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For the VA Folks


ChrisL

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Motor vehicles registered in Virginia are required by law to pass a vehicle safety inspection annually. When a vehicle passes a VA state safety inspection, the inspection station will place a safety inspection sticker on the windshield showing month and year in which the inspection will expire

 

is the new guy posing as a mechanic?

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15 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Hey @Old No. 7 & @Razors Edge, can you provide some insights on vehicle inspections? The Dreaded MIL is telling my wife she needs to have her car inspected every 6 months?  Does that sound right to you? 

That was true back in the last century. (68/72) It's probably true today.  When I lived there they did the best vehicle inspections I have ever seen.  They crawled under the car looking for exhaust leaks.  They checked headlight aiming.  They pulled a wheel and checked the brake linings.  The checked every light for proper operation.  The checked for good windshield wipers.

Some important points.  The inspection stations were point of sale for repairs as well.  An inspection license was very important to maintain.  The state was aggressive on checking on the checkers.  They had fleets of vehicles, some good ones that shouldn't fail and some bad ones with items that should.  They were unmarked and unannounced and they could cost you your license if you were screwing up.

I thought it was a pain in the ass when I lived there for 5 years but when I left VA I soon noticed that the condition of automobiles in other states was deplorable compared to VA.  I don't think anyone in CT has ever checked headlight aiming......ever.

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Hell no. It's every year for safety inspection and every two for emissions (depending on the county you're in). She is in a more rural county and doesn't have the emissions requirement that we do, but she might. Check the State DMV website to see. I get 13 months by waiting for the sticker to expire and then getting another month each year. Stick it to the man!

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51 minutes ago, Old No. 7 said:

Hell no. It's every year for safety inspection and every two for emissions (depending on the county you're in). She is in a more rural county and doesn't have the emissions requirement that we do, but she might. Check the State DMV website to see. I get 13 months by waiting for the sticker to expire and then getting another month each year. Stick it to the man!

I see that times have changed since the last century.  :dontknow:

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2 hours ago, Old No. 7 said:

Hell no. It's every year for safety inspection and every two for emissions (depending on the county you're in). She is in a more rural county and doesn't have the emissions requirement that we do, but she might. Check the State DMV website to see. I get 13 months by waiting for the sticker to expire and then getting another month each year. Stick it to the man!

I think she’s getting bad info from a shop. She was told 6 months on the inspections.  My wife never had a car in VA and it was many years ago for me but 6 months just doesn’t seem right.

OK thanks!

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10 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

They were unmarked and unannounced and they could cost you your license if you were screwing up.

They used to do that in NY....so places just had multiple techs with licenses. There was a garage here known as "Lick-em stick-em Lindsay's" They would pass pretty much anything if you wanted to pay. They lost their license many times. Back in the day before you had to plug the cars in for emissions testing, there was a guy I worked with who you gave him twenty bucks and your registration, he'd bring you in a sticker the next day.

I remember when we lived in NJ, though, where the inspection stations were state run and my dad said he never passed the first time through.

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12 hours ago, Old No. 7 said:

Hell no. It's every year for safety inspection and every two for emissions (depending on the county you're in). She is in a more rural county and doesn't have the emissions requirement that we do, but she might. Check the State DMV website to see. I get 13 months by waiting for the sticker to expire and then getting another month each year. Stick it to the man!

This year was GREAT for us.  I took my car a little over a month later than expiration for safety so gained TWO months on my window sticker.  My wife waited over two months and gained THREE months on the window sticker!  :cheerleader:

But to Chris' question, safety inspection is every year and dictated by the month on the sticker (1-12) and set (initially) when the car is first inspected in VA.  The other is emissions done every two years - usually by the same folks who did the safety inspection - and is DIRECTLY tied to registration (ie - when they ask for your registration renewal, they will also indicate if an emissions is required), so no updated emissions test, no current registration. 

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8 minutes ago, Old No. 7 said:

Car-b-cue = car burning on the side of the road. 

I was once on a walk at lunch time in Tysons (Boone Blvd by Gallows) and I noticed a parked car smoking, then really smoking, and then burning!  Firetrucks were on their way, but it was pretty much fully burned by the time the trucks got there and dealt with it.  The burned out shell was there the next day when I was walking again. Didn't see an owner and have no idea who called the fire dept.

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5 hours ago, F_in Ray Of Sunshine said:

I remember when we lived in NJ, though, where the inspection stations were state run and my dad said he never passed the first time through.

Years ago I took my 83 Ford Escort to get smogged.  I passed the smog test but I was missing a 3” piece of hose that went from the manifold to the air intake.  The missing tube was totally obvious by the empty flanges on either side where the tube went.

So Dude does the test, fails me due to the missing tube & proceeds to ring me up for the 2 tests & missing tube.  I told him to just charge me for the failed smog test.  He said but you didn’t pass, you need another test? 

The missing tube is plain as day and yet you did the smog test anyway so you could fail me. If I have to pay for another test I’m giving my money to someone else & paid & left.

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16 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Years ago I took my 83 Ford Escort to get smogged.  I passed the smog test but I was missing a 3” piece of hose that went from the manifold to the air intake.  The missing tube was totally obvious by the empty flanges on either side where the tube went.

So Dude does the test, fails me due to the missing tube & proceeds to ring me up for the 2 tests & missing tube.  I told him to just charge me for the failed smog test.  He said but you didn’t pass, you need another test? 

The missing tube is plain as day and yet you did the smog test anyway so you could fail me. If I have to pay for another test I’m giving my money to someone else & paid & left.

They have to.  The penalty for getting caught by the state jiggering the rules is harsh.

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1 minute ago, maddmaxx said:

They have to.  The penalty for getting caught by the state jiggering the rules is harsh.

He had my hood open before the test  & could clearly see the missing tube.  I would  have appreciated and 100% on board with: hey I can’t pass you with that missing tube. Let’s replace it and then I’ll do the smog test. 

It wasn’t like it was hidden in the back of the engine it was right up front & obvious. 

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37 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Years ago I took my 83 Ford Escort to get smogged.  I passed the smog test but I was missing a 3” piece of hose that went from the manifold to the air intake.  The missing tube was totally obvious by the empty flanges on either side where the tube went.

So Dude does the test, fails me due to the missing tube & proceeds to ring me up for the 2 tests & missing tube.  I told him to just charge me for the failed smog test.  He said but you didn’t pass, you need another test? 

The missing tube is plain as day and yet you did the smog test anyway so you could fail me. If I have to pay for another test I’m giving my money to someone else & paid & left.

In VA, currently, that's a one price covers all sort of thing.  I think it is true with safety too.

Why did my vehicle fail? / Waiver Information

Vehicles that fail the initial inspection (or On-Road Emissions Confirmation Test) are eligible for one free retest at the original station within 14 calendar days of the initial inspection (or initial On-Road Emissions Confirmation Test).

A vehicle that fails the emissions inspection (or On-Road Emissions Confirmation Test) must be repaired and reinspected until it passes or a waiver is obtained. If your vehicle fails, the Vehicle Emissions Inspection Report, which indicates the failed item(s) and a second page, the Emissions Repair Data Form will be given to you by the inspector. Emissions related repair and diagnostic work performed and/or approved by a Certified Emissions Repair Technician employed at a Certified Emissions Repair Facility can be applied toward an emissions inspection waiver. If repairs are done by someone other than a Certified Emissions Repair Technician at a Certified Emissions Repair Facility, the cost of the repairs will not apply towards an emissions inspection waiver. In order to qualify for an emissions inspection waiver, the emissions related diagnostic and repair charges must meet or exceed the waiver amount printed on the Vehicle Emissions Inspection Report, and the vehicle must have failed an initial emissions inspection and completed a retest indicating continued failure.

Effective January 6, 2020, the waiver amount is $865.

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