Vehicle Safety inspection - ??? (Honolulu, Pahoa: home, inspectors, license plate)

[1freespirit]

What or where can you find the new laws on safety inspection for your vehicle? Our vehicle did not pass as he said the water in radiator was a bit low??????????????????

Since when does that have to do with safety? We brought it home and checked and the water level is right up there where it should be.

Does any one have a link to the safey inspection laws I searched the internet but could not find one from the state direct and the ones I did find like from Lex Brodies on theirs says nothing about checking the coolant system. We did not bring to Lex Brodies we brought to Pauls Repair in Pahoa its almost like they were checking things to bring in more business or something.

Very frustrating as we always keep our vehicle maintained, looks nice, runs and sound good. Its hard to believe some of the vehicles that I see on the road passed inspections as they look like they are put together with duck tape and ours didn't pass? We have brought it to Pauls for years for the inspection this year its different I guess to new laws, so would like a copy of the inspection laws so I can see what they are all supposed to check and we can be prepared next time.

Very frustrating to say the least.

[OpenD]

I'd say you were scammed, and I'd recommend reporting it to HiDOT. The cooling system and fluid level in the radiator are NOT on the list of items to be checked on this SAFETY INSPECTION!

Here's the checklist from Lex Brodie's...

http://www.lexbrodies.com/Files/Docu...inspection.pdf

[1freespirit]

Yeah I seen Lex Brodies... and yeah says nothing about coolant levels. Well we shall see hubby just now ran back up there to have them check again. Well there was one other thing I guess the license plate light bulb was out. That I can see although that is not listed either but it makes sense to have that working.

We will see when hubby gets back if they pass it now since we got a new bulb (didn't touch the fluid level) as it did not need any coolant. Am curious to see what transpires and if the water level is an issue most certainly will report to HiDOT.

Thing is we have been bringing to Pauls in Pahoa for years and this year I guess a new guy there doing it with a big long list of things to check and taking photos of the vehicle etc. I can see taking photos as this would aid in making it not so easy for your safety sticker to get ripped off and someone else applying on their vehicle.

Much thanks!

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by 1freespirit

What or where can you find the new laws on safety inspection for your vehicle? Our vehicle did not pass as he said the water in radiator was a bit low??????????????????

Quite odd, I've never opened the hood of my car for a safety check.

Yelp is a good source on where to go.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by 1freespirit

Yeah I seen Lex Brodies... and yeah says nothing about coolant levels. Well we shall see hubby just now ran back up there to have them check again. Well there was one other thing I guess the license plate light bulb was out. That I can see although that is not listed either but it makes sense to have that working.

Oh, that's different. So you got a NO PASS for a burned out bulb, which has always been the case. Any burned out bulb fails the test. And in addition they noted low coolant, as a customer service item. That's completely different.

Thing is we have been bringing to Pauls in Pahoa for years and this year I guess a new guy there doing it with a big long list of things to check and taking photos of the vehicle etc. I can see taking photos as this would aid in making it not so easy for your safety sticker to get ripped off and someone else applying on their vehicle.

The photos are to crack down on inspectors passing cars with illegal modifications and window tints. If they pass a car with tires protruding outside the body, that's going to be a problem for them, because the photos will show it. But if they pass a car with normal tires, and it later gets a ticket for protruding tires, the photos show it was not the inspector's fault, and it's all on owner.

The sticker has your vehicle ID on it. If someone rips it off and they get stopped the number will show the cops that sticker doesn't belong on that vehicle.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

Quite odd, I've never opened the hood of my car for a safety check.

It's hard to do the following check without opening the hood. Or... since November... to take a picture...

FUEL & INTAKE SYSTEM
• Any component of the system is missing, improperly mounted, not of an approved material, leaks, cracked, broken, cut, or improperly repaired.

[whtviper1]

Well, I haven't had to do one in almost 2 years - so I guess it changed.....

[OpenD]

Yeah, the big obvious changes in November were that they changed from paper checklists to iPads, which also take photos, are used to print out the stickers, and also transmit the data to Honolulu via the internet. Some of the checklist definitions were also updated. And the fee was raised $5.

But coolant level is not on the new checklist.

[1freespirit]

yeah it passed so it must have been the bulb as when he brought it back they never mentioned again about the water level- Hubby said initally they opened the hood and checked the belts, battery cables & coolant levels and then went through the lights, brakes etc.

Maybe that was not part of the actual inspection (under hood check) or something and just a customer service check.

[Jungjohann]

Originally Posted by 1freespirit

Maybe that was not part of the actual inspection (under hood check) or something and just a customer service check.

Maybe they were just being 'nice', and trying to insure that you had no unforeseen problems down the road. It does happen.