Best State Vehicle Inspection in Frederick? (cars, working, factory)

[Debi18]

dawn, I didn't realize Kirk didnt do inspections in Frederick anymore but I'm glad your inspection was relatively painless. They are good people and if you ever need repairs and/or maintenance I believe you can trust what he tells you. I take my 4-runner to Darcars Toyota for oil changes because part of their "customer care" package includes free oil changes for the life of the car. Kirk does everything else, if/when I need repair or maintenance work done. After an oil change a couple months ago Darcars tried to tell me I needed all my brakes replaced, that they were worn to the rotors. So take it to Kirk and tell him I need brakes. He calls a little while later and asks me why do I think I need brakes. Seems I still had about 50% left on all 4 pads!

[dawnlajoie]

debi18 - I will definitely calll on them should I need any repairs to my car and maybe for maintenance oil changes as well. Thank you so much for the referral.

[filmsniffer]

Dawnjoe is correct. VA inspections is a cake walk compared with MD's. And it being annual, it keeps cars in good and safe condition. Not true holds with MD's cars. They check key points such as tires, brakes, lights. In MD, they inspect nearly damn thing. Some stations are lax and use common sense; some fail anything looking for a buck. I had one station fail me because my front sway bar bushings were aging and the headlights were different brand names!

[Tim Rankin]

Originally Posted by filmsniffer

VA inspections is a cake walk compared with MD's. And it being annual, it keeps cars in good and safe condition. Not true holds with MD's cars. They check key points such as tires, brakes, lights. In MD, they inspect nearly damn thing. Some stations are lax and use common sense; some fail anything looking for a buck. I had one station fail me because my front sway bar bushings were aging and the headlights were different brand names!

So let me get this straight filmsniffer...when VA does a thorough inspection, "it keeps cars in good and safe condition." But when MD does it, they "fail anything looking for a buck."

Our personal experience was the opposite of yours! I think in the end, it comes down to the luck of the draw, or who does the inspection. There are both good & bad shops in both MD & VA.

[dawnlajoie]

tim rankin - I agree, no matter where you are it comes down to finding a nice honest inspection station.

[filmsniffer]

Originally Posted by Tim Rankin

So let me get this straight filmsniffer...when VA does a thorough inspection, "it keeps cars in good and safe condition." But when MD does it, they "fail anything looking for a buck."

I didn't say thorough inspections. They have a small checklist to go through and inspections are done by police or shops. The inspections being annually, keeps checking the key points in order to keep the vehicle in considerably maintained condition. No failing brakes, bald tires, etc. In MD, it's only one time when you are bringing used cars to register in MD. What's the point of that? With MD inspections being so infrequent, shops are more likely to fail anything for a buck. I've noticed when I take a car to be inspected in an upscale area, it's more likely to fail for stupid things while in rural or non-developed county, anything minor gets overlooked.

Originally Posted by Tim Rankin

Our personal experience was the opposite of yours! I think in the end, it comes down to the luck of the draw, or who does the inspection. There are both good & bad shops in both MD & VA.

When I lived in VA, I always get inspections done by local police. I didn't encounter any outrageous problems compared to MD's.

[Tim Rankin]

Originally Posted by filmsniffer

When I lived in VA, I always get inspections done by local police. I didn't encounter any outrageous problems compared to MD's.

I never tried that in VA. Potentially a great idea, as it would eliminate the obvious conflict of interest, in having a for-profit, auto shop do vehicle inspections.

[BottleBoss]

If what you mean by "leniant" is that you want an inspector who will break the law than I think you really lack common sense. All State Inspectors in Maryland follow a guide book. There is no judgement or leniency. What you think of the rules is irrelevent. Perhaps if you don't like the rules then you and the rest of the sheeple in this great state of Maryland should stop voting for idiot democrats who put these kind of rules in place. Now obey the law and do what you should do. Fix your car as reguired. Also, anyone who thinks they can 'grease the palm' of a state inspector so they will break the law needs that palm broken to teach them a lesson.

[oncesir]

Originally Posted by BottleBoss

If what you mean by "leniant" is that you want an inspector who will break the law than I think you really lack common sense. All State Inspectors in Maryland follow a guide book. There is no judgement or leniency. What you think of the rules is irrelevent. Perhaps if you don't like the rules then you and the rest of the sheeple in this great state of Maryland should stop voting for idiot democrats who put these kind of rules in place.

Get real!! If you've ever seen this "rule book" you would understand the huge gray area that exists. Things that are left to interpretation and so on. MD has had its same rules for state inspection for years. Nothing has changed yet cars have and there has been no "updating" to these regulations. I'm a dealer tech and I can tell you the inspector we have knows little to nothing about cars. I've had inspectors tell me that my outside lighting is the wrong color(clear when it should be orange). My problem with that, the car was stock in all ways. So by his "guide" my car didnt pass the MD inspection when it was new. He was wrong but I had to replace the bulbs regardless. Like I said before, MD inspection sucks. Its pointless unless the inspection is yearly.

I always joke about it being the "welcome to MD", now in order to drive your car here you have to pay some shop X amount of dollars.

[TarHeelColt]

Originally Posted by filmsniffer

Good luck...this state is probably more strict on safety inspections than California's smog laws!

Replace the light bulb yourself and remove sticker. The muffler sounds like a valid point. No idea on the steering wheel, but sounds like a gray area.

Tips to find a lenient one: Find a shop with tires piled up in the back, oil puddles on all the bays, and an inspector in need of some serious dental work.

Yeah but those are the ones that ********* over.