NJ residents? Why pay for auto inspection?

[MrsPete]

MrsPete -- Your DH must be taking care of the car stuff!

The fee for the registration renewal in North Carolina is $28 and the inspection fee is at least $29 (may have gone up). There also are 28 emission inspection counties, unless some more have been phased in.

This is just syntax, but I consider the fee we pay to get our tag stickers each year to be an annual registration fee.

Yeah, he does take care of the car stuff. Last time I paid the tag renewal, I know it was $20 (or $21 if you did it through the mail). I'm off on the figures, but I'm still right on the concepts. My point is that our tags and inspections aren't connected: I didn't know that other states had inspections at the same time they get their tags renewed. It does make sense to lump them together, allowing the consumer to keep the car-tasks to one stop.

I thought only Wake, Meck, and Cabarrus had emissions testing; I guess the others found a way to get a few more dollars. I know that for many years we lived in a very rural county, and we always paid less than half the cost of the "expensive counties".

 

[disneysteve]

Both my dh and my car ended up needing $1200 EACH in order to pass inspection as per the auto shop (just in the past 60 days). We seriously question the legitimate nature of these "safety" repairs because they get us for the same thing every year. You pretty much have to take THEIR word on it.

This is the big advantage of the inspection system in NJ. The people doing the inspection have no financial incentive to find things wrong that aren't really wrong. They don't do service or repairs. They just do inspections. So if they say something is wrong, it probably is. Or at least you can take it to the mechanic of your choice and get it checked out.

Fortunately, we've only gotten flagged for minor things over the years - a tail light out, found a nail in my tire one time.

 

[MiaSRN62]

This is the big advantage of the inspection system in NJ. The people doing the inspection have no financial incentive to find things wrong that aren't really wrong.

You're "right on" with that statement Steve ! PA needs some better regulation because many are getting ripped off !!!

Example :
my dh's SUV was cited for bad power steering lines (there are two I've learned). He took it to a mechanic at his work that someone recommended when they heard how much we were being charged for inspection. This guy does auto work on the side (used to do it full-time). Well, the mechanic who did the original inspection said we needed both lines replaced. This guy looked at it and said we only needed 1 line replaced and that was borderline at best. We argued and got this charge dropped.
Second, ball joints (something to do with the tires ?). They get us for this EVERY year. When we complain, they say , "it's not our fault the way you drive" (was actually told this about 3 weeks ago). We had my dh's friend check this too. He said the ball joints were fine. It's up to the mechanic in how strict they are with measuring them. Apparently they have to have a certain amount of "give" and some mechanics are stricter than others. These mechanics here are wide open to set their own limits on what they can pass or fail.

So if you're being charged for these every year, you're most likely dealing with a mechanic who is really looking to make a buck. We're steamed having learned all this.....something needs to be done in this state.

 

[pyrxtc]

We have to have our cars registered and inspected every year in the month the owner was born. Unfortunately both of our cars have my DH's anme on it so they both have to be done evry July. We paid just under $1,000 for registration for both cars and $70 for inspection for each car. This year will be the same inspection fee but the registration should go down to about $750. You paya percentage of what your car is worth. We had an old truck and registration was only $30.

 

[gottaluvdis]

We have to have our cars registered and inspected every year in the month the owner was born. Unfortunately both of our cars have my DH's anme on it so they both have to be done evry July. We paid just under $1,000 for registration for both cars and $70 for inspection for each car. This year will be the same inspection fee but the registration should go down to about $750. You paya percentage of what your car is worth. We had an old truck and registration was only $30.

I was going to add that we're pretty much getting nailed in NH on car registrations. New cars can easily cost $1000 or more to register for the first time, then the fee goes down each year because the value of the car decreases. Inspection and emissions are required once a year, in the same month as the registration fee. I paid around $40 for inspection/emissions in Sept. My car wasn't even 1 year old at the time, so nothing was found that had to be fixed. My DH refuses to go to the same garage I go to - he refers to the inspection guy at my garage as the "inspection Nazi". Instead, he takes it to a garage owned by our neighbor, who also does all the work on his car. That way, if something is wrong, our neighbor will fix it at a fair rate. I go to the other place because it's convenient - you can drive in without an appointment and usually without much of a wait. I wish we had state inspection stations with no financial incentive.

 

[pezpam]

I grew up in NJ and remember those horribly long lines to get cars inspected. Allowing outside garages to inspect for a fee was wonderful at the time - pay some money and no more 2-3 hour wait with us bored kids in the car! Remember, it's all of those people who still pay for it that keep the lines at the free inspection stations short. If everyone headed in for free inspections, the lines would be horrendous again.

 

[cinamin27]

We have to have our cars registered and inspected every year in the month the owner was born. Unfortunately both of our cars have my DH's anme on it so they both have to be done evry July. We paid just under $1,000 for registration for both cars and $70 for inspection for each car. This year will be the same inspection fee but the registration should go down to about $750. You paya percentage of what your car is worth. We had an old truck and registration was only $30.

HOLY COW ! ! ! I honestly dont remember how much my initial registration was when I bought my car new in 2001 cause that was all handled by the dealership but my renewal is only $35 a year in Florida & no inspections what-so-ever. I can not even imagine having to come out the pocket $500 every single year to renew my tag. Guess thats one good thing about living in FL (besides being within short driving distance to Orlando!!)

 

[Kycha]

Example :
my dh's SUV was cited for bad power steering lines (there are two I've learned). He took it to a mechanic at his work that someone recommended when they heard how much we were being charged for inspection. This guy does auto work on the side (used to do it full-time). Well, the mechanic who did the original inspection said we needed both lines replaced. This guy looked at it and said we only needed 1 line replaced and that was borderline at best. We argued and got this charge dropped.
Second, ball joints (something to do with the tires ?). They get us for this EVERY year. When we complain, they say , "it's not our fault the way you drive" (was actually told this about 3 weeks ago). We had my dh's friend check this too. He said the ball joints were fine. It's up to the mechanic in how strict they are with measuring them. Apparently they have to have a certain amount of "give" and some mechanics are stricter than others. These mechanics here are wide open to set their own limits on what they can pass or fail.

So if you're being charged for these every year, you're most likely dealing with a mechanic who is really looking to make a buck. We're steamed having learned all this.....something needs to be done in this state.

Maria,

I think it is time for you to find a new mechanic. Wow! I would be steamed too if I were treated like that. I am very fortunate because we have a great mechanic. He is honest and charges a fair rate. So, there aregood mechanics out there. You just gotta keep looking. I could give you the name of my mechanic. It might be worth a drive out to the country for you to save a few bucks.

 

[sanctus]

I grew up in NJ and remember those horribly long lines to get cars inspected. Allowing outside garages to inspect for a fee was wonderful at the time - pay some money and no more 2-3 hour wait with us bored kids in the car! Remember, it's all of those people who still pay for it that keep the lines at the free inspection stations short. If everyone headed in for free inspections, the lines would be horrendous again.

Then after idling for a couple hours, it was a guarantee you'd fail emissions because you never had a change to DRIVE and move any of that out of your tailpipe. Yeah, not missing Jersey (except the bagels and pizza) at the moment.

 

[brettb]

I grew up in NJ and remember those horribly long lines to get cars inspected. Allowing outside garages to inspect for a fee was wonderful at the time - pay some money and no more 2-3 hour wait with us bored kids in the car! Remember, it's all of those people who still pay for it that keep the lines at the free inspection stations short. If everyone headed in for free inspections, the lines would be horrendous again.

The private inspection option isn't the only thing keeping the lines short at the state facilities -- a big factor is the reduced frequency of the required inspections. Something which I'm actually rather against. I've noticed more and more cars with brake lights out since they switched to the every-two-year schedule (first inspection for new cars is at 4 years!). At first it was mostly cars with one out of three lights missing. But I've started to see more cars with two out of three out.

Frankly, I wish we had a hotline like California to report cars that spew putrid, visible smoke, too.

I must say that the time I spend for the inspection doesn't seem to be that short, though. Even if there are only a couple of cars ahead of me, the actual process with the dyno test (enhanced emissions) seems to take longer. I think that was one of the main justifications for the relaxed schedule; the new inspection system took longer per car so they had to do something but it was supposed to be more strict (emissions-wise) so every two years was adequate.

Brett

 

[rflorek]

I went through NJ inspection just this morning (my SUV is due every 2 years). I got there at 10 to 7 (the station opens ay 7 am) - I was the first car. I was done by 7:15 an at work 15 minutes later. As long as I get to the inspection station early and go in the middle of the month, I've never had to wait more tahn 15 minutes at indpection (maybe I'm just really lucky! )

 

[Samar]

Way back when, there was a time when 2 hours was a short wait at the DMV for inspection. That's when they started allowing auto repair shops and gas stations to do inspections.

These days, it's one way to get a car they is marginal at best to pass inspection. wink wink nudge nudge.

Yep, DH said that private inspection is the best way to pass a rickety car off as "safe".

That said, we go to the state DMV's and have them do it. It's free and it lets me know that my car is indeed safe enough to drive.