My car flunked Massachusetts inspection
NadCixelsyd
them with no problem. It's just that the white background is faded
and, at night, the plates fail to reflect "enough" light. How do they
define "enough"? What's the big deal?
Of course, I'm going to have to pay to correct the RMV's problem.
gskill
Just bring ypur plates and registration to an RMV office and they will
replace them free of charge. Your only loss is your time. You don't
have to be present in person as long as whoever goes has both the
plates and the registration.
Paul Anderson
<f3e95e57-883e-4701...@33g2000yqj.googlegroups.com>,
gskill <gsk...@yahoo.com> wrote:
This happened to me a number of years ago. My car dealer failed my
Massachusetts inspection because I had the old green-on-white plate and
it had faded. I have a friend whose plates are much, much worse than
mine were, but I digress.
I just went to the Registry and they gave me nice shiny new plates,
after which my vehicle passed inspection.
I heard a rumor that they were finally going to force replacement of
all the green-on-white plates. Was the original poster's the green or
the red ones?
Paul
NadCixelsyd
> I heard a rumor that they were finally going to force replacement of
> all the green-on-white plates. Was the original poster's the green or
> the red ones?
>
> Paul
want to keep. I assume they can't make up plates on-the-spot.
Marc Dashevsky
> In article
> <f3e95e57-883e-4701...@33g2000yqj.googlegroups.com>,
> gskill <gsk...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > On Feb 20, 4:08 pm, NadCixelsyd <nadcixel...@aol.com> wrote:
> > > The car was fine. What flunked was my license plates. You can
> > > read them with no problem. It's just that the white background is
> > > faded and, at night, the plates fail to reflect "enough" light.
> > > How do they define "enough"? What's the big deal?
> > >
> > > Of course, I'm going to have to pay to correct the RMV's problem.
> >
> > Just bring ypur plates and registration to an RMV office and they
> > will replace them free of charge. Your only loss is your time. You
> > don't have to be present in person as long as whoever goes has both
> > the plates and the registration.
>
> This happened to me a number of years ago. My car dealer failed my
> Massachusetts inspection because I had the old green-on-white plate and
> it had faded. I have a friend whose plates are much, much worse than
> mine were, but I digress.
I'm still driving with a 1984 green-on-white. Inspection due in March.
--
Go to http://MarcDashevsky.com to send me e-mail.
David Chesler
> I'm still driving with a 1984 green-on-white. Inspection due in March.
I know someone who wants to keep his single green-on-white plate. The
standard is "Can the numbers be seen at 60 feet?" He purchased some
matching green paint and touched up the faded bits to the point where
the inspector didn't say anything, and he keeps them another year.
--
- David Chesler <che...@post.harvard.edu>
New York's home, but it ain't mine no more
Nil
ne.transportation:
> Just bring ypur plates and registration to an RMV office and they
> will replace them free of charge. Your only loss is your time.
> You don't have to be present in person as long as whoever goes has
> both the plates and the registration.
Really!?! I didn't know that! They'll give you a new sticker and
everything? My plates are about 20 years old and like the OP's, all the
reflective stuff has fallen off. I'd be happy to replace them, but not
on my dime.
gskill
I have 2 cars that needed inspection last September. One car also
needed the registration renewed in September. The other car's
registration expires in May.
In September, I brought both sets of plates to the RMV and renewed the
one car. I had hoped to get plates with consecutive numbers but I
couldn't do that as the last number on the plate is the number of the
month in the year that the registration expires in. They gave me (at
the cost of one renewal) a new set of plates that ended with the
number 9 and a sticker that goes on the plate with the number 09
(because the plate was still good until the end of Sept.) and a
sticker that goes on the plate with the number 11 (for the renewal
that is good until 2011) and 2 new registration papers for the years
2009 and 2011. In addition, they gave me a set of plates for the
other car that ended with the number 5, a sticker to go on the plates
that reads 10 (for 2010, the year that car's registration expires) and
a new registration paper.
I never gave it a thought about whether I needed to get new inspection
sticker as I got both cars inspected the same day that I changed the
plates. I have no idea whether the inspection sticker has to match
the plates or not. You could call the RMV and ask them about that.
Nil
ne.transportation:
> I never gave it a thought about whether I needed to get new
> inspection sticker as I got both cars inspected the same day that
> I changed the plates. I have no idea whether the inspection
> sticker has to match the plates or not. You could call the RMV
> and ask them about that.
If you give up the old plate, the inspection sticker would have to go
with it as well. I will call the Registry to find out about this - I'd
like to replace my license plates, mainly for cosmetic reasons. My old
plate looks diseased.
Jimmy
> gskill <gsk...@yahoo.com> wrote in ne.transportation:
> > I never gave it a thought about whether I needed to get new
> > inspection sticker as I got both cars inspected the same day that
> > I changed the plates. I have no idea whether the inspection
> > sticker has to match the plates or not.
>
> with it as well.
Yes, even if it's just for the reason that the license plate number is
printed on the inspection sticker. This means you'd also need a new
residential parking sticker, if applicable.
(Maybe if your inspection sticker was so faded the license plate
number was unreadable, you'd get away with not re-inspecting after
getting new plates. From what I've heard, inspection sticker
enforcement is done by visual inspection by police (if at all). Not
by looking up records in an out-of-date computer-hell database that
the regular public doesn't have access to, like the multistate
driver's license database.)
Jimmy
Nil
ne.transportation:
> Yes, even if it's just for the reason that the license plate
> number is printed on the inspection sticker. This means you'd
> also need a new residential parking sticker, if applicable.
>
> (Maybe if your inspection sticker was so faded the license plate
> number was unreadable, you'd get away with not re-inspecting after
> getting new plates. From what I've heard, inspection sticker
> enforcement is done by visual inspection by police (if at all).
> Not by looking up records in an out-of-date computer-hell database
> that the regular public doesn't have access to, like the
> multistate driver's license database.)
Actually, I was confusing my stickers. The inspection sticker is on the
window, of course. The registration sticker is the one on the plate.
I was going to call the Registry to ask them if I could swap out my
plate and what was involved. Turns out there is no phone number on the
RMV web site, at least I couldn't find one! If it's there they have it
well-hidden. So, I went by the office in person today and was told
that, yes, I could replace my green-and-white plate at no charge, and
get a new reg sticker. I didn't have the tools to remove my plate at
the time, so I'll go back another day soon.
Jimmy
> I was going to call the Registry to ask them if I could swap out my
> plate and what was involved. Turns out there is no phone number on the
> RMV web site, at least I couldn't find one! If it's there they have it
> well-hidden.
617-351-4500, M-F 9-5. (I found it by googling. Or go to the RMV
home page, click Contact Us on the top, and click RMV Telephone Center
on the right.)
Jimmy
Robert Coe
Not true if you have "vanity" plates. I complained that mine were becoming
unreadable, and they said I could have new ones for $10. We pay more than
twice the normal annual fee, and they haven't replaced our plates in more than
20 years.
The RMV, like the MBTA, doesn't give a rat's ass what its customers think of
its service. And neither does the Governor or anybody in the legislature. Yet
when we finally get so disgusted that we start voting the rascals out, the
national press and pollsters automatically assume it's because we don't like
Barack Obama's health plan. Go figure.
Bob
NadCixelsyd
You found the RMV telephone number, but you obviously didn't try it.
The Massachusetts RMV is a service organization that has no service.
I called the aforementioned telephone number, but I was on hold for 35
minutes before I gave up. I really get a kick out of "Your call is
importate to us. Someone will be with you shortly."
Pete from Boston
You go to a very different inspection agent than I do. I think my guy
verifies that there are two plates, and might or might not notice
whether they match, and that's about the extent of it.
All the minor things like this that I've heard people failing for have
been issues that the inspecting individual could profit from
(ineffective wipers, dim headlights, etc.). No money in plates,
though.
NadCixelsyd
Followup....
It took about 5 weeks, but I received my new plates. I put them on.
Then, about two weeks later, I received a second set of plates (with
the same #). Ah, employees of the Commonwealth.
The good news is that there was no charge.
Jimmy
After resetting a check engine light error (as well as fixing the
underlying problem), how far do I have to drive to avoid failing
inspection for not having enough emissions history data in the car's
computer? I drive very little, and I'd prefer not to have to drive
150+ miles before my sticker expires, if less history is required.
Jimmy
John F. Carr
NadCixelsyd <nadci...@aol.com> wrote:
>It took about 5 weeks, but I received my new plates. I put them on.
>Then, about two weeks later, I received a second set of plates (with
>the same #). Ah, employees of the Commonwealth.
Now you can buy a second identical car and drive around with only
one insurance policy, registration fee, and excise tax payment.
One of the local papers a decade or so back had an article on the
trick of splitting a single pair of plates across two identical
cars to save money.
Eventually you trip over details like RMV computer receiving
two inspection reports for one car, VIN not matching on close
inspection, and so forth.
--
John Carr (j...@mit.edu)