Insurance and Registration

[Pat K]

Russell, while you look that up for Lloyd, could you find out for me=The velocity of a swallow carrying a Coconut?

[Dreepa]

So I went to get one car inspected...  ( still looking for the title to the other one).

The mechanic wants $600 to 'get it up to code'.. NO I said just slap the freakin' sticker.
So down I drive to MA to get my brother to fix the one piece that I 'need'.

I think this will be an area that needs to change... the inspector said it was for 'my safety'. 

[Kat Kanning]

Yeah we got that routine.  Get advice from locals on where to get inspected seems best.

[polyanarch]

What is this vehicle inspection thing?

We don't have that in WI -is it another tax?

I own a Motorhome, 1 passenger car and 2 motorcycles.  How much in extra taxes is this going to eat out of my wallet?

[Kat Kanning]

The inspection is $20 or $40 (I think) depending on how old your cars are.

[polyanarch]

all of my vehicles are OLD.

My motorhome is an '83 and my car is a '94  the cycles are '93 and '98 respectively.  Shit, it looks like I'm going to have to pay MORE to live in NH than WI.

[Pat McCotter]

Inspections are done at private garages. The only money going to the state from these is the money the garage spends to buy the stickers (I guess this is the fee), the business profits tax on the garages' earnings, and, I believe, part of the rental cost of the new emissions testing equipment - don't quote me on this last one.

Garages charge varying rates for these inspections, not regulated by the state but by what the market will bear. If it fails you do not need to have the work done at that garage but you must get the re-inspection done there.

Emissions inspections are new this year and no consequences for failure until next year. This is not an 'up the tailpipe' test, but an OBDII reading thus it is only done on 1996 and later vehicles equipped with OBDII. (OBDII is On-board Diagnostics II computer on these cars.) This is very controversial as it was instituted by the DMV and not by specific legislation.

http://www.nh.gov/safety/dmv/emissions/

Auto emissions test hikes inspection cost to $40-$50

By Elizabeth Dinan
edinan@seacoastonline.com
?

PORTSMOUTH - A Mazda Miata is taken in to an auto shop for a Massachusetts inspection, including an emissions test, on April 1, 2004.
The cost? $29.

Eight months later, the same Miata is inspected at Sears Auto Center in Newington, without an emissions test, and the cost is $25. But if the same Miata is brought to the Newington Sears Auto Center today, the cost for an inspection sticker, now with a state-mandated emissions test, would be $50.

That?s a 100 percent increase, and almost double what is charged in the Bay State. And if the Miata failed the new New Hampshire emissions test, there would be no repercussions.

A bill headed to the Senate could change everything, or nothing. Further adding to the confusion, Rep. Sherman Packard, chairman of the committee that wrote the bill, said that even though the emissions testing isn?t currently mandated, Rockingham County inspectors were nevertheless required to lease and use the testing equipment by March 15 or be discontinued as a state-sanctioned inspection station.

The testing, he explained, is being performed in an "advisory capacity" until May 1, 2006, so that "people can get acclimated to it."

Automobile inspectors in New Hampshire say recent and widespread consumer sticker shock is the result of increased costs as a result of the new emissions testing. And those auto inspectors can charge what they want, unlike in neighboring Massachusetts. where there?s a $29 cap.

Sears Auto Center manager Chris Plourde said he "looked around" and figured the $50 he charges is a fair rate and covers the increased costs associated with the new emissions mandate.

"There?s the cost of the machinery and testing fees," said Plourde.

Meanwhile, if the same Miata is brought to McFarland Ford for the same inspection, the cost there would be $40. That?s up from $20 the dealership charged prior to March 15.

McFarland Ford manager Frank Montmarquet said his cost-doubling mirrors that of his "sister" dealership, Hampton Ford, as well as other dealers he has polled. He found the average inspection charge to be in the $40 to $45 range.

As at other New Hampshire inspection stations, he is leasing the emissions-testing equipment from manufacturer, Gordon-Darby Inc., under a state contract. With the new equipment, Montmarquet said his costs have spiked because it takes his inspectors about 15 minutes longer to perform an inspection.

For starters, instead of logging safety inspection data by hand, his mechanics now must record data electronically, something they?re not accustomed to doing, he said. And there are additional costs for paper, ink and printers, he said, not to mention going online, something not all inspectors have done.

Gordon-Darby also charges inspection stations equipment rental fees.

Since he began testing emissions, Montmarquet said he has found about a half-dozen cars with emissions "issues." But because the state is still in "an advisory period," during which owners of cars found to fail the emissions tests suffer no consequences, he and other auto inspectors simply advise them about problems.

Then "it?s up to the consumer" whether to fix the problem, said Montmarquet.

New Hampshire emissions testing does not apply to vehicles older than 1996, perhaps the most likely of cars to violations emissions standards, said Montmarquet. And, he added, newer cars have on-dash technology to alert owners when there?s an emissions failure.

Meanwhile, New Hampshire lawmakers are currently considering a bill that would put a $15 cap on the cost of the emissions part of inspection fees, leaving inspectors to charge whatever they want to for the safety portion.

The bill also would give auto inspectors and owners a one-year reprieve from the mandated inspections now under way in the Seacoast area. Auto inspection stations that have already leased emissions-testing equipment would be allowed to cancel their contracts without penalty under the pending legislation, which has already gained approval by the House.

Following is a sampling of charges for auto inspections at other area locations:


AR&T Auto, Portsmouth: $45

Al?s Auto, Exeter: $45

Bob Hendry Auto, North Hampton: $40, or $25 if the car is a 1995 model or older

D&M Mobil, Dover: $44

European Auto, Rye: $45
Information reported by The Associated Press is included in this article.

[polyanarch]

I do all my own work on my own vehicles.  I don't trust other people with my life or working on my car's vital components.

[Pat McCotter]

That's fine. All the state cares is that it passes the inspection.

[tracysaboe]

Russell, while you look that up for Lloyd, could you find out for me=The velocity of a swallow carrying a Coconut?

The European Swallow or the African Swallow?

Tracy

[tracysaboe]

OK, so Any Ideas on how to get rid of these bothersome mandated inspections?

I mean, short of completely free marketizing the road/hyway industry? (Which IMHO should be the ultimate goal.)

Tracy

[Dreepa]

Count me in!

I was pissed I mean... it is harder than in CA or MA.

[polyanarch]

I have a question:

I previously stated that I have 1 motorhome, 1 passenger car, and 2 motorcycles.

I had planned on living in NH part-time this year and moving my residency there.  I had hoped to get NH license plates for all my vehicles.  I don't plan on riding my cycles out one at a time to get the "inspected" and the MH might be in storage for most of the time in WI and be used only as a "cabin" when I'm there.

What am I to do?  I can't have WI plates on them if I'm no longer a WI resident and don't want to get IL residence because of that nasty FOID card and other BS plus my main residence will be NH.

[tracysaboe]

You might want to contact the NHLA (New Hampshire Liberty Alliance) or the NHRA (New HAmpshire Republican Alliance)  If you can get the NHRA on your side, you're half-way their.

Tracy

[Russell Kanning]

Keep your stuff registered in WI.