thunderGunXprezz t1_j6l08d1 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 1:50 AM

Did they fail it? If so, what for? I've lived in PA all my life and have dealt with plenty of rusted out vehicles that fail inspection. Usually it's only when the frame or something critical like that is compromised.

Also, having several family members in the auto body and auto service industries, this isn't exactly something to overlook. It sucks, but in the event that an avoidable failure causes an accident, you'd certainly be liable. Again it sucks, but it's kinda part of being a responsible vehicle operator. If your kid was on a school bus that had a rusted out frame that caused an accident I'm sure you'd feel differently.

PivotalPosture OP t1_j6l0hft wrote on January 31, 2023 at 1:52 AM

I recently moved & will be getting it inspected. My van isn’t rusty by no means but I’ve heard how strict PA can be so I am mentally preparing for that

thunderGunXprezz t1_j6l1oit wrote on January 31, 2023 at 2:01 AM

As I said, it's only going to fail if it's unsafe for the road... that I know of. I don't think body rust is a problem unless you're talking about pieces potentially falling off as you drive. People like to shit on the inspection in general, but I think that mostly comes from shops that embellish problems and try to coerce people into fixing things that they might not need to. I think that's usually few and far between and you always have an option to get a second opinion.

Trying not to be too preachy here, but in my opinion if you're driving a 2 ton hunk of metal down the road at 65 mph next to me during my morning commute, I'd hope that you'd have enough respect to feel some responsibility that your shit box isn't going to drop a piece of your bumper on the turnpike (looking at you Ohio). This of course isn't directly aimed at you but it hopefully explains why these regulations are necessary to hopefully let as many of us get home safely every day.

sg92i t1_j6m950j wrote on January 31, 2023 at 9:23 AM

> People like to shit on the inspection in general, but I think that mostly comes from shops that embellish problems and try to coerce people into fixing things that they might not need to

It depends on where you are in PA. In some counties the techs are hard asses and nitpick fail you over the stupidest shit not because they want to, but because they're being put under heavy handed pressure by the state police & other gov officials to fail a certain amount of cars per year. They will come into the shop and look at your books periodically and if they think you pass too many cars (even if its because there was nothing wrong with those cars) they'll accuse you of being a lick & stick place and threaten to take away your license to inspect cars.

If the tech is failing you for stupid shit but isn't giving you a quote to fix it, especially if they don't even want you to hire them to fix it, they're not the problem.

I've lived in a few different counties in PA and its like a night & day difference on how hard it is to pass because of this. Also, the counties that are hard asses about inspections also tend to be the counties where state police are the most aggressive at ticketing for expired inspection stickers.

69FunnyNumberGuy420 t1_j6n7o9c wrote on January 31, 2023 at 3:09 PM

Pennsylvania isn't that strict, I've driven some real shitheaps in my life and never had them failed for rust.

Hazel1928 t1_j6o62jc wrote on January 31, 2023 at 6:42 PM

What county or counties?

69FunnyNumberGuy420 t1_j6o8vpb wrote on January 31, 2023 at 6:59 PM

Northumberland and Allegheny. IME they're looking for shit like perforation rust on frame rails or important suspension bits like strut towers.