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NY State Vehicle Inspections Guide

October 6, 2020 by Stem Auto

NY Inspection Anxiety?

It may seem like inspectors use a magic 8 ball to decide if your car passes. They don’t. (Well, most don’t.) Use this guide to better understand if your car will pass.

Emissions Inspection (Part 1 of 2)

Every gasoline vehicle between 2 and 25 years old with a MGW (Maximum Gross Weight) under 10k lbs must pass an Emissions Inspection every year. NY’s emissions inspection is quite predictable. Great news if you have a diesel, electric, brand new, or classic vehicle: you don’t need this!

Your car must have:

  1. No check engine light on.
    If you recently had a repair or cleared the codes, you must drive the car for up to 3 days before your car’s computer has run all the tests. If you clear the codes and immediately get the car inspected, it will fail even if the check engine light is off. Don’t remove the bulb or tape over it: the computer is smarter than that.
  2. All the original emissions components.
    Unless you’ve modified your vehicle or sold your catalytic converter for scrap money, you’re good!

Safety Inspection (Part 2 of 2)

Safety is the part of inspection that gets more complicated. This covers what you need so passengers are safe and the car doesn’t fall apart while driving. However, it also it covers what many people forget: the car must be safe to operate and for other drivers to operate around.

Your car must have:

1) Brakes that stop you when you step on them!
A) No brake fluid leaks and a solid pedal
If there are any visual indications of a leak or if hoses are cracked, it will fail. If it’s too hard and doesn’t stop or too soft and the pedal goes almost to the floor before stopping, you may have a bad master cylinder or air in the lines, and it will fail.

B) Must stop straight
If the car pulls hard to one side or the other, you probably have a bad or rusty brake caliper and one jacked forearm, and the car will fail.

C) Good brake pads or shoes
If you have disc brakes, the wear sensor must not be activated, and pads must not be broken or worn to metal. If you have drum brakes, you must have at least 1/16” material if bonded or 1/32” material if riveted.

D) Good brake rotors or drums
The rotors or drums cannot be cracked or have mechanical damage. This law is not clearly defined or specific about the common surface rust that we get on Buffalo rotors. If the inspector believes it’s unsafe, it will fail.

2) Functional parking brake.
Parking brake cables cannot be frayed, frozen, or broken. The parking brake must hold the vehicle stationary with the engine running at a “slightly accelerated speed” while in gear. If you can pull some killer e-brake drifts in the snow, you should pass.

3) Safe wheels and tires.
On each tire, if any 2 adjacent treads have less than 2/32”, if there is a 1” cut that shows the metal cords, it has bulges or knots indicating a tire failure or internal separation, it will fail. All lug nuts/bolts must be present and intact. No zip ties, bubble gum, or creative repairs to hold wheels on.

4) Secure and safe steering system.
The steering wheel must have normal free play, there cannot be any binding when turning, and all steering components must not have “excessive wear”. Power steering must work, not leak, and have a good belt driving the pump. Though ball joints should be replaced when they have play, loose ball joints do not cause inspection failure.

5) Appropriate body roll.
The suspension springs may not be sagging, broken, or loose. Torsion or stabilizer bars must not have any broken, disconnected, missing, or bent components. The frame, uni-body, and any chassis part must not be “severely rusted”. If bolts or rivets are loose or missing, or the frame is broken, it fails.

6) Safe shock absorbers.
Shock absorbers must not be loose, broken, or missing. But they will pass if they are just leaking.

7) All lights functional.
The only exception here is fog lights: All other bulbs must work as intended and the lens must be DOT approved, the original color, and not broken or missing.

8) A windshield and no tint.
Windshield must be made of safety glass, with no cracks longer than 11” in the path of wiper, no “star” chip over 3” diameter, and no exposed sharp edges. Don’t tint your windows! Very few tints will pass on very few cars. You might think it looks cool, but everyone outside thinks you look like a creeper.

9) Mirrors
Both side mirrors must be securely mounted and not cracked, broken, or discolored.

10) Wipers
Every wiper blade must be secure and not torn or badly worn. There are some weird specifics here, so if the wipers don’t work the way they were designed to clear water when you need them to, they could fail.

11) Horn
Yes, you need a functional horn to tell the driver in front of you at a traffic light to get off their phone and drive. The horn also needs to be securely fastened. Bonus points if it plays La Cucaracha.

12) Seatbelts
This should be obvious but ALL seatbelts need to work as designed, even if you have no friends to ride with you. Surprisingly, your airbag system doesn’t need to function.

13) Closed fuel system
If you’re leaking fuel, you’re wasting money, smelling lots of fumes, and your car will fail.

Visit dmv.ny.gov/forms/cr79.pdf for the official list of regulations.

STEM Automotive and all other mobile repair shops in NY are not permitted to perform official inspections and put a sticker on your car. But– we can have trained inspectors that can identify things that are likely to fail. STEM offers a complimentary pre-inspection at the time of any other service. That’s right- there is no charge if we’re already there for another service. Just ask!

Filed Under: News and Updates

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We have used STEM AUTOMOTIVE to service our College-aged daughters’ vehicles for routine maintenance, inspections, oil changes, tire rotation, wiper blade replacements, diagnostics, and to make sure everything is safe and long trip ready. Having a typed out evaluation of what was done and when to expect needed service I find to be very helpful. So convenient to be able to have the cars serviced right in our driveway! Service was able to be scheduled quickly, and Matt was prompt. We are extremely satisfied with STEM AUTO!
FYI...2017 Nissan Altima and 2013 Toyota Prius were the autos serviced.

Andrew W

I heard about STEM Automotive from a friend. An auto service at your door? I've always taken my car to a shop to get fixed but I also remember my dad changing things himself in the car when I was a little kid. I decided to give it a shot. I was so impressed with the service! It was so easy to schedule, especially because I didn't have to take my car anywhere, they came to me. The gentleman was straightforward, efficient and courteous (He was wearing a mask - COVID) just being so aware of what needed to be done. He listened to me, looked over my car and let me know the results. Turns out it was not as dire as the dealership had told me. The part was expensive (it was an O2 sensor and filter) but a week later he came back and fixed it. I paid at the end and the entire process took less than two hours. This experience has been my best automotive experience in the last 10 years. The service is amazing, convenient, and honest. I highly recommend them to any of my friends!

Chandra T

I wish we would have started using STEM auto sooner. They are beyond fair in pricing. The quality of their work, efficiency and knowledge of their work is unbeatable. Do yourself a favor... save time, and money and use stem!

Jennifer M

I will highly recommend STEM Automotive to all of my family, friends, clients and business associates. I really can't say enough good things. I'm totally blown away by the convenience, service and price. My car wouldn't start, so I called STEM. They came to my house, in a large beautiful truck, and arrived right on time. In under a half an hour, STEM had my problem diagnosed and replaced my battery. All for an excellent price. Towing and service alone would have cost me at least double anywhere else! Don't hesitate. Definitely call STEM for your automotive needs.

John A

I have no choice but to RAVE about STEM Auto. I desperately needed an oil change and tire rotation but severely lacked the time to get it done. Matt came to my work to do it and let me tell you I DID NOT LIFT A FINGER! He was able to take care of everything in under an hour and I never had to leave my desk. It’s unbelievably convenient PLUS he took a look at my car to recommend some future maintenance. 12/10 would recommend to literally everyone ever.

Mary L

STEM was great to work with. Setting up an appointment through the website was easy. All costs for my services were known upfront which was very refreshing. Finally, you can't beat the convenience of the auto shop coming to your door.

Pat M

I have used STEM's services a few times now and every time, I am left satisfied and with a little bit of knowledge. Recently, I scheduled an oil change and noticed a small noise coming from the front end of the vehicle and asked Matt to check it out. He informed me of the issue and gave me a suggestion on how to have it fixed. He also did the Oil change in Buffalo Winter Weather... He is completely equipped to handle the elements and is more than happy to do the work!

Charles E

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