Portland area inspection station suggestions (lowered car)

T

Taiden

New member
Here's the deal, I got my car all ready to get inspected today (tires with 4/32" tread, horn is now working, replaced a broken wheel stud...)

I called three places for an inspection... that's fine. I then ask them if there will be a problem getting my car on the lift because it's lowered, I don't want to waste their time or mine.

They tell me I can't get my car inspected because my suspension is altered.

I proceed to have a ten minute argument about how konis are OE replacement shocks and ground controls are used in national level autocross, road racing, and rally, and they are good enough for me to drive to work and the grocery store. Of course that just pisses them off more.

Where can I get my car inspected by someone who doesn't refer to my "konis" as "kernals" or my "ground controls" as "ground effects"?

 
ehh....i work for napa in westbrook and i deal with a bunch of places....i can name a few. Riverside garage on riverside street, possibly 3 G's tire in town portland, they usually don't give me any problems with my WRX and/or other cars.

 
I go to Ossipee Trail Motor Sales on 25 in Gorham/Standish. Very good people. They pass the Jeep every year.

 
Eh....I wouldnt go there. The guy i bought my car off bought it from there with a ton of crap wrong with it. they passed it every year and i had to fix it all when i bought my car.

 
Eh....I wouldnt go there. The guy i bought my car off bought it from there with a ton of crap wrong with it. they passed it every year and i had to fix it all when i bought my car.
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So I guess the moral is dont buy a car there but if you need to get something gray inspected they are perfect hahaha

 
awesome, thanks guys. i used to go to D&B rentals and mizners automotive. both places passed every car i ever brought unless it was something obvious like missing lights or huge rust holes. only problem is their phones are disconnected...

It's too bad that the state is so hard on inspectors. I heard they can lose their license if someone crashes in a car they inspected due to mechanical failure...

 
Bring it to Evergreen. If suspension is altered and improved then you are good to go as long as your tires aren't scraping on the fenders and you have a generous range of mobility in the steering and control arms...which you will if your tires aren't scraping. The new rules state you are allowed to lower and raise your vehicle within certain limits.

 
That is one of the very few things I like about Texas... Heck if your car can make it to the inspection station on it's own power they'll pass it.... sorry it's not a helpful comment for the OP just my $0.02....

 
Bring it to Evergreen. If suspension is altered and improved then you are good to go as long as your tires aren't scraping on the fenders and you have a generous range of mobility in the steering and control arms...which you will if your tires aren't scraping. The new rules state you are allowed to lower and raise your vehicle within certain limits.
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is it Evergreen Auto Sales in Poland or Evergreen Subaru in Auburn?

also, the front is low, but the offset chosen is great and alignment is out of this world... I can turn lock to lock and hammer down in first or reverse and get no rub. My fenders are rolled and etc so I typically smash bump stops on huge bumps and never get fender rub.

Is there anywhere online where I can find the new inspection rules?

edit, found it

2. Modifications. A vehicle may not be modified to cause, under normal operation, the vehicle body or chassis to come into contact with the ground, expose the fuel tank to damage from collision or cause the wheels to come in contact with the body. The suspension and tire sizes of a vehicle may be modified pursuant to this chapter and rules established by the Chief of the State Police.
3. Suspension. Except as provided in this subsection or in subsection 2, an original suspension system may not be disconnected. This section does not prohibit the installation of heavy duty equipment, including shock absorbers and overload springs, or prohibit a person from operating on a public way a motor vehicle with normal wear of the suspension system if normal wear does not affect control of the vehicle.
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what an asshat... lol says right there that it's legal.

 
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awesome, thanks guys. i used to go to D&B rentals and mizners automotive. both places passed every car i ever brought unless it was something obvious like missing lights or huge rust holes. only problem is their phones are disconnected...
It's too bad that the state is so hard on inspectors. I heard they can lose their license if someone crashes in a car they inspected due to mechanical failure...
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I ran into this too, with an old sube. when a welder/inspector finally got a look at it, it has been undoubtable (it is comical how far I went with welding). I leanred that to find a shop with welding avilable has people who know what you did. Maybe find a race car outside an inspectors garage, and go from there if nothing to find. It seems you got a lot of good replies anyway.

lowering suspension is a bizarre thing to focus on, if you are an inspector. I would sincerely mention a 1986 XT subaru with air suspension...all manually controllable. right down to the ground, to 4x4 looking tall and goofy...I wonder what they would have to say then?
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it is up to the place doing the inspection on if it is safe or not... Take it to the Sticker Station in westbrook if you want to know if it will pass or not... Evergreen Subaru is also good. What kind of car is it?

The Sticker Station passed my legacy on full coilovers because the car was safe and had no issues... If your car is a pos it wont pass. My G35 passed as well and it is very low... Make sure your car functions safely. LOL.

If it can go on the lift that is a plus... My g requires a block or two.

M+A is also good as they know a lot about modded cars and will pass it if it is safe.

The state laws are changing and allow for mods to some extent thanks to the sema bill and other things.

 
I had the stupid VIP in so.po. next to the big bridge tell me that the exhaust on my old WRX wouldn't pass inspection because it was ''modified'' back in 05. They had no idea about what they exhaust should be or anything but saw that it was stainless and not the oem one and really had no idea about what he was talking about. I yelled at the service manager and for reving the crap out of my car and leaving it running for a long time. Needless to say my car always passed everywhere else I took it (aside from when I actually needed to do something like when my e-brake didn't work and a bad end link etc).

What I'm trying to show is that you have to take it to a reputable shop and not something like VIP where it's mostly people who have no idea what they are talking about. There is a lot of shops around that are so excited to get a chance to put their hands on a nice car like a WRX or something that they will go out of their way to help you get it road ready etc.

 
Went to Mizner's and Sticker Station today just for the hell of it... they failed me for:

Mizners:

-illegal suspension (bull****)

-exhaust too loud

-front tie rod ends

-engine swap

Sticker store:

-a nick in my rubber brake hose (like seriously 0.5mm deep and 1mm long, I had to squint to see it)

-a rubber brake hose that 'wasnt ziptied to my strut'

-a seeping oil pan

Just goes to show why the Maine inspection system doesn't work.

I have an appointment with Ossipee tomorrow... let's see how that goes...

 
there is no inspection law stating you can not have an engine swap and with the exhaust and suspension are kind of personal opinion really. if the tie rods need to be replaced, do it. if they are just trying to stick you with paying for them to repair something... don't do it! lol I can understand the brake line issues and the oil leak though. They seem reasonable. You wouldn't want to lose your brakes while driving. The oil pan issue isn't a big deal to fix. Drain the oil, pull the pan off, clean up the surface that seals and lay a bead of permatex on it and put it back on. wait 24 hours before filling with oil and driving around.

 
there is no inspection law stating you can not have an engine swap and with the exhaust and suspension are kind of personal opinion really. if the tie rods need to be replaced, do it. if they are just trying to stick you with paying for them to repair something... don't do it! lol I can understand the brake line issues and the oil leak though. They seem reasonable. You wouldn't want to lose your brakes while driving. The oil pan issue isn't a big deal to fix. Drain the oil, pull the pan off, clean up the surface that seals and lay a bead of permatex on it and put it back on. wait 24 hours before filling with oil and driving around.
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the oil pan could be a ***** if the rearmost bolts are blocked by the crossbeam, which they probably are. the law there is that leaks are only a problem if they're a fire hazard. i've actually had a rear main seal that dripped right on my headers for a year and it was never a problem so i dont think your oil pan will be either, but you wont convince them of that. i would just point out that it will seep to the lowest point and drip off the bottom of the pan, not hit the header.

i would get the brake line fixed though. they're usually only rated at 3 years, and you dont want one of those to blow out.

the suspension as noted above isn't actually illegal. check this thread for more, i've highlighted most of the important stuff:

http://www.mainelysubarus.com/forums/showthread.php?9343-Maine-state-inspection-manual-and-excemptions

the bumper beam just needs to be above 10". as for tires/fenders, you can have tire and wheel outside the fender, but the tread need to be inside.

a lot of shops wont be able to get it on the lift, but the right shop (like evergreen) will have ramp boards to get it up there.

i second what rawfuel3 said in the second post, both riverside garage (as well as ABC garage) and 3 g's are maaad sketchy. i went to ABC once to get a car inspected and they had just lost their license (wonder why?) so they sent me to riverside garage.

if they call you on any of that (like suspension) then ask them to point out where in the manual it says its illigal.

 
there is no inspection law stating you can not have an engine swap
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There actually is a law, but it probably doesn't pertain to this case. The law is that the engine cannot be from an older model year than the chassis of the car. So if you have say...an '01 RS, and drop in the engine from an '00, it is technically an illegal swap. It's a silly law to try and keep people from swapping in older, less efficient/dirty engines. Gotta be looking really close for that sorta thing though.

As for fluids...my Jeep pukes out just about every fluid it possibly can. I leave puddles wherever I go...passes every time, ha. Exhaust is quite loud as well.

 
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