How Long Does a Car Inspection Take?
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Having your car inspected is a lot like defrosting your fridge. It’s a pain to do, and nobody wants to do it. But from time to time, it still needs to get done. The only question is how much time it’s going to burn up. So, how long does a car inspection take? Let’s find out!
Why Get an Inspection?
Before we ask ourselves “how long does a car inspection take,” we should start by asking ourselves “why get inspected in the first place”?
The first, and most obvious answer is that you might be legally required to. 19 states and the District of Columbia require periodic inspections. Some require emissions only, others require safety only, and still others require a combination of the two. The intervals can also differ, from one year to several years. Regardless, you’ll need to get an inspection at some point if you want to drive legally.
Another reason to get an inspection is if you’re buying a used vehicle. With a brand new car, you have a reasonable guarantee that it’s in good working order — and a warranty and lemon law to back you up if anything goes wrong. With a used vehicle, you’re taking more risks. Spending a few dollars to have the car inspected is well worth avoiding any more serious issues.
While it’s normally inadvisable to buy a car sight-unseen, having an inspector you trust can at least make it viable. The important thing is to make sure it is indeed someone you trust! Never let the seller hire their own inspector. Obviously, this would create a significant conflict of interest.
Finally, it can be useful to have your car inspected if you’re preparing it for a sale. For one thing, it can help you sort out any issues that might turn up when a buyer does their own inspection. For another thing, it can help you make the sale in states where inspections are mandatory. If a potential buyer sees that your car has a brand new safety or emissions sticker, they’ll know you aren’t trying to hide anything
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Who Can Perform an Auto Inspection?
It depends on the type of inspection. In states where inspections are mandatory, you’ll need to go to a mechanic or dealer who’s certified by your DMV to perform inspections. In states with separate safety and emissions inspections, this can involve going to two separate businesses.
Emissions inspections are fairly straightforward. Either your car passes or it doesn’t. That said, it’s important to know what is — and isn’t — involved in a safety inspection. Most state-mandated safety inspections consist of some fairly basic checks. Do the turn signals work? Is the Check Engine light on? They may include some quick visual checks of important parts like brakes, but that’s about it.
When you’re thinking of buying a car, you probably want more than a few basic checks you could do yourself. In this case, see if you can have a mechanic friend tag along with you when you’re car shopping. If you don’t know any mechanics quite that well, ask the seller if you can take the vehicle to a mechanic you trust to have it inspected.
An honest seller will be happy to let you have the car looked at. They may want to send an employee with you to the inspection site, and a private seller may want to have some collateral. But if the seller flat-out refuses to let you have a car inspected, you shouldn’t buy that car.
One thing to be careful of is any kind of dedicated pre-inspection service. Some of them are outstanding! We’re not here to bash an entire industry. But some of them only offer a quick visual inspection, sometimes even less comprehensive than a state safety inspection. They don’t actually test drive the vehicle or test any of its functions. If you’re going to hire one of these services, read the fine print first!
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Car Inspection Dos and Don’ts
There are a few things you should keep in mind before getting a vehicle inspected. Here are a few of the basic dos and don’ts:
- Do get an inspection done a few weeks before it’s needed. If any issues are found, you want to have time to fix them before making a sale — or missing a state-mandated deadline.
- Don’t wait til the last minute. Mechanics are busy people. If you call today to book an appointment tomorrow, don’t be surprised if they tell you no.
- Do keep your repair and maintenance records handy. These can be useful to a mechanic if they need to work on any systems that were previously repaired.
- Don’t get your car inspected by a mechanic you aren’t 100% confident in. A mechanic who also does repairs can be tempted to invent issues to drive up their profits. Similarly, a mechanic hired by the seller will have an incentive not to find any issues.
- Do get a second opinion. If an inspector tells you you have a serious suspension problem, but they can fix it for $1,500, have another mechanic take a look. Preferably a mechanic without any conflict of interest.
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So, How Long Does a Car Inspection Take?
Now we come to the heart of the matter. How long does a car inspection take?
It depends. A state safety inspection can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on how exacting the state’s standards are. Emissions testing can take an additional 20 minutes, assuming the shop has the necessary equipment on-site. If they have to take your car elsewhere for testing, it could take an hour or more, depending on drive time.
A more thorough car inspection can take two hours or more. A good test drive alone should take at least 30 minutes — enough to heat up the engine, take the car on the highway, and test it at various speeds and conditions. And none of this includes time spent standing in line, waiting for other customers, waiting for the mechanic to get back from their lunch break, and other potential delays.
In short, a car inspection can take anywhere from 10 minutes to two hours. It all depends on how thorough the inspection is, and how busy the shop is with other tasks.
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