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Sorry Eric, but I have to come in here and basically put you on the spot for being outdated on this topic.
1. States and counties are required to do emissions inspections by the federal government if air quality levels in that state/county fall below a federally set level. If the air quality is consistently measured below this level then emissions inspections are going to be instituted in your state/county. If they maintain or rise above that level consistently than the program can be dropped or never implemented. So if your state doesn’t have it, it’s not because your state is superior, and it doesn’t mean the feds aren’t going to come in and change that at any time.
2. Safety standards in these programs (most states use Systech/Opus programs) aren’t even hard to maintain. The people boo-hooing about their fails really shouldn’t be allowed to own a car. Tires on 2 consecutive treads must be 2/32 or lower to fail, yet just about every tire wear bar is at 3/32, meaning the tire companies are telling you that your tires are no longer safe way before the safety inspection is, you had ample warning. Brake linings must be less 2/32 (less than 1mm) when all the brake pads are in the red at 3mm, you basically pass with no pad left, it basically has to be at metal to fail, you had ample warning. Your suspension components must not have play, the boots can be turn and all the grease completely gone, but if there is no play you pass. Your exhaust cannot have any leaks. As long as oil/fluid is not leaking at a rate of 1 drop every 30 minutes on the ground, you pass. As long as the fluid is not dripping onto the exhaust, you pass. Keep all your lights working and your wipers operational and your driver window working, you pass. As long as there is not rot compromising the structural integrity of the vehicle, you pass. If you feel a shop is failing you illegally (I have seen this once in the past 2 years, I am dead serious when I said I run across more dishonest customers than customers who dealt with dishonest shops) you can ask them to show you the manual or get a copy for free from your state and/or bring it to the state garage for free to have them make the final call, which could lead to big trouble for the tech/shop. If you have to spend 2,000.00 at every inspection, you plain out are not maintaining your car responsibly and do not deserve to own one or be on the road, driving is a privilege not a right.
Plain and simple, get over it. I have done nothing but oil changes to my 02 WRX with 118k miles these past 3 years I have owned it, I know I have things that need to be fixed, but just to prove how very lenient the system actually is, I passed at an independent shop with brakes that I know need to be replaced but still pass the ridiculously low level of requirement provided.
The shop gets a whopping 19.00 of the inspection cost, so no one should be acting like it is a large boon for us, heck I get paid 0.5 of that and I make 23.00 flat rate rate, so I get 11.50 of that 19.00, the shop barely gets anything. We are subject to undercover bait cars with no warning, state trooper visits with no warning and we are not seeing substantial upsells based on inspections. Maybe we just have more responsible and mature car owners than your average viewer Eric, who knows, but it’s not the raking it in you seem to think it is. I have inspected 7 or 8 cars in the past 10 work days I have been on and only 1 needed work to past and it was 2 front tires that had cord showing. I don’t get all excited when I see a Rhode Island State Inspection, I know I will have some recommendations but that the car will generally pass as is.
Eric, I feel you missed one huge point in regards to the “it’s my car” argument.
Yes, it is their car, but their use of the public roads carries the requirement of their car to be safe, sound and meet emissions standards. The moment they alter these systems they are, effectively, voiding their legality to drive on the public roads. At that point the “it’s my car” argument is moot. Unless they agree to never use that car on a public road, they are already in violation of federal law and most local laws by operating that altered vehicle on public roads. Therefore, this effectively changes nothing for the other than blocking them from breaking the law, which is a very weak point to argue in defense of.
Eric a group of videos suggestion for ETCG1, a video of you doing an actual MPI on a car and on a truck. I notice a lot of new techs miss stuff because they are so overwhelmed with the thought process behind looking over a vehicle. Unfortunately shops never really take the time to walk them through a few and I think you are the perfect person to do this for new and potential technicians.
Eric a group of videos suggestion for ETCG1, a video of you doing an actual MPI on a car and on a truck. I notice a lot of new techs miss stuff because they are so overwhelmed with the thought process behind looking over a vehicle. Unfortunately shops never really take the time to walk them through a few and I think you are the perfect person to do this for new and potential technicians.
I don’t really get bothered by the ones who say they will fix it themselves. It’s the ones who accuse me of lying either directly or indirectly with comments like “it’s fine.” It’s not fine, if it was fine, we would t be discussing it.