On South Main Auto’s channel he gets stuff in all the time that has been passed by other shops but is absolutely rotted out.I'm not sure if I already replied after my last PA State inspection. I know they didn't do the safety inspection because the paperwork said 10/32 for brakes front and rear (they're almost gone I need to address this coming week as I'm off), and, on the stickers (can you believe it in 2023) there are no boxes X'd for wheels pulled. My $29.95 coupon is now $47 out the door. I think the shop offers inspections to generate repairs, but, if a car isn't going to do that, it's a waste of their time to collect $40 something and tie up a tech nit picking things, so out the door with stickers it goes.
imho emissions is different as they plug in to the Commonwealth's computer for 1996+.
From a coworker it's easy to buy stickers where he lives, again, with computers invented and deployed in the 80's, there's no reason for that. Then, what is silly, is there can be 4 color combinations on valid stickers. Can LE really remember all that? Not to mention legit stickers are fabricated by the shop. It's like having foxes watching hen houses.
PA may not be a good point of reference as it's the wild west anyway. No reggie, no insurance, no exterior legible tag, no DL, 5% tints. Pulled over? Allowed to go on with some tix. I think we can do better, but maybe we cannot. With all the loopholes, 95% of people are on the up and up, just a number I made up and think could be correct. I don't know anyone who openly cheats on state inspections, people just pay the money and get it over with. But why have a system if 5% can cheat is what I'm thinking.
Apparently fly by night shops will sell inspection stickers and the state won’t crack down on them because they only operate at night and no inspectors work at that time.