State inspection results in car being taken off the road because of rust?
- Thread starter John Galt
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Mufflers, exhaust hangers, tire pieces, all the debris I see on the said of the road aren't coming from well maintained vehicles. I've seen a muffler dragging on the road (the coat hanger let go) and sparks flying. How long do you think that stayed in place?
Regardless, I'm not going to convince you, and I'm not interested in changing your mind. I'm just telling you what I see, and who might have information.
It's up to you to decide what matters to you.
My family and I were almost hit by a stray tire that flew off a trailer - ran right off the axle and bounced over in our direction. Hard braking and "maneuvering aggressively" is the only thing that prevented an accident for me. The car behind me, not so much.
So yeah, I've seen it firsthand, the results of poor maintenance and no vehicle inspection. Not a good thing for safety on the road.
Texas in its infinite wisdom removed safety inspections as of 2025. The big metro counties so far will still require emissions but I fully expect the governor to push further “death star” legislation to continue stripping city regulations.
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Triple_Se7en
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When a vehicle floorboard becomes so rusted that it becomes too dangerous for husband, wife and kids, well I've driven perfectly running cars to the junkyard because of it. I even had two vehicles whose engines were sold soon afterwards by the junkyard. One buyer commented on how clear the 1984's dipstick oil was, for having 258,000 miles on it. It used less than a quart between oil changes.
That 2nd instance I mentioned above was eerily similar. It involved our 1994 Plymouth Caravan. I cried when I drove it to the junkyard. I often used that vehicle like a pickup, by removing the 2nd & third row seats when needed.
Thanks...... now I'm tearing-up again. Pass the Kleenex please.
Remember this one?
Some time later I watched a video by DAP (the VW guy on youtube) who blamed the wheel bearing, as he pointed out that you can see the brake rotor briefly. Not sure it's definitive, maybe he's wrong, but wheels don't just come off without warning. And of course, maybe inspection would not have caught (not all inspectors are the same, and dangerous conditions can develop quickly).
Just Rolled In has some doozies--and it's scary how many decline repair.
That looks pretty bad... maybe the rest of the frame is ok, and a couple of patches would be just fine. I bet structurally it's just fine, and would be for a few years, but still... who knows what lurks elsewhere.
As a kid I did have a frame do likewise, and it failed inspection for it. But when I got under and looked, I realized it was a C frame that Isuzu for some reason had "boxed" using sheetmetal. No wonder it had holes. I ground off the bad sheetmetal and had a welder tack on some 1/8th plate, which actually stiffened it up nicely. That truck wasn't long for the world and was junked a couple years later.
Seems like you are talking more about beaters in hill country, and near W.VA, maybe even counties ravaged by meth/etc?
Living on the border of KY/OH, I hardly ever see accidents attributed to lack of vehicle maintenance or inspections. I don't often see big chunks of exhaust or tires lying on the road shoulder either.
That might change a bit in the future due to current pricing of new and used vehicles being so high, people trying to hold onto vehicles that much longer, along with them becoming more difficult for shadetree mechanics to work on and shop labor at higher rates than ever, too.
Where there are inspections, I am in favor of vehicles failing if the unibody structure, strut towers, suspension mount points, or brake rotors/pad are severely compromised, or of course a muffler dragging the road but that is typically just a $10 exhaust hanger fix. I'm not in favor of "predictive" failure, where it fails the inspection because someday it will be worse than it is now.
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I was passing a semi once and it threw out a 2 ft piece of flat iron. I saw it come out from the under the rear wheels and it hit the two pass side doors. Ripped a hole in both of them.
No safety inspections in the miserable state of California.... Yet. You can drive around with non functional brakes,bald tires, broken glass etc and as long as the car passes an emissions test you are good to drive it
No safety inspections in Arizona and no rust in Phoenix.
NJ fails for rust are not for the rust itself but for exposed sharp edges in the body. Cover the sharp edge smoothly and you are good to go.
Had a buddy in PA get failed for a rust hole in the radiator support of a pickup.
Had a buddy in PA get failed for a rust hole in the radiator support of a pickup.
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Nice! I like that.
NJ is a joke. Unless your dashboard looks like a Christmas tree throwing codes all over the place you pass. Drivers themselves are never checked. I was behind a car at the inspection station two months ago and this guy literally took 10 minutes to get out of the car to let the inspector drive the car thru the lane. Probably got his license when Herbert Hoover was President. Couldn’t pass a physical if he had the answers. He drove away. Happy motoring.
Here in Vermont we have annual inspections done in authorized auto service centers. I have heard of cars rejected for being rusted to the point where the integrity of the car is compromised.
By the way, those annual inspection charges are not cheap. Typically $60. And even a brand new car with 0 miles on the odometer must be inspected on its initial registration.
By the way, those annual inspection charges are not cheap. Typically $60. And even a brand new car with 0 miles on the odometer must be inspected on its initial registration.
In Pa., any frame rust holes or slop on steering and suspension components will fail you. Any exhaust leaks and of course, brakes. Also any body rust through that could be tagged as as a snag threat. I've been told by licensed wrench's that it's illegal to patch or repair a frame in Pa. They added that it's not unheard of to have skilled frame section replacements to be waved through.
I once had a very nice '97 Isuzu Rodeo that finally got the death sentence for frame rot behind the rear wheels. As I recall, the frames on Tacoma's, Nissans and Isuzu were all nearly the same and manufactured by Isuzu. After multiple lawsuits, Toyota did the long warranty enhancement on frame replacements. Isuzu and Nissan had you pound sand.
I once had a very nice '97 Isuzu Rodeo that finally got the death sentence for frame rot behind the rear wheels. As I recall, the frames on Tacoma's, Nissans and Isuzu were all nearly the same and manufactured by Isuzu. After multiple lawsuits, Toyota did the long warranty enhancement on frame replacements. Isuzu and Nissan had you pound sand.
Maine was covered nicely above. My first pickup, a 1987 Mazda B2000, failed for rusty crossmembers and I scrapped it. Since then I've been better about buying stuff not nearly rusted out, or patching holes in floors with commodity items like computer cases.
My county has OBD emissions testing as part of an EPA consent decree from 25 years ago. We had a certain number of "bad air days" in the summer, so the feds badgered the state "what ya gonna do?" and this was the answer. We could probably shake it off, if we paid for the scientific study, but nobody has the political will.
Whole state has a safety inspection, which makes sense as the rest of New England, save CT, does it. Gresham's Law says if we didn't do it, all the clunkers from other states would migrate their way here, which does noone any favors.
Having driven through states without inspections, there are a lot of dead cars on the side of the road. That's a kid that didn't get to school, an adult that didn't get to work. Then when those poor people go car shopping the next one is just as big a POS, and overpriced.
My county has OBD emissions testing as part of an EPA consent decree from 25 years ago. We had a certain number of "bad air days" in the summer, so the feds badgered the state "what ya gonna do?" and this was the answer. We could probably shake it off, if we paid for the scientific study, but nobody has the political will.
Whole state has a safety inspection, which makes sense as the rest of New England, save CT, does it. Gresham's Law says if we didn't do it, all the clunkers from other states would migrate their way here, which does noone any favors.
Having driven through states without inspections, there are a lot of dead cars on the side of the road. That's a kid that didn't get to school, an adult that didn't get to work. Then when those poor people go car shopping the next one is just as big a POS, and overpriced.
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Before I retired from my city fire department I was captain of a fire station first due coverage of 15 miles of interstate.
A poorly maintained dump truck had a rear drum explode and about one third of it bounced through the windshield of a car following behind. It took the ladies head off and pounded it into the rear seat. Lucky for her child who was rear facing due to size I only had to clean its mom’s brain off of it before giving it to EMS for transport.
Ill maintained vehicles are dangerous and any arguments of “I’ve never seen it” are STUPID. I have seen it more than I care to remember and proper brakes, lights, wipers, handling etc do matter.
The 2 states I am familiar with (PA and SC) are polar opposites. PA will fail vehicles for any through rust and SC has no inspection (but also no salted or treated winter roads much)
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