So the law changed in Texas that you no longer need to have your vehicle annually inspected unless you live in a major metropolitan county area, which there are four designated zones, and I do live within one. Yay me! Basically all they do is plug a reader into your vehicle and you pass as long as you don’t have a “check engine” light on. I was surprised when I got my motorcycle registration renewal notice it said I did not need an inspection, but the state is sure going to make sure they now get that money instead of the inspection station. So now you are charged the same fee you would have paid a private company to do the inspection to now go to the state government.

This is what the notice said:

Effective January 1st, 2025, you are not required to obtain a vehicle
safety inspection prior to registering your vehicle. You will be
assessed the Inspection Replacement Fee shown below. The
Inspection Replacement Fee replaces the previous safety inspection
fee.

Government at its best and sad to say I work for the state.

As far as I know, my 23 year old truck will still need an inspection. Next year my truck will be exempt because for some reason a vehicle older than 24 years is exempt from an inspection.

quote:

unless you live in a major metropolitan county area, which there are four designated zones

Let me guess.

1- H-town
2- DFW
3- San Antonio
4- Austin

But anyway, I'd rather the private business get my money than the assholes in .gov.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:

quote:

unless you live in a major metropolitan county area, which there are four designated zones

Let me guess.

1- H-town
2- DFW
3- San Antonio
4- Austin

Basically, the Austin, Dallas, Houston, and El Paso areas.

How is El Paso more major than San Antonio?

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:

But anyway, I'd rather the private business get my money than the assholes in .gov.

Exactly. There are businesses that solely do inspections and places like Jiffy Lube will make an excuse as to why they can’t do it if that is the only service you want since they don’t make much money off of it. They always tell me the machine is down or the inspector is out to lunch. State law requires an inspector to be on-duty during business hours and the “machine” is a state-wide system which works just fine when I go down the road. So tons of inspection stations across the state have been impacted. I also would rather my money go to them instead of the state for doing nothing.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
How is El Paso more major than San Antonio?

Dunno, because yes, Bexar County has a higher population.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
How is El Paso more major than San Antonio?

I'm guessing it has to do w/ air quality, and that the air in El Paso is more polluted than around San Antonio.

What is stupid though is that the “Emissions Testing” is literally plugging a monitor into your vehicle computer and as long as you don’t have any check engine error codes, you pass. You can be blowing black smoke out your exhaust and still pass as long as you don’t trip a code.

My first bike to be renewed is in February and I already received the letter from the state but hadn’t opened it. You had me cautious but I opened it up and $54.75, which I’ll happily pay. For years the closest stealer never charged me to inspect any of my bikes. The GM always said “We get our $ from the state.” Reading the OP I was expecting an extra $20 or $30 or something but thankfully that isn’t the case. I’m happy to not have to ride my ass up there in February as it’s witches titties in a brass bra cold in February. I was happy as fuck last August when the GM told me “is this your last bike for the year?” I replied yes. Then he said “Well that’s it then, you won’t have to do this anymore.” He then went on to explain the entire law.

Like you, very disappointed that I still have to have my 4 wheel vehicles inspected. Bunch of bullshit. Got damn if there is a check engine light I’m getting my shit fixed! I’m not going to keep driving and let a major failure occur costing me thousands of dollars. Like you said every year I’ll take one of my cars or truck up to a station “our machine is down” so I go onto the next one “our machine is down” or it’ll be “we’re booked up today.” I’ve hit 3 places on the same day within an hour and went home empty handed. I can’t wait to get out of this fucking state for good. That will be a day of days! It’s great NOT to have my bikes inspected now but that sure is shit doesn’t do anything about the $5XXX I’m paying a year in homeowners insurance and more than that in property taxes. I feel like I’m a got damn slave to this state.

So no safety inspection at all? Lights, horn, wipers, signals…

I live in Bell county so there’s no OBD test. So when I go to renew my license plate/registration, I don’t have to get an inspection in June? that doesn’t make any sense, I imagine the number of POSs on the road will escalate

Sounds like just an emission inspection. Those who drive around with the CEL on will probably just disconnect then reconnect the battery before pulling in.

From the horse's mouth https://www.txdmv.gov/faqs.

quote:

Inspection
The Inspection Replacement Fee is a fee mandated by state law to be collected at the time of vehicle registration. The fee was created by the passage of House Bill 3297 enacted by the 88th Texas Legislature in 2023 and became effective January 1, 2025. Annual vehicle registration renewals are charged a fee of $7.50. New vehicles (two-year registration) are charged $16.75.

Edit to add. The above bill seems to be for safety inspection only.

PDF with some additional info from TX DMV.

https://www.txdmv.gov/sites/de...spection-Changes.pdf

quote:

Originally posted by iron chef:

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
How is El Paso more major than San Antonio?

I'm guessing it has to do w/ air quality, and that the air in El Paso is more polluted than around San Antonio.

I think Juarez has a lot to do with El Paso's air quality. Trying to clean up El Paso's air is probably about like trying to use a bucket to get the water out of a leaking boat.

.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
Sounds like just an emission inspection. Those who drive around with the CEL on will probably just disconnect then reconnect the battery before pulling in.

Not quite that easy, if you clear codes or disconnect the battery, it clears the monitors to "not ready", it will fail.


What systems are checked during the OBDII test?
The On-Board Diagnostics (OBDII) emissions test for 1996 and newer vehicles consists of the following:

Check 1 - Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) or Service Engine Soon Light, Check Engine Light, Check Engine Symbol check
This is considered the bulb check portion of the test. The light must come on when the ignition is turned to the ON position and the light must go OFF when the engine is started. The inspector answers these two bulb check questions as either a PASS or FAIL. If the light is not working, the vehicle will FAIL the test, because the purpose of the light is to alert the driver of the vehicle that there is a problem with the OBDII system (exceeding emissions) and the vehicle needs to be diagnosed and repaired.

Check 2 - MIL Command Status and Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC's) check
If the MIL command status is ON, then the vehicle's Powertrain Control Module (PCM) is commanding the MIL to turn ON, because a problem has been detected within the OBDII system and a DTC has been set.
For example, an engine misfire DTC - PO301. If the MIL command status is ON with a DTC set, the vehicle will fail. If the OBDII system is operating properly, the MIL command status will be OFF.

Check 3 - OBDII (Non -Continuous) Readiness Monitors check These monitors are like self checks of each emissions component (EGR, O2 sensor, etc) within the OBDII system. These non-continuous monitors are considered Ready until either DTC's have been cleared with a scan tool or if battery power has been disconnected, then the monitors will reset back to Not Ready.

https://www.dps.texas.gov/sect...aq/emissions-testing

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
So no safety inspection at all? Lights, horn, wipers, signals…

I live in Bell county so there’s no OBD test. So when I go to renew my license plate/registration, I don’t have to get an inspection in June? that doesn’t make any sense, I imagine the number of POSs on the road will escalate

Yup, no safety inspection. Hell, even when I get my truck inspected, all they ever did was plug in the stupid computer. No honking the horn, checking blinkers and headlights and stuff. Now, nothing except for “emissions testing” if you live in one of the four areas.

quote:

I think Juarez has a lot to do with El Paso's air quality. Trying to clean up El Paso's air is probably about like trying to use a bucket to get the water out of a leaking boat.

I got my notices this weekend.
My Corse is registered, but I have to get my MDX "sniffed".

SMH

My friend who owns one of the two inspection stations in town has complained sbout the inspection program for years. It apparently requires that he buy a fairly expensive piece of otherwise useless equipment, and of the fee charged, I believe he said he got to keep less than a dollar. He’s told me that he does it only as a convenience to his customers. The rest goes to the State of Texas, so it’s essentially been a tax for some time. .

Headlight aim hasn’t been part of the inspection requirements in Texas for years. I kind of wish it was.

As to emissions inspection in El Paso, yeah, it has a lot to do with smog from Juarez, and the topography. I’ve been there on days when there was enough smog to make your eyes and nose burn. .

I would never have guessed El Paso to be the 4th.
Houston, Dallas, Austin were a given. I'd have guessed San Antonio or Beaumont well before EP.

My Mini failed when I got it last year for hazed over headlight lenses (valid). cleaned them up & it passed.
My prior Malibu, they tried to fail it because the wipers didn't 'park' when the ignition was turned off
Fought that one & he grudgingly passed it. For the next year, I had a screenshot of the TX inspection reg on wipers that had no mention of it in there. Didn't need it the next time.

We border Harris County, so we'll still have to go in for the emissions bit.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
So no safety inspection at all? Lights, horn, wipers, signals…

I live in Bell county so there’s no OBD test. So when I go to renew my license plate/registration, I don’t have to get an inspection in June? that doesn’t make any sense, I imagine the number of POSs on the road will escalate

Bikes, no more more manual/visual inspection. If you have insurance, you just go get your tag now. As he said, in the 4 areas, cars/trucks still have to be manually inspected at a state approved station. The rest of the state, outside of these 4 areas, gets to skip inspection altogether on cars/trucks. This change went into effect January 1.

Another thing to add to the growing list, should I ever move.

Yeah, just clearing or disabling the light doesn’t cut it in many areas. It can be expensive to get the check engine light to stay out, older vehicles.