"rear suspension doesn't complete a full travel"
They told me that it is bottoming out and rubbing on the tires. I laughed, said thanks, paid my $16 and rolled out. Not without them offering their $600 30k mile check up of course...douche bags

I guess that's what I get for waiting til the last minute and taking it to a local shop instead of taking it to my normal guy.

I'm not complaining that they are wrong. I'm just venting because some ******** was being too picky...

 

That's some funny stuff right there for sure!

 

Usually the shops will try to nail everyone I know with small stuff- new wiper blades or headlights aimed. Just enough so it'd cost more to do it yourself and pay for a 2nd safety inspection.

 

So they check the whole car to make sure everything works?

Wow that sucks.

 

how would they even test that ? get in the car and jump around? i'd be awfully ____ed if i saw something liek that happening to my car.

 

There's a checklist they go through. I don't remember seeing anything about suspension travel, but they are supposed to pull a wheel from the front and back in order to check how much is left on the brakes. If there is something about suspension, that's probably when they'd check it.

Yeah, VA and other states that have this annual inspection do suck. I don't think the cars are any safer because of it. Actually, they seem more run down than most MD cars which have no mechanical inspections except when selling.

 

When I was in MA, the inspections just became ridiculous. I think they were failing half the cars for bad gas caps. Another big failure point was for visible rust through, but it was ok to cover it with duct tape. Apparently they were concerned that people could be injured by the rust in an accident. Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way, but I'd be more concerned with the shear mass of an SUV plowing into my car, than a piece of rust coming loose and flying into my eye in an accident.

No inspections in SC.

 

You guys always complain about California and its rules--has not been state inspections here in many years. Not except the smog checks of course.........

 

Sorry but inspectors removing wheels to inspect brakes... not in my world. NEVER gonna happen.

 

Well, they're "required" to remove a front and back wheel. They have to mark which side on the inspection sheet. The last two times I had an inspection, they didn't actually do it. The undisturbed layer of dirt and dust on the wheels and lug nuts showed they hadn't been touched. I maintain my cars so I know they're ok, but it also means they're not checking someone else's...

 

sometimes when its on a lift you can see from the back side of the wheel. drums have a peep hole cover which can be used to see so you don't have to pull off the drum itself.

 

VA inspections are actually pretty annoying. Probably just as bad as CA stuff. They dont have the super strict emissions laws, but there are police officers in certain counties that are known to really have it out for imports.

For those who live in VA:
When they remove your wheels for checking the brakes they almost always go to the passenger side since this is the side that is furthest from the master cylinder and usually wears worse than the rest. When I sold my Celica to a guy in VA, I had to take it there for him and the only thing they got me on was the pass rear brake pad was worn too low for VA standards, which is crap, the car had 20K on it and those brakes wouldve last at least another 12K with normal driving. Its a good idea to check the pass side brakes before taking it in for inspection.