them. And it certainly affects margins.

Pull into the bay at a lube shop... $50-$100 oil change in that bay, or (in the same amount of time) 2 $7 inspections. $25 I think it is with the tailpipe sniffer using a $10,000 machine that has to be calibrated annually.

Pain in the ass. Me last week:

First place I went to: "our guy isn't here"
Second place I went to: "our guy won't be here til Monday"
Third place I went to: "our guy goes to lunch in 15 minutes"
Forth place I went to: "sorry, machine is down"

I go to the stealership and let them take the loss on it

Texas is one of I think 11 states that have vehicle inspections. Doesn't it just make you feel safe??

How much of the fee goes to the state?

It's been a loss for a long time but this explains why it takes me 60 seconds to get my guy to do ann inspection and you never leave the vehicle. That's how they make it worth their time. Take the fee, print the paperwork, do nothing.

On the flip side is the place down the road from me 15 minute inspections. It's literally all they do and I have no idea how that is a money making business.

too lazy to research - have other states totally given up on any safety inspection?

sts7049 said:

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too lazy to research - have other states totally given up on any safety inspection?

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Wow. Lazy is one way to put it.

This thread had 9 posts before yours. 2 of which answered your question.

Furlock Bones said:

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On the flip side is the place down the road from me 15 minute inspections. It's literally all they do and I have no idea how that is a money making business.

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I would assume really low, entry level employees as you don't need any mechanics plus insanely marked up: wipers, headlights, and bulbs.

Seems like an easy way to get upsells. I paid a shop $15 to replace my obd fuse once when i went in for an inspection. Headlight, squeaking brakes, or o2 sensor is real money. Do they really lose money hooking the machine up for 5 minutes for $25?

I think it's mainly about the $7 "safety" inspection for those of us without emissions.

Ah, i can see shops not making money if they get into a car with bunk brakes, hand it back with a fail not get their $7 and never see the car again. Still seems more likely that the customer would hand over $400 for a brake job to get the car up to snuff?

ok, that was a poorly worded wine influenced question

i was trying to ask if the states who rescinded the inspections have just done away completely with any sort of requirement

In all seriousness, email your state congressmen. It's super easy to do and for issues that aren't quite as publicly contested, a small amount of constituency feedback goes a long way.

Who represents me? (Texas)

BenTheGoodAg said:

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In all seriousness, email your state congressmen. It's super easy to do and for issues that aren't quite as publicly contested, a small amount of constituency feedback goes a long way.

Who represents me? (Texas)

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"laws" doing away with the inspection regime get passed every few years in Texas but they never are brought for final signature, and are thus not enacted. I'm not as familiar with the arcana of Texas state government to know how/why this works, but my cynicism says it's a way for state congress members to say (truthfully) thar they voted for a bill, while also taking donations from the dealer and environmenral lobbies.

My theory is that the dealer lobby has an unholy alliance with the greenies to keep inspections alive. The check engine light is called the "money light" for a reason. Those of you in non-emissions counties don't worry about it as much but in large metro areas, drivers spend an average of like $350 every time the CEL comes on.

That's why inspections are still a thing.