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Thanks. We're driving somewhere Sunday, so we'll try the inspection again on Monday. (We don't drive much.) If it still isn't ready by the time our registration is due, what kind of problems will this cause us? Is there a provisional registration? - because if we can't register it, we can't drive it, and if we can't drive it, it won't complete its drive cycles.
It's out of my professional scope, but I believe that you can go to DMV and get a 3 day pass. This pass will allow you to drive the vehicle to and from the inspection station, but people tend to use it to be able to rack up a few miles. No suck thing as a provisional registration, in NC, the registration will not be issued until the vehicle passes the State inspection. I believe people who are bringing in a vehicle from out of state and are moving here can get a registration first, then get an inspection, but I'm a tad unclear of the exact rules.
A question was asked of me in person, but I thought this info was worth passing along.
"What if my check engine light is on for a transmission problem?"
The answer is that your vehicle will fail because the check engine light is on.
This is where the state and I disagree on something. A transmission code points to an internal transmission problem in most cases. I personally feel that a transmission code should be a waiver-able item, because it does not affect emissions. However, the state feels otherwise, and they trump my personal beliefs, at least as far as the inspection rules go.
We have a vehicle, a 2004 Altima, that recently would not clear the "drive cycle" you mentioned.
Two years ago, we had a check engine light just before inspection was due. We ended up having to replace the catalytic converter and then drive the vehicle per the "drive cycle" before getting our inspection. All went well and the vehicle passed emissions.
We haven't had a CEL since.
Last year, the vehicle passed inspections with no incident.
This year, when my son (who's in college nearly 200 miles away) tried to get the vehicle inspected, the inspection station told him the vehicle wasn't ready. He drove it around his college town and back home where we took it to the dealer for inspection. Again, Not Ready. He told my son to drive the car around for another 40 miles and bring it back. When we did, they ran diagnostics on it and found there was nothing wrong with the vehicle; no codes in the computer. They tried emissions inspection a 3rd time; again, Not Ready.
We ended up having to take the vehicle to a State Inspector who looked over it and signed the vehicle off on a 1-year waiver. We were then able to renew our registration on the vehicle.
My question is, why??? What is it about the emissions testing that wouldn't allow our car to be tested?
We have a vehicle, a 2004 Altima, that recently would not clear the "drive cycle" you mentioned.
Two years ago, we had a check engine light just before inspection was due. We ended up having to replace the catalytic converter and then drive the vehicle per the "drive cycle" before getting our inspection. All went well and the vehicle passed emissions.
We haven't had a CEL since.
Last year, the vehicle passed inspections with no incident.
This year, when my son (who's in college nearly 200 miles away) tried to get the vehicle inspected, the inspection station told him the vehicle wasn't ready. He drove it around his college town and back home where we took it to the dealer for inspection. Again, Not Ready. He told my son to drive the car around for another 40 miles and bring it back. When we did, they ran diagnostics on it and found there was nothing wrong with the vehicle; no codes in the computer. They tried emissions inspection a 3rd time; again, Not Ready.
We ended up having to take the vehicle to a State Inspector who looked over it and signed the vehicle off on a 1-year waiver. We were then able to renew our registration on the vehicle.
My question is, why??? What is it about the emissions testing that wouldn't allow our car to be tested?
It's possible that the "stay alive memory" has lost power. I've seen this on Fords before, generally it was a fuse. However, I'm not a diagnostic guy. I'd suggest going to a good diagnostic shop and having it looked at. That being said, have you checked it recently? Has it now set ready? If so, it's possible that it wasn't driven enough to set the final monitor it needed.
I realize this is an old thread, but perhaps the OP still checks it so I'll ask here-
My friend moved up north in December and left her truck at my place and did not have it inspected or the registration renewed beforehand. It's just been sitting here since then (I tried to start it recently and think the battery is dead) but I'll need to use it soon so I want to know what to do to get it street-legal again.
Firstly, will I be able to get a vehicle that I don't actually own inspected as long as I have the (expired) registration?
Do I need to get it inspected before re-registering, and if so is there anything special I need besides the registration?
After that, is it a simple matter of paying the registration fee (plus any late fees) online?
No registration is needed to have a vehicle inspected, no tags even required(although how you get it to the inspection station is up to you)
If it's pre-1996 just get it to the station. If it's a 96 or newer you have a slightly different dilemma. The vehicle, if it's been sitting, probably drained the battery, this allowed the computer to reset when the battery was either replaced or recharged. In order for the vehicle to reset the drive cycle monitors it will need to be driven.
Ordinarily you could just go down to DMV, explain the situation to them and they would issue a temporary permit to drive the car(assuming you show proof of insurance and all the other required documents.) However, you state the owner is not present, so they are not going to be able to re-register it. I'd suggest speaking with DMV first about an owner re-registering a car in absentia. If the vehicle still has a current tag then you are OK, just drive it, and get it registered, just make sure it has insurance. DMV doesn't seem to care who actually comes in to do the paperwork(I've re-registered my girlfriends car for her before) as long as the paperwork is valid.
Hope this helped. My expertise is more in the actual inspections themselves, the rest is from personal experiences.
In NC, an inspection station cannot refuse to inspect a vehicle that is presented to them for that purpose. The state however, can stop the inspection electronically for some reasons, but this happens during the inspection process, and you would not be charged if this were to happen.
OK Ozzie, I and curious as to why I need a rear-view mirror on a 3/4 ton truck that has extended towing mirrors? Especially if I have a slide in camper on the truck 80% of the time.
Simple answer: Because the state says so. Does the truck have a rear window? If so, it is assumed that it can be seen out of, and if it can(by your admission, on your vehicle, at least 20% of the time) Now, a vehicle that has a fully enclosed rear section(think box truck) has no window for rearward vision, hence no rear view on the windshield. Odd fact: If the vehicle has both a left and a windshield mounted mirror, the right mirror can be missing and still pass, unless the vehicle has a fully enclosed back, in which case both side mirrors are required.
I don't make the rules. I just play by them, when I have to.
No registration is needed to have a vehicle inspected, no tags even required(although how you get it to the inspection station is up to you)
If it's pre-1996 just get it to the station. If it's a 96 or newer you have a slightly different dilemma. The vehicle, if it's been sitting, probably drained the battery, this allowed the computer to reset when the battery was either replaced or recharged. In order for the vehicle to reset the drive cycle monitors it will need to be driven.
Ordinarily you could just go down to DMV, explain the situation to them and they would issue a temporary permit to drive the car(assuming you show proof of insurance and all the other required documents.) However, you state the owner is not present, so they are not going to be able to re-register it. I'd suggest speaking with DMV first about an owner re-registering a car in absentia. If the vehicle still has a current tag then you are OK, just drive it, and get it registered, just make sure it has insurance. DMV doesn't seem to care who actually comes in to do the paperwork(I've re-registered my girlfriends car for her before) as long as the paperwork is valid.
Hope this helped. My expertise is more in the actual inspections themselves, the rest is from personal experiences.
In NC, an inspection station cannot refuse to inspect a vehicle that is presented to them for that purpose. The state however, can stop the inspection electronically for some reasons, but this happens during the inspection process, and you would not be charged if this were to happen.
Thank you for your response. Looks like I can either get the truck jumped and risk driving it to/from work for a day or two in order to log the miles needed for the monitors to be inspectable, or get with her for a more conventional solution whenever she's back in town.
Thank you for your response. Looks like I can either get the truck jumped and risk driving it to/from work for a day or two in order to log the miles needed for the monitors to be inspectable, or get with her for a more conventional solution whenever she's back in town.
Not that I condone any sort of illegal behavior, but most vehicles will set the monitors to ready between 35 and 100 miles. For legalities sake, you could just add the vehicle to your policy....at least that way you would be insured.
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