The only time we need any kind of safety inspection is if the car received a bad title. It needs to be inspected before it can be reregistered
I once brought a 49-state car into California. Even then, it didn’t need a safety inspection
I suspect if safety inspections were implemented, it would be a blow to the economy. So many cars would fail, people don’t have the money to make them safe and/or buy something newer. Some people would be out a car and would have a hard time getting to their job. Or they might even lose their job, because public transportation is insufficient
Delaware has an annual or bi-annual, if you pay for the extra years registration up front. I think its every three years or so for new cars. it s easy downstate in the more rural area. just brakes, emissions, lights and wipers. some rust is ok as long as the holes aren t too big. I think its tougher upstate around Wilmington. the state does the inspections.
for the brake test, you run toward a pad and slam the brakes on. it measures all four wheels somehow
Thanks for all the posts. For your peace of mind, the truck is not driven in winter precisely because of the safety concerns regarding defrost. I will see that this truck gets fixed or junked ASAP.
@Tester
Thanks for clarifying that. It isn’t an easy decision by states to either inspect and put a lot of people at risk in loosing their cars and take the roll of “big brother” in doing so ostensibly to protect other drivers but car makers deserve “credit” too for making crappy cars that rust easily. We have state inspections here in Maine which is a poor state and encounters rust causing situations with both it’s coast line and salt spray plus it’s icy conditions and the proliferation of salt brine on roads. That makes car ownership much more then the dealer cost as the life of cars in general are much shorter. Long ago Ford made an effort to make trucks that rusted less with more galvanized body panels…then, only less then a bad memory ago, they made truck cabs and doors out of ordinary metals and with no drain holes.No drain holes ? How much does that cost to put them in ? They do it grudgingly, on a calculus and walk back when ever they can.
Good decision @gull.
Another car owner caught in the middle.