Car-spotting thread

JonF

JonF

Well-Known Member
mfennell said:
Feeling pretty lucky - 2 cars have no inspection due to age. 2 are new enough to not require it. 1 is in October. Only my Volvo V70R is in the window. I'll just risk it. :)

Semi-rant: NJ inspection does absolutely nothing but plug in a scanner and the employees have mastered the art of taking as long as possible do to that one thing. They used to be reasonably legit - once caught a brake differential from a stuck caliper on one of my cars and I used to worry they were going to tear up the bottom of my Porsche with the lifting device that let them check balljoints/bearings (it turned out they had an exception list) - but really do nothing now.
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Back in the day they had that thing that "vibrated" the front end to check the suspension for play. I remember going there with my car that at the time had ground controls and koni yellows with the rebound almost full stiff. I forgot to dial them back and when i saw the tech roll it up on the ramp i though, "oh shit!", The dampers are going to jack down to the bump stops and pound the ever living shit out of the front end. Well, it survived, buy apparently i failed... for something called "toe play". And here i though that was only some bedroom shenanigans! ???
 
Dingo

Dingo

Well-Known Member
JonF said:
Back in the day they had that thing that "vibrated" the front end to check the suspension for play. I remember going there with my car that at the time had ground controls and koni yellows with the rebound almost full stiff. I forgot to dial them back and when i saw the tech roll it up on the ramp i though, "oh shit!", The dampers are going to jack down to the bump stops and pound the ever living shit out of the front end. Well, it survived, buy apparently i failed... for something called "toe play". And here i though that was only some bedroom shenanigans! ???
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That "thing" was very good for finding loose components. Customers cars would fail for looseness, and we had to find the problem and repair. A lot of times it was something not so obvious. Especially shocks and struts, no visible leak and passes the bounce test. Remove it from the car and it might as well been hollow inside.
Fast forward to 2020, there are more rolling dumpster fires on the road than ever before. People now just wait for the part to fall off, instead of the state mandating checking and repairs.
 
jklett

jklett

Well-Known Member
Dingo said:
That "thing" was very good for finding loose components. Customers cars would fail for looseness, and we had to find the problem and repair. A lot of times it was something not so obvious. Especially shocks and struts, no visible leak and passes the bounce test. Remove it from the car and it might as well been hollow inside.
Fast forward to 2020, there are more rolling dumpster fires on the road than ever before. People now just wait for the part to fall off, instead of the state mandating checking and repairs.
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That would explain why I've been seeing brake pads on the side of the road lately(not just one but multiples). I wish they'd go back to doing the safety checks.
 
mfennell

mfennell

Well-Known Member
jklett said:
That would explain why I've been seeing brake pads on the side of the road lately(not just one but multiples). I wish they'd go back to doing the safety checks.
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I couldn't agree more. At the time they slacked off, I recall the DMV touting $17M/yr in savings, which is basically a rounding error in their $400M budget and is one of the things that provides real value.
 
JonF

JonF

Well-Known Member
Wow, i can't believe some of you would rather see us return to the dark days of DMV hell where you were guaranteed to wait for 1-2 hours MINIMUM inside or on line for inspection for even just a simple renewal. Failed or malfunctioning AC, the smell of piss and carbon monoxide, fights, lost pay for the day, repeat trips due to clerical mistakes or poorly documented procedures and the worst customer service in the history of mankind were among the many treats you'd encounter during your 80's and 90's DMV adventure. I think the Bakers Basin DMV had its own town name so it wouldn't sully the name of Trenton any further. ?

Be sure to ask your peasant man servants how miserable this was as they handled all your Porsche and Ferrari DMV matters. ?
 
68nova200

68nova200

Well-Known Member
JonF said:
Wow, i can't believe some of you would rather see us return to the dark days of DMV hell where you were guaranteed to wait for 1-2 hours MINIMUM inside or on line for inspection for even just a simple renewal. Failed or malfunctioning AC, the smell of piss and carbon monoxide, fights, lost pay for the day, repeat trips due to clerical mistakes or poorly documented procedures
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you forgot to mention 1000s of miles taken of your clutch in a few minutes while they try to move the car around...
 
mwlikesbikes

mwlikesbikes

Well-Known Member
JonF said:
Wow, i can't believe some of you would rather see us return to the dark days of DMV hell where you were guaranteed to wait for 1-2 hours MINIMUM inside or on line for inspection for even just a simple renewal. Failed or malfunctioning AC, the smell of piss and carbon monoxide, fights, lost pay for the day, repeat trips due to clerical mistakes or poorly documented procedures and the worst customer service in the history of mankind were among the many treats you'd encounter during your 80's and 90's DMV adventure. I think the Bakers Basin DMV had its own town name so it wouldn't sully the name of Trenton any further. ?

Be sure to ask your peasant man servants how miserable this was as they handled all your Porsche and Ferrari DMV matters. ?
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There’s too many people driving around with unsafe shitboxes. They gotta bring back some kind of safety inspection.
 
JonF

JonF

Well-Known Member
mwlikesbikes said:
There’s too many people driving around with unsafe shitboxes. They gotta bring back some kind of safety inspection.
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I'd wager that cars today are substantially safer and mechanically better than those of the past (not considering electronic nannys). While there will always be various exceptions, the vast majority have far longer service intervals and usable lifespan. The average time a car is kept has also gone up, which although is often linked to higher purchase price, its also linked to the owners' decision that the vehicle is worth keeping and driving for that period.
 
Patrick

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
mwlikesbikes said:
There’s too many people driving around with unsafe shitboxes. They gotta bring back some kind of safety inspection.
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Unfortunately we've put this on the police. With all the things they need to do, looking for unsafe vehicles (other than obstructed vision to the sides) isn't a high priority.

what do you propose?
 
Dingo

Dingo

Well-Known Member
JonF said:
I'd wager that cars today are substantially safer and mechanically better than those of the past (not considering electronic nannys). While there will always be various exceptions, the vast majority have far longer service intervals and usable lifespan. The average time a car is kept has also gone up, which although is often linked to higher purchase price, its also linked to the owners' decision that the vehicle is worth keeping and driving for that period.
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You have no clue. I'm under these rolling dumpsters everyday. If you saw what I see daily, you would have a different opinion. The average car owner does nothing until it dont move, spending money on repairs is the last thing they ever do.
 
rick81721

rick81721

Lothar
Its been awhile since I had a car inspected in NJ but all they did was check the lights, brakes and emissions. Now they don't even do that?

FL is easy, no inspection, just renew the sticker every 2 years online. Don't even have to go to DMV
 
Dingo

Dingo

Well-Known Member
rick81721 said:
Its been awhile since I had a car inspected in NJ but all they did was check the lights, brakes and emissions. Now they don't even do that?

FL is easy, no inspection, just renew the sticker every 2 years online. Don't even have to go to DMV
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Only check is for DL, insurance/reg and stored emmision codes. It's joke why even bother.
 
Dingo

Dingo

Well-Known Member
slingblade_uhhuh said:
Maybe a safety inspection every two years after the fifth year. Just saying.
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Agree 100% And this should piss everyone off... All cars/trucks included. Those '96 and earlier that are exempt, every single one of them is a death trap on wheels. (not the collector cars, the ones who own junk, and cannot afford to maintain it types).
 
shrpshtr325

shrpshtr325

Infinite Source of Sarcasm
Team MTBNJ Halter's
JonF said:
Yeah, i'm gonna have to go ahead and say thats been going on for far longer than when the DMV quit busting your chops for worn ball joints. :cool:
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yea it has, but you couldnt get away with it when the DMV was busting your balls (lol) about it bc you would get this red sticker on your windshield that just called all the attention to you
 
A Potted Plant

A Potted Plant

Honorary Sod
Dingo said:
Agree 100% And this should piss everyone off... All cars/trucks included. Those '96 and earlier that are exempt, every single one of them is a death trap on wheels. (not the collector cars, the ones who own junk, and cannot afford to maintain it types).
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Easy there I would have never passed inspection with a stand alone in odb2 lol
 
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