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Probably not provable by hard data, but I think the shops that advertise the lowest inspection prices are the ones that are more apt to jack up the price of repairs. I pay $40 to a shop I trust and it's worth the extra $5-$10.
But I'd rather not pay for an inspection at all. I take care of my cars, but I do realize that other people don't so it is what it is.
Sorry, I think I misworded it but I lived in NJ for awhile and when you buy a brand new vehicle it comes with a dealer inspection sticker that is good for 5 years, and after 5 years it is every 2. So lets say I buy a new car and sell it to you 3 years later...you still don't have to get it inspected for another 2 years. Inspections go by the date on the inspection sticker, which is based on the date it was originally driven off of the lot. Also, in NJ the inspections don't cost you a dime unless there is a repair that is needed and then that is obviously on you but it was a much simpler process. I am very glad I no longer live in NJ but that was one of the few things that NJ did very well in my opinion.
NH should have a similar system. There is no need to inspect a new car for the first few years.....
Brought my wife's car in for inspection. Shop failed it for tires and exhaust leak. quoted me 300$ to fix the exhaust. .
Apparently someone did not get to Post #2 which explains all.
Again, if anyone is new to NH or does not know anything about automotive mechanics - go to an independent shop FIRST. Find out what is wrong with your vehicle BEFORE the official inspection.
Some/many of us have learned the hard way. Paying for "repairs" not needed.
The car inspections are one of my favorite things about NH, honestly. I wasn't thrilled to have to do it when I moved here, and I'd heard the stories of unnecessary repairs. (Thankfully, I found a non-scammy mechanic.) But it makes a difference. There are very few clunkers on the roads up here. I'm from Ohio, where we don't have inspections, and people (possibly including myself) drive their cars until they're heaps of garbage. It's not uncommon, especially in crappier neighborhoods, to see cars with rusted or missing body panels, with crap hanging off the undercarriage scraping the road, blowing smoke out of the exhaust. In NH, you rarely see that. Most cars are fairly new, well-maintained, and clean, even in bad areas. It makes life a little more pleasant. I'm willing to pay $40/year for that.
Probably not provable by hard data, but I think the shops that advertise the lowest inspection prices are the ones that are more apt to jack up the price of repairs. I pay $40 to a shop I trust and it's worth the extra $5-$10.
But I'd rather not pay for an inspection at all. I take care of my cars, but I do realize that other people don't so it is what it is.
My wife got our van inspected this year at a place advertising a discount and they nitpicked at every little thing. I took it to my usual mechanic to get the repairs and he said most of it was borderline or could have waited until later. I usually go to him for inspections but he charges a little more, and my wife was lured in by the discount. He also knows my vehicle and knows what needs fixing and what can wait, and doesn't try to rip me off. It's best to get an inspection through someone you are already spending money with. They don't have the motivation to try to rip you off.
See the attached pictures, do those tires look like they need replacing? The picture with just one tire was the worst tire... Its not recommended to replace just ONE tire on an AWD vehicle... Its recommended to replace all of them...
The exhaust leak WAS indeed an issue... The scam part is the 3x more expensive cost of repair by the inspecting station. I brought it down the street and it was literally 1/3rd the cost to fix....
SCAM
Well, the first tire does (look like it needs replacing). In the 2nd pic, the top one looks OK I think. The middle one frankly looks marginal to me--not like "these tires still have 60% of their life left". The bottom one is barely shown.
Again, do you have a tire tread depth gauge? If not, get one. Or why not take those tires to a reputable shop for an opinion? And the part about:
"The picture with just one tire was the worst tire... Its not recommended to replace just ONE tire on an AWD vehicle... Its recommended to replace all of them..."
So........how are you going to get around that?--you run the 1 or 2 worst tires until they're bald? Then put the snows on again every Sept. right before your inspection?
i have lived my whole life without a car inspection.But i do my own work and check stuff out.So this says to me that the state thinks people can't check their car and use some common sense.
I live in MA, and am thinking of moving to NH, which is why I am reading this.
Stupid of the state to ALLOW places to scam people.
in MA it is on a computer system so there really is no screwing around. If you start to scam people we complain to the state and they take the stations machine away.
NOW, on the other hand the Diesel truck inspections are like what you all are saying. They can charge what ever they want for a DOT inspection.
If you get a place that KNOWS the law, and you have a PASSENGER Diesel truck, it gets a regular inspection for $40 (or what ever it is). I went to 5 different places before I had to look up on the ford diesel forum and ask. None wanted to admit they knew about the Pass plate and tried to charge me anywhere from $125 - $175
The car inspections are one of my favorite things about NH, honestly. I wasn't thrilled to have to do it when I moved here, and I'd heard the stories of unnecessary repairs. (Thankfully, I found a non-scammy mechanic.) But it makes a difference. There are very few clunkers on the roads up here. I'm from Ohio, where we don't have inspections, and people (possibly including myself) drive their cars until they're heaps of garbage. It's not uncommon, especially in crappier neighborhoods, to see cars with rusted or missing body panels, with crap hanging off the undercarriage scraping the road, blowing smoke out of the exhaust. In NH, you rarely see that. Most cars are fairly new, well-maintained, and clean, even in bad areas. It makes life a little more pleasant. I'm willing to pay $40/year for that.
But that seems to go against the whole libertarian, "live free or die", attitude of NH. I don't drive an unsafe car, or one with "rusted or missing body panels, with crap hanging off the undercarriage scraping the road", but if I wanted to that should be my right
Because that's not really a thing. I f I could go back and strangle John Stark before he opened his fat mouth...
NH is not particularly more or less libertarian than anywhere else. Like most cold-weather rural areas, we are inclined to self-sufficiency and reservedness. We care very much about how other people live their lives, we're generally just too polite to say so.
Just because I don't say that your rusty crap bucket has no business being on the road doesn't mean I don't think it, and vote to keep your death trap off the road. Just because I own a hunting rifle and think you should be able to own one too doesn't mean that I don't also think people who open carry in a restaurant aren't incredible a-holes. Just because I don't complain to the city council about your collection of 17 Gadsden flags hanging around the border of your land doesn't mean I'm not also telling everyone I know about the giant a-hoke neighbor that just moved in.
I think a lot of "libertarians" ate mistaking tolerance for acceptance. Next time you think about whether a state motto should be influencing policy, and try your sentence with, " that doesn't seem to fit in with Indiana's 'crossroads of America' attitude." Or "I just want to move to New Mexico because of that great 'Crescit Eundo' spirit!"
New Hampshire residents aren't interested in your weird hatred of the government that essentially subsidized all the things you think you did yourself. We want to make enough to pay our bills, raise our children safely and we'll, and not end up dying because someone is still using the same tires their grandfather bought in '86.
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