What to do while waiting for replacement plates from the RMV in the mail?

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by lrfox

It was probably in the system, but why would that matter? If the "fail" was because of a questionably faded plate, the next shop can still pass them if they person doing the inspection doesn't think the plate is too faded. This is true regardless of the "R" sticker or the notes in the system. I think that's the entire point about the subjectivity of some elements of the inspection. Unless the person gets rid of the car, every failed inspection has to be reinspected, so no shop owner would think twice about having a car in the shop that's flagged as having "failed" the last inspection. Especially for a faded plate. I guess the inspector could have paid attention to the fail date or reason when it popped up in the system if they really wanted to, but again, much of it is very subjective and many of these places just want to get you in/out as quickly as possible. I highly doubt most are doing a thorough review of your records.

Exactly. A number of these inspectors don't care about the records and history. An inspection is $35. The shop gets what? $20 of that? For $20 how much time do you think they are going to invest in scrutinizing a car when their standard shop rate to have a car in the bay is $100+/hr? They check the major, and obvious items like tires, lights, tie rod ends, balljoints and wipers and send the vehicle on it's way. I passed my last inspection with a cracked windshield (replaced soon after) because they just didn't even notice. I've never had a single inspector pull my wheels off to check brake pad thickness/condition or even check my parking brake for operation.

Now, don't get me wrong. If you show up with bald tires, most will/should fail you. These inspectors ultimately don't want to put an unsafe care out on the road, so there are obvious red flags that will easily get caught and rejected and rightfully so.

Commercial vehicle inspections in MA are $35 + the shop labor to actually go over the vehicle. So if passenger vehicles followed the same guidelines, you'd be paying $35 plus shop labor at $75-150/hr for them to go through the car and actually look at the brakes, and look at the suspension and perform various checks to make sure the vehicle is truly road worthy. I would imagine many would balk at the idea of paying $100-200 or more at each (forced) yearly inspection, but if you want the job done right, that's what it costs. But since that isn't the case, you'll find many shops do the absolute bare minimum.

Originally Posted by Chris92881

I didn't even think of the plate being faded as a factor in the car passing or failing the inspection or I'd have addressed it sooner. You live, you learn. It's just a small inconvenience I guess.

Actually, after thinking about it, the new process requires taking a photo of the plate. So if the plate is as faded as you say, they likely have no choice due to needing to take a photo of it. When i had my issue, that system wasn't in place so it wasn't scrutinized as much. My plate really wasn't that bad at all which is why i "rebelled".

[wolfgang239]

I got my beater inspected in March and they went through that thing with a fine toothed comb. I was really surprised. No DTCs set but they actually jacked the damn thing up and claimed there was some deflection when they tested the front wheels with a pry bar. After that they checked if the ebrake held, pulled my front wheels to check brakes/bushings.

I already had new loaded control arms in the box at home because I knew there was play somewhere, so I told them I'd be back in a few days. They tried to tell me I needed a receipt from a mechanic showing the work done. They couldn't cite where that was a requirement and ultimately didn't push back.

But I couldn't believe it, for $20 they basically gave me a full on pre-purchase level inspection.