Wife’s rogue failed inspection. Is this legal?

Yeah, the argument could be either crumple zone or if this even remotely connects to anything where airbag sensors anchor.

"The thigh bone connects to the......"

I'm not saying this is their argument, but as soon as "SaFEtY!!!!" is thrown out there as reasoning, well, all reason goes out the window (see also: 2020)

THAT SAID, the presence of a wood screw immediately leads me to think MAJOR hackage. I either spot weld, use nutserts, or as a last resort hex head sheetmetal screws, preferably tapered sheetmetal screws that wedge themselves in similar in concept to NPT (common in steel building construction)
 
D60 said:
Yeah, the argument could be either crumple zone or if this even remotely connects to anything where airbag sensors anchor.

"The thigh bone connects to the......"

I'm not saying this is their argument, but as soon as "SaFEtY!!!!" is thrown out there as reasoning, well, all reason goes out the window (see also: 2020)

THAT SAID, the presence of a wood screw immediately leads me to think MAJOR hackage. I either spot weld, use nutserts, or as a last resort hex head sheetmetal screws, preferably tapered sheetmetal screws that wedge themselves in similar in concept to NPT (common in steel building construction)
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I’m likely to sell this car in a non-inspection state if a second inspection gets the same result. I DID fix the airbags. I just don’t want to keep pouring money into a rogue of all things.
 
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I have driven cars with more egregious safety issues, but that repair is a complete bodge and most certainly is part of the energy absorbing structure - maybe not a huge part - but still. In a crash, you want these parts to stay put, to deform predictably. Even if I had a car old enough to avoid inspection, I would never accept that repair, done by someone without a clue. In addition to the countersink wood screw, it still contains original damage, and is corroding. Why wasn't this cheap part replaced??? Why not replace it now, instead of contemplating whether or not it really is unsafe. It is unsafe, and does not look like that much of a repair, even if resectioning and welding is required... which I would question also. (not the welding, the resectioning)
 
D60 said:
Yeah, the argument could be either crumple zone or if this even remotely connects to anything where airbag sensors anchor.

"The thigh bone connects to the......"

I'm not saying this is their argument, but as soon as "SaFEtY!!!!" is thrown out there as reasoning, well, all reason goes out the window (see also: 2020)

THAT SAID, the presence of a wood screw immediately leads me to think MAJOR hackage. I either spot weld, use nutserts, or as a last resort hex head sheetmetal screws, preferably tapered sheetmetal screws that wedge themselves in similar in concept to NPT (common in steel building construction)
Click to expand...
Manufacturers have specific and clear guidelines for collision repair. The guidelines probably don't allow for any of the things mentioned here. (maybe spotwelding). You are offering another slightly better hack.
 
Kurtatron said:
I highly doubt something called a radiator support tie bar is overly critical to safety. The unibody is what crumples, not support brackets.
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You have no idea what other janky methods were used in the larger, more important parts that you can't see.

It’s clear that they cut corners and did poor work.

They used a lathe screw and a wood screw along with a Home Depot shelf bracket. Who knows what else they did.
 
Kurtatron said:
I may just have to sell this car. I’m getting fed up with it. But the bumper looks so bad, I doubt I could fetch a decent price for it.
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How old is the car? If it's older than 2009, you can sell it to someone in Vermont :sneaky:

Vermont doesn't require titles on cars more than 15 years old, and it's less rusty than anything that age up there :D


Kurtatron said:
Inspection required.

View attachment 230897
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aaaah, a salvage/rebuilt vehicle. That explains it.

And yeah, the quality of that "repair" is questionable at best. This is why salvage "rebuilt" titles are worth so much less: because they're almost never repaired properly. That's why it got the branded title in the first place, because doing the work properly costs almost as much as the value of the car, and that's if they don't find even more damage during the repairs! Different states can use different thresholds, but a common one is 70%.

A common scam is where an unscrupulous seller will do what's called "title washing" which is to register the car in a state where the salvage/rebuilt mark won't transfer.
 
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Kurtatron said:
The DMV employee told me for a “rebuilt” title out of state car, I am required to get an inspection before I can get it registered.
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For salvage and rebuilt title requires a comprehensive safety inspection including brake and lamp. This is going to be a difficult situation for you.
 
Chris142 said:
Ya I can see why it failed. Those parts are part of the crash safety. If not built like oem the car wont crumple correctly in an accident.

Thats a hack job. Looks like a Craigslist special. I would dump it asap.
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I may have to. I’m going to try one more inspection place. If it fails, I’m driving it up to Michigan and selling it there. No inspections there. And it has no rust, so someone will like that.
 
Rust in Arizona is more of a theory than anything else. Even so, in terms of crumple zones, I kinda shot myself in the foot. My car was creaking every time I would enter certain driveways at an angle like gas stations. I installed a frame brace that solved the issue while improving the stability during lane changes. I also installed a factory tow bar which replaced the pithy crash bar. It’s a heavy sucker’ although it unexpectedly improved the ride quality. The downside is that I will likely feel more impact in a collision.
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This is pathetic. Someone at Florida the DMV entered into the wrong odometer mileage! Carvana says my mileage is wrong. They reported 178k miles in May, when in January it was 83,000 4 Months ago! What heck!
 
Kurtatron said:
This is pathetic. Someone at Florida the DMV entered into the wrong odometer mileage! Carvana says my mileage is wrong. They reported 178k miles in May, when in January it was 83,000 4 Months ago! What heck!
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When they rebuilt the car they lowered the milage too. The correct milage should be stored in the ecm. Where did you buy this mess?
 
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