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Just wanted to share my experience with you guys so that you won't get ripped off.
I went to get my yearly NC State Inspection at AAA Auto Mark Car Care Center on Avent Ferry Road in Raleigh and my car had too many "Not Ready" codes. So, they gave me the Not Ready report and charged me about $25 (full price minus sticker cost) just to give the report. I knew that they weren't supposed to charge for Not Ready report and when I asked they said they could and told me to do whatever I could. I would have understood if it were done by a new employee but that was not the case. I knew that the person working there has been working at the same place for the past 5 years. Then I went straight from there to DMV and talked to a nice inspector and explained the situation. He told me straight away that they can not charge for the Not Ready report but told me to wait so that he can check with his supervisor to make sure. He went in and came out after 5 minutes and told me to go to the AAA place to get the refund as he had already spoken to them to refund the money.
So, beware that inspection stations charge money that they are not supposed to just to give you Not Ready report.
I refuse to ever patronize an NC inspection station after getting pretty much flipped off by one several years ago, treated like a rented mule and I have since only gone to my fave mechanic for the annual rip-off.
I think it's a con job (as you just illustrated) so I would just stay away in droves.
Took my wife's car to a snappy lube place in Knightdale for it's annual inspection and passed everything except a front tire with minor wear on the inside. The guy was very clear about why he failed it. I paid something like $23.00 and was told that I would only have to pay the remaining $7.00 when I had the problem corrected. Now, I've been around cars my who life, have enough common sense to get by, and for the life of me couldn't really see why it failed. So my question is, can I take the car to another station and have them 'complete' the inspection for the remaining $7.00? Or would I either have to 1) pay full price or, 2) return to the original inspection station? I rotated the front tires to the back and vice versa to try to alleviate this problem. Bought these tires in December so they are in great shape otherwise.
Took my wife's car to a snappy lube place in Knightdale for it's annual inspection and passed everything except a front tire with minor wear on the inside. The guy was very clear about why he failed it. I paid something like $23.00 and was told that I would only have to pay the remaining $7.00 when I had the problem corrected. Now, I've been around cars my who life, have enough common sense to get by, and for the life of me couldn't really see why it failed. So my question is, can I take the car to another station and have them 'complete' the inspection for the remaining $7.00? Or would I either have to 1) pay full price or, 2) return to the original inspection station? I rotated the front tires to the back and vice versa to try to alleviate this problem. Bought these tires in December so they are in great shape otherwise.
OK, from my experience and knowledge with the whole situation I was in - they can charge if they give you "Fail Report" that means they did the Safety and Emission (OBD) inspection and to go through all that they can charge you the fee minus sticker fee. If you take your vehicle to some other place then you should go through the whole process (from Safety , OBD inspection etc) and pay the full price ($30) if it passes else you pay full price minus sticker price. If you think your inspection station is too picky and do not want to spend lot of money on tires and would like to give a try you can try your luck at another station (usually Quality Inspection) by paying again. If it passes you save the money on tires minus additional ($23) you paid, if not, you loose $23
Well, this isn't Oregon and the cops are not all that strict unless you hit a license check. As for the nuisance NC inspections, just install your spare to have the car inspected. However, unless the laws have changed, as long as no cord is showing, having 1/16" of tread in the center of the tire spaced 4 equal distances around the tire is sufficient to pass. I have had stations try to reject my car because a backup light was not working. That is not even on the check list.
I recently purchased a car with tinted windows and was told by the dealer that the windows did pass inspection about two months ago. Now I just took the car to my dealer who said it will not pass inspection because of the tinted windows. What is my course of action now?
I recently purchased a car with tinted windows and was told by the dealer that the windows did pass inspection about two months ago. Now I just took the car to my dealer who said it will not pass inspection because of the tinted windows. What is my course of action now?
Remove the tint from the front windows. It's probably not the answer you were looking for but the car will pass inspection.
There's a substantial amount of drivers on the road here in WNC with expired tags on their vehicles. Like 6-12 months expired.
Where I moved from (Oregon): You drive on expired tags, you get pulled over by The Man, your car gets towed.
Every state has its pet revenue stream. NC, it's the inspections racket. Fail to get the annual inspection, and the $250.00 fine is just mailed to you, no need to involve a cop or trooper, just first class postage as an expense.
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Inspection scenario
