I was born and raised in NYC.
The last time I had my Nissan inspected, the service
station who inspected my car wanted to charge me $65 to
re-weld my muffler's extension pipe to the short piece that
reaches to the cat. THey claimed it had to be welded b/c
the pipe was too damaged to use a "U" clamp. Instead, I
went home, stuck the two pieces together, and secured them
with the clamp anyway. 15 minute total job. Reinspection
was $10 at a different station. That was 9 months ago and
it's still attached. They just wanted the money.
On the other hand, I went to a third service station to get
my midget inspected. And between the midget, $20, and the
new honda accord in the next service bay, the midget passed
emmissions with flying colors. (They said it was only a
_little_ rich, anyway)
GO figure....
Mike
'78 Midget
'87 300zx
Joseph Cianciotti wrote:
>
> I've had cars registered in New York, New Jersey, Texas and California.
>
> In New York and Texas, safety inspections are done at shops that do
> repairs. Which I always thought was a conflict of interest. But never got
> stung. (Thankfully.)
>
> New Jersey has the best system I've encountered. It's run by the state
> and it's simple. (What a surprise.) You drive your car assembly-line
> style through a building with stations and inspectors that check the car.
> My favorite is the brake test. The inspector accellerates the car, then
> abruptly stops it atop movable floor pads that measure the braking power.
> (Of course, at the station right before this one, another inspected
> checks the front pads and tires.) The results are displayed on a large
> device that looks like an old-fashioned gas pump with four large
> mercury-filled tubes. As the car stops the mercury climbs upward. You can
> actually tell which brakes are doing the stopping. At the end they slap
> an inspection sticker on your car.
>
> California is the first place I've lived that doesn't have a safety
> inspection. You can have bald tires, no brakes, iffy steering, and
> non-functioning lighting, but if your hydrocarbons are within limits,
> you're safe to drive. I have a feeling there are a lot of questionable
> cars on the road. But at least they're now requiring proof of insurance
> to register a car.
>
> Joseph
> 67 Roadster
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